Week Ending 07.21.19
BRAINWORKS SEEKS SERIES A
DODS ACQUIRES MERITGROUP
THUNDER BRIDE RAISING USD 300M IN IPO & OPORTUN RAISING USD 50M
LENDBUZZ RAISES USD 150M IN FUNDING & RECURSION GETS USD 121M IN SERIES C
EUROPEAN COMMISSION PUTS EUR 50M INTO AI RESEARCH
ELECTRIFAI HIRES CEO & STRADIGI AI HIRES FORMER CRAY EXEC
Q2 AI FUNDING NUMBERS
AND MORE ↓
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LATEST FROM EYE ON A.I.
Brainworks seeks Series A after closing a seed round last month.
The AI company commercializing healthcare technology plans to double headcount by the end of the year, according to a person familiar with the matter. Read more
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Dods, the London, UK-based intelligence, media and events company, said it acquired Meritgroup to extend its AI products and services.
Blue Prism, the London, UK-based business software platform, said it acquired AI company Thoughtonomy.
Integrated Specialty Coverages, the Harrison, New York-based insurer using AI, said it acquired Safebuilt Insurance Services.
Temenos, the Geneva, Switzerland-based banking software developer, said it acquired AI company Logical Glue.
FILINGS
Thunder Bride Acquisition II, the Great Falls, Virginia-based special purpose acquisition vehicle, said it plans to raise up to USD 300m from an initial public offering of 30m shares at USD 10 each. The company plans to invest in companies that include AI firms.
Castle Biosciences, the Friendswood, Texas-based cancer research firm using AI, said it is raising up to USD 53m from an initial public offering on the Nasdaq of 3.33m shares at USD 14 to USD 16 each.
Livongo Health, the Mountain View, California-based healthcare platform using machine learning, said it is raising USD 246m in an initial public offering of 10.7m shares on the Nasdaq at USD 20 to USD 23 each.
NeuroOne Medical Technologies, the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based company developing technological treatments for neurological diseases, said shareholders plan to raise as much as USD 29m from the sale of shares they hold in the company.
In September last year the company formed an AI advisory board to be overseen by Kip Ludwig. Ludwig runs the University of Wisconsin’s bioelectronic medicine lab.
Oportun Financial, the San Carlos, California-based financial services company using machine learning, said it is raising USD 50m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
Medallia, the San Francisco, California-based marketing company using AI, saw its shares jump 76% on the first day of NYSE trading.
The company said it and shareholders, which include venture capital fund Sequoia Capital, raised USD 325.5m from the sale of 15.5m shares in an initial public offering at three dollars above the USD 16 to USD 18 range they were marketed on.
The company and shareholders originally sought USD 261m from the sale of 14.51m shares.
In June 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.
UBTech, the Shenzhen, China-based robot maker backed by internet giant Tencent, said it is weighing an IPO in China, according to a technode report.
Other deals include Quest Solution and Intercorp Financial Services
FUNDING
Lendbuzz, the Boston, Massachusetts-based lending platform using machine learning, said it raised USD 150m in equity and debt in a funding round led by 83North.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals, the Salt Lake City, Utah-based biotechnology company using AI, said it raised USD 121m in a Series C led by Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust.
Near, the San Francisco, California-based marketing firm using AI, said it raised USD 100m from London’s Greater Pacific Capital.
ContractPodAi, the London, UK-based business software developer using AI, said it raised USD 55m in a Series B funding led by Insight Partners.
Amperity, the Seattle, Washington-based marketing firm using AI said it raised USD 50m in a Series C funding that included Tiger Global Management and Goldman Sachs.
AlphaSense, the New York City-based business services company using AI, said it raised USD 50m in a Series B led by Innovation Endeavors, which was founded by Google’s Eric Schmidt.
Notable, the San Mateo, California-based health technology company using AI, raised USD 40m in a Series B led by B Capital Group and LifeForce Capital, according to a VentureBeat report.
Flybits, the San Francisco and Toronto, Canada-based marketing firm using AI, said it raised USD 35m in a Series C led by Point72 Ventures. The company is focused on the financial services industry.
Neocis, the Miami, Florida-based dental robotics company, said it raised USD 30m in an unspecified funding round led by existing investor Mithril Capital Management.
LANDR Audio, the Montreal, Canada-based professional music platform using AI, said it raised USD 26m in a Series B funding led by a venture capital fund of Japan’s Sony, microphone maker Shure, Canada’s Investissement Québec and Fonds de solidarité FTQ. Warner Music also participated.
scale ai, the Montreal, Canada-based startup incubator, said it raised CAD 23.4m (USD 17.9m) in funding led by Quebec’s Ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale.
Exyn Technologies, the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based autonomous drone maker, said it raised USD 16m in a Series A led by Centricus. A venture capital unit of Japan’s Yamaha.
Gamaya, the Morges, Switzerland-based agricultural technology company using machine learning, said it raised 12m CHF (USD 12.2m) in an unspecified funding round led by India’s Mahindra & Mahindra.
Submittable, the Missoula, Montana-based human resources platform using AI, said it raised USD 10m in a Series B led by Next Coast Ventures.
RoadBotics, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based road assessment company using AI, said it raised USD 7.5m in Series A funding led by Radical Ventures.
DEARhealth, the Los Angeles, California-based chronic healthcare company using AI, said it raised USD 6.8m in Series A funding from Philips Health Technology Ventures, Vesalius Biocapital III and Health Innovations.
Lexion, the Seattle, Washington-based legal contract management company using AI, said it raised USD 4.2m in a seed funding from unspecified investors.
Dashmote, the Amsterdam, Holland-based AI company, said it raised GBP 2.8m (USD 3.5m) in funding from SPIA, Three Curve Capital and Gaomei Yunjing Investments.
Other deals include Source Intelligence, OceanEx and Augmentir
PEOPLE
ElectrifAi, the Jersey City, New Jersey-based AI company, said it hired Edward Scott as CEO. The company was formerly known as Opera Solutions.
NCI Information Systems, the Reston, Virginia-based defense industry services company using AI, said it hired Charles Hicks Jr. as executive vice president, CFO and treasurer.
CTBC Bank USA, the Los Angeles, California-based lender, said it hired Ming Lin Chen as COO to build out its AI capacity.
Stradigi AI, the Montreal, Canada-based AI company, said it hired Per Nyberg as chief commercial officer. Nyberg ran the AI unit of supercomputer maker Cray.
OJO Labs, the Austin, Texas-based real estate technology firm using AI, said it hired Chris Heller as chief real estate officer and Karen Starns as chief marketing officer.
The company in October hired former Google executive Peter Kappler as chief technology officer and Qingqing Ouyang as executive vice president of engineering. The company also acquired WolfNet Technologies, the real estate data company, in October.
MaxQ AI, the Tel Aviv, Israel and Andover, Massachusetts-based medical diagnostics company using AI, said it hired Tom Neufelder as chief technology officer.
EVOTEK, the San Diego, California-based data center operator using AI, said it hired Jaeson Galli as vice president of services.
Kingland, the Clear Lake, Iowa-based business software services firm using AI, said it hired Ron Jordan as senior vice president, strategic accounts and partnerships.
Other hiring include Varsity Tutors and Esperian
DATA
AI companies placed second in the second quarter in terms of venture capital funding at USD 4.9bn behind financial technology with USD 5.1bn, according to a report from PwC/CB Insights Money Tree.
The two sectors were tied in terms of the number of deals. The largest AI related deal was San Francisco's Cruise Automation, which raised USD 1.5bn from General Motors, Honda and Softbank.