Top tech startup news for today, Friday, October 18, 2019

Good morning! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Friday, October 18, 2019.

Thrive Global acquires neuroscience-based artificial intelligence startup Boundless Mind. Thrive Global, a behavior change tech startup, has acquired Boundless Mind, a neuroscience-based artificial intelligence tech startup and leader in behavioral design and engineering. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. Launched in 2016 by CEO Arianna Huffington, Thrive Global brings behavior change technology, content and people experience programs to employees and consumers to improve their well-being and performance. The acquisition furthers Thrive Global’s commitment to building a leading behavior change technology platform that leverages data collection and the application of the latest science to end the stress and burnout epidemic and help individuals and organizations unlock their full potential.

SharpCloud raises $5.8 million in Series A funding to accelerate. SharpCloud, a London-based tech startup and a provider of visual software for business collaboration, has raised $5.8 (£4.5M) in funding to continue to expand operations and its business reach, as well as to accelerate its product development roadmap.  The funding came from YFM Equity Partners. Founded by Sarim Khan, Co-founder and CEO, SharpCloud provides a visual communication software platform for enterprises to get access to data driven views. SharpCloud is Software as a Service hosted from the Microsoft Azure cloud and can also be provided as on-premises software. Its customers Include ConocoPhillips, US Government, Thermo Fisher Scientific, KTN, Network Rail, Transport Systems Catapult and CGI.

Profitable fintech startup Galileo Financial raises its first institutional funding of $77 million after 19 years. Galileo Financial, a tech startup that powers the backend of the world’s most innovative card and fintech companies, just raised its first institutional funding of $77 million to accelerate growth, including expansion into Latin America, the UK and Europe, and for continued product expansion. The seed A round was led by venture capital firm Accel with participation from Qualtrics Co-Founder & CEO Ryan Smith. In conjunction with the funding, Galileo also announced that Accel Partner John Locke, is joining its Board of Directors. Founded in 2000 by Clay Wilkes and Dave Wilkes, the Salt Lake City, Utah-based Galileo APIs power the next generation of banking products globally. Galileo is behind the technology that powers most fintech companies, financial institutions and investment firms in North America, Latin America, Canada, Asia, and Europe, delivering solutions in the complex world of payments and financial services.

BASF and TELUS Ventures invest in AgTech startup Hummingbird Technologies. BASF Venture Capital and Canada’s TELUS Ventures are among the lead investors in a series B investment round for British startup Hummingbird Technologies. Other main investors include Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) and the British investment firm Downing Ventures. The  investment will be used to fund advancements in remote sensing, artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics for in-field precision farming. Founded in 2016, Hummingbird Technologies has developed a technology platform to evaluate the condition of agricultural fields. Hummingbird’s unique artificial intelligence, deep learning and imagery analytics solution uses proprietary algorithms driven by aerial images captured from satellites, planes and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures dedicates $20 million to female-founded startups. Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, a Milwaukee-based venture capital and financial firm announced yesterday that it will dedicate $20 million of its funding to investing in startup companies founded by women. This allocation will advance the firm’s investment strategy of engaging startups whose technologies have the potential to transform how clients experience financial security, as well as increase focus on technological disruption. The investment criteria is aligned with Northwestern Mutual Future Venture’s key strategic areas of focus including, – building for consumers’ changing financial preferences, reimagining the client experience, the digital health revolution, and transformational analytics and technologies.

AI-based Analytics startup Sisu launches diagnostic analytics platform with $52.5M in funding from NEA and Andreessen Horowitz. Sisu, an AI-based advanced analytics platform that helps companies to diagnose why their most important business metrics are changing, has secured $52.5M in a Series B funding round led by NEA. Andreessen Horowitz, the a16z Cultural Leadership Fund, and Green Bay Ventures also participated in the new round. The funding brings Sisu’s total capital raised to $66.7M, and coincides with the public launch of Sisu’s data analytics platform. The new capital infusion will fuel Sisu’s expansion in the rapidly growing operational analytics market, where it already counts large enterprises like Samsung and Upwork as customers.