Top tech startup news for today, Thursday, July 25, 2019

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

Wisely Secures USD$1.15M Seed Funding. Wisely, a Toronto, Canada-based tech startup for nonprofits, secured $1.5M CAD in seed funding to advance AI technology and expand across to expand its operations in North America. The round was led by Ripple Ventures with participation from Verstra Ventures and the Maple Leaf Angels. Founded in 2017, and led by Artiom Komarov, CEO, Wisely provides a philanthropic fundraising enablement platform that leverages AI to help nonprofits simplify and pursue donations. The fundraising platform adapts to and integrates with existing donor data, and creates customized plans for the organization to optimize workflow and funds raised. Wisely works works with philanthropic organizations, allowing nonprofits, charities, educational institutions, hospital foundations and healthcare organizations across North America.

Google Cloud is generating $8 billion in revenue a year and plans to triple sales force. If you think Google is only about search, think again. Today, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company’s cloud unit reached $8 billion in annual revenue and plans to triple its sales force over the next few years. The company made the announcement as part of its quarterly report. Even with the growth, Google is still trailing behind the leader in cloud infrastructure, Amazon Web Services.  Amazon reported 37% growth on Thursday to $8.38 billion, which makes it about quadruple the size of Google’s business.

Moody’s acquires London-based provider RiskFirst. Moody’s Corporation has acquired RiskFirst, a London, UK-based provider of risk analytic solutions for the asset management and pension fund communities. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The acquisition positions Moody’s Analytics to extend its range of risk solutions to the institutional buy-side. Led by Matthew Seymour, CEO, RiskFirst provides the PFaroe® platform, a risk solution for U.S. and U.K. defined benefit pension markets, supporting over 3,000 plans and more than $1.4 trillion in assets. The company also offers innovative solutions for the institutional investment market, including endowments, foundations and asset managers.

Insurtech startup Hippo Insurance secures $100 million in Series D funding round to fuel expansion of its geographic footprint. Hippo, an insurtech that’s transforming the home insurance market with a simpler process and smarter coverage, has raised $100 million Series D funding round to fuel the expansion of Hippo’s geographic footprint to more than 80 percent of the U.S. homeowner population by the end of the year. The round was led by Bond, the global technology investment firm founded by Mary Meeker, Mood Rowghani, Noah Knauf and Juliet de Baubigny. This fresh capital infusion brings total funding raise to date to $209 million. In conjunction with the funding, Hippo also announced that  Mr. Knauf will join its Board of Directors.

Zambon acquires Breath Therapeutics for up to €500 million. Zambon, an Italian multinational pharmaceutical company, has acquired Breath Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing an innovative inhalation therapy for Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome (BOS), for € 140m (up to total € 500m subject to regulatory and sales milestones). The acquisition helps Zambon to extends its presence in severe respiratory diseases via the synergistic combination of Breath Therapeutics’ late-stage respiratory drug together with its expertise and commercialization infrastructure.

Replicant launches with $7 million in new funding to revolutionize the customer service industry with artificial intelligence and autonomous call flows. Replicant, an AI startup and provider of artificial intelligence-enabled voice technologies, has raised $7 million in seed funding to launch their platform solution and revolutionize the contact center industry with artificial intelligence (AI) voice technology. The round included participation from Atomic, Bloomberg Beta, Costanoa Ventures, and Norwest Venture Partners. Co‑founded in 2017 by Atomic, the venture studio behind companies including Hims, Bungalow, and TalkIQ, and Benjamin Gleitzman, Replicant provides conversational AI platform that instantly solves problems over the phone, improves customer experience, and reduces cost.

Sifted, a profitable and bootstrapped food tech startup, reaches $10 million in revenue. Sifted, a bootstrapped food-as-a-service provider for forward-looking companies, announces today it has reached $10 million in annual revenue in less than five years, with a three-year growth rate of 2,099 percent and operations in six cities nationwide. Sifted was founded in 2015 by Jess Legge and Kimberly Lexow. The startup runs on a subscription service enabling companies to choose daily or weekly plans. Menus accommodate food preferences such as vegan and vegetarian as well as dietary restrictions including the eight major food allergens.

Intelligence Node secures $5.5 million in Series B Funding to expand product portfolio and focus on U.S. footprint. Retail analytics and pricing intelligence startup Intelligence Node has closed $5.5 million Series B funding round to accelerate its goal of capitalizing on a unique market opportunity. Backers include new participating investment partners Cornerstone Fund (CSVP Fund) and Calibre Ventures, with participation from existing investors. The latest financing brings its total funding amount of $10.6 million to date. Founded in 2012, Intelligence Node is a hyper-growth retail analytics company that caters to retail clients globally. Its products help brands and retailers optimize their pricing and merchandising operations using real-time data to deliver actionable insights.