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 13 acquisitions, seven equity filings, 30 funding rounds, some regulatory moves, and 15 executive hires in the AI sector.

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MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

JynTech, the Monterrey, Mexico-based food, beverage and health products producer, said it has merged with Southwest Pacific Holding Company, developer of technologies that uses deep learning, machine learning and AI.

Facebook, the San Francisco, Califonia-based online social network, said it has acquired Mapillary, a street-level imagery platform that uses photos uploaded by members of the public.

Microsoft, the Seattle, Washington-based technology firm, said it has acquired ADRM Software, a provider of large-scale industry data models..

Entire Digital, the Milan, Italy-based AI-powered proprietary system for publishers and media outlets, said it has acquired Contents.com, the London, UK-based technology company.

Novetta, the McLean, Virginia-based analytics technology company using machine learning, said it has acquired WaveStrike, a software engineering services provider.

Credit Sesame, the San Francisco, California-based credit and loan company using AI, said it has acquired STACK, the Toronto, Canada-based digital bank.

Digital.ai, the Plano, Texas-based business services firm, said it has acquired Numerify, an AI-powered analytics solutions firm.

Accenture, the Dublin, Ireland-based management consulting technology company, said it has acquired Sentelis, an independent data consulting and engineering company that uses AI.

Since the beginning of 2020, Accenture has acquired Callisto Integration, VanBerlo and Mudano – companies using machine learning and AI.

Greenbacker Renewable Energy, the Mound City, Kansas-based renewable energy company, said it has purchased the rights to Pacifica Storage LLC, a 7.9MW / 16.5MWh portfolio of sixteen operating and to-be-constructed behind-the-meter energy storage systems from, Stem Inc., an AI-driven energy storage servicer.

SOS International, the New York, New York-based military logistics and intelligence firm using deep learning, said it has acquired AppTek, the AI and machine learning-powered automatic speech recognition and machine translation developer.

Kinaxis, the Ontario, Canada-based business services firm using AI, said it has acquired Rubikloud, supply chain analytics firm using AI.

Other deals include Classplus and SyncMedia.

FILINGS

Genetron Holdings Limited, the Beijing, China-based cancer research company using AI, said it is raising as much as USD $216 million in an IPO of 16 million shares at USD $11.50 to USD $13.50 each on the Nasdaq under the symbol GTH.

Agora, the Santa Clara, California-based real-time streaming platform using AI, said it is raising as much as USD $315 million in an IPO of 17.5 million shares at USD $16 to USD $18 each on the Nasdaq under the symbol API. At the first part of the month, Agora had originally filed an IPO for USD $100 million.

BlueCity Holdings Limited, the Beijing, China-based online LGBTQ community and dating platform, said it plans to raise a placeholder for USD $50 million from an IPO on the Nasdaq under the symbol BLCT.

Other filings include GoHealth, RumbleOn, Predictive Oncology and Transphorm.

FUNDING

Geek+, the Beijing, China-based provider of advanced robotics for logistics, said it has raised USD $200 million in a Series C funding round led by GGV Capital.

Pagaya, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based financial technology company using AI, said it has raised USD $102 million in a Series D funding round led by an unspecified financial institution. Aflac Global Ventures, Poalim Capital Markets, Viola, Oak HC/FT, Harvey Golub (Pagaya board member and former Chairman and CEO of American Express) also participated in the round.

Payfone, the New York City-based digital identity authentication network using machine learning, said it has raised USD $100 million in a funding round led by Apax Digital. Sandbox Insurtech Ventures, Ralph de la Vega (the former vice chairman of AT&T) and Andrew Prozes (the former CEO of LexisNexis) also participated in the round.

Outreach, the Seattle, Washington-based enterprise-ready sales engagement platform using AI, said it has raised USD $50 million in a funding round led by Sands Capital Management. (See also the People section)

Unbounce, the Vancouver, Canada-based landing page and conversion optimization software firm using machine learning, said it has raised CAD $52 million (USD $38.25 million) in a funding round led by Crest Rock Partners. (See also the People section)

Degreed, the Pleasanton, California-based social learning platform using machine learning, said it has raised USD $32 million in a funding round led by Owl Ventures. 

Kalderos, the Chicago, Illinois-based drug discount management company using AI, said it has raised USD $28 million in a Series B funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures. Last month, the company promoted its current COO, Micah Litow, to the president.

Onna, the New York, New York-based knowledge integration platform using machine learning, said it has raised USD $27 million in a Series B funding round led by Atomico.

Botkeeper, the Boston, Massachusetts-based AI-powered bookkeeping app, said it has raised USD $25 million in a funding round led by Point72 Ventures. In November, the company raised USD $18 million in a Series A led by Greycroft and Google’s AI-focused fund Gradient Ventures.

Drishti, the Mountain View, California-based AI manufacturing startup, said it has raised USD $25 million in a Series B financing round led by Sozo Ventures.

Proprio Vision, the Seattle, Washington-based surgical navigation company using AI and machine learning, said it has raised USD $23 million in a Series A financing round led by DCVC.

Streamlit, the San Francisco, California-based app framework built specifically for machine learning and data science teams, said it has raised USD $21 million in a Series A funding co-led by GGV Capital and Gradient Ventures.

EasyKnock, the New York City-based first institutionalized residential sale-leaseback company using AI, said it has raised USD $20 million in a funding round co-led by Blumberg Capital and QED Investors.

Salt Security, the Palo Alto, California-based API security company using AI, said it has raised USD $20 million in a Series A funding led by Tenaya Capital.

Urbint, the New York City-based company developing utility oversight systems using AI, said it has raised USD $20 million in a Series B funding round co-led by Energy Impact Partners and Piva, with Salesforce Ventures and National Grid Partners participating.

In March, the company hired former Pacific Gas & Electric COO Nick Stavropoulos as chief safety advisor. In December, the company hired former Salesforce and IBM executive Alison Graham as chief revenue officer

Clockwise, the San Francisco, California-based smart calendar assistant using AI, said it has raised USD $18 million in a Series B funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures.

Wise Systems, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based AI-driven routing and dispatching platform provider, said it has raised USD $15 million in a financing round led by Valo Ventures.

In December, the company raised USD $7 million in a Series A led by Google’s AI-focused venture capital fund Gradient Ventures.

DroneBase, the Los Angeles, California-based aerial data analytics company using machine learning, said it has raised USD $7.5 million in a Series C funding round led by Valor Equity Partners and Razi Ventures.

Acquire, the San Francisco, California-based customer engagement platform using AI, said it has raised USD $6.4 million in a Series A funding round led by Base10 Partners. 

Mabl, the Boston, Massachusetts-based test automation company using AI, said it has raised USD $6 million in a funding round led by Amplify Partners.

SLAMcore, the London, UK-based developer of algorithms that allow robots and drones to understand the space around them, said it has raised USD $5 million in a funding round co-led by Octopus Ventures and MMC Ventures.

Sorcero, the Washington, DC-based natural language processing platform, said it has raised USD $3.5 million in a funding round co-led by Leawood VC and WorldQuant Ventures.

CognitOps, the Austin, Texas-based AI-driven supply chain software developer for warehouse management, said it has raised USD $3 million in a seed round led by Chicago Ventures.

Cloudtenna, the Sunnyvale, California-based AI-enabled file search, said it has raised an additional USD $2.5 million in financing from existing investors, including Blazar Ventures, bringing the total amount of funding raised to USD $6.5 million.

Akia, the Menlo Park, California-based AI-enabled SaaS platform for the hotel industry, said it has secured an unspecified amount of new funding from GSR Ventures.

Other fundings include Hash, Gaze, Kaia Health, Grishin Robotics and UiPath.

LEGAL AND REGULATORY

AI facial recognition technologies are likely to be illegal in the European Union.

The South Korean government has launched an autonomous ship development project.

US Senate Bill would push to improve Pentagon recruitment of AI professionals.

PEOPLE

Gigaom, the Austin, Texas-based independent analyst and voice technologies firm using AI, said it has promoted their co-founder, Ben Book, to CEO.

Outreach, the Seattle, Washington-based enterprise-ready sales engagement platform using AI, said it has hired Melissa Fisher as CFO.

Unbounce, the Vancouver, Canada-based landing page and conversion optimization software using machine learning, said that the current chief revenue officer, Felicia Bochicchio, has been appointed to the position of company president. (See also the Funding section)

Tyto Care, the New York City-based AI-powered telehealth platform, said it has hired Colleen Sellers as vice president of marketing, and former CFO of Waze, Anat Eitan as CFO.

In April, the company raised USD $50 million in a funding round co-led by Insight Partners, Olive Tree Ventures, and Qualcomm Ventures.

Extreme Networks, the San Jose, California-based software company using AI, said it has hired Joe Vitalone as chief revenue officer.

Vectra AI, the San Jose, California-based cybersecurity firm, said it has hired Marc Gemassmer as chief revenue officer. Prior to joining Vectra, Gemassmer held leadership positions at Xactly, Cisco, Alteryx, and Flexera Software.

In April, the company hired Wes Durow as chief marketing officer and in August, the company completed the acquisition of Aerohive Networks, the cloud computing company using AI.

Automation Anywhere, the San Jose, California-based robotic process automation firm, said it has hired Chris Riley as chief revenue officer. Prior to joining Automation Anywhere, Riley held leadership roles at Dell and HP.

In November, the company raised USD $290 million in Series B funding led by Salesforce Ventures. Softbank and Goldman Sachs also participated.

SnapLogic, the San Mateo, California-based data and analytics company using AI, said it has hired George Mogannam as chief revenue officer.

In January, the company hired former People.ai and Cisco executive Dayle Hall as chief marketing officer.

Xactly, the San Jose, California-based sales management software developer, said it has hired Jamie Anderson as chief sales officer. Prior to joining Xactly, Anderson held executive positions at Marketo and SAP.

In September, the company acquired OpsPanda, the sales management company using AI.

BioXcel Therapeutics, the New Haven, Connecticut-based biopharmaceutical company utilizing AI to develop cancer-fighting drugs, said it has hired Will Kane as executive vice president and chief commercial officer. Prior to joining BioXcel, Kane held leadership roles at Allergan and Pfizer.

CloudMD, the Vancouver, Canada-based telemedicine company using AI, said it has hired Dr. Sohal Goyal as head of corporate development in Ontario.

Avast, the Prague, Czech Republic-based cybersecurity company using AI, said it has hired Nick Viney as senior vice president and general manager of Telco, IoT and family business unit. In July 2019, the company hired Michal Pěchouček as chief technology officer.

SiMa.ai, the San Jose, California-based machine learning company, said it has hired Gopal Hegde as senior vice president to lead the engineering and operations teams. Prior to joining SiMa, Hegde held leadership and engineering positions at Cisco and Intel.

Last month, the company raised USD $30 million in a Series A funding round led by Dell Technologies Capital.

Ensono, the Downers Grove, Illinois-based hybrid IT services provider, said it has hired Paola Doebel as senior vice president and managing director of North America. Prior to joining Ensono, Doebel worked at HP and Dell.

Ocutrx Vision, the Irvine, California-based AR headset maker, said it has hired John H. Bluher as director of finance, Simon G. Prosser as global director of surgical applications and Marc Stenzel as director of patient sales and marketing.

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