Investments
Types of investments
Top Story
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.
Get Daily Updates
Subscribe to DailyAlts Today to get Alternative Investment news, insight, and commentary delivered straight to your inbox every day.
More Stories on Investments
Artificial Intelligence: The World’s First NVIDIA-Certified AI Systems Now Available
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) announced in a blog on Tuesday that its biggest OEMs were now offering NVIDIA-Certified Systems. These are a new class of accelerated servers designed and tested for modern workloads such as AI and data analytics, and suitable for processes running at data center locations, and on the edge of the corporate network. The systems feature NVIDIA’s latest GPUs that ride NVIDIA Mellanox networks and speed up processing for AI.
Digital Assets: WhatsApp Alternative Signal Said To Be Developing Crypto Payments
An investigation report by Platformer’s Casey Newton says messaging app Signal, which promotes privacy through end-to-end encryption, without any commercial motive, is in turmoil. Downloads of the app after Facebook’s proposed privacy changes have gone through the roof. An employee told Newton that the app boasts of 40 million users globally. But proposed new features in the app have raised concerns amongst employees and some have left.
Liquid Alternatives/Private Equity: A Mackenzie Mutual Fund Offers Private Equity Exposure To Retail Investors
The Mackenzie Private Equity Replication Fund is a new mutual fund from Mackenzie Investments launched earlier this month. Mackenzie is active in liquid alternatives, and this is its sixth fund in that space. The fund manager expects liquid alternatives to grow to $100 billion in assets under management in Canada within the next few years.
Venture Capital: Matrix Partners China Raises $1.2B For Sixth Fund
Matrix Partners China, an affiliate of Matrix Partners, the U.S. venture capital firm, has raised $1.2 billion for its sixth China fund according to an SEC filing. It is an early-stage investor in Chinese startups in tech, TMT, Internet, mobile and healthcare sectors.
FinTech: Kamath’s Rainmatter VC Incubator Mulling Alternative Investment Fund
Indian entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath, who achieved fame and fortune by bootstrapping Zerodha, India’s first discount broker, to unicorn status, is setting up a fund for investing in fintechs. Rainmatter, Kamath’s VC arm, is considering the launch of an Alternate Investment Fund that would be open to Gulf investors, and as well invest in startups in that region.
Artificial Intelligence: Aerobotics Raises $17M In Naspers-Led Round
Cape Town-based Aerobotics, a startup that uses AI for the management of orchards, yield, pest and disease, and problem tree identification, raised $17 million. The oversubscribed Series B round was led by VC giant Naspers with participation from Platform Investment Partners, FMO: Entrepreneurial Development Bank, and Cathay AfricInvest Innovation.
Digital Assets: Corporates Dip-Buy Bitcoin; Marathon Invests $150M
In one stroke, Marathon Patent Group (NASDAQ: MARA), a crypto mining company, has pivoted to become a listed, pure-play option for investors seeking a proxy investment for bitcoin. The company announced today that it had bought 4,812.66 BTC at an aggregate purchase price of $150 million through NYDIG, the bitcoin-dedicated, financial and technology services company.
Venture Capital: Finnish Retail Delivery Startup Wolt Bulks Up On Cash With $530M Raise
Finnish food-to-grocery delivery startup Wolt is going all-out to achieve a huge cash pile, double and down on growth in all its verticals. It also has an IPO, perhaps in 2022, in its sights.
FinTech: MoneyGram Offers Money Transfers In Real-Time In Europe
Moneygram’s (NASDAQ: MGI) highly successful cross-border transfer service from the United States using Visa (NYSE: V) Direct, which launched in 2019, is now rolling out in Europe. Customers in 25 European countries can now use Moneygram’s website or mobile app to transfer funds instantly to Visa debit cards.
Alternative Investments/Digital Assets: Valkyrie Joins The Race To Launch A Bitcoin ETF
Valkyrie Digital Assets LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Valkyrie Investments Inc., has thrown its hat in the ring to obtain SEC approval for the launch of a bitcoin ETF. On Friday, Valkyrie submitted its application to the regulator for the “Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund,” to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Artificial Intelligence: Satellites And AI Track African Elephants
Scientists from the University of Bath, University of Oxford, and the University of Twente in the Netherlands have demonstrated the successful use of satellite cameras with deep learning algorithms to monitor the location and number of African elephants.
FinTech: China Tightens Antitrust Regulatory Screws On Fintechs
The People’s Bank of China published a draft set of rules on Wednesday for anti-trust regulation of the non-bank payment providers in the fintech sector. The draft is in the public opinion domain until February 19.
Digital Assets: BlackRock Dips Its Toes In Bitcoin Waters
Filings out Wednesday show that the BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio and BlackRock Global Allocation Fund may invest in cash-settled bitcoin futures, among other assets. BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), the world’s largest asset manager with $7.8 trillion in assets, said in the filings that certain of its funds “may engage in futures contracts based on bitcoin.”
Artificial Intelligence: AI Helping Manage Wind Farms By Forecasting Wind Conditions
AI is playing an increasingly bigger role in the management of wind energy, wind farms, and the maintenance of wind turbines through machine condition monitoring systems. Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) predicts wind conditions and production for the next day for its 700 MW wind energy resources, gaining an edge in its power market operations. In Europe, the SmartWind project seeks to cut costs and optimize revenues, while a German company is using big data and AI for fault diagnosis of wind turbines.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Harvest Portfolios Launches The Harvest Clean Energy ETF
Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. completed last week the initial offering of Class A Units of the Harvest Clean Energy ETF (TSE: HCLN). The units of the ETF commenced trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on January 14.
Venture Capital: Travel And Spend Management Platform TripActions Scores $155M Round
TripActions, a cloud-based solution for business travel and expense management utilized by 4,000 companies across the globe, announced Thursday its Series E funding of $155 million. The round was co-led by existing investor Andreessen Horowitz; Addition, founded by Lee Fixel; and investor Elad Gil. Existing investors Zeev Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Greenoaks Capital also participated.
FinTech: TransferWise Appoints Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley For IPO
According to an exclusive report by Sky News, Wall Street investment banks Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) will lead the floatation of Transferwise’s IPO in London.
Venture Capital: iSTOX Scores $50M In Series A Round To Democratize PE Investing
iSTOX, a digital securities platform announced today that it closed a Series A round of $50 million that included commitments from two new government-backed investors from Japan. The company will use the money to expand its operations across the globe and to broaden the scope of its investment offerings.
Artificial Intelligence: Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Now More Accurate With AI
Current methods detect prostate cancer with only 30% accuracy and require invasive surgery for a final determination through biopsies. This is highly inconvenient and often results in complications such as bleeding and pain. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. A team from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) uses AI on urine samples to detect prostate cancer.
Digital Assets: Celsius Network’s Assets Under Management Up 10X In 2020
Celsius Network announced Wednesday that it holds over $5.3 billion of cryptocurrency assets on a platform that allows consumers to earn crypto rewards and access or lend loans. It said 2020 had been somewhat of a watershed year for growth on many parameters, aided by the substantial growth of the crypto industry itself. It is now the second-largest digital asset manager in the world.
Alternative Investments/Digital Assets: “An Anti-Asset Like Bitcoin Can Be a True Diversifier” (Ruffer)
In its six-month review for the period ended December 31, 2020, British investment management firm Ruffer threw light on its investments in bitcoin. Interestingly, it has positioned the cryptocurrency as an “anti-asset” within its portfolio, calling it a diversifier.
Alternative Investments: Investors Turn To Alternatives For ‘A.I.D.’ (JPMorgan Report)
The events of 2021 forced us all to reconsider what the “essentials” in our lives are: Health professionals, our family, our health, home, friends, and a good internet connection. The third annual Global Alternatives Outlook by J.P. Morgan Asset Management recommends you add another item to that list of essentials – alternative investments.
FinTech: Jack Ma is Back! Alibaba Stock Soars 8.52% In Hong Kong
Fears that Jack Ma, the billionaire co-founder of Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE: BABA) was missing were laid to rest after he participated in the online ceremony of the annual Rural Teacher Initiative event today, January 20.
Digital Assets: Joker’s Stash, The Infamous Site For Stolen Cards, To Shut Down
Joker’s Stash, one of the oldest dark web marketplaces, operated its shop for stolen card data with impunity since 2014. After a highly profitable run, during which the site allegedly chalked up a profit of over $1 billion in bitcoin, the site has decided to call its quits. It announced Friday that on February 15, 2021, “we will wipe all our servers and backups and Joker will fade to dark, forever.”