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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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Venture Capital: Conductor, The Brazilian Payments Processor, Lands $150M
Conductor, the Brazilian startup that has become the leading payments & banking as a service (BaaS) platform in Latin America, announced Monday its raise of $150 million. The funding was led by Viking Global Investors , with additional participation from investors such as Sunley House Capital Management, an affiliate of Advent International.
Artificial Intelligence: Ambarella’s New Computer Vision Chip For AI-On-Edge
Ambarella, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA) has unveiled its new CV28M SoC (System on Camera) chip for intelligent applications required to run “on edge.” These include smart home security, retail monitoring, consumer robotics, occupancy monitoring and in smart cars.
Alternative Investments/Hedge Funds: ETFs’ AUM Continues To Trounce Hedge Funds (ETFGI)
As at end of Q3 2020, ETFs AUM exceeded that of hedge funds by $3.58 trillion. Hedge funds gathered net inflows of $13 billion during Q3 while ETFs/ETPs gathered net inflows of $194.4 billion, according to data from ETFGI.
FinTech: NerdWallet Buys Fundera To Reach Small And Medium Businesses
Financial guidance app Nerdwallet announced Friday its acquisition of Fundera, which provides financial advice and comparisons to nearly 28 million small and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. Terms were not disclosed, except that Fundera will become a Nerdwallet subsidiary. All of Fundera’s employees will join Nerdwallet.
Digital Assets: Gazprombank (Switzerland) FINMA-Cleared For Crypto Bank Accounts
Gazprombank (Switzerland), the wholly-owned Swiss arm of Russia’s Gazprombank (JSC), announced October 29 that it had received regulatory clearance from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority to offer crypto custody and trading services to its institutional and corporate clients.
Venture Capital: Nestle USA Acquires Meal Delivery Startup Freshly For Potentially $1.5B
Nestle USA, which is ultimately owned by Nestle SA (SWX: NESN), on Friday, signed and closed its acquisition of Freshly, a startup that provides healthy, freshly prepared, and chef-cooked meals that are heat-and-eat in three minutes or less. Freshly’s pioneering direct-to-consumer service is subscription-based in the range of $45.96 to $101.88 per week. Nestle will pay $ 950 million for the purchase, and potentially another $550 million depending upon Freshly’s growth in the future.
Artificial Intelligence: Air Street Capital’s New Fund; Intel’s Snaps Up AI Startup SigOpt
London-based Air Street Capital announced Friday its close of a $17 million fund to back early-stage “AI-native” startups. The venture firm positions itself too as an AI-native investor – because “generalism is dead” and its team of Operating Partners combines AI expertise with deep sector-specific knowledge.
Alternative Investments: Accelerate’s Alt ETFs Now On RBC Dominion Securities A+ Platform
Accelerate Financial Technologies Inc announced this week that its alternative ETFs have been added to the RBC Dominion Securities A+ platform. RBC Dominion Securities describes the A+ as the next level of wealth management.
Venture Capital: AgTech Startup Benson Hill Lands $150M
Benson Hill, an agtech startup based in St. Louis, announced Thursday its close of a $150 million Series D round led by Wheatsheaf and GV (formerly Google Ventures). It uses biotechnology and data science to enhance the nutritional qualities and sustainability of crops.
FinTech: Alliance Data Buys BNPL Fintech Bread For $450M
Alliance Data Systems (NYSE: ADS) said Thursday that it will acquire Bread and its digital platform for $450 million of which $100 will be paid through Alliance stock. The transaction would expand Alliance Data’s own digital offerings by including buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) products.
Digital Assets: KPMG’s Chain Fusion Blockchain Suite To Integrate Coin Metrics’ Products
KPMG LLP, a unit of Big Four accounting and consulting firm KPMG, announced an alliance with Coin Metrics, an open-source project with the goal of onboarding financial institutions across the world with data and insights into cryptoassets. KPMG’s Chain Fusion is a suite of analytic and digital capabilities that enables the adoption of cryptoassets across financial organizations by bridging their traditional systems with blockchain systems. As a part of the alliance, the Chain Fusion suite will integrate Coin Metrics’ full-suite of institutional data products and infrastructure.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Detects COVID From Cellphone Recorded Coughs
A person who is contagious but asymptomatic for COVID-19 coughs differently from healthy individuals.
The difference in coughing may not be discernible to the ordinary person, but a trained AI model can pick it up, according to researchers at MIT. Their system analyzes forced-cough recordings taken on a cellphone or laptop and submitted via the internet. It highlighted COVID-19 positivity with near-total accuracy.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Brunel Allots £1.2B ($1.55B) Sustainable Mandate To Three Managers
The Brunel Pension Partnership has picked Ownership Capital, RBC Global Asset Management, and Nordea Asset Management to manage its new Sustainable Equities Fund of around £1.2 billion ($1.55 billion). Brunel is one of eight pooled Local Government Pension Scheme funds in the U.K.
FinTech: UK Development Lender CrowdProperty Notches £100M Of Loans
CrowdProperty, a leading crowdfunder/lender to the U.K. SME property sector, has lent over £100 million to development professionals. The funding had a beneficial impact on the UK economy because it catalyzed an expenditure of over £ 80 million on construction-related labor, materials, and services. Notably, all of the funded projects have been fully repaid, with platform investors earning, on average, 8% per annum.
Digital Assets: Ripple Invests In Money Tap, A Subsidiary Of SBI Holdings, Japan
Ripple Labs, the San Francisco-based technology company that facilitates cross-border payments through the use of its blockchain solutions via RippleNet, will invest an undisclosed amount in Money Tap. Money Tap offers the smartphone app of the same name.
Artificial Intelligence: Apple Shells Out $50M For Video AI Startup Vilynx
Earlier this year, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) acquired Vilynx, a Barcelona-based startup that uses AI and computer vision technology to analyze a video’s visual, audio, and text elements. Reportedly, the iPhone maker clinched the acquisition for $50 million. (Bloomberg)
Venture Capital: Scopely Rides COVID Games Growth, Lands $340M Series E
Leading mobile games and interactive entertainment company Scopely raised $340 million in a Series E round within a year of its previous $200 million funding. The company, which boasts of blockbuster games such as Star Trek Fleet Command, Marvel Strike Force, and WWE Champions, “seized the play,” garnering a whopper of a valuation of $3.3 billion. That valuation is twice what it was a year ago.
Alternative Investments/ESG: European Investors Prioritizing ESG Factors In ETFs (Cerulli)
Research by Cerulli Associates shows that European investors hold companies that minimize their carbon footprint or run fossil-free operations in high regard. They will therefore prefer ETFs that incorporate these ESG factors into their portfolios. On the other hand, negative screening and exclusions are not so important.
Digital Assets: JPMorgan’s Digital Currency “JPM Coin” Is Live In Cross-Border Payments
An unnamed but large technology company is already using JPM Coin, JPMorgan’s (NYSE: JPM) digital currency developed in-house, for cross-border payments. A CNBC report says the bank has now set up its digital currency and blockchain businesses inside a new unit dubbed Onyx.
Venture Capital: Ordermark Scores $120M In SoftBank-Led Series C Round
Ordermark announced Tuesday its successful close of a $120 million Series C investment round led by SoftBank’s Vision 2 Fund. Existing investor Act One Ventures also participated in the round.
Ordermark will use the new funds to expand its services to more restaurants looking to go online amidst the Covid 19 pandemic.
FinTech: UBS Makes $200M Splash In Burgeoning Fintech Industry
UBS Group (SWX: UBSG) announced Tuesday a strategy to increase its interaction with the fintech industry, particularly digital ventures. UBS Next, its new venture arm, will invest US$ 200 million in direct equity investments into early-stage fintechs and other tech companies.
Artificial Intelligence: The USPTO Deploys AI To Gauge AI Trends In Patents
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) said in its October report, “Inventing AI – Tracing The Diffusion Of Artificial Intelligence With US Patents,” that annual AI-related applications rose from 30,000 in 2002 to more than 60,000 in 2018. That showed more than a 100% increase.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Amundi Launches Sustainable ETF With Exposure To Japanese Stocks
The Amundi Index MSCI Japan SRI UCITS ETF offers exposure to large and mid-cap companies with outstanding Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings in the Japanese market.
The new ETF is an extension of Amundi’s range of sustainable ETFs.
Artificial Intelligence: Intel First To Deploy AI “On Edge” In Space
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) has the distinction of launching the first onboard AI processing chip into space. Earlier this month, the European Space Agency and Intel announced the successful deployment in space of PhiSat-1, the first-ever satellite with onboard AI-processing capabilities. Launched from a rocket dispenser on September 2, the PhiSat-1 is positioned about 530 km above our heads, moving at a speed of 27,500 km per hour in a sun-synchronous orbit.