Investors Impressed By Mix Of AI And Analytics

With more than $175 million raised for B2B startups this week, the undoubted winner was a California-based artificial intelligence data analytics company – a sign, the firm noted, of the enterprise’s increasing reliance on AI. Also landing on the board this week are alternative lending, expense management, cybersecurity and blockchain players. Check out the latest investment rounds below.

Alternative Lending

CCRManager

Operating in the trade finance market, CCRManager announced $6.5 million in new iFunding led by Francis Rozario of Global eTrade Services and several other backers. The company operates a digital platform to facilitate the disbursement of trade and supply chain finance to the secondary market, according to Global Trade Review reports this week. The company first launched last year with the support of several financial institution backers. The firm’s co-founder and chief operating officer, George Lee, told reporters the platform has processed more than $2 billion in transactions since it started operations. With the funding, CCRManager said it will focus on continued development of its platform.

Expense Management

Divvy

This week, U.S.-based Divvy announced $10.5 million in Series A funding for its expense management solution aimed at reducing businesses’ reliance on expense reports, instead linking employees to company credit cards that support real-time spend visibility. Pelion Venture Partners led the investment round, which included several personal investors. Divvy noted it would use the investment to focus on growth.

Artificial Intelligence

ThoughtSpot

California’s ThoughtSpot landed the week’s largest investment round, with $145 million in Series D funding for its artificial intelligence analytics solution. The company provides enterprises with an analytics platform that includes a “Google-like search” feature to analyze complex corporate data. The oversubscribed funding round saw participation from existing backers Lightspeed Venture Partners, Future Fund, Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst Partners; new investors included Sapphire Ventures. The investment brings the total raised by ThoughtSpot to $306 million; the latest round will go toward innovation of its analytics platform as well as a focus on global expansion into EMEA and APAC.

Cybersecurity

At-Bay

With $13 million in Series A funding, California’s At-Bay will enhance its proactive cybersecurity monitoring solution for businesses. The company provides cyber insurance for the enterprise coupled with real-time risk management and mitigation. The investment was co-led by Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed and Kramer Capital Partners, the firm said, and brings the total amount raised by At-Bay to $19 million.

Blockchain

OwlTing

Based in Taiwan, OwlTing operates blockchain solutions for a variety of industries, including the hotel and global travel markets. The firm secured an investment from Japan-based SBI Crypto Investment, though its announcement did not reveal financial details of the funding. OwlTing provides blockchain solutions including OwlChain, a B2B service to enhance visibility of food supply chains for product safety, as well as OwlNest, a B2B solution for hotel operators that includes internal systems management software and hotel booking tools. The firm said support from SBI will enable OwlTing to focus on sales of OwlNest and continue growth in the hotel sector.