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 starts with the co-founder and CEO of computer vision firm Chooch, who says the Covid-19 outbreak will force open societies to debate the benefits of privacy vs surveillance.

Next up is news on nine acquisitions, three equity filings, 19 funding rounds, a handful or regulatory moves and nine executive hires in the AI sector.

Companies we have tracked over the past year or so in the news this week include Palo Alto Networks, Deloitte, Aspen Neuroscience, TapClicks, Excella, OmniSci, Acronis and XOi Technologies.

See all of this and more below ↓

OUR EXCLUSIVE THIS WEEK

Open societies like the US will have to engage in a renewed discussion on surveillance if they want to keep pandemics like the current Covid-19 outbreak under control, co-founder and CEO of computer vision firm Chooch Emrah Gultekin says.

“You can’t get back to a normal living by locking down people for months or years,” Gultekin says. “We’re going to have to be able to trace the virus.”

Gultekin acknowledged the importance of privacy but also stressed the need to be able to know where infected and uninfected people are in an effort to save lives.

“We need to open discussion on this as we move forward – it’s a hard discussion – and there will be a lot of people who disagree on a lot of it, but we need to have it to look for solutions,” says Gultekin. “It’s hard – we’ve never faced this before – but we need to discuss it and see what can be done.”

Read the full story and more on a pending funding round here.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Palo Alto Networks, the Santa Clara, California-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it is acquiring IT firm CloudGenix for USD 420m in cash marking its sixth acquisition in a year.

In December, the company acquiring Aporeto for USD 150m in cash and in September, Palo Alto said it was acquiring Zingbox, the AI using cybersecurity firm, for USD 75m in cash. Earlier in the year Palo Alto completed the USD 410m cash acquisition of Twistlock, a shipping container firm, cybersecurity company PureSec for an unspecified amount and Demisto, the cybersecurity company using AI, for USD 560m in cash and stock.

Apple, the Cupertino, California-based mobile phone and computer giant, acquired the weather app using AI Dark Sky.

Deloitte, the New York City-based consultancy, said it acquired Malaysian analytics and machine learning firm AccelTeam.

Deloitte acquired Australian data science firm Bistech last week.

Acuant, the Los Angeles, California-based identity verification firm using AI, said it acquired compliance and antifraud company IdentityMind.

Ingka Group, one of a host of companies that own the Swedish furniture maker IKEA, said its investment arm acquired Geomagical Labs, the AI imaging startup.

Niantic, the San Francisco, California-based AR firm, said it acquired the UK computer vision firm 6D.ai.

Clobotics, the Shanghai, China-based computer vision company, said it acquired Danish Aerodyne AtSite.

Pythian, the Ontario, Canada-based data services firm using machine learning, said it acquired Agoston.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, the San Diego, California-based biopharmaceutical company using AI, said it completed the acquisition of Icagen’s North Carolina operations.

FILINGS

China Liberal Education, the Beijing, China-based educational services firm using AI, refiled for an upsized USD 8m 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. Trading is expected later this month.

Other deals include Vivint Smart Home and Yield10 Bioscience, the Woburn, Massachusetts-based agricultural company using AI

FUNDING

Flagship Pioneering, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based life sciences firm, said it raised USD 1.1bn for its Flagship Pioneering Origination Fund VII. AI is one of the Flagship’s core investment theses.

Via, the New York City-based ride-sharing company, said it raised USD 200m in a Series E funding round led by European conglomerate EXOR.

Aspen Neuroscience, the San Diego, California-based company developing treatments for Parkinson’s disease using AI, said it raised USD 70m in a Series A funding round led by OrbiMed, a venture capital fund focused on the healthcare industry and based in New York City.

In December, the company raised USD 6.5m from a seed round led by Domain Associates and Axon Ventures.

Olive, the Columbus, Ohio-based healthcare industry services firm using AI, said it raised USD 51m in a funding round led by General Catalyst.

Orion Labs, the San Francisco, California-based business communications platform using AI, said it raised USD 29m in a Series B funding round led by computer maker Dell’s venture capital unit. (See People section for new hires)

Seegrid, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based self-driving industrial vehicle maker, said it raised USD 25m in an unspecified funding round led by G2VP.

Phantom AI, the Burlingame, California-based autonomous vehicle systems developer, said it raised USD 22m in a Series A funding round led by Celeres Investments. US car maker Ford and South Korean telecoms firm KT also participated.

Slync.io, the San Francisco, California-based logistics software and services firm using AI, said it raised USD 11m in a Series A funding round led by Blumberg Capital.

Anagog, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based marketing firm using AI, said it raised USD 10m in a Series C funding round led by IN Venture, a venture capital unit of Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo.

Preply, the London, UK-based online learning platform using machine learning, said it raised USD 10m in a funding round led by Hoxton Ventures.

ModelOp, the Chicago, Illinois-based IT company underpinning AI operations, said it raised USD 6m in a Series A round of funding led by Valley Capital Partners. (See People section for new hires)

Odd Concepts, the Seoul, South Korea-based an AI-based fashion tech company, said it raised KRW 6b (USD 6m) in a Series B funding round that included KB Securities, HB Investment, Kiwoom Investment-Shinhan Capital, Korea Development Bank and SBI Investment Korea.

OrthoSpin, the Misgav, Israel-based robotic orthopedic treatment instrument maker, said it raised USD 5m in a Series B financing led by a venture capital unit of consumer goods maker Johnson & Johnson.

Concertio, the New York City-based software services firm using AI, said it raised USD 4.2m in a seed funding round led by Differential Ventures.

InvestSuite, the Leuven, Belgium-based financial services firm using AI, said it raised €2m (USD 2.1m) in a seed funding round led by PMV.

Gradely, the Yaba, Nigeria-based educational services firm using AI, raised USD 25k in a funding round led by Microtraction. Techpoint Africa report here.

Agile Robots, the Munich, Germany-based industrial and service robot developer, said it raised an unspecified amount in a Series A funding round led by C Ventures.

Other deals include Qarnot Computing, Points Technology and Orum.

LEGAL AND REGULATORY

The Government of India launched a mobile app to enable people to assess the risk of being infected by Covid-19 using AI, according to a FirstPost report.

PEOPLE

Orion Labs, the San Francisco, California-based business communications platform using AI, said it hired Gregory Taylor as CEO and Jesse Robbins as executive chairman. (See Funding section for its Series B)

Geospark, the Herndon, Virginia-based global threat assessment company using AI, said it hired Amanda Brownfield as president.

TapClicks, the San Jose, California-based marketing company using machine learning, said it hired Kevin Thompson as CFO and Marielle Smith as vice president of people success.

In November, the company acquired Megalytic and acquired iSpionage, a marketing firm, in July. TapClicks raised USD 10m from the private equity firm Boathouse Capital in August. It raised a similar amount from Boathouse in September 2018.

ModelOp, the Chicago, Illinois-based IT company underpinning AI operations, said it hired Sheau-ming Ross as CFO, Mark LeMonnier as vice president of software engineering and Linda Maggi as vice president of marketing. (See Funding section for its Series A)

Excella, the Arlington, Virginia-based business services firm using AI, said it hired Sandy Gillespie as COO.

The company promoted Mahreen Rashid to senior vice president, people services in March.

SecurityGate.io, the Houston, Texas-based cybersecurity firm using AI, said it hired Matt Wilbanks as chief marketing officer.

OmniSci, the San Francisco, California-based data analytics company using AI, said it hired Joseph Lee as vice president of global sales as it expands into Asia.

In June, the company hired Allison Searle as vice president of sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It hired Laura Craig as vice president of sales, Americas and promoted Grant Halloran to the newly created position of chief commercial officer in April. Halloran was the chief marketing officer.

Acronis, the Schaffhausen, Switzerland-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it hired former Symantec executive Candid Wüest as vice president of cyber protection research.

In December, the company acquired 5nine.

XOi Technologies, the Nashville, Tennessee-based field service communications company using AI, said it hired industry veterans Lee Bridges and Greg Thoman as senior product managers.

In August, the company raised USD 11m in a Series C financing round led by PeakSpan Capital.

And a CNBC report on start-ups cutting nearly 4,000 jobs last month as Covid-19 spreads.

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