Week Ending 09.08.19
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This week our corporate finance newsletter brings you the details on eight mergers and acquisitions, four initial public offerings, 16 funding rounds, three US government initiatives and nine executive moves in the world of AI.
Developments this week from companies we have been tracking over the past year include Palo Alto Networks, Splunk, Cogito, Tempus and AntWorks.
See more below ↓
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Palo Alto Networks, the Santa Clara, California-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it acquired Zingbox.
In July, Palo Alto completed the USD 410m cash acquisition of Twistlock, a shipping container firm. In June it acquired cybersecurity company PureSec for an unspecified amount and in March it acquired Demisto, the cybersecurity company using AI, for USD 560m in cash and stock.
Indegene, the Princeton New Jersey-based healthcare services firm using AI, said it acquired consulting firm DT Associates. Indegene spun off its digital marketing unit iON, which uses AI and machine learning, late last year.
Drift, the Boston, Massachusetts-based marketing platform using AI, said it acquired Giant Otter, the AI company.
Cloudera, the Palo Alto, California-based business software company, said it acquired assets from AI company Arcadia Data.
Rambus, the Sunnyvale, California-based AI chip maker, said it acquired Silicon IP. Rambus completed the acquisition of chip component maker Northwest Logic last week.
Prudential Financial, the Newark, New Jersey-based financial services giant, said it acquired Assurance IQ, an insurance technology company using AI, for USD 2.35bn.
Splunk, the San Francisco, California-based business software company using AI, said it acquired Omnition, which made a statement here. Terms weren’t disclosed. In August Splunk announced the acquisition of business software company SignalFx for USD 1bn in cash and stock.
US private equity firm Carlyle has acquired HireVue, the Salt Lake City, Utah-based facial recognition company focused on human resources.
FILINGS
Vir Biotechnology, the San Francisco, California-based company developing treatments for Hepatitis B and other diseases using machine learning, said it is raising a placeholder USD 100m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
Cloudflare, the San Francisco, California-based cybersecurity company using machine learning, is raising as much as USD 420m on the NYSE in an initial public offering of 35m shares at USD 10 to USD 12 each.
Clarivate Analytics, the London, UK-based data company using AI, said shareholders were selling 34.5m shares worth USD 608m at the time of the filing. The company trades on the NYSE.
Apex Technology Acquisition, the Burlingame, California special purpose acquisition company, refiled for a USD 275m initial public offering of 27.5m units at USD 10 each. The company plans to acquire software companies, including machine learning and artificial intelligence firms.
10x Genomics, the Pleasanton, California-based medical research firm, is raising USD 315m from the initial public offering of 9m shares at USD 31 to USD 35 each on the Nasdaq. The company said it plans to implement robotics into its workflow.
Other deals include Grishin Robotics Fund II and WeWork, which refiled after hitting a whale of controversy addressed here and here.
FUNDING
Clio, the Vancouver, Canada-based legal sevices firm using AI, said it raised USD 250m in Series D funding led by TCV and JMI Equity.
AU10TIX, the Nicosia, Cyprus-based identity verification and authentication platform using AI, said it raised USD 60m from US private equity firm TPG. Au10tix is a subsidiary of ICTS International, a security services firm started by former Israeli intelligence agents.
BigID, the San Francisco, California-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it raised USD 50m in Series C funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Ginger, the San Francisco, California-based mental health platform using AI, said it raised USD 35m in Series C funding led by WP Global Partners.
Cogito, the Boston, Massachusetts-based marketing firm using AI, said it raised USD 20m in an unspecified funding round led by New York Life Ventures. Cogito hired former Verizon executive Jim Nystrom as chief sales officer in August.
Loadsmart, the New York City-based logistics company using AI, said it raised USD 19m in an unspecified funding round led by Ports America, the largest shipping terminal operator in the US, and a venture capital fund run by European shipping company A.P. Moller - Maersk.
The company raised USD 21.6m in a Series A in October last year, which was also led by the A.P. Moller - Maersk venture capital fund, Connor Capital and Chromo Invest.
75F, the Burnsville, Minnesota-based building automation systems firm using AI, said it raised USD 18m in a Series A led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Climate Initiative.
Joblift, the Hamburg, Germany-based human resources company using machine language, said it raised €15m (USD 16.6m) in Series B funding that included investors such as RedLine, TruVenturo and DN Capital, according to Finsmes report.
Fyllo, the Chicago, Illinois-based marketing platform for the cannabis industry using AI, said it raised USD 16m in a seed funding led by K2 & Associates and JW Asset Management.
Kasisto, the New York City-based conversational AI company focused on the financial services industry, said it raised USD 15m in a Series B funding led by Rho Capital Partners.
Spirable, the London, UK-based advertising platform using AI, said it raised USD 7.3m in Series A funding led by Smedvig Capital.
Litmus Automation, the San Jose, California-based business services platform using AI, said it raised USD 7m in a Series A round led by Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation.
Lengoo, the Berlin, Germany-based based translation company using AI, raised €6M (USD 6.6m) in Series A funding led by Redalpine, according to Finsmes report.
RippleMatch, the New York City-based recruitment platform focused on recent graduates and using AI, raised USD 6m in a Series A funding led by G20 Ventures, according to a TechCrunch report.
Robocath, the Normandie, France-based robotic surgical systems maker, said it raised €5m (USD 5.5m) in an unspecified funding round led by Go Capital. The company also hired a new CEO, see People section.
Aural Analytics, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based speech analytics platform using AI, said it raised USD 4.3m in a seed funding led by Morningside Ventures and Tamarisc Ventures, according to a VentureBeat report.
LEGAL AND REGULATORY
The US Department of Energy announced the establishment of the AI and Technology Office, which is to act as a coordinating center for AI across the department.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is holding an AI summit this week for government IT officials, according to a FedScoop report.
The Pentagon’s newly minted AI center is creating a cybersecurity database, which will serve as the foundation for AI cyber defense tools, according to a Nextgov report. The Department of Defense also plans to hire an ethicist to oversee AI implementation, according to a report on the DOD website here.
PEOPLE
Faraday Future, the Los Angeles, California-based electric car maker using AI, said it is replacing CEO and founder YT Jia with former BMW executive Carsten Breitfeld. Jia will take on a new role of chief product and user officer.
Robocath, the Normandie, France-based robotic surgical systems maker, said it hired Lucien Goffart as CEO. The company also completed a new financing round. See Funding section.
Carbonite, the Boston, Massachusetts-based cybersecurity firm using AI, said it promoted John Post to COO, Chad Bacher to chief product officer and Hal Lonas to chief technology officer. All three were executives at Webroot, the cybersecurity company using AI, Carbonite acquired for USD 618.5m earlier this year.
Carbonite also said Scott Semel was joining the company from Information Builders as interim general counsel.
Fenergo, the Dublin, Ireland-based business services company focused on the financial services industry and using AI, said it hired Louise O’Connell as chief customer officer.
Tempus, the Chicago, Illinois-based medical services company using machine learning, said it hired Lauren Silvis as senior vice president of external affairs.
The company in August hired former Mt. Sinai executive Joel Dudley as senior vice president of research.
Tempus raised USD 200m in a Series F in June and raised USD 110m in a Series E from funds including T. Rowe Price in September last year. Tempus was started by Groupon cofounder Eric Lefkofsky.
iRobot, the Bedford, Massachusetts-based home cleaning robot maker, said it hired Keith Hartsfield as chief product officer.
Zignal Labs, the San Francisco, California-based marketing company using machine learning, said it promoted Jonathan Dodson to chief technology officer and Aaron Hayes-Roth to vice president of business and corporate development.
AntWorks, the Palo Alto, California-based AI services firm, said it hired Mike Hobday as senior vice president for Europe.
In November, the company hired Emma Beaumont as chief marketing officer. In August last year, the company raised USD 15m in a Series A from Japanese venture capital fund SBI.
Ladder Now, the Louisville, Kentucky-based insurance services firm using AI, said it hired David Pedersen as executive vice president of enterprise growth and strategy.
Centerline Digital, the Raleigh, North Carolina-based marketing company, said it hired Jerry Tomaiolo as executive vice president of digital media. Centerline said Tomaiolo is expected to bring AI and machine learning technology into the company’s suite of products.