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Chipmaker AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) has unveiled a range of innovative AI solutions spanning from data centers to personal computers. The AMD Instinct MI300 Series features data center AI accelerators, while the ROCm 6 open software stack introduces new features supporting Large Language Models (LLMs). Additionally, the Ryzen 8040 Series processors come equipped with Ryzen AI capabilities.
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Alternative Investments/ESG: Gabelli Launches The “Love Our Planet & People (LOPP)” ETF
Gabelli Funds rolled out the first of its nine Precidian ActiveShares actively managed ETFs. The Love Our Planet & People (LOPP) ETF is an Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) ETF.
Digital Assets: Visa Launches Crypto Pilot Program With Black-Focused First Boulevard
Visa (NYSE: V) announced today the pilot launch of its new suite of crypto APIs in collaboration with digital neobank First Boulevard. The APIs will enable the bank’s customers, which are predominantly from the Black community, to purchase, custody and trade digital assets.
Venture Capital: B2B Parts Maker Zetwerk Reels In $120M
Zetwerk, an Indian startup, aggregates manufacturing services such as fabrication, machining, casting, and forging of machine parts and offers them to enterprises across the world. Its providers are drawn from the SME sector, while buyers are typically EPCs and OEMs. The firm raised $120 million in a Series D round led by existing investors, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Greenoaks Capital. Continuing investors Sequoia Capital and Kae Capital also invested.
FinTech: Ant Group Agrees With Regulators To Become A Financial Holding Company
The Ant Group, which had to shelve its $35 billion IPO in November following a scrap with China’s regulators, has agreed with them to restructure its operations. According to Bloomberg, Ant will now house all its operations, including the tech-heavy food delivery and blockchain, in a financial holding company. This company will be subject to capital requirements akin to banks.
Artificial Intelligence: Israeli AI Technology Helps Precision Irrigate Avocados In South Africa
SupPlant, an Israeli-based company uses IoT, but in agriculture. Over the last four years, it has developed an AI-based system for autonomous irrigation that saves water and improves crop yields. Farmers of avocados in South Africa are now using this technology to their advantage.
Digital Assets: Crypto Exchange Gemini’s Earn Scheme Offers Upto 7.4% APY On Your Crypto
Gemini, the crypto exchange and custodian founded by the Winklevoss twins, has launched its Earn product effective Tuesday. It offers interest to customers who elect to lend their cryptos. Though the rate of interest various amongst the 26 cryptos that Gemini supports, the rate could be as high as 7.4% APY (annual percentage yield) for Filecoin. Earn offers 3.05% on bitcoin.
Venture Capital: Robotic Process Automotion Software Maker UiPath Raises $750M
UiPath, which makes software to automate business processes, announced Monday its raise of $750 million in a Series F round co-led by Alkeon Capital and Coatue. Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, IVP, Sequoia, Tiger Global, and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., all existing investors, also participated.
FinTech: Robinhood Rides Gamestop Tumult To $3.4B Debt Financing
In a sprint to gain scale after the Gamestop (NYSE: GME) episode showed the massive adoption of trading by retail investors, Robinhood raised $3.4 billion from top-notch investors. The firm, which charges no commissions, said it intended to “fuel record customer growth.”
Liquid Alternatives: Hercules Investments Launches A Liquid Alternatives Mutual Fund
Hercules Investments, a Registered Investment Adviser and asset manager, is harnessing the potential of a liquid alternative strategy to shield investors from the vagaries of a highly volatile stock market triggered by the pandemic. Furthermore, down the line, massive stimulus measures and deficit financing bring up the specter of rising inflation.
Artificial Intelligence: IdentiFlight’s AI-Powered Bird Detection Systems Save Eagles From Wind Turbines
It’s a “green-versus-green” conundrum. Windfarms generate emission-free energy on the one hand, but cause the deaths of wildlife such as protected eagle species, on the other. IdentiFlight’s smart cameras, however, provide an automated curtailment system that slows or stops wind turbines when it senses the risk of collision due to inbound wildlife.
Venture Capital: Robert Downey Jr. Launches FootPrint Coalition Ventures At WEF Digital Davos Agenda
Robert Downey Jr., producer, investor, and Iron Man star, launched FootPrint Coalition Ventures (FCV) at the World Economic Forum’s Digital Agenda on Wednesday. FCV comprises two ESG sector funds that will accelerate groundbreaking technologies to tackle the world’s largest environmental challenges.
FinTech: Brazilian Fintech Nubank Pulls In $400M At Massive $25B Valuation
Nubank, the Brazilian fintech bank that promised to serve the country’s vastly underbanked population has delivered. The bank now has 34 million customers today, and that number is more than three times its 2019 base of 12 million. After the latest G Round funding of $400 million, Nubank is valued at a solid $25 billion.
Alternative Investments/Digital Assets: WisdomTree’s CyberSecurity ETF Addresses Vulnerabilities From WFH
The new WisdomTree Cybersecurity Fund (WCBR) ETF seeks to exploit the megatrend towards cybersecurity following the pandemic in 2020. The seemingly overnight pivot to work-from-home, distance learning, and digital communications have laid bare the security vulnerabilities at enterprises across the globe.
Digital Assets: DOJ Busts NetWalker Ransomware Actors
The Department of Justice announced Wednesday its successful strike against the notorious NetWalker ransomware and its perpetrators. The coordinated international action, led by the FBI’s Tampa Field office indicted a Canadian Canadian national, Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins, who allegedly obtained $27.6 million as a “Netwalker affiliate.” Additionally, the law enforcement agents seized $454,530.19 in cryptocurrency from ransom payments. They also disabled a dark web hidden tool that the bad actors used to communicate with NetWalker ransomware victims.
Artificial Intelligence: World Economic Forum Launches Global AI Action Alliance
The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Thursday launched the Global AI Action Alliance (GAIA). It is an effort to accelerate the adoption of inclusive, transparent, and trusted artificial intelligence. Alliance members comprise delegates from more than 100 leading companies, governments, international organizations, non-profits, and academics.
Digital Assets: The Gamestop Fiasco Proves BTC Is Going To Work (Scaramucci)
In an interview on Bloomberg this week, Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of Skybridge Capital, spoke about the Gamestop (NYSE: GME) fracas and its implications for bitcoin (BTC), the leading cryptocurrency.
Alternative Investments: BMO Launches 11 New ‘Megatrend’ ETFs
BMO announced Tuesday the launch of 11 new Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). Five of these ETFs form part of an Innovation suite, while the other six focus on clean energy, covered calls, fixed income, and ESG.
Venture Capital: VCs GGV And TCV Announce Multi-Billion Dollar Fund Hauls
A lot of money from pandemic related stimulus measures appears to be sloshing around in the system. According to one opinion, some of that is headed for VC funds. TCV, the eminent Silicon Valley VC firm, raised $4 billion for its 11th fund, its biggest yet. GGV announced Thursday that its latest funds attracted investment worth $2.52 billion in its largest-ever raising.
FinTech: Stilt, The Loan Provider To Immigrants, Raises $100M Debt
Stilt provides loans and financial services to immigrants and people underserved by the banking system. The five-year old startup announced Wednesday its raise of $100 million as a warehouse lending facility from Silicon Valley Bank (NASDAQ: SIVB). With this loan, Stilt has raised in aggregate $225 million of loans for onward lending to its customers.
Artificial Intelligence: Now AI Can Predict Schizophrenia From Brain Scans
Researchers at the University of Alberta developed an AI tool for predicting schizophrenia from brain scans of healthy close relatives (such as children or siblings) of persons suffering from the mental disease. Out of 57 persons, the AI system could identify the 14 individuals that scored the highest in a schizophrenia self-test.
Alternative Investments/Digital: The Wave BTC Income & Growth Fund Clocks 146% Return
The numbers are out for the Wave BTC Income & Growth Digital Fund’s first full year of trading, and they’re impressive. The fund scored a 145.8% annual gain for its investors which include institutions, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals.
FinTech: Infinity Maritime Names Four Shipbrokers For Its Alternative Ship Finance Platform
Infinity Maritime aims to provide a sustainable solution for maritime finance by digitizing ship portfolios on its platform. This enables fractional ownership, secondary trading in ships, and the financing of environmentally sustainable fleets. The London-based platform announced Wednesday a collaboration with four major shipbrokers to source ships for the creation of a sustainable fleet.
Digital Assets: Central Bank Of Bahrain Licenses Shariah Compliant Crypto Exchange CoinMENA
Investors in select Gulf countries, looking to invest in the burgeoning world of cryptocurrencies, may soon get that opportunity. CoinMENA, a digital assets exchange certified as Shariah-compliant by the Shariyah Review Board, announced Sunday that it had received the all-important license to operate from Bahrain’s central bank.
Venture Capital: Travel and Experiences Operator Klook Notches $200M
Hong Kong-based, SoftBank-backed Klook, an online travel agency focused on experiences and attractions, has raised $200 million in a Series E round. Led by Aspex Management, the round also featured investment by existing investors, such as Sequoia Capital China, Softbank Vision Fund 1, Matrix Partners China, and Boyu Capital. The company did not disclose its valuation.