The Big Deals 💣 : FlexAI, Payflows, And BforeAI
What: FlexAI is developing a platform to make building and training AI applications easier and less expensive.
Why: Deploying AI-powered services can be complicated by a lack of access to computing power and programmers. With its new platform, FlexAI wants to automate the process of adapting an application to run on different hardware so developers have more options for accessing computing power, while also running more efficiently so operating costs are lower.
Funding: €28.5 million
Who: Co-founders Brijesh Tripathi and Dali Kilani. The pair previously worked at Nvidia together. More recently, Tripathi has worked at Apple, Tesla, and Intel, while Kilani has worked at Zynga and then Lifen in Paris.
Investors: Alpha Intelligence Capital (AIC), Elaia Partners, and Heartcore Capital participated in this round, while previous investors include Bpifrance, Frst Capital, Motier Ventures, Partech, and InstaDeep CEO Karim Beguir.
What's Next: The company will release its first commercial product later this year and is working to have its platform integrated with major cloud-computing partners.
What: Payflows has developed an automated financial management platform.
Why: CFOs rely on a tangle of different systems to manage a company's internal finances. Payflows has developed a platform that aggregates and centralizes these systems into a central dashboard that makes tracking and oversight easier.
Funding: €25.0 million
Who: Co-founders are Pauline Glikman and Joseph Assouline, both formerly at Luko.
Investors: Balderton Capital, Headline, Ribbit Capital, 20VC, plus Business Angels including Angélique Elizé of Raise Sherpas, Guillaume Durao of Emblem VC, Alexandre Berriche of Fleet, and Salomon Aiach of Origins Fund.
What's Next: The company has earmarked the money for international expansion, including opening a UK office later this year and studying a possible move into the U.S. market.
What: BforeAI is a predictive cyber security solution that autonomously maps and predicts malicious software by analyzing internal and external data to detect anomalies.
Why: By identifying potential attacks and stopping them before they occur, the company wants to prevent damage which in turn saves clients money.
Funding: €15.0 million
Who: Founder and CEO is Luigi Lenguito
Investors: SYN Ventures, Partnership Fund for New York City, Karma Ventures, Karista, Addendum Capital
What's Next: The money will be used to expand R&D and expand into the U.S. market.