Week Ending 05.26.19
CENTRALSQUARE ACQUIRES TELLUS
GUARDANT FOLLOW ON RAISES USD 300M & GSX NASDAQ IPO TO RAISE USD 230M
PEOPLE.AI RAISES USD 60M & SIEMPLIFY RAISES USD 30M IN SERIES C
US SENATORS PUSH BIPARTISAN AI FUNDING BILL
DIGITAL LOCATIONS BRINGS IN NEW CEO
AND MORE ↓
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MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Stefanini, the Southfield, Michigan-based technology services firm using AI, said it acquired Brazil’s TecCloud from Correa da Silva.
Alion Science & Technology, the Washington DC-based engineering services company using AI, said it sold its naval systems business unit to Serco for USD 225m.
CentralSquare, the Lake Mary, Florida-based public administration software maker using AI, said it acquired Tellus Safety Solutions.
FILINGS
Guardant Health, the Redwood City, California-based cancer testing firm using AI, said it raised USD 319.5m from the sale of 4.5m Nasdaq shares at USD 71 each.
GSX Techedu, the Beijing, China-based online tutoring company using AI, said it is raising up to USD 228m in an initial public offering of 19.8m American depositary receipts at USD 9.50 to USD 11.50 each on the NYSE.
Slack, the San Francisco, California-based workplace communications firm, said it increased the size of its NYSE listing to USD 196m.
Slack plans to start trading on June 20 and originally filed in April. The company itself will raise no new funds but current shareholders, which include CEO Stewart Butterfield and Japan’s SoftBank, have the option to sell shares they own.
The company said in the original filing it plans to continue investing in AI. Slack paid USD 43.3m in cash for AI communication company Astro Technology in September last year.
Personalis, the Menlo Park, California-based cancer testing company using AI, said it is raising a USD 115m placeholder in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
Change Healthcare, the Nashville, Tennessee-based healthcare technology firm using AI, refiled for a placeholder USD 100m initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
Mohawk, the New York City-based consumer goods company using AI, said it is raising up to USD 53.28m from an initial public offering of 3.3m shares at USD 14 to USD 16 each on the Nasdaq.
SeqLL, the Woburn, Massachusetts-based medical research firm using machine learning, said it is raising up to USD 8.64m from an initial public offering of 1.35m shares at USD 5.40 to USD 6.40 each.
NexTech AR Solutions, the Toronto, Canada-based AR company focused on marketing, said it was raising CAD 1.8m (USD 1.3m) from the sale of three million shares with attached warrants.
Earlier this month the company said it was acquiring an unspecified ecommerce firm for USD 2m in cash and stock. In March the company said it was acquiring two unspecified ecommerce companies. It recently appointed Ori Inbar to its advisory board.
ShotSpotter, the Newark, California-based gunfire detection company, announced a USD 15m share buyback.
In April the company said former Yahoo and Adobe executive Merline Saintil was joining the board of directors. In October the company moved into AI with the acquisition of assets from Azavea, which has developed technology it says can predict violence.
Other deals include China Index
FUNDING
People.ai, the San Francisco, California-based business services firm using AI, said it raised USD 60m in a Series C led by ICONIQ Capital. The company raised USD 30m in a Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz’s 16z fund in October.
Siemplify, the New York City-based cybersecurity company, said it raised USD 30m in a Series C led by software focused investor Georgian Partners.
Cardinal Analytx Solutions, the Palo Alto, California-based healthcare analytics company using AI, said it raised USD 22m in a Series B led by John Doerr.
Curetis, the Holzgerlingen, Germany-based medical testing company using AI, said it arranged EUR 6.5m (USD 7.3m) in debt financing.
MistNet, the Mountain View, California-based AI company, raised USD 7m in a Series A led by Foundation Capital, according to a FierceTelecom report.
Ravin.ai, the Haifa, Israeli-based autonomous vehicle inspection company, said it raised USD 4m in a seed funding led by Pico Venture Partners. A venture capital unit of RoyalDutch Shell also participated.
Hunter.AI, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based cybersecurity firm using AI, said it raised USD 5.4m in a seed funding led by YL Ventures and Blumberg Capital.
AI Venture Builder, the Miami, Florida-based startup incubator, said it plans to raise up to USD 2.5m to invest in AI.
Senso.ai, the Toronto, Canada-based financial technology firm using AI, said it raised CAD 1.5m (USD 1.1m) in a seed funding led by BreakawayGrowth
And two new AI-based exchange traded funds began trading on the NYSE, according to an ETFTrends report.
LEGAL & REGULATORY
US senators push USD 2.2bn AI development bill, according to a Nextgov report.
The government of Canada’s Ontario province cut spending to an AI program, according to a Global News report.
PEOPLE
Digital Locations, the Santa Barbara, California-based AI company, said it hired Rick Ellis as CEO.
Contentsquare, the New York City-based software company using AI, said it hired six new executive employees, including Todd Graber as global chief financial officer and Aimee Stone Munsell as global chief marketing officer.
The company raised USD 60m in a Series C led by Eurazeo In February.
Vital Data Technology, the Newport Beach, California-based healthcare payments company using AI, said it hired Doug Downing as chief operating officer.
Zylotech, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based marketing firm using machine learning, said it hired former Dun & Bradstreet executive Patrick O’Brien as chief revenue officer.
Celsius Therapeutics, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based cancer research company using AI, said it hired Greg Ryslik, as chief data officer, and Michael Boretti, as chief business officer.
Alorica, the Irvine, California-based marketing firm, said it hired former Verizon executive and AI expert Colson Hillier as chief marketing officer.
Namaste, the Toronto, Canada-based cannabis company using AI, said it hired Faraaz Jamal as vice president of marketing and strategy.
In March the company said it was acquiring a 49% stake in chocolate maker Choklat for USD 1.5m in cash. In December Namaste paid USD 250k for a 3% stake in Kief Cannabis. In October Namaste upsized a follow on offering to USD 51.75m from the original USD 45m.
The same month the company refuted Citron Research reports that a sale of US assets were to a related party under securities rules. Namaste acknowledged one action in progress by US regulators it did not identify.
DataProphet, the Cape Town, South Africa-based manufacturing services firm using AI, said it hired Brian Gillespie as vice president of global sales.
VisiQuate, the Santa Rosa, California-based healthcare analytics company using AI, said it hired Russell Siebert as executive vice president of growth.
sureCore, the Sheffield, England-based AI chip maker, said it hired Cedric Plomion as global sales director.
Q Analysts, the San Jose, California-based business services company using machine learning, said it hired Weunchoy Seng Teung as vice president of ground truth data services.
Criteo, the New York City-based advertising platform using machine learning, said it hired Geoffroy Martin as executive vice president and general manager, retail media.
Advisory appointments include Avellino Labs
Board appointments include Veritone, DXC Technology, Matrix Software and Jumptuit