Week Ending 4.19.2020
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 four acquisitions, three equity filings, two dozen funding rounds, some regulatory moves and 18 executive hires in the AI sector.
Companies we have tracked over the past year or so in the news this week include Awake Security, Digital Reasoning, Patriot One Technologies, Extreme Networks, GNS Healthcare, Eko, Acronis, Labelbox, Hyperscience and WISeKey International.
See all of this and more below ↓
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
One Drop, the New York City-based digital health company using machine learning, said it acquired the assets and intellectual property of Sano Intelligence.
Data Center, the Hutchinson, Kansas-based community banking software maker, said it acquired the Vetter technology product from AFT Analytics to build out its voice and AI banking offering. (See People section for latest hire)
W2O, the San Francisco, California-based healthcare analytics firm, said it acquired Symplur, a social media analytics platform using machine learning.
Coco Taps, the Las Vegas, Nevada-based coconut water producer, said it acquired autonomous coffee maker Robotic Beverage Technologies.
FILINGS
Kingsoft Cloud, the Beijing, China-based IT firm, said it is raising a placeholder USD 100m in a Nasdaq IPO. The company is a unit of Chinese software developer Kingsoft. Smartphone maker Xioami is another shareholder. Kingsoft Cloud plans to use 25% of the proceeds to develop AI and other technology.
Lantern Pharma, the Dallas, Texas-based company developing cancer treatments using AI, said it is raising a placeholder USD 29m in a Nasdaq IPO.
Other deals include Father Time
FUNDING
Zetta Venture Partners, the San Francisco, California-based investment firm focused on AI, said it raised USD 180m for a third fund.
BioCatch, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based anti-fraud software developer using AI, said it raised USD 145m in a Series C led by Bain Capital.
Awake Security, the Sunnyvale, California-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it raised USD 36m in a Series C financing led by Evolution Equity Partners.
In December, the company hired Randy Cheek as vice president of sales and Rajdeep Wadhwa as vice president of product management.
Anodot, the Redwood City, California-based business services software firm using AI, said it raised USD 35m in a Series C funding round led by Intel Capital. A venture capital unit of South Korea’s Samsung also participated.
XiaoduoAI, the Chengdu, China-based chatbot developer, said it raised RMB200m ( USD 28.4m) in a Series B+ and C funding. Vision Knight Capital led the Series C round. The Series B+ was led by Silicon Harbour.
FarEye, the New Delhi, India-based logistics platform using machine learning, said it raised USD 25m in a Series D funding led by Microsoft’s venture capital unit M12.
Yellow Messenger, the Bengaluru, India-based business services software developer using natural language processing, said it raised USD 20m in a Series B funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Kebotix, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based chemical and materials development platform using AI, said it raised USD 11.4m in a Series A funding led by Novo Holdings.
Previse, the London, UK-based corporate payments platform using AI, said it raised USD 11m in an unspecified funding round led by Reefknot Investments and Mastercard.
Autofleet, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based vehicle services platform using AI, said it raised USD 7.5m in a Series A, led by MizMaa Ventures, and a seed financing, led by Maniv Mobility.
Atlas AI, the Palo Alto, California-based agricultural data firm, said it raised USD 7m in a Series A funding round led by the venture capital unit of European aircraft maker Airbus.
Frame AI, the New York City-based marketing firm using AI, said it raised USD 6.3m in a Series A funding round co-led by G20 Ventures and Greycroft.
Yes Health, the San Francisco, California-based digital health provider using AI, said it raised USD 6m in a Series A led by Khosla Ventures.
AI.Reverie, the New York City-based computer vision company, said it raised USD 5.6m in an unspecified round led by Vulcan Capital.
Gembah, the Austin, Texas-based product development platform using machine learning, said it raised USD 3.3m in a seed round led by Silverton Partners.
Sprout.ai, the London, UK-based insurance claims settlement firm, raised USD 2.5m in a seed funding led by Amadeus Capital Partners. The company was previously called BlockClaim.
VIDA Diagnostics, the Coralville, Iowa-based lung imaging analysis firm using AI, said it raised USD 2m from OSF Ventures in an expanded Series C round that has now raised USD 13m.
Blue J Legal, the Toronto, Ontario-based legal software developer using machine learning, said it raised USD 2m in a growth capital financing led by CIBC Innovation Banking.
dotin, the Fremont, California-based business services firm using AI, said it raised an unspecified amount in a funding round led by Qu Ventures and Arka Venture Labs.
Other deals include Onfido, Beyond Identity, Cerebro and Overproof
LEGAL AND REGULATORY
The US Federal Trade Commission issued a statement on AI and consumer protections amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
PEOPLE
Digital Reasoning, the Nashville, Tennessee-based AI company, said founder Tim Estes has resumed his role as CEO along with former Christie’s executive Brook Hazelton, who was hired as president and co-CEO.
In August, the company hired former American Express executive Randi Schochet as chief marketing officer. It hired former Hewlett Packard executive Chris Hasenbein as senior vice president of sales for the Americas in April last year.
Quantela, the Milpitas, California-based government services firm using AI, said it hired former Cisco executive Amr Salem as CEO.
Andor Health, the Orlando, Florida-based healthcare industry services company using AI, said it hired Raj Toleti as CEO.
Forethought, the San Francisco, California-based business services firm using AI, said it hired Dan Watkins as president.
Data Center, the Hutchinson, Kansas-based community banking software maker, said it hired Dennis Queal as CFO. (See M&A section above)
Nano Dimension, the Boca Raton, Florida-based 3-D manufacturing machinery maker, said it hired Zvi Peled as COO and chief revenue officer.
Patriot One Technologies, the Burlington, Canada-based company using AI to detect violence, said it hired Dietmar Wennemer as COO and president.
The company acquired XTRACT, the AI firm, in September.
Extreme Networks, the San Jose, California-based software company using AI, said it hired Wes Durow as chief marketing officer.
In August, the company completed the acquisition of Aerohive Networks, the cloud computing company using AI.
GNS Healthcare, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based medical analytics company using machine learning, said it hired Earl Steinberg to develop the company’s health plan offerings and drive clinical analytics. He will hold the title of consultant.
In July, the company raised USD 23m in a Series D fundraising led by Cigna’s venture capital unit.
Cape Analytics, the Mountain View, California-based geospatial firm using AI for the insurance industry, said it hired Amy Minnick as chief business officer.
Eko, the San Francisco, California-based cardiac health screening firm using AI, said it hired Adam Saltman as chief medical officer.
The company raised USD 20m in a Series B funding led by ARTIS Ventures in September
Acronis, the Schaffhausen, Switzerland-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it hired Amy Luby as channel chief evangelist.
Earlier this month, the company hired former Symantec executive Candid Wüest as vice president of cyber protection research. In December, the company acquired 5nine.
Labelbox, the San Francisco, California-based data platform for machine learning, said it hired Josh Beard as head of federal sales. In February, the company hired Jason Stewart as chief revenue officer.
Earlier this month, the company raised USD 25m in a Series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Last spring, the company raised USD 10m in a Series A led by Gradient Ventures, the AI-focused venture capital fund run by Google.
Hyperscience, the New York City-based document processing company using AI, said it hired Francisco Uribe as vice president of product.
In October, the company hired Nay Odutola as head of Europe and opened a London office.
WISeKey International, the Geneva, Switzerland-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it hired Ben Stump as vice president of business development, brand protection & customer engagement for the US and Gweltas Radenac as director of IoT/connected objects business line.
Other hiring includes Lusis Payments and PureFacts Financial Solutions
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