Top tech startup news for today, Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Good morning! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Wednesday, September 25, 2019.

Alibaba unveiled Hanguang 800, its first chip to power artificial intelligence (AI) processes. Alibaba is following Huawei’s footsteps with the announcement of its first A.I. chip as China pushes for its own semiconductor technology.  According to the company, the chip can cut down computing tasks that would take an hour down to five minutes, the e-commerce giant claims. Just last month, Alibaba unveiled its own AI semiconductor called the Ascend 910, aimed at being used in data centers. Huawei claims its chip is the “world’s most powerful AI processor.” Jeff Zhang, the chief technology officer at Alibaba, unveils the company’s first artificial intelligence chip  today at the Apsara Computing Conference.

AI startup Fiddler Labs raises $10.2 million Series A Funding. Fiddler Labs, a provider of AI experiences platform for companies, has secured $10.2m in Series A funding  to continue to build its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engine. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Lux Capital, with participation from Haystack Ventures and Bloomberg Beta. In conjunction with the funding, Bilal Zuberi, Partner at Lux Capital, will be joining Fiddler’s Board. Founded in October 2018 by CEO Krishna Gade and CPO Amit Paka, Fiddler aims to enable businesses of all sizes to deliver AI experiences to their customers. Fiddler is a breakthrough AI platform with explainability at its heart. Whether you’re a data scientist, a product owner, or a business leader, Fiddler enables you to create successful AI solutions that are transparent, explainable, and understandable.

BlaBlaCar to acquire Eastern European bus-booking platform Busfor. BlaBlaCar is buying Eastern European bus-booking platform Busfor for an undisclosed amount. BlaBlaCar, which started out with a ride-sharing service for long-distance trips around Europe, is now making a big investment into buses. Founded in 2012 by Artem Altukhov and Ilya Ekushevskiy, Busfor is the leading bus player in Russia and Ukraine. The startup provides bus ticketing online travel agency and distribution platform. The Acquisition will significantly increase BlaBlaCar’s inventory of bus carriers, and improve the convenience of booking buses online in the region.

Peter Thiel, Stripe, Tinder co-founder lead $2.7M investment in Filipino payments startup PayMongo. PayMongo, a fintech startup that makes it easy for businesses in the Philippines to accept online payments from multiple channels with ease, has raised $2.7 million in seed round to grow the team, accelerate product development, acquire businesses more aggressively, and close down on many strategic partnerships. The investment came from top Silicon Valley investors, including Founders Fund, Peter Thiel, and Stripe. Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital, Soma Capital, Tinder Co-founder Justin Mateen and a number of other angel investors also participated in the round. Founded by Francis Plaza (CEO), Luis Sia (COO), Jaime Hing (CTO), and Edwin Lacierda, PayMongo offers easy ways for merchants to receive payments online.

InterVision acquires advanced analytics startup SeyVu. InterVision, an IT strategic service provider, has acquired SeyVu, a tech startup that provides advanced analytics, AI and data science applications across industries ranging from high-tech, consumer, manufacturing, education and government, as well as its related interests, assets and intellectual properties. The total amount was not disclosed. The acquisition helps InterVision’s plan to provide insightful technology-enabled services and solutions that solve complex business challenges. InterVision delivers IT managed services, on-premise solutions, professional services, cloud solutions, automation services, and consulting with a vendor-certified sales and engineering staff who have specialized expertise in all areas critical to IT environments.

German Biotech startup Tacalyx secures $7.7 million in seed funding to create anti-TACA antibodies for cancer treatment. Tacalyx, a biotech oncology startup company focused on the discovery and development of Tumor Associated Carbohydrate Antigen (TACA) antibodies to treat cancer, has raised $7.7 million (€7 million) in seed funding to advance its discovery platform, progress obtained leads towards candidate selection and start its pre-clinical development. Tacalyx is backed by leading European life sciences and technology investors Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), Kurma Partners, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), coparion, Creathor Ventures and Idinvest Partners. Founded by a highly experienced team with a track record of successful drug development in multiple companies including Glycart, SuppreMol, Baxalta, Vaxxilon, GlyXera, and GlycoUniverse, the Berlin, Germany-based Tacalyx is a spin-off of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Colloids and Interfaces.