Week Ending 11.03.19
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 we kick off our corporate finance newsletter with our exclusive look at the issues companies applying AI face with their data.
Next up is a dozen mergers and acquisitions, seven equity filings, almost 30 funding rounds, a handful of government moves on AI and 20 executive moves.
Companies we have tracked over the past year in the news this week include Kubient, TapClicks, Biodesix, Rokt, Activ Surgical, Criteo, INKY Technology, Decision Next, Conversica, Zeta Global and ElectrifAi.
See all of this and more below ↓
Our exclusive story on the issues data raises for applied AI companies
Data proves a constant issue for companies applying AI
Continued filtering and human intervention still an important part of the process, executives say.
Companies seeking to apply AI quickly find the quality of their data can be a major issue.
Beyond the headlines of racist bots and potentially lethal autonomous vehicles companies are grappling with how best to not only generate the results they are looking for - automating the routine parts of their business processes for example - but more importantly seeing AI live up to its much heralded or hyped potential.
“AI is only as smart as the data set it has to work off and the easiest data within AI is to make sure you have an accurate foundational dataset,” says Sky Cassidy, CEO at marketing firm MountainTop Data based in Canoga Park, California.
One fundamental problem stems from that first batch of data a company produces or comes across. No matter how bad or out of date it has become executives will continue to cling to it.
“They should really replace it and start anew but they feel like they’re losing something,” Cassidy says.
Read the entire story here with commentary from CEOs and a venture capitalist.
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Kubient, the New York City-based advertising company using AI, said it acquired Fidelity Media.
Kubient hired Peter Bordes as CEO and Chris Andrews as chief digital officer in August.
TapClicks, the San Jose, California-based marketing company using machine learning, said it acquired Megalytic.
That marks the second acquisition for TapClicks this year after it 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 last year.
CEM Corporation, the Matthews, North Carolina-based life science and lab products company, said it acquired robotic technology from Germany’s Intavis Bioanalytical Instruments.
SKF, the Gothenburg, Sweden-based industrial engineering firm, said it completed the acquisition of Presenso, which uses AI to predict machine maintenance, announced last month.
Workforce Logiq, the Orlando, Florida-based business services company, said it acquired AI software developer ENGAGE Talent.
Analog Devices, the Norwood, Massachusetts-based engineering services company, said it acquired Test Motors, the Spanish predictive maintenance firm.
Dassault Systèmes, the Velizy-Villacoublay, France-based business services firm using AI, said it completed the USD 5.8bn acquisition of Medidata Solutions, a clinical trial platform for the healthcare industry.
Solugenix, the Brea, California-based business services firm using AI, said it acquired SEI, another business services firm.
Biodesix, the Boulder, Colorado-based lung cancer diagnostics company using AI, said it acquired the lab and test business of Oncimmune.
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.
Ellie Mae, the Pleasanton, California-based mortgage finance platform, said it is acquiring Capsilon, the mortgage software developer using AI.
Urbint, the New York City-based company developing utility oversight systems using AI, said it acquired Opvantek, which makes software overseeing natural gas pipeline operations.
Raven, the Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based agricultural machinery maker, said it acquired Smart Ag, the autonomous farming company.
Tech Data, the Clearwater, Florida-based business services firm, said it is acquiring DLT Solutions, a public sector services firm using machine learning.
Other deals include Premier
FILINGS
Canaan, the Hangzhou, China-based AI chip designer and cryptocurrency mining machine maker, said it is raising a placeholder USD 400m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
Q&K International, the Shanghai, China-based apartment rental platform using machine learning, said it is raising USD 51m from an initial public offering of 2.7m American depositary shares at USD 17 to USD 19 each on the Nasdaq with a dual-class shareholding structure.
EHang, the Guangzhou, China-based company developing autonomous air taxis, said it is raising a placeholder USD 100m in an initial public offering in the US.
Meili Auto, the Beijing, China-based used car financing company using machine learning, said it is raising a placeholder USD 100m in an initial public offering on the NYSE.
Lizhi, the Guangzhou, China-based audio app using AI, said it is raising a placeholder USD 100m in an initial public offering in the US.
Fangdd Network Group, the Shenzhen, China-based real estate agent platform using AI, closed its first day of trading flat to its price at the time of the initial public offering.
The company raised USD 78m in a downsized initial public offering of 6m American depositary shares at USD 13 each, the lowest end of the marketed range.
In previous filings the company said it was raising USD 105m from an initial public offering of 7m American depositary shares at USD 13 to USD 15 each on the Nasdaq with a dual-class shareholding structure. One ADS represents 25 shares. The company filed a USD 150m placeholder in October.
RAPT Therapeutics, the South San Francisco, California-based cancer research firm using machine learning, saw its shares fall 2% in public trading.
The company raised USD 36m in a radially downsized initial public offering of 3m shares at USD 12 each.
Last month the company upsized to as much as USD 92m the amount it planned to raise in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq. The filing did not show how many shares the company planned to sell or at what price.
In July the company filed for an as much as USD 80m IPO of 5m shares at USD 14 to USD 16 each. The company originally filed a USD 86m placeholder.
Other deals include Predictive Oncology and Parallax Health Sciences
FUNDING
Paidy, the Tokyo, Japan-based consumer credit firm using machine learning, said it raised USD 143m from the extension of a Series C round and debt financing from banks including Goldman Sachs.
Scratchpay, the Los Angeles, California-based veterinary payments firm using machine learning, said it raised USD 65m in Series B funding led by Companion Fund, a pet industry specialist investment fund.
Rokt, the New York City-based e-commerce marketing technology company using AI, said it raised USD 48m in a Series C funding led by TDM Growth Partners.
Rokt acquired OfferLogic, the B2B marketing firm, in September. At the same time it named OfferLogic’s Holly Lim as CFO.
Emotibot, the Shanghai, China-based robot developer, said it raised USD 45m in a Series B+ financing round led by V Fund, Lingfeng Capital and an unidentified strategic partner.
IDnow, the Munich, Germany and London, UK-based identity verification company using AI, said it raised USD 40m in a funding round led by Corsair Capital.
Datameer, the San Francisco, California-based financial analytics platform developing machine learning, said it raised USD 40m in a funding round led by ST Telemedia. A venture capital unit of Citigroup also participated.
Namogoo, the Boston, Massachusetts-based cybersecurity firm using machine learning, said it raised USD 40m in Series C funding led by Oak HC/FT.
Crunchbase, the San Francisco, California-based private-company data provider using machine learning, said it raised USD 30m in a Series C funding round led by OMERS Ventures. A venture capital unit of telecommunications firm Verizon also participated.
dotData, the San Mateo, California-based business services firm using AI, raised USD 23m in a Series A led by Japanese venture capital firm JAFCO, according to a VentureBeat report. Goldman Sachs also participated.
Duality Technologies, the Newark, New Jersey-based cybersecurity firm using AI, said it raised USD 16m in a Series A funding round led by Intel’s venture capital unit.
Cytovale, the San Francisco, California-based medical technology company using machine learning, said it raised USD 7.4m in an extended Series B led by Breakout Ventures and Blackhorn Ventures.
Activ Surgical, the Boston, Massachusetts-based robotics company, said it raised USD 11m in a Series A round funding led by DNS Capital.
Activ raised USD 13m in July, according to a Massdevice.com report. The company was seeking USD 19m according to a regulatory filing. In March, the company hired former Olympus executive Todd Usen as CEO.
Folloze, the San Mateo, California-based marketing platform using AI, said it raised USD 11m in a Series B funding led by BGV.
ALICE Technologies, the San Francisco, California-based construction industry platform using AI, said it raised USD 8m in a Series A funding round led by Merus Capital.
Socially Determined, the Washington DC-based healthcare analytics startup using machine learning, said it raised USD 7.3m in a Series A that included Ziegler Link-Age Funds, ProMedica and 3M.
Mainline, the Houston, Texas-based esports software developer using AI, raised USD 6.8m in Series A funding round led by Work America Capital, according to a Finsmes report.
Ruti, the Belmont, California-based fashion company developing facial recognition services, said it raised USD 6m in a Series A funding round led by Viola Ventures.
Smart Radar System, the Seongman, Korea-based startup developing visual radar for autonomous vehicles, said it raised USD 4m in a Series A led by USD 170m early stage venture capital firm Kakao Ventures. A venture capital unit of Korean car maker Hyundai also participated.
Other deals include Link3D, Datanomics, MooveGuru, Tactile Mobility, Kubit, Forecast, Accusonus, Cervest, Fireflies.ai, Searchable.ai and Silbo
And finally, Softbank bailed out WeWork
LEGAL AND REGULATORY
An advisory board to the US Department of Defense voted to approve ethical principles on AI, according to a Wired report.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt warns on overregulation of AI, in a VentureBeat report.
Auditable AI required to avoid bias, the Harvard Business Review argues.
PEOPLE
Criteo, the Paris, France-based advertising platform using machine learning, said it hired former Nielsen executive Megan Clarken as CEO. Former CEO JB Rudelle will retain his role as chairman
In May the company hired Geoffroy Martin as executive vice president and general manager, retail media.
Conversica, the Foster City, California-based virtual assistant maker, said it hired Jim Kaskade as CEO.
In December, the company hired Rashmi Vittal as chief marketing officer. The previous month it raised raised USD 31m in a Series C led by Providence Equity Partners.
Crowd Machine, the Scotts Valley, California-based business services firm using AI, said it promoted COO James Hanley to CEO. Founder and former CEO Craig Sproule becomes chairman.
EarlySign, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based medical analytics company using machine learning, said it promoted Chief Medical Officer Jeremy Orr to CEO. Co-founder and former CEO Ori Geva will take up the role of president and director of commercial strategy.
Protegrity, the Stamford, Connecticut-based enterprise data security software company, said it hired former Sun Microsystems executive Rick Farnell as CEO.
Fundbox, the San Francisco, California-based payments and credit network using AI, said it hired Leslie Olsen as the company’s first chief marketing officer, Allison Wirth as the company’s first chief compliance officer and Todd Hamblet as chief legal officer and corporate secretary.
Fundbox raised USD 176m in a Series C and a USD 150m credit facility that included venture capital units of Germany’s Allianz and Japan’s MUFG in September.
Ibex Medical Analytics, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based cancer diagnostics company using AI, said it hired Stuart Shand as chief commercial officer.
Trading Technologies, the Chicago, Illinois-based trading software company using machine learning, said it hired Russ Cotton as COO and Craig Mohan as chief growth officer. Cotton joins from Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the NYSE, and Hohan joins from Chicago-based derivatives exchange CME.
INKY Technology, the College Park, Maryland-based email security platform using AI, said it hired former Google executive Eli Sanders as chief customer officer. The company hired John Lyons as chief revenue officer in September.
CounterFlow AI, the Charlottesville, Florida-based cybersecurity company, said it hired Bill Cantrell as chief product officer.
Arcules, the Irvine, California-based business services company using AI, said it hired Nigel Waterton as chief revenue officer.
Accolade, the Seattle, Washington-based health services firm, said it hired former World Bank AI expert Shantanu Nundy as chief medical officer.
Saykara, the Seattle, Washington-based healthcare virtual assistant developer, said it hired Graham Hughes as president.
DecisionNext, the San Francisco, California-based commodity market analytics company using AI, said it promoted Senior Director of Business Development and Customer Success Arden Arnold to the role of president. In June it raised USD 7m in a Series A funding round led by Dalus Capital.
Zeta Global, the New York City-based marketing software company using AI, said it hired Rob Lentz as senior vice president enterprise operations within Zeta's CRM division.
In May it acquired assets from online advertising technology company Sizmek. In February Zeta hired former Nielsen executive Ben Hayes as chief product officer. The month before it announced an unspecified investment in bankrupt advertising firm Visto.
ElectrifAi, the Jersey City, New Jersey-based AI company, said it hired Debra Fahey as senior vice president, global head of delivery & operations and Michael Fox as senior vice president of product management.
In October the company hired Deron Hurst as senior vice president of federal government division. In July the company, which was formerly known as Opera Solutions, hired Edward Scott as CEO.
Other hiring includes Zumper, Stats Perform and Nor1
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