Eye On AI

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Week Ending 06.23.19

ICIMS ACQUIRES JIBE & FOODCHAIN ID ACQUIRES DECERNIS
THE REALREAL SEEKS USD 270M IN IPO & MEDALLIA FILES FOR IPO AFTER TWO ACQUISITIONS
MEERO RAISES USD 230M IN LATEST FUNDING & GOLDMAN SACHS LEADS USD 50M OPTIMIZELY ROUND
HEADWAY PROMOTES COO TO CEO & BENSON HILL HIRES FORMER CONAGRA EXEC AS COO
AND MORE ↓


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MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

iCIMS, the Holmdel, New Jersey-based human resources software services company, said it acquired AI-backed career site Jibe.

FoodChain ID, the Fairfield, Iowa-based food safety services company, said it acquired AI-backed food testing services company Decernis. FoodChain is backed by Paine Schwartz Partners, the agricultural sector-focused private equity firm.

Blue Prism, the London, UK-based AI company, said it acquired Thoughtonomy.

DataRobot, the Boston, Massachusetts-based business services company firm on machine learning implementation, said it acquired ParallelM, the machine learning company.

Exxe, the New York City-based venture capital firm focused on sectors including AI, said it acquired commodities broker Flying Creek Trading.

AutoStore, the Vats, Norway-based warehouse robot maker, was acquired by Thomas Lee Partners, the private equity firm, from EQT, another private equity firm. EQT will maintain a minority stake in the company and representation on the board.

Other deals include iRobot


FILINGS

The RealReal, the San Francisco, California-based secondhand luxury goods retailer using AI, said it is raising USD 270m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq of 15m shares at USD 17 to USD 19 each.

Medallia, the San Francisco, California-based marketing company using AI, said it is raising a USD 100m placeholder in an initial public offering on the NYSE. Earlier this month it acquired Israel’s Cooladata for its AI technology and in May said it was acquiring Strikedeck, a marketing firm using AI and machine learning.

Mash, the Helsinki, Finland-based financial technology company using machine learning, said it raised EUR 25m (USD 28.4m) from the sale of preferred shares.

Personalis, the Menlo Park, California-based cancer testing company using AI, lept 78% in its first day of trading. The company raised USD 134m in an upsized initial public offering of 7.9m shares at USD 17 each. It originally marketed 6.7m shares at USD 14 to USD 16 each.

Slack and Stoke Therapeutics also jumped in their first day of trading.

AnalytixInsight, the Toronto, Canada-based financial research platform using AI, said it raised USD 1.3m in a private placement.

Other deals filed during the week include Adynxx, which acquired Alliqua BioMedical in October last year, NexOptic Technology and Diagnos


FUNDING

Meero, the Paris, France-based photography platform using AI, said it raised USD 230m in an unspecified round led by Eurazeo and Prime Ventures.

Optimizely, the San Francisco, California-based digital marketing company using AI, said it raised USD 50m in a Series D led by a venture capital unit of Goldman Sachs, and another USD 55m in a line of credit from Bridge Bank.

Ironscales, the Tel Aviv and Atlanta, Georgia-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it raised USD 15m in a Series B financing led by K1 Investment Management.

TrueFort, the Weehawken, New Jersey-based cybersecurity company, said it raised USD 13.7m in a Series A funding led by Evolution Equity Partners. The company focuses on clients using machine learning.

NewtonX, the New York City-based search engine using AI, said it raised USD 12m in a Series A led by Two Sigma Ventures.

MakerSights, the San Francisco, California-based computer software company using AI, said it raised USD 8.5m in a Series A led by Forerunner Ventures.

Edge Case Research, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based autonomous driving services firm, said it raised USD 7m in financing led by Chris Urmson, co-founder and CEO of Aurora, and engineering simulation firm ANSYS. Venture capital units of Lockheed Martin and Liberty Mutual also participated.

SafeAI, the Milpitas, California-based autonomous vehicle software maker, raised USD 5m in a funding round led by Autotech Ventures, according to a TechCrunch report. SafeAI is focused on the mining and construction industry.

MediaJel, the Walnut Creek, California-based advertising technology company using AI, said it raised USD 2.5m in a seed round led by Merida Capital Partners.

PredictiveHR, the Boston, Massachusetts-based human resources platform using machine learning, said it raised USD 1m from angel investors.

Other deals include AnyVision, Text IQ, Humanising Autonomy and Vida Health


PEOPLE

Headway, the Santa Monica, California-based marketing platform using AI, said it promoted COO Luis Barrague to CEO.

MTX Group, the San Francisco, California-based business services company using AI, said it hired BG Weiss as chief strategy officer.

Experian, the Costa Mesa, California-based information services company, said it hired Oliver Wyman’s Shri Santhanam as executive vice president and general manager of global analytics and AI.

IronNet Cybersecurity, the Fulton, Maryland-based computer and network security company using AI, said it hired former Accenture executive Russell Cobb as chief marketing officer.

Analytical Wizards, the Edison, New Jersey-based analytics firm using machine learning, said it hired Mike Steward as chief digital officer and Kurt Mueller as chief marketing officer. The company focuses on the healthcare, life science and retail industries.

Benson Hill Biosystems, the St. Louis, Missouri-based medical research company using machine learning, said it hired former ConAgra executive Chris Wilkins as COO.

InsideSales.com, the Silicon Slopes, Utah-based AI marketing platform, said it hired Chris Harrington as COO.

Recursion, the Salt Lake City, Utah-based drug development company using AI, said it hired Sharath Hegde as chief scientific officer.

Komodo Health, the San Francisco and New York City-based healthcare company using AI, said it hired IBM’s Bill Evans as chief marketing officer.

German Accelerator, the Munich and Cambridge, Massachusetts-based trade and development company backed by the German government, said it hired New York University’s Marc Filerman as the CEO of its life science program.


EYE ON A.I. GETS READERS UP TO DATE ON THE LATEST FUNDING NEWS AND RELATED ISSUES. SUBSCRIBE FOR THE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER.