Week Ending 10.27.19
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 corporate finance newsletter with an interview of Amplify.ai CEO and co-founder Mahi de Silva, who discusses plans for an at least USD 5m Series A and European expansion.
Next up is nine mergers and acquisitions, seven equity filings, two dozen funding rounds, a handful of government moves on AI and 12 executive moves.
Companies we have tracked over the past year in the news this week include Infogain, Databricks, BlackThorn Therapeutics, Notal Vision, Syncsort and ElectrfAI.
See all of this and more below ↓
Amplify.ai CEO and co-founder Mahi de Silva
Our Exclusive Interview with Amplify.ai
Amplify.ai plans to raise at least USD 5m in a Series A next year
The Palo Alto, California-based company plans to build out a European presence with a dozen staff, says CEO and co-founder Mahi de Silva. Read more
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
SHL, the London, UK-based recruiting company, said it acquired Aspiring Minds, the recruiting company using AI.
Onegevity Health, the New York City-based health technology company using AI, said it acquired Lab100.
Enghouse Systems, the Markham, Canada-based business software company, said it acquired Eptica, the French marketing company using AI.
Data Dynamics, the Teaneck, New Jersey-based data storage firm, said it is acquiring Infintus, the AI company.
Voyager Space, the Denver, Colorado-based holding company, said it is acquiring Altius Space Machines, the robotics firm.
Anywhere365, the Rotterdam, Netherlands-based business services firm using AI, said it acquired cloud computing and Microsoft Azure staff from Interchange.
Infogain, the Los Gatos, California-based IT consultancy using AI, said it acquired Revel Consulting.
Earlier this month the company acquired Silicus Technologies and hired Narayan Kamat as global head of data, analytics & AI.
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.
Llamasoft, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based supply chain analytics company, said it acquired AI company Opex Analytics.
Pennexx, the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based credit card company, said it acquired a prepaid debit card unit using AI from Triple 888.
FILINGS
Sprout Social, the Chicago, Illinois-based marketing firm using machine learning, said it is raising a placeholder USD 100m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq with a dual-class shareholding structure.
RAPT Therapeutics, the South San Francisco, California-based cancer research firm using machine learning, said it upsized to as much as USD 92m the amount it plans to raise in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq. The filing did not show how many shares the company planned to sell or at what price.
In July the company filed for an as much as USD 80m IPO of 5m shares at USD 14 to USD 16 each. The company originally filed a USD 86m placeholder.
Focus International, the Carson City, Nevada-based sensor and light meter maker using AI, said it is raising as much as USD 12m in an over the counter initial public offering of 2m shares at up to USD 6 each.
Fangdd Network Group, the Shenzhen, China-based real estate agent platform using AI, said it is raising USD 105m from an initial public offering of 7m American depositary shares at USD 13 to USD 15 each on the Nasdaq with a dual-class shareholding structure. One ADS represents 25 shares. The company filed a USD 150m placeholder earlier this month.
WeTrade, the Beijing, China-based travel company using AI, said it plans to raise USD 300k from the sale of 100k shares at USD 3.00 each over the counter in the US, where it is incorporated in Wyoming.
Other deals include Aptorum
FUNDING
Databricks, the San Francisco, California-based data analytics firm using AI, said it raised USD 400m in a Series F round led by Andreessen Horowitz.
In February Databricks raised USD 250m in a Series E also led by Andreessen Horowitz. Microsoft also participated. (See People section for the company’s latest hire)
Zoox, the Foster City, California-based company developing autonomous vehicles, raised USD 200m from a convertible note that will be part of a larger Series C round, according to The Robot Report.
Fabric, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based automated logistics platform, raised USD 110m in a Series B led by Corner Ventures, the venture capital firm spun out of DAG last year, according to The Robot Report. The company was formerly called CommonSense Robotics.
Instabase, the San Francisco, California-based business services firm using AI, said it raised USD 105m in a Series B funding led by Index Ventures, the London-based fund focused on AI.
IonQ, the College Park, Maryland-based company developing quantum computers, said it raised USD 55m in a funding round led by a venture capital unit of South Korean electronics giant Samsung and Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Capital. A venture capital unit of Google and Amazon also participated.
Total Expert, the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based marketing platform for the financial services sector, said it raised USD 52m in a Series C led by Canada’s Georgian Partners to deepen its use of AI.
Viz.ai, the San Francisco and Tel Aviv-based healthcare software developer, said it raised USD 50m in a Series B funding round led by Greenoaks, the technology-focused investment firm. A venture capital unit of Google also participated.
Shipwell, the Austin, Texas-based supply chain management firm, said it raised USD 35m in a Series B funding round led by Canada’s Georgian Partners to build out AI capabilities.
Triller, the Los Angeles, California-based music video app using AI, said it raised USD 28m in a Series B funding round led by Proxima Media, the film production outfit.
Signal AI, the London, UK-based marketing firm, said it raised USD 25m in a Series C funding round led by Redline Capital, the UK venture capital outfit focused on AI.
Augmedix, the San Francisco, California-based medical documentation company using natural language processing, said it raised USD 19m in a Series B funding that included Redmile Group, McKesson Ventures and DCM Ventures.
Aurora Insight, the Washington DC-based telecommunications industry services company using machine learning, said it raised USD 18m in a Series A led by Alsop Louie Partners and True Ventures.
Disperse, the London, UK-based construction industry services firm using AI, said it raised USD 15m in a Series A led by European venture capital firm Northzone.
Fairmarkit, the Boston, Massachusetts-based business services firm using machine learning, said it raised USD 11m in a Series A led by Insight Partners.
Firedom, the New York City-based cybersecurity company using machine learning, said it raised USD 10m in a Series A led by Two Sigma Ventures.
LabGenius, the London, UK-based drug researching company using AI, said it raised USD 10m in Series A financing led by New York City’s Lux Capital and San Francisco’s Obvious Ventures.
Young Alfred, the New York City-based home insurance shopping platform using machine learning, said it raised USD 10m in a funding round led by Gradient Ventures, an AI-focused venture capital unit of Google.
Speechmatic, the Cambridge, UK-based speech recognition software developer using machine learning, said it raised £6.35m (USD 8.1m) in a Series A funding led by Albion VC and IQ Capital.
Other deals include Tonkean, e.fundamentals, Pepticom, OctoML, HowNow and Voca.ai
And finally the World Economic Forum released a report on the advantages and downsides to companies moving quickly with AI
LEGAL AND REGULATORY
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced GBP 200m (USD 257m) in funding for PhD level education in AI, according to a ComputerWeekly.com report.
Two US Congressmen announced a bipartisan move to develop AI, Nextgov reports.
The US Air Force is seeking industry help in real-time battlefield management through AI, according to a Military & Aerospace Electronics report.
China plans to tackle fraudulent government data with AI, according to a report in the South China Morning Post carried on Yahoo!.
The Hong Kong police are using facial recognition technology amid ongoing protests in the city. Read the Macau Daily Times report here.
PEOPLE
Sonde Health, the Boston, Massachusetts-based company developing a voice-based healthcare technology platform, said it hired former AOL executive David Liu as CEO.
BlackThorn Therapeutics, the San
Francisco, California-based mental health analytics company using AI, said it promoted co-founder and COO William Martin to CEO. Last month it hired Monique Levy as chief strategy officer.
Notal Vision, the Manassas, Virginia-based medical diagnostics company using AI, said it promoted Kester Nahen to CEO. Nahen joined the company in August as chief commercial officer.
THINK Surgical, the Fremont, California-based robotics maker, said it hired Paul Weiner as CFO.
Databricks, the San Francisco, California-based data analytics firm using AI, said it hired former EY executive Dave Conte as CFO. (See Funding section for the company’s latest round)
Beyond Limits, the Glendale, California-based AI software maker, said it hired BP venture capital executive Meghan Sharp as COO. BP invested USD 25m in the company in 2017.
Wanderly, the Long Beach, California-based healthcare staffing company using machine learning, said it hired Joe Novello as chief innovation officer.
Sandvine, the San Jose, California-based machine learning company, said it hired former Oracle executive Adrian Fitzgerald as chief revenue officer.
CLARA Analytics, the Santa Clara, California-based insurance services firm using AI, said it hired Paul Kim as chief medical officer. CLARA is focused specifically on workers compensation
Syncsort, the Pearl River, New York-based business software developer using AI, said it hired former Cloudera executive Amy O’Connor as chief data and information officer. The company acquired SQData to build out its machine learning and AI capabilities last year.
ElectrifAi, the Jersey City, New Jersey-based AI company, said it hired former Tata executive Saroj Venkatesh as head of India and former IBM executive Nancy Hornberger as executive vice president and co-head of healthcare. Xian Sun was also promoted to head of China.
Earlier this month ElectrifAi hired Deron Hurst as senior vice president of federal government division. In July the company, which was formerly known as Opera Solutions, hired Edward Scott as CEO.
Payrailz, the Glastonbury, Connecticut-based digital payments company using AI, said it hired Gereen Langmeyer as vice president of payment products. In June, the company hired former Infosys executive James Kern as vice president, chief sales officer.
Automated Insights, the Durham, North Carolina-based business services firm developing natural language processing, said it hired Michael Soluri as vice president of sales.
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