COVID-19 forced a nearly 34% decline in 2020 venture capital funding for AI to $15 billion, but a strong rebound is “imminent” for 2021, reported ABI Research Wednesday. VC rounds were reduced due to lockdown measures, and VC firms deferred much dealmaking due to macroeconomic uncertainty, it said. It also blamed U.S.-China trade tensions for cooling investor enthusiasm. ABI sees 2020 as “a slight hiccup for an otherwise steady increase in AI investments. AI VC funding this year through June was around $14.5 billion, “already closing in on 2020’s amount, and is very likely to exceed the 2019 figure,” it said.
CoComelon and iFood.tv are on Vizio SmartCast TVs, said streaming content publisher Future Today Wednesday. The channels-as-a-service technology stack provider launched 13 ad-supported VOD streaming apps and four free ad-supported linear TV channels on SmartCast.
Zoom’s proposed buy of Five9 underscores the growing importance of customer contact and customer experience services in the post-pandemic world, said GlobalData Tuesday. Zoom announced Sunday it signed a definitive agreement to buy the intelligent cloud contact center provider for $14.7 billion. Zoom is under “significant pressure” to convert the momentum it achieved during the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic into longer term financial results, said GlobalData analyst Gary Barton. Customer contact services is a way to “extend its value proposition,” he said. COVID-19 forced companies to change the way they do business with customers as physical branches closed; that has made people more accustomed to dealing with companies remotely. Many people favor an in-person experience, especially when dealing with complex issues, but that wasn't possible during lockdown, forcing people to change their behavior. In the future, he said, “video will be a primary route to market for a wide range of services as people expect a more on-demand customer experience.”
Savant Systems bought Racepoint Energy, said the buyer Tuesday. Terms weren’t disclosed. Savant CEO Bob Madonna founded Racepoint in 2015 when he was Savant chairman and former Barnes & Noble head William Lynch was CEO. Madonna had installed solar panels at home and found the interface “clunky,” he told us. Savant Power is a scalable software platform that manages distributed energy resources such as solar, storage and flexible load management. By adding automated power, which has been renamed Savant Power, the home control company “now addresses every pillar of the connected home" including climate, lighting, entertainment, security and energy, said the company. Savant Power is helping to “transform the grid” with its automation capabilities, boosting the effectiveness of alternative power sources such as solar, batteries or generators “without compromising comfort and convenience,” said Madonna. The two companies have worked closely together, with Racepoint exhibiting in the Savant booth at recent CEDIA Expos; they also collaborated on the Vegas Modern 001 showcase home in Henderson, Nevada, unveiled last week (see 2107140054). “We are seeing an enormous investment in renewable energy, said Madonna, citing events including the Texas grid hack and rolling blackouts in California that are placing energy “top of mind” with consumers. Madonna noted Savant also acquired GE Lighting last year, bringing access to distribution at retail, electrical supply distribution and the CEDIA channel. “All of the pieces fit together to make this timing work now for Savant to acquire Racepoint Energy,” he said, allowing Savant to deliver a comprehensive smart home solution controllable by one app.
Netflix had 1.54 million paid net additions in Q2, beating the guidance of 1 million in its April 20 forecast, it reported Tuesday. COVID-19 “has created some lumpiness in our membership growth (higher growth in 2020, slower growth this year), which is working its way through,” said its shareholder letter. Asia Pacific generated about two-thirds of the global paid net adds growth in the quarter, it said.
Though eight in 10 Americans shop online most frequently with Amazon and big box retail “goliaths” for their low prices and convenience, e-commerce consumers are increasingly “conflicted in aligning their principles with their purchases, creating new market opportunities,” reported Kenco Tuesday. The logistics company canvassed 1,300 U.S. consumers in May, finding more than a third “associate shopping online with Amazon or big box retailers with feelings of guilt,” it said. Of those who feel guilt, three-quarters worry they’re taking away from small businesses and 68% feel “they’re contributing toward unsustainable practices involved in packaging, manufacturing, and labor,” it said. Half worry “they’re not supporting more socially responsible companies,” it said. Amazon didn't comment.
Roku partnered with NBCUniversal on a home screen experience designed to give customers “easy access” to the media company’s 5,500 hours of streaming coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics via the Roku platform, the companies said Tuesday. The experience is designed to help viewers organize viewing of the games, delayed by a year due to COVID-19, by channel and sport, said the companies. Roku is creating a path to NBCU’s streaming coverage of the games directly from the home screen, with the Olympics “hub” accessible from the left side of the screen, third only to the Roku home screen and its free Roku Channel content.
Astound Broadband is buying central Texas fiber-to-the-home operator Harris Broadband, it said Tuesday. The deal is expected to close later this year and will give Astound's Grande Communications more than 6,000 additional customers, 12,500 homes passed and 150 fiber miles in Texas, it said. It didn't provide terms.
Dish Network's mobile customers will use AT&T's wireless network in addition to Dish's 5G network under a network services agreement announced by the two companies Monday. The agreement says AT&T will be the primary network services partner for Dish mobile virtual network operator customers. They said AT&T will also provide transport and roaming services to support Dish's 5G network. "Teaming with AT&T on this long-term partnership will allow us to better compete in the retail wireless market and quickly respond to changes in our customers' evolving connectivity needs as we build our own first-of-its kind 5G network," said Dish Chief Operating Officer and Group President-Retail Wireless John Swieringa. Under the terms of the 10-year NSA, Dish will pay AT&T at least $5 billion and AT&T can deploy portions of Dish's spectrum to support Dish customers on the AT&T network. New Street Research's Jonathan Chaplin, in a note to investors, said presumably AT&T would pay Dish for use of the spectrum or Dish would get a reduction in what it's paying AT&T under the MVNO. He said the deal was likely driven by Dish's issues with T-Mobile shutting down the Sprint CDMA network that many of Dish's Boost customers rely on. Chaplin said the Dish/AT&T deal could indicate a DirecTV/Dish DBS deal could be more plausible since it indicates a willingness for AT&T and Dish to work together. He said such an agreement would face regulatory challenges "though we see it as a hurdle; not a barrier."
The Interactive Multimedia & Collaborative Communications Alliance (IMCCA) will be a programming partner for CEDIA Expo Sept. 1-3 in Indianapolis, show owner Emerald emailed Monday. IMCCA will bring insights and subject matter experts about the rise in hybrid work and home office demand since COVID-19 to the Expo Smart Stage and Innovation Hub. IMCCA will host home office unified communications and collaborative conferencing technology demonstrations, Emerald said. Participating vendors include Crestron, Poly, Cisco, Zoom and Jabra.