Week Ending 5.3.2020
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 eight acquisitions, five equity filings, 34 funding rounds, some regulatory moves and 24 executive hires in the AI sector.
Read more below ↓
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Aimia, the Toronto, Canada-based operating a loyalty solutions business, said it acquired Kognitiv, whose proprietary AI, technology allows their partners to distribute and apply rewards via the Loyalty Capital Network.
Northern Data AG, the Frankfurt am Main, Germany-based provider of high-performance computing solutions using AI, said it acquired Kelvin Emtech Group.
NexTech AR Solutions, the Toronto, Canada-based AR and AI company, said it acquired Jolokia, a virtual events, remote video training, and live streaming software company.
Arcadia.io, the Burlington, Massachusetts-based health care analytics firm using machine learning, acquired selected assets of the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, according to a IT Business Net report.
24Tidy, the Shanghai, China-based online washing brand using AI, said it acquired Tiantian Laundry.
Scopely, the Culver City, California-based interactive entertainment and mobile games company using machine learning, acquired PierPlay, according to a VentureBeat report.
NetApp, the Sunnyvale, California-based in cloud data services using AI, said it acquired CloudJumper.
Rapid7, the Boston, Massachusetts-based provider of security analytics and automation, said it has entered into an agreement to acquire DivvyCloud Corporation, a cloud security posture management company. The acquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of 2020.
FILINGS
Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. II, the Palo Alto, California-based blank check company focused on acquisitions in industries including AI, saw its shares close up 2 percent in its first week of trading. The company raised USD $360 million from the upsized initial public offering of 36 million units at USD $10 each. The company had originally planned to raise USD $300 million.
Last week, Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. III raised USD $720 million from an upsized initial public offering. Its shares are up 1 percent since.
Both companies had originally been scheduled to start trading in March but had been postponed because of market volatility.
The original blank check Social Capital Hedosophia Holding Corp merged with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic last year.
Novus Capital Corp, the Indianapolis, Indiana-based blank check company targeting acquisitions in industries including AI, said it is raising USD $100 million in an initial public offering of 10 million units at USD $10 each.
Novus Capital Corp was founded in 2020 and plans to trade under the symbol NOVSU. Novus Capital Corp filed confidentially on March 26.
Kingsoft Cloud Holdings, the Beijing, China-based IT firm, refiled a placeholder USD $100 million Nasdaq IPO. The company is a unit of Chinese software developer Kingsoft. Smartphone maker Xioami is another shareholder. Kingsoft Cloud plans to use 25% of the proceeds to develop AI and other technology.
Other deals include UAS Drone and Greenpower Motor Company
FUNDING
Erasca, the San Diego, California-based company developing cancer treatments using AI, said it raised USD $200 million in a Series B funding round co-led by Arch Venture Partners and Cormorant Asset Management. This funding brings the total capital raised to more than USD $260 million. The company will use the funding to support clinical development of several hopeful cancer programs and further enhance in-house drug discovery pipelines.
ASAPP, the New York City-based AI software company focused on call centers, said it raised USD $185 million in a Series B funding round due to the coronavirus from John Chambers, former CISCO Systems Inc executive chairman and CEO, and John Doerr, legendary Silicon Valley investor, according to a The New York Times report.
Inceptio, the Shanghai and Wuhan, China, and Fremont, California-based autonomous trucking startup using AI, said it raised USD $100 million.
Pivot Bio, the Berkeley, California-based developer of microbial nitrogen tech for increasing crop yields using machine learning, raised USD $100 million in a Series C funding co-led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures (investment fund backed by Mukesh Ambani, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Masayoshi Son) and Temasek, according to a TechCrunch report.
Nexar, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based developer of vehicle dashboard cameras that aid in detecting road hazards using AI, said it raised USD $52 million in a Series C funding led by Corner Ventures with participation from Samsung NEXT Ventures and many others.
Mojo Vision, the Saratoga, California-based startup AR company developer of smart contact lens technology, said it raised more than USD $51 million in a Series B-1 funding round led by New Enterprise Associates. In March, the company raised USD $58 million in a Series B funding led by investors from HP, Motorola and Stanford University. South Korea’s LG Electronics also participated.
Dascena, the Oakland, California-based patient diagnostic tech startup using machine learning algorithms to enable early disease intervention, said it raised USD $50 million in a Series B funding led by Frazier Healthcare Partners. According to Dascena, the funds will support the advancement of diagnostic algorithm development engine to improve patient care outcomes.
Oriente, the Hong Kong-based startup focused on digital credit infrastructure tech using AI, raised USD $50 million in a new Series B funding round. According to TechCrunch report, funding was led by one of Hong Kong’s largest property developers, Peter Lee, and participation from Wix.com investors. In November 2018, the company raised USD $105 million in an initial funding round led by founders and a group of family offices including members of the Berjaya Group, JG Summit Holdings, Inc., and Sinar Mas.
Rome Therapeutics, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company targeting repeatome in drug development using machine learning, said it raised USD $50 million in a Series A funding led by GV and ARCH Venture Partners with participation from Partners Innovation Fund.
Robocath, the Rouen, France-based company that designs and develops cardiovascular robotic systems for treatment of vascular diseases, said it raised €40 million (USD $43 million) in a Series C funding led by MicroPort Scientific. In September 2019, the company raised €5 million (USD $5.5 million) in an unspecified funding round led by Go Capital. The company also hired a new CEO, (see the People section).
Brain Corp, the San Diego, California-based AI company creating transformative core technology for the robotics industry, raised USD $36 million in a Series D funding round led by SoftBank, according to a Mobile Robot Guide report. The funds will be used to expand Brain Corp’s growth into new robotic applications.
Taysha Gene Therapies, the Dallas, Texas-based developer of therapies to treat central nervous system (CNS) monogenic diseases using machine learning, said it raised USD $30 million in a seed funding co-led by PBM Capital and Nolan Capital.
Scopio Labs, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based advanced digital microscopy company using AI, said it raised USD $16 million, bringing its total funding to USD $30 million in a Series B financing round. This funding will aid Scopio Labs to expand commercial operations across human and veterinary care in the United States and Europe.
InsideBoard, the San Francisco, California-based digital change management software using AI, raised €25 million (USD $27.4 million) in a Series B round led by AXA Venture Partners, according to a Coverager report. The funding will support artificial intelligence-based product development aboard and in the United States.
Vida Health, the San Francisco, California-based provider of virtual care software for physical and behavioral health using machine learning, raised USD $25 million funding round led by Ally Bridge Group, with participation from Yahoo co-founder, Jerry Yang, according to VentureBeat report. In June 2019, the company raised USD $30 million in a Series C funding led by GuideWell Mutual Holding Corp, Teladoc Health and Workday Ventures.
Tecton.ai, the San Francisco, California-based operational machine learning platform that was created by the Uber Michelangelo platform team, said it raised USD $20 million in seed and Series A funding co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia.
Bigstream, the Mountain View, California-based provides hyper-acceleration software for big data and machine learning platforms, said it raised USD $19.1 million in a funding round led by new investor Xilinx and existing investor Cota Capital, Samsung and SK hynix.
Qoala, the Jakarta, Indonesia-based insurance-tech company that leverages big-data using machine learning, raised USD $13.5 million in a Series A financing round led by Centauri Fund, according to TechCrunch report.
BrainBox AI, the Montreal, Canada-based company utilizes AI and machine learning technology to optimize energy consumption, said it raised USD $12 million in a funding round led by Esplanade Ventures with participation from Desjardins Capital.
Sam Ramadori, chief business development officer, told Eye on A.I. in November the company was engaged in a funding round. Read the full story here.
Codota, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based AI pair programmer that helps developers create better software, said it raised USD $12 million in a funding round led by e.ventures, Khosla Ventures, TPY Capital, and Hetz Ventures, according to a Silicon Canals report.
Ontic, the Austin, Texas-based maker of a protective intelligence software platform that surfaces pre-incident indicators for acts of violence, mental health issues and behavior of concern using AI, said it raised USD $12 million in a Series A funding led by Felicis Ventures. In January, the company raised USD $4.65 million in a seed financing led by Silverton Partners.
Josh.ai, the Denver, Colorado-based AI company in the smart home automation space, said it raised USD $11 million in a Series A funding from unnamed corporate investors, according to a Medium report.
WindESCo, the Burlington, Massachusetts-based wind energy performance optimization company using machine learning, said it raised USD $10 million in a Series B funding round led by WAVE Equity Partners.
HeartVista, the Los Altos, California-based AI-assisted MRI analysis, said it raised USD $8.65 million in a Series A financing round led by Khosla Ventures. The funding will be used to build AI-guided musculoskeletal and neural packages.
Lifebit, the London-based platform for medical research using machine learning, said it raised €6 million (USD $7.5 million) in a Series A funding round led by Idinvest Partners, according to a Tech.eu report.
Corsight AI, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based maker of facial recognition software, said it raised USD $5 million in a funding round led by Awz Ventures, according to a Pymnts report.
Quros, the Seattle, Washington-based sales enablement and proposal management platform using AI, said it raised USD $5 million in a round financing led by WestRiver Group.
Relish, the Mamaroneck[SC3] , New York-based app for improving relationships using machine learning, said it raised USD $5 million in a Series A round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, according to a FinSMEs report.
Resistant AI, the Prague, Czech Republic-based company helps to protect AI systems from targeted fraud and manipulation using machine learning, said it raised USD $2.75 million in a funding round led by Index Ventures and Credo Ventures, according to a VentureBeat report.
Enview, the San Francisco, California-based geospatial data firm using AI, said it raised an undisclosed amount in a round of funding [SC4] led by BrightCap Ventures with participation from Ahoy Capital, Crosslink Capital and Skype co-founder Toivo Annus.
Other deals include Duolingo, Expertrons, NewsBytes and Walrus.ai
LEGAL AND REGULATORY
The UK’s Royal United Services Institute strongly recommends the use of AI by British spying agencies.
The US Department of Defense is racing to test and adopt AI solutions to help sift and synthesize massive amounts of data that can be leveraged by their human analysts and commanders in the field.
PEOPLE
AiCure, the New York City-based AI and advanced data analytics company, said it promoted Ed Ikeguchi, M.D. as its CEO, formerly the company’s president and chief medical officer in February. In November 2019, the company raised USD $24.5 million in a Series C led by Palisades Growth Capital, the technology-focused private equity firm based in Los Angeles.
Kalderos, the Chicago, Illinois-based healthcare technology firm using AI, said it promoted its current COO, Micah Litow, to the president. He will also continue as COO.
Arlo Technologies, the San Jose, California-based consumer electronics company using AI, said their CFO, Christine Gorjanc, will retire in June. Arlo’s senior vice president of finance, Gordon Mattingly, will take over the role of CFO once Gorjanc retires. Also, Dennis Aldover has been promoted to vice president of engineering.
Eventus Systems, the Austin, Texas-based anti-financial fraud company using AI, said it hired four seasoned professionals, Perry Barth as CFO, Dan Burton as vice president of engineering, Nolan Schiff as director of relationship management and Sharad Kumar as sales engineer. Last month, the company hired Eric Einfalt as chief strategy officer and David Mitchell as regional sales executive, North America.
Behavox, the New York City-based AI company, said it hired two veteran technology industry executives Neil Wu Becker as chief marketing officer and Derek Sidebottom as chief human resources officer. Last month, the company raised USD $100 million in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, although the Softbank fund hasn’t actually closed yet. In July 2019, the Telegraph reported Behavox was raising USD $100 million in an unspecified funding round from unidentified investors.
Stats Perform, the Chicago, Illinois-based sports technology company, said it hired Nancy Hensley as chief product and marketing officer. Hensley most recently served as chief digital officer of IBM data and AI. In January, the company hired Goodman Gu as vice president of AI, according to a Sports Video report. The company hired Jason Markworth as vice president of sales, Americas in October.
Ballogy, the Austin, Texas-based sports software developer, said it hired Mahe Zehra Husain as chief data scientist. Husain, will drive data modeling and machine learning projects to help athletes tune training and performance.
Genesys, the San Francisco, California-based in cloud customer experience using AI, said it hired three strategic additions to its executive team, Eva Majercsik as chief people officer, John Hernandez as senior vice president and general manager, and Raj Patel as senior vice president of cloud engineering and operations. Last month, the company acquired nGUVU.
UiPath, the New York City-based robotics process automation company, said it hired Thomas Hansen as chief revenue officer. In December, the company hired Mandy Sebel as chief people officer. Last month, UiPath hired former Google and SAP executive Chris Klayko as senior vice president of sales, Americas.
Abnormal Security, the San Francisco, California-based cybersecurity company, said it hired Kevin Moore as chief revenue officer. In December, the company hired former Amazon Alexa and Proofpoint product executive Rami Habal as chief product officer. Last month, the company raised USD $24 million in Series A funding from Greylock Partners. The company was founded by former Twitter and Google machine learning executives.
Solutionreach, the Lehi, Utah-based patient engagement solutions and innovation using AI, said it hired Dan Simenc as chief revenue officer. Prior to joining Solutionreach, Simenc served in leadership roles with 3M Health and McKesson.
Braid Health, the San Francisco, California-based AI-driven diagnostic imaging platform, said it hired Rajni Natesan, M.D., as chief medical officer.
Clearwater Analytics, the Boise, Idaho-based data and analytics firm, said it hired Warren Barkley as chief technology officer. Prior to joining Clearwater, Barkley held influential roles at Amazon and Microsoft.
EverQuote, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based online insurance marketplace, said it hired Lee Bossio as executive vice president of insurance data services. Prior to joining EverQuote, Bossio was the head of product and strategy for an Amazon subsidiary.
GRAIL, the Menlo Park, California-based healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early using machine learning, said it hired Satnam Alag, PhD, as senior vice president of software engineering. Prior to joining GRAIL, Alag was the vice president of software engineering at Illumina.
Beghou Consulting, the Princeton, New Jersey-based life sciences consulting firm, said it hired Janardhan Vellore as vice president to expand advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities. Vellore previously held leadership roles at Bayer and Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
Kount, the Boise, Idaho-based fraud prevention software developer using AI, said it hired Vikram Dhawan as vice president of product. In June 2019, the company hired Scott Klossner as CFO.
ReversingLabs, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based cybersecurity firm using machine learning, said it hired Erik Thoen as vice president of product management. Last month, the company hired Paul Ciesielski as chief revenue officer.
Neustar, the Sterling, Virginia-based cybersecurity firm using machine learning, said it hired Brett House as vice president of product marketing. In October, the company hired Brian McCann as executive vice president and president of security solutions, and Lee Kirschbaum as senior vice president of communications solutions and corporate business development.
ThousandEyes, the San Francisco, California-based internet and cloud intelligence company, said it hired Trevis Schuh as vice president of customer engineering. Also, the company has established the office of the CTO by appointing Cameron Esdaile as vice president of technology and innovation.
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