It automates the process by which companies and website owners make their content accessible to users with hearing, visual, and motor impairments as well as some other functional disabilities. The total funding company raised is $12.5M in funding over 2 rounds. It's an AI-based solution scans website and automatically offers key modifications to transmit data and accessible content to end-users in a manner compliant with the international and US disability standards, which includes the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Executive Opinion Shir Ekerling, Co-founder and CEO of accessiBe, said, "What excites us most about our partnership with K1 is that now, with the amazing support of our investors, we can bring accessibility to the world. Our vision is to make the internet truly accessible to everyone. By utilizing machine learning, our solution can help millions of businesses comply with legislation and avoid lawsuits on the one hand, while enabling users with disabilities to browse the internet effectively on the other. Mike Velcich, Principal at K1, said, "K1 is excited to partner with Shir Ekerling and the accessiBe team as they continue their rapid global expansion.

An artificial intelligence-driven compliance technology company founded by a former fund manager and corporate broker has raised £2.5 million in a recent funding round. FeedStock's latest funding round was led by Praetura Ventures, with Force Over Mass and existing investor Illuminate Financial Management also participating in the round. The company provides AI and natural language processing technologies to help both the buy- and sell-side institutions meet various compliance requirements, as well as commercial goals. Founded in 2015, FeedStock was established by former analyst and fund manager at GAM, Lucas Wurfbain, alongside Charlie Henderson, who previously worked as a research analyst and corporate broker. "With our background in highly regulated businesses, we are seeing enormous appetite for our proprietary technology; not only from businesses required to comply with MiFID II, but also for enterprises that are looking to leverage AI as a core component of their business for efficiency gains and revenue generation," Henderson commented on the recent investment.

The Land of the Rising Sun is a peculiar mix of tradition and modernity. Nowhere else in the world can one see centuries-old shrines sitting comfortably next to high tech skyscrapers in such harmony. Nowhere in the world does the airport ground crew stop what they're doing so they can wave goodbye to departing planes until they're out of sight. Nowhere in the world will you find customer service that drips with genuine sweetness with no tips expected. Nowhere in the world will you find a people as endearing as the Japanese.

"We are starting to see early signs of very rudimentary machine learning being used in these (cyber) attacks ... we do estimate that in the next 18 months we will start seeing much sophisticated AI based attacks," Eagan said.

Darktrace differentiates itself in using advanced machine learning and mathematics developed at the University of Cambridge to identify abnormalities in a company's IT network that might be an attack. The company also aims to tackle the latest phenomenon of artificial intelligence-based cyber attacks with its own AI-based software. "We are starting to see early signs of very rudimentary machine learning being used in these (cyber) attacks ... we do estimate that in the next 18 months we will start seeing much sophisticated AI based attacks," Eagan said. Darktrace, co-headquartered in Britain's Cambridge and San Francisco, has customers including chipmaker Micron Technology Inc, international airports like London Gatwick Airport, and financial institutions such as AIG Inc.

British artificial intelligence firm BenevolentAI has raised 115 million US dollars (£80.8 million) in a move valuing the group at two billion US dollars (£1.4 billion) and marking one of the largest funding rounds in the sector. BenevolentAI, which uses artificial intelligence to make new drug discoveries, secured the funding from investors largely based in the US, as well as from existing backers including star fund manager Neil Woodford's Woodford Investment Management. The latest funding round means BenevolentAI has now raised more than 200 million US dollars (£141 million) since its launch in 2013. It said it would put the latest cash towards ramping up its drug development, broadening the disease areas on which it focuses and advance these programmes to the clinic. The group – Europe's largest private AI company – will also use some of the funds to further develop its self-learning system, while also helping the firm to expand outside the pharmaceutical sector to other science-based industries, such as energy storage and agriculture.

The group – Europe's largest private AI company – will also use some of the funds to further develop its self-learning system, while also helping the firm to expand outside the pharmaceutical sector to other science-based industries, such as energy storage and agriculture. Ken Mulvany, founder and chairman of BenevolentAI, said the fundraising "reflects the rapidly growing global interest in the emerging AI pharmaceutical sector and a recognition of our place as the dominant player within it".

A University of Toronto startup using artificial intelligence to speed drug discovery has raised US$45 million to fund growth – yet another example of how efforts to commercialize the university's AI expertise are making waves in the business world. San Francisco-based Atomwise, which helps screen millions of potential drug candidates in a fraction of the time of traditional methods, said this week its latest funding round was led by Monsanto Growth Ventures, Data Collective (DCVC) and B Capital Group. That brings the total amount of capital Atomwise has raised to more than US$51 million. "With our initial work in 2012, Atomwise became the first startup to commercialize deep neural networks for drug discovery," Abraham Heifets, the company's co-founder and chief executive, said in a statement. "It seemed to many like science fiction then, but now in 2018 Atomwise has the commercial traction with a host of customers to demonstrate our leadership in AI for drug discovery." Co-founded by U of T alumni Heifets, Izhar Wallach and Alexander Levy, Atomwise says its AI technology has the potential to fix a key problem for the pharmaceutical industry: declining productivity as pharma companies achieve fewer breakthroughs per research dollar.