Week Ending 06.02.19
OLIS ROBOTICS RAISING SERIES B FUNDING
PALO ALTO NETWORKS ACQUIRES TWO COMPANIES & UPLAND ACQUIRES KAPOST
MORPHIC FILES USD 86M IPO & GIGCAPITAL2 REFILES
SMARTRECRUITERS & TALKSPACE RAISE USD 50M
HEARTFLOW HIRES CEO & NEOLOGY BRINGS IN CFO
AND MORE ↓
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LATEST FROM EYE ON A.I.
Olis Robotics, the Seattle, Washington-based software developer, is raising an unspecified amount from a Series B funding, people familiar with the matter said.
The round should close later in the year and the company, which was spun out of the University of Washington, plans to hire a chief financial officer around that time as well.
Olis hired Tom Boyer as chief commercial officer last month to drive expansion. Boyer ran the government division of Virginia-based satellite communications firm Kymeta.
Olis software and its portable console can be used to operate robots in hostile environments, including in the deep sea, mining underground and chemical plants. Its machine learning processes allow robots to learn and adapt onsite and in real time. Read more
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Palo Alto Networks, the Santa Clara, California-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it acquired Twistlock, a shipping container firm, and cybersecurity company PureSec. In March Palo Alto acquired Demisto, the cybersecurity company using AI, for USD 560m in cash and stock.
Crestview, the New York-based private equity firm, said it completed the acquisition of steel mold and tooling firm Concours Mold. Crestview says it plans to invest USD 200m in building an integrated molding firm backed with machine learning capabilities.
Recorded Future, the Boston, Massachusetts-based cybersecurity company using machine learning, said private equity firm Insight Partners is acquiring a controlling interest in the company for USD 780m.
Upland Software, the Austin, Texas-based business software firm, said it acquired Kapost, the sales and marketing firm using machine learning.
Aware Ads, the Toronto, Canada-based marketing firm, said it acquired assets from machine learning firm AppThis.
FILINGS
Morphic, the Waltham, Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company developing treatments with AI for a number of medical conditions, said it is raising a placeholder USD 86m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
The RealReal, the San Francisco, California-based secondhand luxury goods retailer using AI, said it is raising a placeholder USD 100m from an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
Revolve Group, the Cerritos, California-based online apparel sales platform using AI, said it is raising up to USD 212m from an initial public offering of 11.8m shares at USD 16 to USD 18 each on the NYSE.
GigCapital2, the Palo Alto, California-based company planning to acquire AI and other technology companies, refiled for a USD 130m initial public offering of 13m units at USD 10 each. The company is a special purpose acquisition company, or a company with no assets raising funds to make acquisitions based on the strength of its management.
Slack, the San Francisco, California-based workplace communications firm, refiled for an upsized USD 196m NYSE listing.
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.
FUNDING
Tempus, the Chicago, Illinois-based healthcare services company using machine learning, said it raised USD 200m in a Series F. The round values the company at USD 3.1bn.
Trax, the Singapore-based retail marketing firm using AI, is raising USD 100m, according to a Bloomberg report citing CEO Joel Bar-El
Schneider Electric, the San Francisco, California-based power services firm, said its venture capital unit acquired an unspecified stake in AI software company AutoGrid.
Logz.io, the Boston,Massachusetts-based machine learning company, said it raised USD 52m in a Series D led by General Catalyst.
SmartRecruiters, the San Francisco, California-based recruiting platform using machine learning, said it raised USD 50m in a Series D led by Insight Partners.
Talkspace, the New York-based mental health company using machine learning, said it raised USD 50m in a Series D led by Revolution Growth. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps acts as a company spokesperson.
ApplyBoard, the Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario-based college application platform using AI, said it raised CAD 55m (USD 40m) in a Series B led by Californian growth fund Anthos Capital.
Kustomer, the New York City-based business services platform using AI, raised USD 40m in a Series D, according to a FinSMEs report.
BabbleLabs, the San Jose, California-based AI company, said it raised USD 14m in a Series A led by venture capital firms of Dell and Intel.
Altoida, the Houston, Texas-based health technology firm using AI, said it raised USD 6.3m in a Series A led by the venture capital arm of German pharmaceutical company Merck.
ID R&D, the New York City-based biometrics company using AI, said it raised USD 5.7m in a Series A led by GSR Ventures.
Stratio, the Lisbon, Portugal-based vehicle services firm using AI, raised USD 3.5m in seed financing from London’s Crane VC and LocalGlobe, according to a TechCrunch report.
Pitstop, the Toronto, Canada-based vehicle maintenance platform using AI, said it raised USD 1.5m in a seed round led by Ripple Ventures.
VuPulse, the Boca Raton, Florida-based digital advertising company using machine learning, said it raised USD 1m in a Series A led by Florida Funders.
Other deals include Mindsay, Arturo and Amadeus Code
And Japan’s Softbank is planning a second dedicated AI fund
PEOPLE
HeartFlow, the Redwood City, California-based healthcare company using AI, said it hired former Johnson & Johnson executive Dana Mead as president and CEO. Former CEO John Stevens will become the chairman of the board.
Neology, the San Diego, California-based vehicle toll and registration company using AI, said it hired former Boeing executive Charles Padgett as CFO.
My Ally, the Palo Alto, California-based recruitment services company using AI, said it hired former Apttus executive Mahesh Baxi as senior vice-president of customer success and machine learning operations.
OmniSci, the San Francisco, California-based data analytics company using AI, said it hired Allison Searle as vice president of sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It hired Laura Craig as vice president of sales, Americas and promoted Grant Halloran to the newly created position of chief commercial officer in April. Halloran was the chief marketing officer.
In October the company raised USD 55m in a Series C led by Tiger Global Management. NVIDIA, the AI chip maker, also participated. OmniSci was previously called MapD.
Babel Street, the Washington DC-based language processing firm using AI, said it hired Dave Dillow as director of publicly available information programs.
OneSpin, the Munich, Germany-based AI chip testing firm, said it hired Brett Cline as senior vice president of sales.
Wellness Matrix, the Los Angles, California-based subscription-model health and wellness website using AI, said it hired David Saltrelli as vice president of marketing.
LexinFintech Holdings, the Shenzhen, China-based consumer finance platform using AI, said it hired venture capitalist Min Xiao to the board of directors after Yibo Shao resigned.
Remark Holdings, the Las Vegas, Nevada-based business services company using AI, said it hired Stanford’s Dr. Elizabeth Xu to its board of directors after William Grounds resigned.
NexTech AR Solutions, the Toronto, Canada-based AR company focused on marketing, said former technology journalist Mike Boland is joining its advisory board. It recently also appointed Ori Inbar to the board.
Last week NexTech said it was raising CAD 1.8m (USD 1.3m) from the sale of three million shares with attached warrants.
In May it said it was acquiring an unspecified ecommerce firm for USD 2m in cash and stock as part of the acquisition of two unspecified ecommerce companies announced in March.