Uniphore raises $400 mln, valued $2.5 bln; IBM acquires Neudesic; Top 10 percent of global population emit half of CO2 — study

Uniphore, a conversational automation tech company, yesterday announced its Series E funding round of $400 million, led by NEA, at a valuation of $2.5 billion. IBM has acquired Neudesic, a cloud consultancy. And the top 10 percent of the global population, by consumption, are responsible for almost half of the carbon emissions on the planet, a new study has found. Notes: Uniphore raises $400 million in Series E funding Uniphore, a conversational automation tech company, yesterday announced its Series E funding round of $400 million, led by NEA, at a valuation of $2.5 billion. This brings Uniphore’s total funding to $610 million, the company said in a press release. March Capital and other existing and new investors also participated. Uniphore will use the money to invest further in voice AI, computer vision and tonal emotion, and expand its business operations in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific. IBM acquires Neudesic, a Microsoft Azure consultancy IBM has acquired Neudesic, a US cloud services consultancy specialising primarily in the Microsoft Azure platform, along with bringing skills in multi-cloud, the company said in a press release yesterday. This acquisition will expand IBM’s portfolio of hybrid multi-cloud services and advance the company’s hybrid cloud and AI strategy, IBM said. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Neudesic has more than 1,500 cloud and data experts located in the US and India. The top 10 percent of the world responsible for half the CO2 emissions The top 10 percent of the global population, in terms of wealth and therefore consumption, are responsible for almost half of the carbon emissions on the planet, a new study has found. The results of the study, by researchers at the University of Groningen, Netherlands, University of Maryland, in the US, and Shandong University in China, were published in the journal Nature Sustainability on Feb. 14. “Our results confirm extreme carbon inequality across the world,” the researchers said in their paper. To visualise this inequality, they divided the global population into the bottom 50 percent, the middle 40 percent and the top 10 percent of carbon emitters. The consumption of the bottom half of global carbon emitters was contributing only one-tenth of global carbon emissions. Meanwhile, the lifestyle of the middle 40 percent accounted for 43 percent of global carbon emissions. Consumption of the top 10 percent was contributing almost half of all emitted CO2. Moreover, the global top 1 percent were responsible for about 15 percent of global CO2 emissions, the researchers estimated. GOQii raises $50 million in series C funding GOQii has raised $50 million in series C funding, led by Sumeru Ventures, to invest further in its smart-tech-enabled platform for preventive health care, the company said in a press release yesterday. GOQii’s products include fitness trackers, mobile app, coaching, a health store, and insurance. Proactive For Her raises $5.5 million in series A funding Proactive For Her, a digital clinic that offers products and services for outpatient health concerns of Indian women, has raised $5.5 million in Series A funding led by Vertex Ventures South East Asia and India with participation from existing investor Nexus Venture Partners, the Bangalore company said in a press release. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds