Week Ending 2.16.2020
EYE ON A.I. GETS READERS UP TO DATE ON THE MOST CRITICAL FUNDING, CORPORATE AND REGULATORY NEWS WITH ORIGINAL CONTENT AND MEDIA REPORTS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE.
This week our corporate finance newsletter starts with our exclusive interview with the two founders of AI driven asset management firm Rosetta Analytics, currently in talks to raise Series A financing.
Next up is eight acquisitions, three equity filings, 18 funding rounds, a handful of regulatory moves and 17 executive hires in the AI sector.
Companies we have tracked over the past year or so in the news this week include TTEC, Fenergo, Innovaccer, Aiera, Cognex, Sonasoft, DataRobot, Exabeam, SentinelOne and Caris Life Sciences.
See all of this and more below ↓
OUR EXCLUSIVE THIS WEEK
Rosetta Analytics currently raising Series A financing
Illinois-based AI startup intent on shaking the asset management industry loose of the quants
Read the full interview with founders Julia Bonafede and Angelo Calvello here.
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Brooks Automation, the Chelmsford, Massachusetts-based medical industry services firm, said it acquired RURO for USD 15m. Brooks develops robotics systems for cold storage at drug development facilities.
SOS International, the Reston, Virginia-based defense industry services firm using deep learning, said it acquired Danish software developer NorthStar Systems.
Square, the San Francisco, California-based payments company, said it acquired Dessa, the Toronto, Canada-based company that has developed “deep fake” detection systems.
E-Source, the Boulder, Colorado-based consulting firm for utilities using AI, said it acquired TROVE Predictive Data Science, the business services firm using AI. The company also acquired UtilitWorks Consulting. E-Source is owned by private equity firm Align Capital Partners.
TTEC Holdings, the Denver, Colorado-based marketing firm using AI, said it acquired Serendebyte, another marketing firm using AI. In December, the company hired Jonathan Lerner as president of its digital unit.
BP business development unit Launchpad, acquired Fotech, the French fiber optics maker using AI, according to an Offshore Technology report.
mCloud Technologies, the Vancouver, Canada-based building services firm using AI, said it is acquiring BuildingIQ.
Wellin5, the Sacramento, California-based mental health counseling platform using AI, said it acquired mental health startup Therachat.
FILINGS
It was fairly quiet in the equity market apart from dMY Technology. The blank check company is raising USD 230m in an initial public offering of 23m units at USD 10 each.
It touts its management expertise in fields like AI and big data but the Las Vegas-based firm doesn’t actually commit to an actual strategy of investment in the sectors.
Other filings include Ideanomics and Bio Essence
FUNDING
Fenergo, the Dublin, Ireland-based business services company focused on the financial services industry and using AI, said it raised USD 80m in a funding round that included DXC and a venture capital arm of Dutch bank ABN Amro. In September, Fenergo hired Louise O’Connell as chief customer officer.
Innovaccer, the San Francisco, California-based healthcare technology company using AI, raised USD 70m in a Series C that included Steadview Capital, Tiger Global, Mubadala and Microsoft’s venture fund M12, according to a NewsWire report.
In December, the company hired former Kaiser Permanente executive Mike Sutten as chief digital officer.
Carbon Relay, the Boston, Massachusetts-based IT services firm using machine learning, said it raised USD 63m in a funding round led by Insight Partners.
Hazelcast, the San Mateo, California-based data storage company using machine learning, said it raised USD 50m in a Series D round that included a venture arm of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Deep Instinct, the New York City-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it raised USD 43m in a Series C funding round led by Millennium New Horizons. South Korea’s LG and NIVIDIA also participated. HP and Samsung invested previously.
Intuition Robotics, the Ramat Gan, Israel-based digital assistant developer using AI, said it raised USD 36m in a Series B funding led by SPARX Group and OurCrowd. Venture capital units of Toyotya, Samsung and Bloomberg also participated.
CybelAngel, the Paris-based cybersecurity firm using AI, said it raised USD 36m in a Series B funding round led by Dutch venture capital firm Prime Ventures and London’s Tempocap.
MoEngage, the Jakarta, Indonesia-based marketing firm using AI, said it raised USD 25m in a Series C funding led by Eight Roads Ventures.
Sixgill, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based cybersecurity firm using AI, said it raised USD 15m in a second funding round led by Sonae IM and REV Venture Partners.
Docugami, the Seattle, Washington-based business services firm using natural language processing and image recognition, said it raised USD 10m in a seed funding round led by venture capital fund SignalFire.
SteelEye, the London, UK-based financial industry compliance and analytics company using AI, said it raised USD 10m in a Series A funding round led by Fidelity Investments-backed Eight Roads.
Aiera, the New York City-based asset management industry services firm using machine learning, said it raised USD 7m in funding round led by Fin Venture Capital. Macquarie, Franklin Templeton and a venture unit of Citigroup also participated.
In December 2018, the company raised USD 3.5m in a seed funding round led by Flybridge Capital Partners.
AnChain.AI, the San Jose, California-based security and compliance services firm, raised USD 4.3m in a pre- Series A round led by Amino Capital and Susquehanna International, according to a Finsmes report.
Other deals include Shippeo, AdQuick.com, Databook, n2uitive and Docsynk
LEGAL AND REGULATORY
US President Donald Trump is doubling nondefense research-and-development spending on artificial intelligence and quantum information sciences as part of the proposed federal budget, according to a Federal News Network report.
PEOPLE
Cognex, the Natick, Massachusetts-based machine vision company, said it hired former Levi Strauss executive Paul Todgham as CFO. In November, the company announced an up to USD 200m buyback.
Sonasoft, the San Jose, California-based AI company, said it hired Rob Baumert as CFO.
In October last year, the company acquired OPtimAIze. In May it said it was acquiring AI firm E-Connect Software and in April Sonasoft said it completed the acquisition of Hotify, which makes AI software.
DataRobot, the Boston, Massachusetts-based machine learning company, said it hired former AppDynamics executive Dan Wright as president and COO.
In December, the company acquired Paxata and ParallelM, the machine learning company, in June. It raised USD 206m in Series E funding led by Sapphire Ventures in September.
Netradyne, the San Diego, California-based transportation industry services firm using computer vision and deep learning, said it hired Michael DiNucci as chief revenue officer.
Terbium Labs, the Baltimore, Maryland-based cybersecurity company using machine learning, said it hired Ayesha Prakash as chief revenue officer.
Indrasoft, the Reston, Virginia-based IT, AI and machine learning services firm, said it hired John Luongo as chief growth officer. The company’s clients are the US Department of Defense and other federal agencies.
RapidDeploy, the Austin, Texas-based ‘first responders’ software developer using AI, said it hired Kimberly Storin as chief market officer.
Exabeam, the San Mateo, California-based cybersecurity firm using machine learning, said it hired Jeff Romano as chief customer success officer. In July, the company acquired Israel’s SkyFormation.
SentinelOne, the Mountain View, California-based cybersecurity firm using AI, said it hired Mark Parrinello as senior vice president of global sales. The company hired Daniel Kollberg as vice president Europe, the Middle East, and Africa earlier this month.
Revionics, the Austin, Texas-based marketing firm using machine learning, said it hired Jonathan Dampier as senior vice president of global marketing and Mike Ryan as senior vice president of global science.
WINT, the New York City-based water management company using AI, said it hired Carrie Cox as vice president of sales in the United States.
Hy-Tek, the Columbus, Ohio-based robotized material handling company, said it hired Donnie Johnson as president and Mark Bruner as executive vice president of its integrated systems division.
Caris Life Sciences, the Irving, Texas-based healthcare company developing cancer treatments using AI, said it hired Matthew Oberley as executive medical director.
In May last year, the company acquired cancer research firm Pharmatech. Caris hired former CVS executive Joseph J. Frendo as chief operations officer in April. In the fall of 2018 it raised USD 150m in debt and convertible notes from TPG Sixth Street Partners.
Other hiring includes Amyris, One Network, Aviso and Riverside Research
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