Boston Tech Watch: Teradyne, American Well, Namogoo, Sentenai & More

[Updated 5/7/18, 12:17 pm. See below.] It’s time to catch up on some recent deals and other news from the Boston-area tech scene:

—Teradyne (NYSE: [[ticker:TER]]), a North Reading, MA-based seller of robots and automatic test equipment for checking semiconductors and other electronics, recently said it purchased Denmark-based Mobile Industrial Robots, known as MiR, for $148 million, net of cash acquired. Teradyne will kick in an additional $124 million if certain performance targets are met through 2020, according to a press release.

The deal is another sign of the growing interest in mobile, “collaborative” robots for warehouses and other industrial settings. Other Teradyne acquisitions in recent years include a deal for up to $350 million to acquire Universal Robots, a maker of lightweight industrial robots.

—Cybersecurity and analytics startup Namogoo said it raised $15 million in a Series B funding round led by Hanaco Venture Capital, with earlier backers GreatPoint Ventures, Blumberg Capital, and Inimiti Capital also investing. The company was founded in Israel and has its U.S. headquarters in Boston.

Namogoo’s software aims to identify and block unauthorized product ads and other “invasive content” placed on e-commerce websites by outside merchants, whose shady ads and deceptive links can drive shoppers away from Namogoo clients.

—Purple Carrot, a Needham, MA-based startup that delivers plant-based meal kits to customers, said it pulled in a $4 million investment from Fresh Del Monte Produce. [This paragraph added—Eds.]

One Way Ventures—the new immigrant-focused venture fund from former Techstars Boston leaders Semyon Dukach and Eveline Buchatskiy—revealed one of its first investments: Sentenai. The Boston-based data science technology startup said it closed a $2 million investment from One Way, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Rob May, Jennifer Lum, and Julia Austin.

Sentenai previously raised at least $1.8 million from Flybridge Capital Partners, Founder Collective, Project 11 Ventures, and Hyperplane Venture Capital.

—Boston-based telehealth company American Well said it signed an agreement to acquire Avizia, a Reston, VA-based telehealth company focused on urgent care, pediatrics, stroke patients, behavioral healthcare, and patients with chronic conditions. The deal terms weren’t disclosed.

—In other local healthtech news, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has launched a new innovation center to explore how technologies like connected devices and blockchain could improve healthcare. John Halamka, Beth Israel’s chief information officer and a Harvard Medical School professor, will lead the new center, according to a press release.

—IT management software company Kaseya said it will merge with Unitrends, a Burlington, MA-based company that sells software for data backup and recovery. Both firms are Insight Venture Partners portfolio companies. Unitrends moved its headquarters from South Carolina to Massachusetts in 2014.

—Sovos, a Wilmington, MA-based tax software company, continued its acquisition spree with a deal to purchase Sweden-based TrustWeaver for an undisclosed price. Sovos, which is owned by London-based Hg, acquired U.K.-based FiscalReps and Chile-based Paperless last year.

Author: Jeff Bauter Engel

Jeff, a former Xconomy editor, joined Xconomy from The Milwaukee Business Journal, where he covered manufacturing and technology and wrote about companies including Johnson Controls, Harley-Davidson and MillerCoors. He previously worked as the business and healthcare reporter for the Marshfield News-Herald in central Wisconsin. He graduated from Marquette University with a bachelor degree in journalism and Spanish. At Marquette he was an award-winning reporter and editor with The Marquette Tribune, the student newspaper. During college he also was a reporter intern for the Muskegon Chronicle and Grand Rapids Press in west Michigan.