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 exclusive on the current SparkBeyond funding.

Next up, in a US holiday shortened week, is two mergers and acquisitions, three equity filings, a dozen funding rounds, a handful of government moves on AI and 13 executive hires.

Companies we have tracked over the past year or so in the news this week include Palo Alto Networks, Facebook, Vtex, Appier, Owl Labs, HighRadius and CUJO AI.

See all of this and more below ↓

Our Exclusive on the SparkBeyond Funding

SparkBeyond, the New York City-based AI firm, is planning to close a funding round currently in progress at the beginning of next year, according to a person familiar with the matter.   

The company declined to comment.

SparkBeyond has previously raised about USD 15m from UK businessman David Alliance, the founder of the textile company Coats. It is not profitable.

The company was founded in 2013 and currently has about 200 employees in New York, Israel, London, Singapore and Melbourne.   

That could rise to as many as 300 next year as the company builds out a concerted push into commercialization, including sales and client facing staff, while also maintaining growth in research and development, the person said.

Read the entire story here

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Palo Alto Networks, the Santa Clara, California-based global cybersecurity company using AI, said it is acquiring Aporeto for USD 150m in cash.

In September, Palo Alto said it was acquiring Zingbox, the AI using cybersecurity firm, for USD 75m in cash. 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.

Facebook, the Menlo Park, California-based social media giant, acquired AR game maker Beat Games, according to a The Verge report.

FILINGS

Focus Universal, the Carson City, Nevada-based sensor maker using AI, said it is raising as much as USD 12m from the sale of 2m shares at USD 4 to USD 6 each. The shares traded over the counter at USD 5 at the time of the filing. The company is uplisting to the Nasdaq.

EHang, the Guangzhou, China-based company developing autonomous air taxis, refiled for a placeholder USD 100m initial public offering on the Nasdaq.

Other deals include Huahui Education

FUNDING

Vtex, the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based cloud commerce platform, said it raised USD 140m in a funding round led by SoftBank's Latin America fund to leverage AI.

Vtex acquired ecommerce platform UniteU in January to deepen its US penetration.

Appier, the Taipei, Taiwan-based online marketing firm using AI, said it raised USD 80m in Series D funding that included a Temasek fund and JAFCO. Previous investors have included Alibaba, SoftBank, and Line, the chat app.

Over the last two years Appier has acquired QGraph and Emotion Intelligence, an AI marketing firm.

Pricefx, the Munich, Germany and Chicago, Illinois-based business services firm using AI, said it raised €23m (USD 25.3m) in a second round of a Series B financing led by Digital+ Partners and Bain. The full, two-part Series B now stands at €48m.

Deep 6 AI, the Pasadena, California-based medical research software maker using AI, said it raised USD 17m in a Series A funding led by Point72 Ventures.

Georgias, the San Francisco, California-based marketing firm using AI, said it raised USD 14m in a Series A funding led by Flex Capital.

Tookitaki, the Singapore-based financial services software maker using AI, said it raised USD 11.7m in an extended Series A funding led by Viola Fintech and SIG Asia Investment, two venture capital funds. The round has now raised USD 19.2m.

buguroo, the Madrid, Spain-based cybersecurity firm using deep learning, said it raised USD 11m in a Series A funding led by US venture capital firm Ten Eleven Ventures and Spain’s Seaya Ventures.

Coralogix, the San Francisco, California-based cybersecurity firm using machine learning, said it raised USD 10m in a Series A funding round led by venture capital fund Aleph.

Openly, the Boston, Massachusetts-based home insurance services company using AI, said it raised USD 7.65m in a seed round led by Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused venture fund.

SecuLetter, the Pangyo, South Korea-based cybersecurity platform, said it raised USD 6m in a Series B funding round led by Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Riyadh Valley Company and Korea Development Bank to build out AI applications.

Rossum, the London, UK-based AI company, said it raised USD 4.5m in a funding round led by LocalGlobe.

Rad AI, the Berkeley, California-based medical services company using AI, said it raised USD 4m in a seed round led by Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused venture fund.

LEGAL AND REGULATORY

Singapore is creating a dedicated AI unit to develop policy and create business partnerships, according to a report in the Global Government Forum. The unit, the National AI Office, will have S$500m (US$366m) to invest in nine sectors including healthcare, education, finance, cybersecurity, transport and logistics and national security.

Australia released an AI technology road map aimed at helping guide investment in the sector and accompanies an ethical framework the government published in April, according to a report in Open Gov.

China is using AI to make group arrests in the long standing crackdown in the western province of Xinjiang, according to a report in The Daily Wire.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered government agencies to replace public servants next year with AI in a bid to cut red tape, according to an Al-Jazeera report.

PEOPLE

Vala, the London, UK-based independent healthcare company, said it hired Pete Trainor as CEO to leverage his AI knowledge. He is the co-founder of Us Ai, a business consultancy.

Owl Labs, the Boston, Massachusetts-based teleconferencing company using AI, said it hired former Yahoo! executive John Stevens as CFO.

The company raised USD 15m in a Series B led by venture capital firm Spark Capital in April.

Grid Dynamics, the San Ramon, California-based business consulting firm using AI, said it hired Anil Doradla as CFO.

HighRadius, the Houston, Texas-based fintech company using AI, said it hired former Oracle executive Ken Laversin as chief revenue officer.

In September, the company hired Jon Keating as vice president and general manager, Europe, Middle East and Africa. In March, the company hired Natalie Fedie as vice president of consumer success.

Omega Healthcare, the Bangalore, India-based healthcare data services firm using AI, said it hired Sumit Sachdeva as chief growth officer.

Innovaccer, the San Francisco, California-based healthcare technology company using AI, said it hired former Kaiser Permanente executive Mike Sutten as chief digital officer.

Altimetrik, the Southfield, Michigan-based business services firm, said it hired machine learning expert and former Deutsche Bank executive Abhijit Sahay as chief technology officer.

Akerna, the Denver, Colorado-based cannabis compliance firm, said it hired data science and AI expert Ashesh Shah as chief technology officer. Shah was on the Akerna board and CEO of solo sciences, which Akerna is acquiring.

Lyte, the San Francisco, California-based ticketing technology platform using machine learning, said it hired Gregory Fulton as chief product officer.

Sinch, the Seattle, Washington-based marketing firm using AI, said it hired former Microsoft executive Vikram Khandpur as chief product officer.

Silverfort, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based cyberscurity firm using AI, said it hired Mathew Varghese as vice president of sales, America.

CUJO AI, the El Segundo, California-based AI company focused on the telecommunications industry, said it hired Kimmo Kasslin as vice president of laboratories operations.

The company raised an unspecified amount from the venture capital arm of Dutch telecommunications company KPN in 2018.

Socure, the New York City-based cyberscurity firm using AI, said it hired Rivka Gewirtz Little as senior vice president of marketing and strategy and Garient Evans as vice president of growth.

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