Week Ending 10.13.19
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.
This week we kick off our weekly corporate finance newsletter focused on AI with our interview of two founders of Montreal education company Korbit Technologies, who discuss plans to generate revenue after a recent seed round.
Next up is a dozen mergers and acquisitions, seven equity filings and a Form D, 16 funding rounds, three government moves on AI and 13 executive moves.
Companies we have tracked over the past year in the news this week include Upland Software, Sonasoft, Kibo, Standard Cognition, Accenture, SparkCognition, Trace Genomics, Biodesix, Infogain and Protenus.
See all of this and more below ↓
Korbit Technologies CEO, CTO Iulian Serban on the far right and CCO, COO Ansona Ching to his left
Our Interview with the Founders of Korbit Technologies
Korbit Technologies, the Montreal based education firm using AI, plans to develop as many as 10 courses on a variety of topics in a push for revenue, co-founders Ansona Ching and Iulian Serban told Eye on A.I.
The company at the end of September said it had raised USD 2.1m in a seed round led by Khosla Ventures, the eponymous firm started by Sun Microsystems founder Vinod Khosla.
Read our entire story here.
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Converge Technology Solutions, the Ontario, Canada-based IT consultancy, said it acquired Essex Technology Group, a business services company using AI, for USD 10m in cash and stock.
SKF, the Gothenburg, Sweden-based industrial engineering firm, said it acquired Presenso, which uses AI to predict machine maintenance.
Dais X, the Greensboro, North Carolina-based middle market consulting and services firm, said it is merging its consulting and AI units.
Upland Software, the Austin, Texas-based business software firm, said it acquired Altify, an AI marketing firm.
Upland acquired Kapost, the sales and marketing firm using machine learning, in June.
Dedrone, the San Francisco, California-based anti-drone defense company, said it acquired DroneDefender.
Sonasoft, the San Jose, California-based AI company, said it acquired OPtimAIze.
In May it said it was acquiring AI firm E-Connect Software. In April Sonasoft said it completed the acquisition of Hotify, which makes AI software.
Alteryx, the Irvine, California-based data analytics company using AI, said it acquired Feature Labs.
In August Alteryx hired former CapitalOne and PayPal executive Amy Heidersbach as chief marketing officer.
At the same time Kespry, the Menlo Park, California-based drone analytics company using machine learning, hired former Alteryx executive Langley Eide as COO and CFO.
Kibo, the Dallas, Texas-based cloud commerce firm, said it acquired Monetate, the New York City-based marketing software company using AI. Monetate hired Lisa Kalscheur as chief marketing officer in June. In March, the company hired Richard Rivera as chief revenue officer and brought former AppNexus executive Brandon Atkinson in as COO in January.
New Frontier Data, the Washington, D.C.-based business services firm for the cannabis industry, said it acquired Zefyr, a marketing firm using AI, for USD 10m in cash and stock.
Nike, the Beaverton, Oregon-based shoe maker, has acquired TraceMe, the predictive sports app, according to a GeekWire report.
Standard Cognition, the San Francisco, California-based company developing automated retail check-out technology using AI, said it acquired the assets of computer vision company DeepMagic.
In July Standard raised USD 35m in a Series B led by EQT Ventures. Late last year, the company raised USD 40m in a Series A led by Initialized Capital, the early stage venture capital outfit.
In July Standard raised USD 5.5m in seed funding from existing investor CRV. It also hired former Macy’s executive Jon Nam as head of global operations and former Walmart executive Evan Shiue as head of corporate strategy and growth.
Accenture, the New York City-based professional services company, said it acquired Sutter Mills, a marketing company using AI, following on it acquisition last month of Spanish AI company Pragsis Bidoop.
In August, Accenture said it was acquiring Analytics8, the Australian data and analytics firm using AI. It acquired TargetST8 Consulting, which specializes in commercial lending with AI, in October last year.
In July last year Accenture acquired Kogentix, an AI and big data company, and Real Time Analytics Platform, a machine learning and neural networks firm.
A venture capital fund run by the professional services firm acquired a minority stake in Malong Technologies, the Shenzhen, China-based AI company, around the same time.
FILINGS
Fangdd Network Group, the Shenzhen, China-based real estate agent platform using AI, said it is raising a placeholder USD 150m from an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
China Liberal Education, the Beijing, China-based educational services firm using AI, said it is raising USD 8m from an upsized Nasdaq IPO of 1.3m shares at USD 6 each.
In August, the company said it planned to raise USD 7m in a Nasdaq IPO of 1.17m shares at USD 6 each.
BioNtech, the Mainz, Germany-based company developing cancer treatments using AI, saw its shares fall 5% on the first day of Nasdaq trading in a downsized initial public offering.
The company raised only USD 150m from the sale of 10m American Depositary Shares at USD 15 each.
BionNtech had originally planned to raise as much as USD 264m from the sale of 13.2m shares at USD 18 to USD 20 each. One ADS represents one share.
Vir Biotechnology, the San Francisco, California-based company developing treatments for Hepatitis B and other diseases using machine learning, saw its shares drop almost 30% on the first day of trading on the Nasdaq.
The company raised USD 142m from the sale of 7.1m shares at USD 20 each, the lowest end of the marketed range.
WeTrade, the Beijing, China-based travel company using AI, said it plans to raise USD 300k in an OTC market initial public offering in the US, where it is incorporated in Wyoming.
Other deals include Yield10 Bioscience, the Woburn, Massachusetts-based agricultural company using AI, Adynxx, which acquired Alliqua BioMedical in October last year, Bionik Laboratories, OLB.com and Kane Robotics, which filed a Form D.
FUNDING
Voyager, the Seattle, Washington-based venture capital firm focused on AI and machine learning, said it raised USD 100m in a fifth fund. James Newell at Voyager told Eye on A.I. the new fund has already participated in five funding rounds that raised as much as USD 8m each from a consortium of investors. Look out for our upcoming discussion with James on the opportunities and challenges of investing in the AI sector.
SparkCognition, the Austin, Texas-based machine learning firm, said it raised USD 100m in Series C funding led by March Capital Partners.
In September last year SparkCognition hired Vijay Doradla as chief business officer. Doradla was a director at Verizon’s venture capital arm. SparkCognition hired Sridhar Sudarsan as chief technology officer in July 2018.
Grammarly, the San Francisco, California-based writing assistance platform using AI, said it raised USD 90m in a funding round led by General Catalyst.
Clari, the Sunnyvale, California-based marketing company using AI, said it raised USD 60m in a Series D led by Sapphire Ventures.
DeepRoute, the Shenzhen, China based self-driving vehicle systems startup, said it raised USD 50m in pre-Series A funding led by the venture capital unit of China’s Fosun International.
Revel, the Seattle, Washington-based electric moped maker, raised USD 27.6m in a Series A led by Ibex Investors, according to a TechCrunch report. Toyota AI Ventures, an investment unit of the Japanese car maker, also participated.
Satelles, the Reston, Virginia-based satellite-based cybersecurity firm, said it raised USD 26m in a Series C funding round led by C5 Capital, a venture firm with an AI focus.
Einride, the Stockholm, Sweden-based autonomous, electric truck maker, said it raised USD 25m in a Series A round from investors including EQT Ventures and funds backed by Panasonic, Honda and Ericsson.
Citrine, the Redwood City, California-based AI company, said it raised USD 20m in a Series B funding round led by Prelude Ventures and Innovation Endeavors.
Descartes Labs, the Santa Fe, New Mexico-based data company using machine learning, said in a Medium post it raised USD 20m in a Series B-2 round of financing led by Union Grove Venture Partners. The company was spun out of Los Alamos National Laboratory and is developing a real-time digital Earth from satellite imagery. (See People section for the company’s latest hire)
Day One Ventures, the San Francisco, California-based early-stage investment firm focused on technology including AI, said it raised USD 20m for its first fund.
Sweepr, the Dublin, Ireland-based smart-home customer service platform using AI, raised USD 9m in a Series A funding led by Draper Esprit, according to a Finsmes report.
Umbo Computer Vision, the San Francisco, California-based autonomous vehicle security firm using AI, said it raised USD 8m in a post-A round led by Translink Capital and Susquehanna International Group.
LEGAL AND REGULATORY
The US government has blacklisted several Chinese AI firms over abuses against Muslim minorities. Read the Time story here.
The companies include Megvii Technology, the Beijing, China-based AI company, which filed for an at least USD 500m initial public offering in Hong Kong last month, according to a Reuters report. The Alibaba-backed facial recognition company works with governments and companies.
The blacklist has reportedly caused Goldman Sachs to reconsider involvement in the listing.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology also said it would review its work with the Chinese AI company SenseTime after it was also blacklisted. Read the Bloomberg report here.
The Spanish government released an AI capabilities map as part of an upcoming national AI strategy to be released early next year. Read the report in Science|Business here.
The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center in the US Department of Defense is pushing ahead with a new series of AI projects that are expected to be funded by Congress. Read the Bloomberg Government article here.
PEOPLE
Trace Genomics, the Burlingame, California-based agricultural technology company using machine learning, said it hired Dan Vradenburg as CEO.
The company raised USD 13m in a Series A in November last year from undisclosed investors. The company is developing tools for farmers using AI to increase crop yields.
Descartes Labs, the Santa Fe, New Mexico-based data company using machine learning, said in a Medium Post it hired Phil Fraher as CFO. The company was spun out of Los Alamos National Laboratory and is developing a real-time digital Earth from satellite imagery(See Funding section for the company’s latest round)
WithHealth, the San Diego, California-based telemedicine company, said it hired Steven Miyao, the former head of AI & analytics at financial services firm SS&C, as COO.
Biodesix, the Boulder, Colorado-based lung cancer diagnostic company using AI, said it hired James Jett as chief marketing officer.
In August it hired former AbbVie executive Robert Georgantas as senior vice president of research and translational science.
AtScale, the Boston, Massachusetts-based adaptive analytics company using machine learning, said it hired former GE executive Dustin Webber as chief security officer. The company is backed by Morgan Stanley.
HireVue, the Salt Lake City, Utah-based facial recognition company focused on human resources, said it hired Tom Benton as chief sales officer. HireVue was acquired by US private equity firm Carlyle in September last year.
MODE Transportation, the Dallas, Texas-based logistics company, said it promoted Homarjun Agrahari to chief data officer. He was the vice president of data science and machine learning.
TONIK+, the Los Angeles, California-based video marketing firm using machine learning, said it hired Lauren Wray as chief revenue officer and Chris Graham as chief product officer.
Infogain, the Los Gatos, California-based IT consultancy using AI, said it hired Narayan Kamat as global head of data, analytics & AI.
Earlier this month the company acquired Silicus Technologies. In May Infogain hired former Wipro and Oracle executive Jitinder Sethi as vice president of strategic solutions & chief enterprise architect. In September last year it hired former Wipro executive Kulesh Bansal as CFO.
Protenus, the Baltimore, Maryland-based healthcare compliance platform using AI, said it hired former AOL executive Brittany Keller as chief customer officer and former Verizon executive Amy Much as vice president of legal. In August it hired Monica Giffhorn as vice president of marketing.
Hyperscience, the New York City-based document processing company using AI, said it hired Nay Odutola as head of Europe and opened a London office.
Brillient, the Reston, Virginia-based business process management firm using AI, said it hired former US civil servant Ed Burrows as vice president of intelligent solutions.
Pre-Switch, the Campbell, California-based energy management firm using AI, said it hired Jason Cuadra as vice president of engineering.
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