Family Offices Lean Into AI, FinTech to Kick Off 2026
Family office direct investment activity surged 43.5% in January from the prior month, as investors leaned into high-conviction bets, especially in information and financial technology. Where Dakota Marketplace data showed family offices making their bets in January closely tracked their strategic priorities, as outlined in J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s recent 2026 Global Family Office Report, which surveyed leaders from 330 family offices across 30 countries.
According to Dakota Marketplace data, family offices participated in 66 deals in January, up from 46 in the last month of 2025. Even as deal count increased month over month, the aggregate value of the transactions in which they participated dropped to $4.6B in January from $6.8B a month ago, underscoring a shift toward more selective capital deployment rather than broad risk expansion.
That selectivity is especially evident in artificial intelligence. “The promise of AI is profound, but family offices lack key exposure,” according to the JPM report. While 65% of global family offices plan to prioritize AI investments now or in the future, more than half report no current exposure to growth equity or venture capital, which often capture the most explosive innovation.
Investments by Sector
Family offices were most active in the financial sector in January, participating in 20 transactions. Activity was concentrated in fintech infrastructure and asset management consolidation. Notable family office investments included participation by Horizons Ventures, the private investment arm of Li Ka-shing, in a $150M Series D round for Alpaca, a brokerage API platform powering trading capabilities for fintech applications worldwide, and HEARTLAND, the holding company of Denmark’s Holch Povlsen family, investing in a $55M venture round for Nordic-focused digital personal and business banking platform Lunar Bank.
Information Technology ranked as the second-most active sector by volume, recording 11 transactions, but accounted for the lion’s share of total deal value during the month, as family offices prioritized strategic positioning in the artificial intelligence stack. Bezos Expeditions, the family office of Jeff Bezos, led the largest family-office-backed deal of January by investing in a $1.4B Series C round for Skild AI, which is developing AI systems for general-purpose robotics. The Bezos office also partnered with Emerson Collective, the investment and philanthropy firm founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, in a $480M seed round for Humans&, a startup focused on AI models designed to augment human workers.
Notable January Deals
A look at the largest family-office-backed deals during the month also showed family offices deepening their exposure to life sciences and industrial innovation. In healthcare, Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office and Michael Bloomberg’s Willett Advisors backed a $257M Series D for Cellares to scale cell therapy manufacturing, while Europe’s Sofina invested in digital health provider Oviva’s $239.1M Series D round. Parallel conviction emerged in “hard tech,” where IEQ Capital backed the $220M Series D for 3D metal printing firm VulcanForms, and The Friedkin Group backed RobCo, a developer of modular industrial robots in its $100M Series C round. The transactions underscore a growing appetite for tangible productivity solutions alongside digital assets.
Family Office Spotlight
Bezos Expeditions was founded in 2005 by Jeff Bezos as his personal family office to manage his venture capital and private investments. It is based in Mercer Island, WA, and has backed numerous high‑profile companies including Twitter, Airbnb, Uber, Stack Overflow, Business Insider, General Assembly, Workday, and others. It has also funded philanthropic and cultural projects such as the recovery of Apollo 11 Saturn V engines, the Clock of the Long Now, and innovation centers at museums and universities.
Among the largest family offices in the world with an estimated AUM of approximately $108B as of 2020 – now widely projected to be north of $200B – Bezos Expeditions emphasizes a diverse investment strategy that spans multiple asset classes and industries. Noteworthy for its involvement in alternative investments, the firm explores opportunities in venture capital, private equity, and space exploration, aligning investments with long-term potential and scalability.
Key Research & Decision-Making Contacts
- CEO and managing director Melinda Lewison has been with Bezos Expeditions for nearly 20 years, joining in July 2026. She holds a BA from Princeton and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
- CIO Stephen Campbell’s career has spanned a variety of roles, including investment research, product management, and financial technology, including founding and then selling financial software solutions provider Devonshire Technology to his former employer Fidelity Investments. Prior to joining Bezos Expeditions he was a managing director and head of the North America family office group at Citi Private Bank.
