This Week in Venture: High-Impact Bets on Finance, Healthcare, and Market Infrastructure

Key deals of the week (November 17 - November 21 2025)

Accounting Reinvented: Maxima Turns AI Into a Junior CFO

Maxima secured roughly $41 million across its Seed and Series A rounds, positioning itself as a leader in AI-assisted enterprise accounting. The San Mateo-based startup automates high-volume finance tasks like reconciliation, journal entries, month-end workflows — aiming to act more like a junior accountant than a rules engine. Investors including Redpoint Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Audacious Ventures, and Joe Montana see accounting as one of the last enterprise functions ready for modernization. 

Maxima, now valued at $143 million, will use the funds to expand engineering, strengthen compliance infrastructure, and scale deeper into enterprise accounts.

Family Offices Modernized: Asseta AI Builds the Backbone for Wealth Management

Asseta AI is tackling one of the most overlooked financial sectors: family offices. Despite managing trillions in global assets, these offices often rely on spreadsheets and legacy systems. Asseta AI is building a unified operational layer that automates workflows for transaction processing, reporting, accounting, and compliance. The $4.2M seed round, co-led by Nyca Partners and Motive Partners, will accelerate platform development, hiring, and integrations. 

By creating a modern backbone for family offices, the company aims to reduce operational risk and improve decision-making precision in a growing private-wealth landscape.

Lifordi Immunotherapeutics Receives Strategic Investment, Total Funding $112M

Lifordi Immunotherapeutics is applying antibody-drug conjugates to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, beyond the traditional oncology focus. The company secured a strategic investment from Sanofi Ventures, bringing total funding to $112M. Existing backers ARCH Venture Partners, 5AM Ventures, and Atlas Venture continue to support the team as it advances LFD‑200 through Phase 1 trials and prepares for Phase 2. 

The new capital will expand clinical programs, deepen immunology research, and strengthen scientific and regulatory capabilities — advancing targeted precision therapies for chronic conditions historically treated with broad immunosuppressants.

Vertical Market Breakthrough: GoTu Solves U.S. Dental Staffing Gaps

Meanwhile, GoTu Technology is tackling one of healthcare’s most persistent operational challenges: dental staffing. The company raised $45M to scale its marketplace, connecting hygienists, assistants, and associate dentists with practices facing chronic shortages. Led by Long Ridge Equity Partners with backing from institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, GoTu will use the funds to expand its licensed professional network, enhance platform capabilities, and reach new states — addressing critical gaps in a high-frequency, high-impact labor market.

KKR Sets the Pace: A $15B Bet on Asia’s Next Growth Cycle

KKR has begun raising $15 billion for its fifth Asia private equity fund — a vehicle that could surpass its target depending on LP demand. Early conversations began this week, and the firm is leaning on its track record across consumer, life sciences, financial services, healthcare, and industrials. The timing fits the broader uptick in Asian PE activity as improving public markets reopen IPO exits and assets in Japan and India become more attractive. KKR has already returned over $7.3 billion to investors this year, with roughly half of global PE distributions coming from Asia. Its prior Asia funds delivered 20%+ gross IRR, with the fourth fund returning 40% of capital by Q3. Recent realizations — including stakes in LOGISTEED, Seiyu, and JB Chemicals — reinforce the momentum. With $80 billion AUM in Asia, KKR plans to balance the new fund across Japan, India, China, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.

This week’s venture activity reveals a consistent theme: investors are prioritizing companies that modernize complex workflows and create operational leverage across finance, healthcare, and vertical markets. The takeaway for founders and investors: the next wave of growth favors those solving real-world, high-complexity challenges at scale.