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 our corporate finance newsletter features our interview with AppZen co-founder and CEO Anant Kale and the company’s product expansion plans.

Next up is news on 17 acquisitions, six equity filings, 22 funding rounds, a handful of regulatory moves and 15 executive hires in the AI sector.

Companies we have tracked over the past year or so in the news this week include Invitae, Elsevier, Trax, Arctic Wolf, Applied Insight, Komodo Health, WalkMe, AlphaSense, Biodesix, Realeyes, Freshworks, Optimizely and CLARA Analytics.

See all of this and more below ↓

OUR EXCLUSIVE THIS WEEK

AppZen plans product expansion
Seeks 2000 clients as revenues double

AppZen, the San Jose, California-based business services firm using computer vision and natural language processing, plans to move into revenue and billing, according to CEO Anant Kale.

The company originally focused on employee expenses and then last year expanded its offering to contracts.

“We’re working on building out other use cases,” Kale says. “We’ve built a platform so it already has the understanding.”

Read the entire story here.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Invitae, the San Francisco, California-based medical genetic screening company, said it acquired Diploid, the Belgian firm using AI to detect genetic diseases.

In July, Invitae acquired Jungla, which also uses AI in genetic testing.

Elsevier, the New York City-based science and health analytics company, said it acquired Authess, which uses machine learning in human resource testing.

In August, Elsevier acquired AI company Parity Computing.

Finantix, the London & Zurich, Switzerland-based financial services firm, said it acquired InCube Group, the Swiss financial services firm using AI.

Unity, the San Francisco, California-based 3D development platform, said it acquired Artomatix, which uses AI in creating visual content.

Kantar, the London, UK-based market research group, acquired AI marketing firm Maven, according to a Campaign Live report.

Trax, the Singapore-based computer vision firm focused on the retail sector, said it acquired Survey.com.

Last month, Trax acquired European computer vision firm Qopius and in June acquired Shopkick. Trax, which is backed by Warburg Pincus, raised USD 100m in July.

WatchGuard Technologies, the Seattle, Washington-based cybersecurity firm, said it acquired Panda Security, the cybersecurity firm using AI.

RadNet, the Los Angeles, California-based medical imaging firm, said it acquired DeepHealth, which uses AI in mammograms.

OpenText, the Waterloo, Ontario-based business services firm using AI, said it acquired XMedius for USD 75m.

Amplitude, the San Francisco, California-based marketing firm using machine learning, said it acquired ClearBrain, a predictive analytics startup using machine learning.

Xirgo Technologies, the Camarillo, California-based logistics firm, acquired Owlcam, which uses AI to track driver safety, according to private equity-backer HKW.

Ascential, the London, UK-based marketing firm, said it acquired Yimian Data, the Chinese marketing firm using AI.

And, Bloomberg reported the potential USD 10bn sale of AR firm Magic Leap.

Other deals include Affinity, Avanade, BMC and Epic Games

FILINGS

Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. II and Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. III, Palo Alto, California-based blank check companies focused on acquisitions in industries including AI, refiled initial public offerings on the NYSE. Social Capital II is raising USD 300m and Social Capital III is raising USD 600m. The original blank check Social Capital Hedosophia Holding Corp merged with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic last year.

Other deals include ReWalk Robotics here and here, Bio Essence and Ecoark

FUNDING

Lyra Health, the Burlingame, California-based mental health platform using machine learning, said it raised USD 75m in a Series C led by IVP.

Everlaw, the Oakland, California-based litigation platform using AI, said it raised USD 62m in a Series C funding round led by CapitalG and Menlo Ventures.

Arctic Wolf, the Sunnyvale, California-based cybersecurity firm using AI, said it raised USD 60m in a Series D funding round led by Blue Cloud Ventures and Stereo Capital.

In December 2018, the company acquired RootSecure, the cybersecurity firm. Arctic raised USD 45m in a Series C led by Future Fund, the Australian sovereign wealth fund, that same year.

Deep North, the Foster City, California-based computer vision firm focused on marketing, said it raised USD 25.7m in a Series A funding round led by London-based Celeres Investments and Engage.

Remesh, the New York City-based marketing software firm using AI, said it raised USD 25m in a Series A2 funding round led by General Catalyst.

Interos, the Arlington, Virginia-based business services firm using machine learning, said it raised USD 17.5m in an unspecified funding led by Venrock. 

Validere, the Calgary, Alberta-based oil and gas industry services firm using AI, said it raised USD 15m in a Series A funding round led by Wing VC.

Cognism, the London, UK-based business services firm using AI, said it raised USD 12m in a funding round led by the venture capital unit of insurance firm AXA.

VIDA Diagnostics, the Coralville, Iowa-based lung imaging company using AI, said it raised USD 11m in a Series C financing led by First Analysis Corporation.

Rivet, the Salt Lake City, Utah-based healthcare industry software company using machine learning, said it raised USD 8.25m in a Series A led by Menlo Ventures.

Cleanshelf, the San Mateo, California-based business services firm using AI, said it raised USD 8m in a Series A funding round led by Dawn Capital and LAUNCHub.

Backbone AI, the New York City-based marketing firm using AI, said it raised USD 4.7m in a seed round led by Fika Ventures.

Superwise.ai, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based AI performance management firm, said it raised USD 4.5m in a seed funding round led by Capri Ventures and F2 Capital. The company monitors existing AI systems for issues including bias.

Bloomer Tech, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based wearable healthcare technology maker using machine learning, said it raised USD 3m in a seed funding round led by Material Impact.

Synthesized, the London, UK-based AI company, said it raised USD 2.8m in a seed funding led by IQ Capital and Mundi Ventures.

Reejig, the Sydney, Australia-based human resources firm using AI, said it raised USD 2.2m in a funding round led by Right Click and Arun Krishnankutty from OMKA Group.

UnboxRobotics, the Pune, India-based autonomous logistics firm, raised USD 500K in a seed funding round led by Arali Ventures and CIIE.CO, according to a VC Circle report.

Other deals include Akur8, iASTROS, Unitary, EnergyBot and Expense Robot

LEGAL AND REGULATORY

US ACLU sues US government over facial recognition.

The US White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy and government scientists from countries around the world are calling for AI-ready COVID-19 data and research to be made available.

Washington state reigns in government use of facial recognition with new bill.

Microsoft and a dozen other tech companies develop AI ethics “checklist”.

PEOPLE

Applied Insight, the Tysons, Virginia-based IT company using machine learning, said it promoted Dede Dascalu to CEO. Former CEO John Hynes becomes executive chairman. Applied Insight also hired Josh Tambor as CFO.

The company acquired Applied Technology Group and Stratus Solutions early last year.

Udacity, the Mountain View, California-based learning platform for AI and data science, said it hired Seamus Hennessy as CFO.

Komodo Health, the San Francisco and New York City-based healthcare company using AI, said it hired Eileen Tobias as CFO and Heidi Johnson as chief product officer.

In January, the company raised USD 50m in a Series C funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. In June, the company hired IBM’s Bill Evans as chief marketing officer.

WalkMe, the San Francisco, California-based business software company using AI, said it hired Andrew Casey as CFO.

In December, the company 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.

AlphaSense, the New York City-based business services company using AI, said it hired Joseph Hill as CFO and WeWork’s John Reid-Dodick as chief people officer.

In July, the company raised USD 50m in a Series B led by Innovation Endeavors, which was founded by Google’s Eric Schmidt.

Biodesix, the Boulder, Colorado-based lung cancer diagnostics company using AI, said it hired Kieran O’Kane as chief commercial officer and Bobbi Coffin as chief growth officer.

Former COO Scott Hutton took up the role of CEO on January 1 when ex-CEO and cofounder David Brunel became chairman.

Biodesix hired James Jett as chief marketing officer in October and in August hired former AbbVie executive Robert Georgantas as senior vice president of research and translational science.

The company announced the acquisition of the lab and test business of Oncimmune last week.

Realeyes, the London, UK-based computer vision company, said it hired Kyoko Tanaka as head of the company’s Japan office, Max Kalehoff as vice president of marketing and Joe Zahtila as chief revenue officer.

The company raised USD 12.4m last year, in part, to expand into Japan in a round led by the venture capital unit of Japanese telecom firm NTT DOCOMO.

VITAL4, the Atlanta, Georgia-based business compliance software company using machine learning, said it hired Todd McCormick as chief revenue officer.

Freshworks, the San Mateo, California-based marketing firm using AI, said it hired former Oracle executive Prakash Ramamurthy as chief product officer.

The company acquired AnsweriQ, which also uses AI in marketing, earlier this month.

Reputation.com, the Redwood City, California-based marketing platform using deep learning, said it hired Rebecca Biestman as chief marketing officer.

CalAmp, the Irvine, California-based mobile IT company using AI, said it hired former Salesforce.com executive Arym Diamond as chief revenue officer.

Optimizely, the San Francisco, California-based digital marketing company using AI, said it hired former WeWork executive Lawrence Bruhmuller as chief technology officer.

In June, the company raised USD 50m in a Series D led by a venture capital unit of Goldman Sachs, and another USD 55m in a line of credit from Bridge Bank.

Icertis, the Bellevue, Washington-based business services firm using AI, said it hired Pranali Save as chief human resources officer.

Malwarebytes, the Santa Clara, California-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it hired Adam Hyder as senior vice president of engineering.

CLARA Analytics, the Santa Clara, California-based insurance services firm using AI, said it hired Dustin Oxborrow as senior vice president of sales, Brian Sullivan as senior vice president of customer success and Chris Koverman as vice president of engineering and operations.

In October, the company hired Paul Kim as chief medical officer. CLARA is focused specifically on workers compensation

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