Week Ending 3.22.2020
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 features our interview with Tachyum co-founder and CEO Radoslav Danilak. The AI chip maker is planning to raise as much as USD 40m in the next quarter.
Next up is news on a dozen acquisitions, six equity filings, 19 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 ISC, AnyMind, NexTech, Tempus, Diligent Robotics, SecuLetter, MDLIVE, Zylotech, Rubrik, Catasys, Finastra, RubrYc, Aternity, Recursion, SparkCognition, Balbix and Apixio.
See all of this and more below ↓
Tachyum co-founder and CEO Radoslav Danilak
OUR EXCLUSIVE THIS WEEK
AI chipmaker Tachyum to seek commercialization funding in the second quarter
Tachyum, the Santa Clara, California-based AI chip developer, plans to launch an up to USD 40m funding round in the second quarter, says co-founder and CEO Radoslav Danilak.
About half the funding would come from government sources in Europe and Asia and the other half from the private sector, Danilak said.
The company raised USD 25m in a Series A led by private equity firm IPM Group in the middle of last year. The Slovak government also participated.
Danilak said they favor government funding for the easier valuation process and potential future customers. It does take more time, however, to raise state funds. “It’s about 10 times more paperwork,” the CEO said and the Series A took about six months longer than expected.
Read the full story here.
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Nylas, the San Francisco, California-based app maker, said it acquired June.ai, which analyzes sentiment in emails.
Integrated Specialty Coverages, the Harrison, New York-based insurer using AI, said it acquired Access Partners Insurance Services.
ISC acquired Safebuilt Insurance Services, Paramount General Agency and Paramount Acceptance Corporation last year.
Riskonnect, the Atlanta, Georgia-based business software developer, said it acquired Xactium, a business software developer using AI. Both firms are focused on compliance and business risk management.
VideoAmp, the New York City-based marketing firm, said it acquired Conversion Logic, a marketing firm using machine learning.
AnyMind, the Singapore-based marketing company using AI, said it acquired Pokkt, the mobile advertising firm.
AnyMind raised USD 13.4 million in a Series B led by Japanese messaging app Line and the Mirai Creation Fund, which is backed by Japanese car maker Toyota and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, in late 2018.
Alfresco, the San Mateo, California-based business services firm using AI, said it acquired Technology Services Group.
Thomson Reuters, the Toronto, Ontario-based media and business services conglomerate, said it acquired Pondera Solutions, an anti-fraud firm using AI.
Maven, the Seattle, Washington-based parent company of business media website TheStreet.com, said it acquired LiftIgniter, a content distribution firm using machine learning.
Zymergen, the Emeryville, California-based optical film developer using machine learning, said it acquired enEvolv.
Facedrive, the Toronto, Ontario-based ride sharing platform, said it acquiring HiRide for USD 3.5m.
Xalles, the Washington, DC-based payments firm, said it acquired MinervaWorks, an IT company using AI.
NexTech AR Solutions, the Toronto, Canada-based AR company focused on marketing, said it acquired Jolokai, a live-streaming company used in corporate training.
Last year, NexTech said it was acquiring two unspecified ecommerce companies. It said it was paying USD 2m in cash and stock for one of the companies.
FILINGS
Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. II and Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. III, Palo Alto, California-based blank check companies focused on acquisitions in industries including AI, refiled initial public offerings on the NYSE. Social Capital II is raising USD 300m and Social Capital III is raising USD 600m. The original blank check Social Capital Hedosophia Holding Corp merged with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic last year.
WeTrade, the Beijing, China-based travel company using AI, refiled for a shareholder sale of USD 991k to be raised from the sale of 330,337 shares at USD 3.00 each.
In October, the company said it planned to raise USD 300k from the sale of 100k shares at USD 3.00 each over the counter in the US, where it is incorporated in Wyoming.
China Liberal Education, the Beijing, China-based educational services firm using AI, refiled for an upsized USD 8m Nasdaq IPO of 1.3m shares at USD 6 each.
In August, the company said it planned to raise USD 7m in a Nasdaq IPO of 1.17m shares at USD 6 each.
Other deals include Ecoark and Vivint Smart Home
FUNDING
Tempus, the Chicago, Illinois-based medical data company using machine learning, said it raised USD 100m in a Series G valuing the company at USD 5bn. Investors included Baillie Gifford, Franklin Templeton, NEA, Novo Holdings and T. Rowe Price.
Tempus raised USD 200m in a Series F in June and USD 110m in a Series E from funds including T. Rowe Price in 2018. Tempus was started by Groupon cofounder Eric Lefkofsky.
UserTesting, the San Francisco, California-based marketing firm, said it raised USD 100m in a funding round led by Insight Partners. Some of the funds will be used to develop machine learning.
Ada, the Toronto, Ontario-based marketing firm, said it raised USD 44m in a Series B funding round led by Accel. Some of the funds would be used to deepen its AI offering.
RoadRunner Recycling, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based commercial recycling firm using AI, said it raised USD 28.6m in a Series C financing round led by e.ventures and Greycroft. Franklin Templeton also participated.
Mya Systems, the San Francisco, California-based human resources platform using natural language processing, said it raised USD 18.75m in a Series C funding round led by Notion Capital.
Pristine Surgical, the Manchester, New Hampshire-based medical imaging firm using AI, said it raised USD 18m in a Series C funding round led by Late Stage Venture.
Diligent Robotics, the Austin, Texas-based hospital robot maker, said it raised USD 10m in a Series A funding round led by DNX Ventures.
In October, the company raised USD 3m in seed funding led by True Ventures.
SecuLetter, the Pangyo, South Korea-based cybersecurity platform, said it upsized to USD 8m a Series B funding round led by Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Riyadh Valley Company, Korea Development Bank and Korea Investment Partners. UTC Investment provided the new funds.
In December, SecuLetter announced a USD 6m Series B aimed at building out AI applications.
Around, the Redwood City, California-based video conferencing firm using AI, said it raised USD 5.2m in a seed funding led by Floodgate and Initialized Capital.
Convizit, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based consumer data and analytics firm using AI, said it raised USD 5m in a seed round led by Pitango Venture Capital.
BluWave-ai, the Ottawa, Ontario-based energy industry software developer, said it raised USD 3.9m in a seed financing round led by Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a government backed investment fund.
Attestiv, the Boston, Massachusetts-based digital media validation platform using AI, said it raised USD 2m in a seed funding round led by Castle Island Ventures.
KingsCrowd, the Boston Massachusetts-based private capital markets ratings firm using AI, said it raised USD 1m.
Keenon Robotics, the Beijing, China-based company developing service robots, said it completed a new funding round led by Code Capital, Walden International and Shanghai S&T. The amount raised wasn’t disclosed.
And Starsksy Robotics, which was developing driverless trucks, shut its doors. One reason the company highlighted? Supervised machine learning just doesn’t live up to the hype.
Other deals include SHR, Honolock, Novi and The Org
LEGAL AND REGULATORY
The US government is calling on AI to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
PEOPLE
Chorus.ai, the San Francisco, California-based marketing firm using natural language processing, said it hired Jim Benton as CEO. Benton joins from Apollo.io, where he became CEO in June last year.
MDLIVE, the Sunrise, Florida-based virtual healthcare services platform using AI, said it appointed current president Charles Jones as CEO. It has also hired Christopher Shirley as CFO and Andy Copilevitz as chief operations officer.
The company hired Rachel Dvorken as chief legal officer and Cynthia McIntyre as chief revenue officer in January.
Zylotech, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based marketing firm using machine learning, said it hired Ernie Cormier as CEO and president. Founder and former CEO Abhi Yadav becomes chief technology officer.
In May, the company hired former Dun & Bradstreet executive Patrick O’Brien as chief revenue officer.
Rubrik, the Palo Alto, California-based IT company using machine learning, said it hired Dan Rogers, former chief marketing officer of Symantec, as president.
Rubrik acquired Opas AI last month.
Catasys, the Los Angeles, California-based healthcare company using AI, said it hired Brandon LaVerne as CFO.
The company hired Brian Kelly as senior executive vice president, product portfolio earlier this month.
Finastra, the London, UK-based financial services software developer, said it hired Gary Bischoping as CFO. Bischoping is a former executive at Dell, where he developed machine learning tools. He replaces Mark Miller, who stepped down for personal reasons.
In November, the company hired AI and machine learning specialist Lisa Fiondella as chief data officer.
ReversingLabs, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based cybersecurity firm using machine learning, said it hired Paul Ciesielski as chief revenue officer.
RubrYc Therapeutics, the San Carlos, California-based biotechnology company using machine learning, said it hired Ramesh Baliga as chief science officer.
In November, the company hired former Eli Lily executive Rakesh Verma as senior vice president, discovery and development.
Aternity, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based business software developer using AI, said it hired Jonaki Egenolf as chief marketing officer, Paul Gabrik as chief revenue officer and Sean Lannan as CFO.
Last month, the company hired Bill Hewitt as president and CEO. Hewitt was a partner at Beacon Equity Partners. Aternity is a subsidiary of Riverbed Technology, which is owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo.
Recursion, the Salt Lake City, Utah-based drug development company using AI, said it hired Shafique Virani as chief corporate development officer.
The company hired Imran Haque as vice president of data science and Sharath Hegde as chief scientific officer last year. It also raised USD 121m in a Series C led by Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust.
SparkCognition, the Austin, Texas-based machine learning firm, said it hired Curt Richtermeyer as executive vice president and Michelle Saab as vice president of marketing communications.
The company hired Jeffrey Lass as CFO and Vijay Doradla as chief business officer last year. The company also raised USD 100m in a Series C funding led by March Capital Partners.
Axon, the Seattle, Washington-based taser and body camera maker, said it hired former Amazon executive Yasser Ibrahim as senior vice president of AI.
Balbix, the San Jose, California-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it hired Shelly Morales as vice president of people.
In December, the company hired Rich Campagna as chief marketing officer.
Apixio, the San Mateo, California-based healthcare analytics company using AI, said it hired Bryan Lee as vice president of solutions.
In July, the company hired Tom McNamara as chief growth officer.
Other hiring includes Talview, InsiderTracker and Paradox
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