Cresta, which uses AI to improve real-time customer interactions of call center workers, emerges from stealth by announcing $21M in funding from a16z and others — As Silicon Valley's entrepreneurs cluster around the worldview that artificial intelligence is poised to change how we work …
Utah-based SaaS company Aumni, which is developing a robotic process automation and data analytics platform for private capital investors, raises $10M Series A — Aumni, Inc., a Salt Lake City, UT-based SaaS company developing a robotic process automation and data analytics platform …
Asana says it has confidentially filed to go public via a direct listing; the startup has raised about $213M to date and was last valued at ~$1.5B in 2018 — Workplace productivity toolmaker Asana announced late Monday that they have confidentially filed their S-1 and said in a statement …
Workplace productivity toolmaker Asana announced late Monday that they have confidentially filed their S-1 and said in a statement that they plan to enter the public markets via a direct listing.
Direct listings enable a company to go public without issuing new shares, instead allowing existing shareholders to sell shares on the chosen exchange. Direct listings have been an awfully hot topic as of late, seen as a means of reducing the friction and expenses of going public. Slack debuted publicly via a direct listing in 2019 and Spotify did the same the year before. Airbnb has also reportedly expressed interest in a direct listing.
Asana, co-founded by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein, builds productivity software that allows teams to assign tasks, track progress and set deadlines for projects.
Direct listings have been lauded by many in Silicon Valley as a way to strip the steep bank underwriting fees, lengthy roadshows, and some regulatory hoops from the process. Last year, venture capitalist Bill Gurley hosted a one-day conference devoted to preaching the gospel of direct listings. The New York Stock Exchange filed paperwork in November to the SEC, hoping to expand direct listings and allow companies pursuing them to raise new capital during the process. The proposal was rejected weeks later, though the NYSE seems determined to double down on efforts to evolve the direct listing process.
Asana is interestingly a much smaller company than Slack or Spotify and has raised much less capital. The startup has raised about $213 million according to Crunchbase. In late 2018, Asana raised a $50 million Series E at a $1.5 billion valuation. Debuting via a public listing suggests that the company may be satisfied with the cash it has on hand.
Twitter says it has suspended “a large network of fake accounts” and many others for abusing an API feature that let them match phone numbers to usernames — Twitter announced today that over the holidays it identified and shut down “a large network of fake accounts,” …
UK's Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation recommends that the UK regulates how tech platforms use AI in targeting users — - The U.K.'s AI advisor has called for regulation on how social media firms target users with posts, videos and ads. — It also wants the government to force tech firms …
New York Times : Electricians are flocking to regions around the US to build data centers, as AI shapes up to be an economy-bending force...
