--- url: 'https://qubit.capital/blog/us-series-b-plus-weekly-funding-roundup-week-4-march-2026' title: 'US Series B+ Weekly Funding Roundup (Mar 16-23, 2026): $915.0M Raised Across 3 Deals' author: name: Mayur Toshniwal url: 'https://qubit.capital/blog/author/mayur' date: '2026-03-23T04:16:44+05:30' modified: '2026-03-23T16:08:26+05:30' type: post summary: 'Three US Series B+ deals raised $915M this week, led by Nexthop AI''s $500M round for AI networking infrastructure and Cloaked''s $375M privacy platform raise.' categories: - Weekly Funding Roundup image: 'https://qubit.capital/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/featured-us-series-bplus-64563.webp' published: true --- # US Series B+ Weekly Funding Roundup (Mar 16-23, 2026): $915.0M Raised Across 3 Deals Late-stage US startups pulled in $915 million across three Series B+ deals this week, with AI infrastructure and consumer privacy commanding the lion’s share. Nexthop AI’s $500 million round alone accounted for more than half the total, reflecting just how much capital is flowing into the physical backbone of AI compute. The week’s second-largest deal, Cloaked’s $375 million raise, signals that investor appetite for consumer security is alive and growing as AI-powered fraud accelerates. While these later-stage companies locked down massive checks, earlier-stage US startups were busy too. Eight Series A deals totaling $283 million closed in the same period, spanning cybersecurity, healthtech, and fintech. The contrast is striking: Series B+ rounds are concentrating in infrastructure and platform plays, while Series A capital is spread more broadly across verticals. That pattern tells you something about where conviction is highest right now. Weekly Funding Roundup MAR 16-23, 2026 $915M TOTAL RAISED 3DEALS CLOSED 100%SERIES B $305MAVG DEAL SIZE USTOP REGION BY STAGE Series B$915M100% BY SECTOR Nexthop AIAI Infrastructure$500M CloakedCybersecurity / Consumer Privacy$375M ParaformAI / Recruitment$40M Table of Contents - [1. Nexthop AI Raises $500M For AI-Optimized Networking](#1-nexthop-ai-raises-$500m-for-ai-optimized-networking) [Deal Overview](#deal-overview) - [Investor Profile](#investor-profile) - [Company and Leadership](#company-and-leadership) - [Problem and Opportunity](#problem-and-opportunity) - [Product and Technology](#product-and-technology) - [Use of Proceeds and Vision](#use-of-proceeds-and-vision) - [Market Context](#market-context) - [2. Cloaked Raises $375M For Consumer Privacy Platform](#2-cloaked-raises-$375m-for-consumer-privacy-platform) [Deal Overview](#deal-overview-1) - [Investor Profile](#investor-profile-1) - [Company and Leadership](#company-and-leadership-1) - [Problem and Opportunity](#problem-and-opportunity-1) - [Product and Technology](#product-and-technology-1) - [Use of Proceeds and Vision](#use-of-proceeds-and-vision-1) - [Market Context](#market-context-1) - [3. Paraform Raises $40M For AI Recruitment Marketplace](#3-paraform-raises-$40m-for-ai-recruitment-marketplace) [Deal Overview](#deal-overview-2) - [Investor Profile](#investor-profile-2) - [Company and Leadership](#company-and-leadership-2) - [Problem and Opportunity](#problem-and-opportunity-2) - [Product and Technology](#product-and-technology-2) - [Use of Proceeds and Vision](#use-of-proceeds-and-vision-2) - [Market Context](#market-context-2) - [Lessons For Founders](#lessons-for-founders) ## 1. Nexthop AI Raises $500M For AI-Optimized Networking ### Deal Overview - **Stage:** Series B - **Sector:** AI Infrastructure - **Geography:** Santa Clara, California - **Round Size:** $500M at a $4.2B valuation (oversubscribed) - **Total Raised:** ~$610M ### Investor Profile Lightspeed Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz co-led the round. Lightspeed also led the company’s $110 million Series A, making this a strong double-down. Andreessen Horowitz has been aggressively deploying into AI infrastructure throughout 2025 and 2026, and backing the networking layer that connects GPU clusters fits squarely within that thesis. Previous backers Kleiner Perkins, WestBridge Capital, Battery Ventures, and Emergent Ventures also participated. ### Company and Leadership [Nexthop AI](https://nexthop.ai) was founded in 2024 by Anshul Sadana, who spent 17 years as COO of Arista Networks where he scaled revenue from zero to over $5 billion. Before Arista, he spent eight years at Cisco. Sadana holds patents in Ethernet latency and dynamic service insertion. The engineering team is drawn almost entirely from Arista alumni and FAANG supply chain veterans. ### Problem and Opportunity Every major AI training cluster needs low-latency, lossless networking fabric. Traditional networking gear from Cisco and Juniper was designed for general-purpose data centers, not the specific demands of GPU-to-GPU communication at scale. As hyperscalers like Google, Amazon, and Meta build out massive AI compute facilities, they need purpose-built networking that existing vendors aren’t delivering well. ### Product and Technology Nexthop builds networking hardware, software, and optics for hyperscale AI data centers. Its products support 800G and 1.6T deployments across scale-out, scale-up, scale-across, and front-end networks. The core technical bet is the Disaggregated Spine architecture, which breaks apart traditional monolithic chassis into independent functional tiers. The company claims this delivers 30% lower cost and 30% lower power consumption compared to legacy systems. Nexthop operates through a Joint Development Manufacturer model, co-designing custom solutions directly with hyperscaler customers. That means proprietary designs tailored to each customer’s exact cluster topology, not off-the-shelf hardware. ### Use of Proceeds and Vision The $500 million will go toward scaling product engineering, ramping R&D on next-generation platforms, expanding sales relationships with hyperscalers and NeoCloud providers, and accelerating delivery of custom networking solutions. Nexthop positions itself as the AI-era successor to Arista, purpose-built for GPU clusters rather than retrofitted from general-purpose switching. ### Market Context The total Ethernet switching market is projected to hit $75 billion by 2029, with a $35 billion cloud segment. Competitive peers include Aviz Networks, Nile, and Netris, though none match Nexthop’s depth of hyperscaler co-design relationships. Every major AI buildout creates structural demand for this type of infrastructure, making it less of a bet on one company and more of a bet on the category itself. ## 2. Cloaked Raises $375M For Consumer Privacy Platform ### Deal Overview - **Stage:** Series B - **Sector:** Cybersecurity / Consumer Privacy - **Geography:** Boston, Massachusetts - **Round Size:** $375M - **Total Raised:** Over $400M ### Investor Profile General Catalyst and Liberty City Ventures led the round, with participation from Lux Capital, Human Capital, Marquee Ventures, NFL Players Association, LG Technology Ventures, Assurant Ventures, and DuckDuckGo. General Catalyst has backed the company since its $4.25 million pre-seed. DuckDuckGo’s involvement is notable as a strategic signal from one of the most recognized names in consumer privacy. ### Company and Leadership Brothers Arjun Bhatnagar (CEO) and Abhijay Bhatnagar (CTO) founded [Cloaked](https://www.cloaked.com) in 2020 out of Lowell, Massachusetts. The company raised a $4.25 million pre-seed with backing from Peter Thiel, Lux Capital, Index Ventures, and The Chainsmokers’ Mantis Fund, followed by a $25 million Series A in March 2022 co-led by Lux Capital and Human Capital. ### Problem and Opportunity Consumers share real email addresses, phone numbers, and passwords with dozens of services, each of which becomes a potential breach vector. AI-generated scam calls and synthetic voice fraud are making traditional security tools obsolete. Identity theft, data broker harvesting, and credential stuffing attacks are accelerating faster than point solutions can address them individually. ### Product and Technology Cloaked creates masked identities: disposable emails, phone numbers, and passwords so users never share real personal data with online services. The platform bundles data removal from broker sites, identity theft insurance, VPN, dark web monitoring, and AI-powered call screening. The company has processed over 50 million scam calls through its screening system. It’s now expanding AI screening to texts, email, and browsing, and testing an AI agent that can take autonomous actions like auto-changing passwords on breached accounts. An enterprise product called Digital Workforce Protection is in development. The numbers back the traction: 10x growth last year, 350,000+ paying users, 10 million+ identities protected, and over 1 billion records removed from data brokers. ### Use of Proceeds and Vision Funds will expand the product suite across AI screening channels, grow the team in engineering and enterprise sales, support international expansion, and build out a global compliance framework. The long-term vision is an AI agent that acts as a personal privacy guardian, intercepting and responding to threats automatically without user intervention. ### Market Context Identity protection, VPN, data broker removal, and dark web monitoring are each multi-billion dollar segments. Cloaked is consolidating all of them into a single platform. Competitors are point solutions: Norton LifeLock for identity, DeleteMe for data removal, 1Password for credentials, NordVPN for browsing. None offer the integrated bundle. The enterprise adjacency through Digital Workforce Protection opens a significantly larger addressable market. ## 3. Paraform Raises $40M For AI Recruitment Marketplace ### Deal Overview - **Stage:** Series B - **Sector:** AI / Recruitment - **Geography:** San Francisco, California - **Round Size:** $40M ### Investor Profile Investor details for this round were not publicly disclosed. The $40 million raise positions Paraform to scale its marketplace model at a time when AI-driven hiring tools are seeing intense demand from both startups and enterprises. ### Company and Leadership [Paraform](https://www.paraform.com) is a San Francisco-based company that has built an AI-powered recruitment marketplace connecting companies with specialized recruiters. The platform sits at the intersection of two large trends: the fragmentation of recruiting talent into independent and boutique operators, and the application of AI to match, screen, and accelerate hiring workflows. ### Problem and Opportunity Hiring remains one of the most inefficient processes in business. Companies struggle to find specialized recruiters who understand their specific technical domains, while independent recruiters lack the deal flow and tooling that large agencies provide. The result is slow hiring cycles, mismatched candidates, and wasted spend on both sides. ### Product and Technology Paraform’s marketplace uses AI to match companies with recruiters who have domain-specific expertise. The platform handles the coordination layer, from candidate sourcing through placement, giving independent recruiters access to quality mandates and giving companies access to a distributed network of specialists without the overhead of traditional agency contracts. ### Use of Proceeds and Vision The $40 million will likely be deployed toward scaling the marketplace on both sides, deepening AI capabilities for recruiter-company matching, and expanding the platform’s reach across industries and geographies. As companies accelerate AI hiring in particular, platforms that can surface specialized talent quickly hold a clear advantage. ### Market Context The global recruitment market exceeds $500 billion annually. AI-powered hiring tools are proliferating, but most focus on candidate screening rather than the recruiter marketplace model. Paraform’s approach of matching companies with the right recruiter, rather than the right candidate directly, creates a distinct competitive position in an otherwise crowded space. ## Lessons For Founders - **Infrastructure bets attract outsized capital.** Nexthop AI’s $500 million round shows that investors will write very large checks for companies building the physical and technical layers that AI depends on. If your product is a prerequisite for others to build, you’re in a structurally strong position. - **Bundling beats point solutions at scale.** Cloaked’s growth from masked identities to a full privacy suite, and now into enterprise, demonstrates that consolidating fragmented tools into one platform creates both user stickiness and pricing power. If your category has five competing point solutions, the bundler often wins. - **Founder-market fit still matters most.** Anshul Sadana spent 17 years at Arista building exactly the kind of business Nexthop is now scaling. The Bhatnagar brothers started Cloaked from a genuine personal conviction about privacy. Investors at this stage are backing founders who’ve lived inside their problem for years. - **B2B adjacency extends consumer runway.** Cloaked’s pivot from pure consumer privacy into enterprise Digital Workforce Protection mirrors a pattern where consumer traction validates the technology and enterprise contracts provide the economics. If you’re building for consumers, think early about what the enterprise version looks like.