Week Ending 12.15.19
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 exclusive interview with the CEO of AI startup consultancy Atrium.
Next up is 11 mergers and acquisitions, 10 equity filings, 29 funding rounds, 22 executive hires and financing data from Stanford University’s annual AI Index report.
Companies we have tracked over the past year or so in the news this week include DataRobot, Accenture, WalkMe, Ordr, Notal Vision, Augury, UiPath, Vesta, Abnormal Security, Sauce Labs and Urbint.
See all of this and more below ↓
And finally a note that the Eye on A.I. Finance Watch will be taking an end of the year break and will return on January 6, 2020. Enjoy the holidays.
Atrium co-founder and CEO Chris Heineken
Our exclusive interview with Atrium
Bootstrapped and built to stay that way
Two-year old AI consulting firm forecasts a 79% increase in revenue to USD 25m next year
Read the full story here
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Renesas Electronics Corp., the Tokyo, Japan-based supplier semiconductor solutions, said it acquired Reality Analytics, Inc. provider of embedded AI solutions.
Beyond Verbal and Healthymize, the Tel Aviv, Israel and Newton, Massachusetts-based healthtech companies using AI, said they are merging and renaming the combined company to Vocalis Health. The company is using voice technology to treat cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.(The company also raised new funding see the Funding section for details)
Qualitest, the London, UK-based software testing company, said it acquired machine learning firm AlgoTrace.
Uploadcare, the Vancouver, Canada-based cloud computing platform using AI, said it acquired Blinkloader, the imaging firm.
DataRobot, the Boston, Massachusetts-based machine learning company, said it acquired Paxata. DataRobot acquired ParallelM, the machine learning company, in June and raised USD 206m in Series E funding led by Sapphire Ventures in September.
GTS, the New York City-based trading platform using AI, said it acquired Barclays’ equity options unit.
Exponential Machines, the Berkeley, California-based AI business services firm, and PurpleLogic said they are merging and renaming the combined firm to Exponential AI. The rebranded company will be based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Acquia, the Boston, Massachusetts-based marketing firm, said it acquired AgilOne, the marketing firm using AI.
caresyntax, the Boston, Massachusetts-based surgical automation and AI firm, said it acquired Syus. (The company also raised new funding see the Funding section for details)
Acronis, the Schaffhausen, Switzerland-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it acquired 5nine.
TraQiQ, the Bellevue, Washington-based marketing firm using AI, said it acquired software developer Mann-India Technologies.
Accenture, the New York City-based professional services company, said it acquired AI and machine learning consultancy Clarity Insights.
Accenture acquired Happen, the consumer marketing firm using AI, and Sutter Mills, a marketing company using AI, in October. The previous month it acquired 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
Bill.com, the Palo Alto, California-based financial services platform for small and medium sized businesses using AI, saw its shares close up 61% on the first day of trading on the NYSE.
The company raised USD 216m from an upsized initial public offering of 9.8m shares at USD 22 each. The company was originally raising as much as USD 159m from the sale of 8.8m shares at USD 16 to USD 18 each.
EHang, the Guangzhou, China-based company developing autonomous air taxis, closed down one cent on its first day of trading on the Nasdaq.
The company raised USD 40m from an initial public offering of 3.2m American depositary shares at USD 12.50 each, the lowest end of the marketed range.
The company was raising as much as USD 46m from the sale of 3.2m American depositary shares at USD 12.50 to USD 14.50 each. Each ADS represents two shares.
Sprout Social, the Chicago, Illinois-based marketing firm using machine learning, saw its shares close down 2.4% on the first day of trading on the Nasdaq.
The company raised USD 150m from an initial public offering of 8.8m shares at USD 17 each, the midpoint of the marketed range. The company was raising as much as USD 158m from the sale of 8.8m shares at USD 16 to USD 18 each.
XP, the Sao Paulo, Brazil-based financial services platform using AI, saw its shares jump 28% on the first day of trading on the Nasdaq.
The company and shareholders raised USD 1.9bn in an upsized initial public offering of 72.5m shares at USD 27 each. The IPO originally was raising as much as USD 1.8bn from the sale of 72.5m shares at USD 22 to USD 25 each.
Shareholders in Livongo Health, the Mountain View, California-based healthcare platform using machine learning, raised USD 75.6m in a follow on offering of 2.8m shares at USD 27 each, a 2% discount.
The company raised USD 356m from an upsized initial public offering of 12.7m shares at USD 28 each in July.
Dusty Robotics, the Mountain View, California-based maker of automated equipment for the construction industry, raised USD 4.9m, according to a Form D filing.
Other deals include Mohawk, DUOS Technologies, Ecoark and Parallax Health Sciences
FUNDING
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220607006342/en/Wavemaker-Three-Sixty-Health-Closes-Fund-II-at-64-Million
WeLab, the Hong Kong-based financial services firm using AI, said it raised USD 156m in a Series C financing round that included a non-profit investment fund run by Alibaba and China Construction Bank (International).
WalkMe, the San Francisco, California-based business software company using AI, said it raised USD 90m in an unspecified round of funding led by Vitruvian Partners. WalkMe hired former Salesforce executive Kazuyoshi Michishita as representative director and country manager for the Japanese market in June.
IntelePeer, the San Mateo, California-based business communications platform using AI, said it arranged a USD 55m credit facility from TPG Sixth Street Partners.
caresyntax, , the Boston, Massachusetts-based surgical automation and AI firm, said it raised USD 45.6m in a financing round that included an investment fund, Whiz Partners, backed by Japanese drug maker Takeda and Japanese car maker Mitsubishi.
LeanTaas, the Santa Clara, California-based medical software developer using machine learning, said it raised USD 40m in a Series C3 round of financing from the merchant banking division of Goldman Sachs.
EdCast, the San Francisco, California-based business education firm using AI, said it raised USD 35m in a Series D financing round led by Avathon Capital. State Street also participated.
PrecisionHawk, the Raleigh, North Carolina-based drone software and AI analytics developer, said it raised USD 32m in a funding round that included Millennium Technology Value Partners.
Ordr, the Santa Clara, California-based AI company, said it raised USD 27.5m in a Series B funding round led by Battery Ventures. In October the company hired former Cisco executive Anthony Dumont as vice president of worldwide sales.
Observe.AI, the San Francisco, California-based call center services company using AI, said it raised USD 26m in a Series A financing led by Scale Venture Partners.
Synaptive Medical, the Toronto, Canada-based medical device and AI company, said it raised USD 25m in a funding round led by Linamar Corporation.
Notal Vision, the Manassas, Virginia-based medical diagnostics company using AI, said it raised USD 25m in a funding round led by Ganot Capital. The company promoted Kester Nahen to CEO in October. Nahen joined the company in August as chief commercial officer.
Game.tv, the San Francisco, California-based e-sports platform using AI, raised USD 25m in a funding round led by the venture capital unit of semiconductor maker Intel, according to a Finsmes report.
LeanDNA, the Austin, Texas-based inventory management company using AI, said it raised USD 15m in a Series B funding led by S3 Ventures.
FintechOS, the London, England-based financial technology company using AI, said it raised GBP 12.7m (USD 14.5m) in a Series A funding round led by Earlybird’s Digital East Fund and OTB Ventures.
Zippin, the San Francisco, California-based computer vision and AI company, said it raised USD 12m in Series A funding led by Evolv Ventures. The company’s technology enables cashierless checkout in the retail industry.
Sproutt, the Hartford, Connecticut-based life insurance platform using AI, raised USD 12m in Series A funding that included State of Mind Ventures, Moneta Capital, and Guardian Life, according to a Venture Beat report.
Current Health, the New York City-based healthcare industry services platform developing AI, said it raised USD 11.5m in a Series A led by MMC Ventures.
Vocalis Health, the Tel Aviv, Israel and Newton, Massachusetts-based healthtech company using AI, said it raised USD 9m from a syndicate of funds led by aMoon, Israel's largest healthtech and life sciences fund. The company is using voice technology to treat cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. (See M&A section for more details on the company)
Camino Financial, the Los Angeles, California-based lending platform developing AI, said it raised USD 8m in a Series A round led by Mexico’s Crédito Real.
Augury, the New York City-based healthcare services company using AI, said it raised USD 8m in funding from the venture capital unit of semiconductor maker Qualcomm. The company raised USD 25m in a Series C led by Insight Venture Partners in February
Aspen Neuroscience, the San Diego, California-based company developing treatments for Parkinson’s disease using AI, said it raised USD 6.5m from a seed round led by Domain Associates and Axon Ventures.
FlexPay, the Montreal, Canada-based financial technology firm using AI, said it raised USD 6m in a funding round led by Impression Ventures.
Other deals include Alice, ArthurAI, Bluespace.ai, Biotia, Rezilion, Morphio and XOKind
PEOPLE
Relation Therapeutics, the London, United Kingdom-based biotechnology research using machine learning, said it hired David Roblin as CEO and Lindsay Edwards as CTO.
Shree Partners, the East Brunswick, New Jersey-based business services firm using AI, said it hired Vic Pynn as CEO. Founder and former CEO Rajiv Dahiya becomes chairman.
D-Wave Systems, the Burnaby, British Columbia-based quantum computing company, said it promoted Alan Baratz to CEO. He was chief product officer.
Sabio, the London, England-based business services firm using AI, said it hired Jonathan Gale as CEO. Former CEO Andy Roberts becomes vice chairman.
CMR Surgical, the Cambridge, UK-based surgical robotics company, said it hired Per Vegard Nerseth as CEO. Former CEO Martin Frost becomes a non-executive director.
Plutoshift, the Denver, Colorado-based industrial services firm using AI, said it hired John Hoholik as COO. The company raised USD 8m in a Series A in September.
IDx, the Coralville, Iowa-based company developing diabetes treatments using AI, said it hired John Bertrand as CEO, Seth Rainford as president and COO and Danika Simonson as chief of staff. Michael Abramoff, founder and former CEO, becomes executive chairman.
Mindstrong Health, the Mountain View, California-based mental health company using AI, said it hired Brandon Trew as COO, Erik Albair as CTO, Kane Sweeney as vice president of data science and Dena Olyaie as vice president of marketing.
UiPath, the New York City-based robotics process automation company, said it hired Mandy Sebel as chief people officer. Last month UiPath hired former Google and SAP executive Chris Klayko as senior vice president of sales for the Americas.
In October the company acquired StepShot, the documentation software company, and Dutch software firm ProcessGold.
In September UiPath hired Chris Townsend as vice president of federal sales. In May, the company raised USD 568m in a Series D led by Coatue, the technology-focused hedge fund. It raised USD 225m in a Series C led by CapitalG and Sequoia Capital in September last year.
Vesta, the Lake Oswego, Oregon-based fraud protection and payments company using machine learning, said it hired Laura Stepp as chief people officer. The company hired Tan Truong as CIO in September.
Balbix, the San Jose, California-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it hired Rich Campagna as chief marketing officer.
One Concern, the Menlo Park, California-based disaster preparedness firm using machine learning, said it hired William Atkins as CFO, Ojas Rege as chief product officer and Hitoshi Akimoto as Japan country manager.
ThetaRay, the New York City-based AI firm, said it hired Edward Sander as chief product officer.
Abnormal Security, the San Francisco, California-based cybersecurity company, said it hired former Amazon executive Rami Habal as chief product officer. Last month the company raised USD 24m in Series A funding. The company was founded by former Twitter and Google machine learning executives.
State Street, the Boston, Massachusetts-based asset management company, said it hired former Diageo and Pepsi executive Brian Franz as chief information officer to develop AI and machine learning capabilities.
Sauce Labs, the San Francisco, California-based cloud computing company, said it hired John Patrick Kelly, former CEO at AI company Equeum, as chief technology officer. The company hired Aled Miles as CEO in October.
Urbint, the New York City-based company developing utility oversight systems using AI, said it hired former Salesforce and IBM executive Alison Graham as chief revenue officer. In November, Urbint acquired Opvantek, which makes software overseeing natural gas pipeline operations.
Other hires include Fidelis Cybersecurity, Pixability, TTEC, Influential, ShotSpotter and Bond Brand Loyalty
Data
In 2019, global private AI investment was over $70B, with AI-related startup investments over $37B, M&A $34B, IPOs $5B, and minority stakes valued around $2B.
Globally, investment in AI startups continues its steady ascent. From a total of $1.3B raised in 2010 to over $40.4B in 2018 (with $37.4B in 2019 as of November 4th), funding has increased at an average annual growth rate of over 48%.
Full AI Index 2019 report here
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