Weekly Artificial Intelligence Finance News

Flipps acquires Avid, Recall buys Evolution & Pulse, Restoration Robotics raising USD 25m, MaxQ seeks USD 8m in Nasdaq IPO, Bytedance raising USD 3bn in run up to 2019 HK IPO, Jack Ma’s Yunfeng raises USD 2.5bn for new fund, MOV.ai raised USD 3m in seed round, Kodiak Robotics raises USD 40m, DarkLight brings in new CEO and Infosys hires global AI head

The Artificial Intelligence finance newsletter gets readers up to date on the latest funding news and related issues.

· Mergers and acquisitions

Flipps Media, the New York City-based digital streaming site focused on fighting sports, said it acquired Avid.ai, which uses machine learning to deliver sports-related content to subscribers. Avid was started by ex-Sequoia Capital partner Timothy Lee, who is joining the Flipps’ board.

Recall Studios, the New York City-based AR/VR company, said it acquired Evolution AI, the animation company, for USD 200m in stock. The deal also includes a 60% stake in Pulse Evolution, which participated in such movies as The Curious Case on Benjamin Button with Brad Pitt. Recall says it plans to acquire the remaining 40% stake at the equivalent of USD 1.38 in its own shares. Evolution AI is developing animation technology that will enable AI platform users to interact with a lifelike human face. Evolution had offered to acquire Pules at USD 1.10 a share earlier this year.

· Filings