AI & Robotics

Zencity, a platform that meshes AI with big data to give municipalities insights and aggregated feedback from local communities, has raised $13.5 million from a slew of notable backers, including lead investor TLV Partners, Microsoft’s VC arm M12, and Salesforce Ventures. Gathering data through traditional means, such as surveys or Town Hall meetings, can be a slow and time-consuming process and…

(Reuters) — Chinese artificial intelligence company Shanghai Zhizhen Intelligent Network Technology, also known as Xiao-i, has filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging it has infringed on Xiao-i’s patents. Xiao-i is calling for 10 billion yuan ($1.43 billion) in damages and demands that Apple cease “manufacturing, using, promising to sell, selling, and importing” products that infringe on…

Data-driven construction reporting company Buildots this week announced it raised $16 million, a combination of a $3 million seed round and a $13 million series A. Cofounder Roy Danon says it’ll be used to scale and improve the company’s products as Buildots expands to new regions around the world. Large construction projects — which some countries have allowed to continue during the…

Aquicore, an information tech startup offering cloud-based software for asset operations, today secured $14 million in financing. The company says it’ll use the funding to advance its platform and expand into European markets. The buildings sector accounts for about 76% of electricity use and 40% of all U.S. primary energy usage and associated CO2 emissions, but the bulk of commercial real…