Week Ending 5.10.2020
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 11 acquisitions, one equity filing, 28 funding rounds, some regulatory moves and nine executive hires in the AI sector.
Read more below ↓
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
CareCentrix, the Hartford, Connecticut-based company committed to making the home the center of patient care, said it has acquired Turn-Key Health, a community-based palliative care company serving health plans using AI.
Namogoo, the Boston, Massachusetts-based cybersecurity firm using machine learning to prevent unauthorized ads injected into consumer browsers and devices, said it has acquired Personali, an AI-powered behavioral analytics tool.
Accenture, the New York City-based professional services company, said it has acquired Callisto Integration, a Canadian technology consulting firm. In February, the company acquired VanBerlo, the AI and internet of things company. Earlier this month, Accenture acquired Mudano, the British financial consulting firm using machine learning.
Ubicquia, the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based smart streetlight and cell platform company, said it has acquired CityIQ, a smart city digital infrastructure solution for traffic optimization using AI.
Dental Monitoring, the Paris, France-based company using AI for dental professionals, said it has acquired Loum, a patient services firm using AI tools.
American Institutes for Research, the Washington, D.C.-based behavioral and social science research organization, said it has acquired IMPAQ, LLC, a global policy research and analytics firm that uses AI and machine learning.
Intel, the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker, said it has acquired Moovit, a mobility solutions company that is best known for its urban mobility application trip planner.
NVIDIA, the Santa Clara, California-based AI chip maker, announced plans to acquire Cumulus Networks, an open-source-centric company.
Pricefx, the Munich, Germany, and the Chicago, Illinois-based business services firm using AI, announced it has acquired Brennus Analytics, an AI pricing software startup. In December, Pricefx raised €23 million (USD $25.3 million) in a second round of a Series B financing led by Digital+ Partners and Bain. The full, two-part Series B now stands at €48 million.
PowerInbox, the New York City-based email engagement and monetization partner for publishers, said it has acquired Jeeng, an AI-powered personalized notification platform.
Apttus, the San Mateo, California-based maker of software for managing work processes using AI, said it has acquired rival Conga, a developer of document-generation applications for customers including Salesforce.com. In January 2020, the company hired former Microsoft executive Frank Holland as CEO.
FILINGS
Kingsoft Cloud Holdings, the Beijing, China-based IT firm, is raising as much as USD $450 million in an initial public offering of 25 million ADS at USD $16 to USD $18 each on the Nasdaq.
The company, a unit of Chinese software developer Kingsoft, had originally filed a placeholder of USD $100 million. Smartphone maker Xioami is another shareholder. Kingsoft Cloud plans to use 25 percent of the proceeds to develop AI and other technology.
FUNDING
ApplyBoard, the Kitchener, Ontario, Canada-based college application platform using AI, said it has raised CAD $100 million (USD $71.6 million) in a Series C round of funding led by Drive Capital. In June, the company raised CAD $55 million (USD $40 million) in a Series B led by Californian growth fund Anthos Capital.
Symend, the Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based maker of a customer engagement platform to retain financially at-risk customers using AI, said it has raised USD $52 million in funding round led by Inovia Capital.
Omilia, the London, UK-based conversational AI firm, said it has raised USD $20 million in a funding round led by Grafton Capital.
Dtex Systems, the San Jose, California-based cybersecurity company, said it has raised USD $17.5 million in a funding round led by Northgate Capital.
GigaSpaces, the New York City-based software developer with AI services, said it has raised USD $12 million in a funding round led by Fortissimo Capital.
ThayerMahan, the Groton, Connecticut-based maritime technology company providing autonomous marine sensing solutions using AI, said it has raised USD $10 million in a new funding round led by AE Industrial Partners Structured Solutions.
Braid Health, the San Francisco, California-based AI-driven diagnostic imaging platform, said it has raised USD $9 million in a seed and Series A funding round led by Lux Capital, with participation from Rucker Park Capital, which includes investors such as former Twitter CEO Adam Bain. Last week, the company hired Rajni Natesan, M.D., as chief medical officer.
Postal.io, the San Luis Obispo, California-based sales and marketing engagement platform using machine learning, said it has raised USD $9 million in a Series A funding round led by Mayfield.
VNDLY, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based cloud-based workforce management systems provider using AI, said it has raised USD $8.5 million in a Series B-1 funding led by Madrona Venture Group. This brings the company’s external funding to a total of USD $57.5 million.
Boosted.ai, the Toronto, Canada-based machine learning platform for global investment professionals, said it has raised USD $8 million in a Series A financing round led by Portag3 Ventures. This brings Boosted.ai’s total funding to USD $11 million.
Qrvey, the Tysons, Virginia-based data, analytics, automation and machine learning business analytics platform, said it has raised USD $7.5 million in a Series A funding round led by existing investors it did not identify. The non-profit Center for Innovative Technology led the 2016 seed round.
Qrvey recently strengthened its executive team by adding Ben Mathew as chief revenue officer, Zane Rathwick as vice president of marketing and Dave Ploger as the vice president of research and development.
Monogram Health, the Nashville, Tennessee-based kidney disease care management company using AI, said it has raised USD $7 million in a Series A-1 financing round co-led by Frist Cressey Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners. The new round of funding brings the total funds raised to USD $12 million over the last 15-months.
Hub Security, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based cybersecurity startup using AI, said it has raised USD $5 million in a Series A funding round led by AXA Ventures. In February, the company announced a strategic partnership with Seagate Technology as part of its new LyveTM Labs.
Invisible AI, the San Francisco, California-based computer vision company, said it has raised USD $3.6 million in a seed round led by 8VC. iRobot Ventures, K9 Ventures, Sierra Ventures and Slow Ventures also participated.
SVT Robotics, the Norfolk, Virginia-based startup that uses robot deployments in warehousing and manufacturing industries, said it has raised USD $3.5 million in a seed round led by Cowboy Ventures. The company says it will use the funding to scale up the product and customer success teams to help support the acceleration of the warehouse robot market.
Altoida, the Houston, Texas-based health technology firm using active digital biomarkers, AI and machine learning to support early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, said it has secured an unspecified amount of financing from Hikma Ventures. The funding follows Altoida’s USD $6.3 million Series A round that closed at the beginning of 2019.
Toposens, the Munich, Germany-based startup developer of 3D ultrasound sensor for automobiles and robotics, said it has raised an unspecified amount in a new funding round led by Alpana Ventures.
Other deals include CodeNinja.ai, Vernacular.ai, Enflame Technology, Owkin, Medable, Zeitgold, Covariant, Genetesis, Workstream, Oxwash and Deep Render.
PEOPLE
LabMinds, the Boston, Massachusetts-based robotics company, said it has named Jeff Caputo as president and CEO.
LAIX, the Shanghai, China-based English education firm using AI, said it has hired Bing Sun as the new CFO.
Linqia, the San Francisco, California-based influencer marketing company using AI, said it has hired Tim Richards as chief revenue officer. Before joining Linqia, Richards was the head of US sales at AOL/Verizon.
Context Networks, the Las Vegas, Nevada-based omnichannel marketing system using AI for the casino and gaming industry, said it has hired Andrew Cardno as chief technical advisor.
Berkshire Grey, the Lexington, Massachusetts-based e-commerce industry services firm using robotics and AI, said it has hired Christine Washburn as chief marketing officer. In January, the company raised USD $263 million in a Series B financing round that included SoftBank, Khosla Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, and Canaan. In December, the company hired Steve Johnson as president and COO.
FinancialForce, the San Francisco, California-based business services firm, said it has hired former Oracle executive Michael Ni as chief marketing officer. At his most recent role of chief marketing officer at RichRelevance, Ni pivoted the company to an AI personalization platform.
Axiologic Solutions, the Washington, D.C.-based IT firm, said it has hired Andy Baratta as president.
Mindtech Global, the Hertfordshire, London-based visual processing firm using AI, said it has hired former Microsoft executive Justin Bronder as vice president AI strategy.
Kyndi, the San Mateo, California-based reading automation AI software developer, said it has appointed Jen Grant, CEO of Turbo Systems, to its board of directors. In July, the company raised USD $20 million in a Series B led by the venture capital unit of computer chip maker Intel.
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