Week Ending 09.29.19
EYE ON A.I. GETS READERS UP TO DATE ON THE MOST CRITICAL FUNDING, CORPORATE AND REGULATORY NEWS WITH ORIGINAL CONTENT AND MEDIA REPORTS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE.
We kick off this edition of our weekly corporate finance newsletter focused on AI with our interview of InterVision COO Scott Drossos after breaking the news of its most recent acquisition.
Next up is half a dozen mergers and acquisitions that includes the third deal we have tracked from Exxe in three months. There were four filings this week in equity capital markets.
Of the twenty venture capital funding deals this week probably the most noteworthy were Fundbox and Unbable, which included funds from Microsoft and Samsung. Two startups from former Google and Facebook executives also raised funds.
Companies filled 18 executive positions this week. Ideanomics and GreyOrange continued hiring efforts we have been tracking. Sight Machine and Actifio continued the trend of pulling executives from established companies with hires of former GE and IBM executives.
Other companies we have tracked over the past year in the news this week include AppZen.
See all of this and more below ↓
InterVision COO Scott Drossos
Our Interview with InterVision COO Scott Drossos
InterVision acquires AI firm SeyVu marking the fifth acquisition in three years for the cloud computing company with more possibly on the way. Read more
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Exxe, the New York City-based venture capital firm focused on sectors including AI, said it acquired French DIONI Logistics Agri-Transport Services. The company has developed AI-related logistical technology.
In June, Exxe acquired commodities broker Flying Creek Trading in June, and in July bought Eastern European property company DHE for about USD 10m.
IIOT-OXYS, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based AI company, said it is acquiring Infinite Automation Systems.
Omnicom, the New York City-based marketing company, said it acquired Smart Digital, the AI marketing firm.
App Annie, the San Francisco, California-based marketing firm using machine learning, said it acquired Libring, the analytics company.
SS&C Technologies, the Windsor, Connecticut-based business services software firm, said it acquired financial risks and analytics assets from IBM.
EnPro, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based industrial product maker, said it closed the acquisition of LeanTeq, the Taiwanese semiconducter production machinery maker. One of LeanTeq’s specialties is equipment used to make AI chips.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the San Jose, California-based computing company, said it completed the USD 1.3bn acquisition of super computing firm Cray.
Core Scientific, the Bellevue, Washington-based AI company, said it completed the acquisition of Stax Digital.
FILINGS
BioNtech, the Mainz, Germany-based company developing cancer treatments using AI, said it is raising as much as USD 264m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq of 13.2m American Depositary Shares at USD 18 to USD 20 each. One ADS represents one share.
SeqLL, the Woburn, Massachusetts-based medical research firm using machine learning, refiled for an up to USD 8.64m initial public offering of 1.35m shares at USD 5.40 to USD 6.40 each. The company originally filed in May.
Peloton Interactive, the New York City-based fitness equipment and services firm using AI, saw its shares close 11% down on its first day of trading on the Nasdaq.
The company raised USD 1.2bn in an initial public offering of 40m shares at USD 29 each, the highest end of the indicative range.
Oportun Financial, the San Carlos, California-based financial services company using machine learning, saw its shares jump as much as 10% on their first day or trading on the Nasdaq.
The company and shareholders raised USD 93.8m from an initial public offering of 6.25m share at USD 15 each, the lowest end of the indicative range.
FUNDING
Fundbox, the San Francisco, California-based payments and credit network designed using AI, said it raised USD 176m in a Series C round funding and a USD 150m credit facility that included venture capital units of Germany’s Allianz and Japan’s MUFG.
Unbabel, the San Francisco, California-based translation platform using AI, said it raised USD 60m in Series C financing led by Point72 Ventures. Venture capital units of Microsoft and Samsung also participated.
Fivetran, the Oakland, California-based data and analytics firm using machine learning, said it raised USD 44m in Series B financing led by Andreessen Horowitz.
CrossBorder Solutions, the Tarrytown, New York-based tax services firm developing AI, said it raised USD 40m on in Series B funding led by Insight Partners.
Arceo.ai, the San Francisco, California-based provider of a cyber risk and insurance platform using AI, said it raised USD 37m in funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and San Francisco’s Founders Fund.
TigerGraph, the New York City-based AI services firm, said it raised USD 32m in Series B funding led by SIG, the private equity fund.
Body Visions Medical, the Ramat Ha Sharon, Israel-based medical device company using AI, said it raised USD 20m in Series C funding from unspecified investors.
Eko, the San Francisco, California-based cardiac health screening firm using AI, said it raised USD 20m in Series B funding led by ARTIS Ventures.
ZenBusiness, the Austin, Texas-based online platform that is transforming the way small businesses are created and run using machine learning, said it raised USD 15m round of Series A financing led its founder Ross Buhrdorf, the former CTO of HomeAway.
RedPoint Global, the Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts-based marketing firm using machine learning, said it raised USD 13.5m in an unspecified funding round led by Camden Partners.
Fiddler Labs, the Mountain View, California-based company developing software to explain AI decision making, said it raised USD 10.2m in Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Lux Capital. The company was started by former Facebook and Samsung staff.
Mednition, the Burligame, California-based clinical decision support firm using machine learning, said it raised USD 10m in a Series A led by Concord Health Partners.
Tastewise, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based restaurant analytics company using AI, said it raised USD 5m in a Series A led by PeakBridge. The company was started by fomer Google executives.
Hello Raye, the Boston, Massachusetts-based office design company using machine learning, said it is raising USD 5m in a seed round led by unspecified investors.
Other deals include Cowbell Cyber, Flowcast, Balto, CyberFortress, Cruisewatch and Noom.
LEGAL AND REGULATORY
Experts urged the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and & Technology to prioritize issues around ethics, bias and the increasing interactions between humans and robots, according to a report in Atlantic Media’s Nextgov.
Tech giant Amazon says it will put forth potential legislation for facial recognition, according to a Business Insider report.
U.K. government-backed report claims there are too few robots in the workplace, according to a story in diginomica.
PEOPLE
Kespry, the Menlo Park, California-based drone analytics company using machine learning, said it hired former Alteryx executive Langley Eide as COO and CFO.
Sight Machine, the San Francisco, California-based manufacturing services company using AI, said it hired former GE and Oracle executive Keith Hartley as chief revenue officer.
The company in April raised USD 29m in a Series C led by South Korea’s LS Group.
Job.com, the Austin, Texas-based recruitment platform using AI, said it hired Theo Rokos as chief revenue officer.
Actifio, the Waltham, Massachusetts-based data and analytics company using AI, said it hired former IBM executive Paul Forte as chief revenue officer.
Ideanomics , the New York City-based AI company formerly called Seven Stars Cloud, said it hired Zhu Jun as COO of its Mobile Energy Group, Li Hao as head of the smart energy division of the unit and Zhao Kang as head of financing and battery operations.
The company hired Conor McCarthy as CFO earlier this month.
In May, the company took control of Delaware Board of Trade Holdings after acquiring an additional 71.7% of the financial services firm. The company now holds a 98.4% stake.
In April, Ideanomics said it was acquiring a 51% stake in Malaysia's Tree Motion and a 11% stake in its parent, Tree Manufacturing. The parent is an electric vehicle maker and the Tree Motion subsidiary is the company’s sales arm.
Ideanomics also acquired SolidOpinion, the marketing firm using AI, in March. In September last year Ideanomics acquired FinTalk, the secure messaging service, and said it was taking a 10% stake in Asia Times, the news service. Ideanomics also said it entered into a share swap with Liberty Biopharma, which changed its name to HooXi. The specific details of the swap were not disclosed.
Enterra Solutions, the Newton, Pennsylvania-based marketing company using AI, said it hired former Goldman Sachs executive Kevin Cunningham as CFO.
Fision, the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based marketing company, said it hired Rubicon Software executive Alistair Hancock as chief technology officer. Rubicon has an emphasis on AI and machine learning investments, and the two companies said they have entered into an unspecified agreement.
Decision Resources Group, the Burlington, Massachusetts-based healthcare research and consulting company using AI, said it hired former IBM executive Girish Venkatachaliah as chief product and technology officer.
Fuze, the Boston, Massachusetts-based workplace communications platform using machine learning, said it hired Rob Scudiere as chief technology officer.
IntuitiveX, the Seattle, Washington-based life science consulting firm, said it hired Microsoft AI expert Desney Tan as senior advisor and chief technologist.
Signal Capital Partners, the London, U.K.-based private asset management firm, said it hired Kautilya Jain as chief data scientist. Jain previously oversaw AI and machine learning at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
GreyOrange, the Singapore-based logistical software company and robot maker, said it hired Monty Waltz as head of global sales & enablement.
In August it hired Jeff Cashman as senior vice president and global COO. He is to work out of the company’s US headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.
The company hired Terrie O’Hanlon as chief marketing officer earlier in August.
GreyOrange raised USD 140m in a Series C led by Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital in August last year. Japan’s Mitsubishi and Indian ecommerce startup Flipkart are also investors.
AppZen, the San Jose, California-based business services firm using AI, said it hired former eBay and PayPal executive Debashis Saha as vice president of engineering.
Earlier this month the company said it raised USD 50m in Series C funding led by Coatue Management. In November, the company raised USD 25m in a Series B led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, which also participated in the current round. A blog post from the company on the round is here.
SUBSCRIBE FOR THE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER.