Nike goes shopping in Boston. Cybereason tracks down another big investment. Care.com makes a change at the top. A purported venture capitalist gets arrested for alleged fraud. Read on for these stories and more of the biggest developments in Boston tech this week.
—Nike (NYSE: NKE) acquired Boston-based retail technology firm Celect for an undisclosed price. The startup’s software uses machine learning-enabled analytics to help retailers try to predict future buying patterns and more efficiently make inventory and fulfillment decisions. The athletic shoe and apparel giant said it will use Celect’s technology to better anticipate consumer “needs.”
Formed in 2012 by MIT professors Vivek Farias and Devavrat Shah, Celect had raised at least $30.2 million from NGP Capital, Fung Capital, Activant Capital, and others. Celect’s employees will join Nike’s global operations team, and Farias and Shah will consult for Nike but will continue as tenured MIT professors, according to a Nike press release.
—Cybereason is the cybersecurity industry’s newest “unicorn.” With a fresh investment of up to $200 million from Japanese tech giant SoftBank, Boston-based Cybereason is now worth more than $1 billion, company officials told Xconomy. The startup previously raised $189 million from investors. Xconomy interviewed CEO and co-founder Lior Div to find out what’s next.
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