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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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Digital Assets: Bloomberg’s Mike McGlone Charts $100K Path For Bitcoin
Crypto-assets appear in a revived and refreshed bull market, the analyst writes. Senior Bloomberg Commodity Analyst Mike McGlone weighs in with a very bullish prognosis for crypto-assets in the September edition of Bloomberg’s Crypto Outlook 2021. Considering cryptos such as bitcoin and ethereum are lifting off in the second half of the year from levels…
Venture Capital: Volvo’s Venture Arm Invests In Autonomous Driving Verifier Foretellix
Volvo Group Venture Capital AB has announced its investment in Foretellix Ltd, a platform provider automating the testing, verification and validation for automated driving systems. Israel-based Foretellix simultaneously announced the close of its $32 million Series B funding round led by MoreTech Ventures, with participation from several strategic investors, including Volvo Group Venture Capital, Nationwide, NI and Japan-Israel High Tech Ventures.
FinTech: Indian Payments Fintech Razorpay To Raise $200-250M
Razorpay, the Indian payments fintech founded in 2014 by Shashank Kumar and Harshil Mathur, is looking to raise $200-250 million from global investors at a valuation of around $4 billion, two people familiar with the development told Mint.
Alternative Investments: Wealth Managers Add Alternatives Because Bonds Pay Next To Nothing (Report)
The recent Wealth Manager Investment Survey by bfinance covered 120 wealth managers handling over $1trn (£720bn) in assets. The survey noted that wealth managers were expanding their investment capabilities, with growing allocations to alternative investments and coverage of an increasingly diverse range of asset classes.
Artificial Intelligence: BETSY, An AI Platform, Monitors Livestock Herds
Ranchers have long struggled with the problem of monitoring their herds of livestock across vast expanses of the ranch. Problems such as ill-health, calving, injuries and more could happen anytime and anywhere. Without lots of manpower, avoidable losses of precious bovines are inevitable. An AI platform dubbed BETSY, created by OneCup AI, is an effective solution.
Venture Capital: Proptech Platform HomeLight Scores $100M Round
HomeLight, a real estate technology platform that makes it easy to buy or sell a home by partnering with the right agent, raised a $100 million Series D capital round and $263 million in debt financing. The equity round valued the proptech at $1.6 billion, was led by existing investor Zeev Ventures and included participation from Group 11, Stereo Capital, Menlo Ventures and Lydia Jett of the SoftBank Vision Fund.
Digital Assets: Belgian Startup Seety Enables Crypto Payments For Parking
Seety, a Belgian startup focused on digital parking has made it possible for users to pay for parking in Antwerp and Brussels with cryptocurrencies. Seety founders Hadrien Crespin and Nicolas Cognaux (pictured above) have the vision that more and more people will use cryptos for everyday purposes as the coins become more climate-friendly.
Alternative Investments/ESG: New Sustainable Small Cap ETF From UBS
The new UBS ETF (IE) MSCI World Small Cap Socially Responsible UCITS ETF from UBS Asset Management offers investors exposure to companies having strong sustainability profiles and covered by the MSCI World Small Cap SRI Low Carbon Select 5% Issuer Capped universe.
FinTech: Revolut’s Storonsky Says IPO Possible Only After Multi-Billion $ Revenues
Revolut, the UK-based digital challenger bank, and the U.K.’s most valuable start-up, is led by co-founder and CEO Nik Storonsky. Now among the best funded fintechs in Europe, speculation has always swirled about its plans for an IPO. Speaking on Bloomberg television on Wednesday, Storonsky said that a potential market listing was inevitable at a certain point of time given that Revolut was a venture-funded company. He also clarified that the company would need to boost its revenues by billions of dollars before that could happen.
Artificial Intelligence: Emma, a Robotic Masseuse To Take Away Aches And Pains
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used for thousands of years for various afflictions, including the treatment of body pain and acupuncture. Singaporean start-up AITreat has brought robotics to the field of TCM. EMMA is able to perform the Tui Na, a kind of TCM deep tissue massage.
Digital Assets: Standard Chartered Offers Blockchain Trade Finance Platform
Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) has joined forces with Linklogis, a supply chain finance tech solution provider from China, for the launch of Olea, a digital trade finance platform. Olea will match up institutional investors looking to deploy funds into alternative credit with businesses in need of supply chain (or working capital) financing.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment To Launch Transparency ETF
Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management has filed on Tuesday for launching a new transparency-focused ETF that will avoid investments in companies involved in vices such as alcohol, tobacco, and gambling. It will also eschew banking and oil companies.
FinTech: Vietnamese Digital Bank Cake Engages Mambu For Cloud Banking Services
Vietnam-based virtual bank Cake announced its selection of cloud-based, banking-as-a-service provider Mambu for deploying a comprehensive range of digital banking services that would make online banking easier for its customers.
Artificial Intelligence: Quadroin, A Next-Gen Bionic AUV For Monitoring Ocean Eddies
Scientists have long tussled with the problem of unlocking information from ocean eddies, small ocean currents that have an immense influence on the Earth’s climate and on animals and plants in the seas. They are also responsible for approximately half of all phytoplankton production. But its extremely difficult to study or measure them due to their short life and small, erratic sizes. Until now.
Venture Capital: Data Analytics Provider Databricks Snaps Up $1.6B Funding
Data and AI company Databricks announced Tuesday (August 31, 2021) its Series H raise of $1.6 billion in a round led by led by new investor Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley). Databricks previously raised $1 billion in February at a valuation of $28 billion.
Digital Assets: El Salvador Readies For Bitcoin-USD Convertibility With $150M Trust
The Finance Commission of the El Salvador Legislative Assembly is going ahead with the creation of a US$150 million bitcoin trust to ease convertibility between the cryptocurrency and the US Dollar, the country’s adopted currency that serves as legal tender.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Here’s DTOX, An ETF For A Healthy Life And Clean Planet
The Cleaner Living ESG-S Ucits ETF (DTOX) will give investors exposure to themes emerging in cleaner food and dining, cleaner health and beauty, cleaner building and infrastructure, cleaner transportation, and cleaner energy. To be listed on London Stock Exchange in early September, the ETF is the second product from the HANEtf-Quikro combine.
Venture Capital: A New $620M Innovation Fund Wants Britain To Become The “Silicon Valley Of Energy”
In a move aimed to decarbonize the UK’s energy networks, Ofgem, the country’s energy system regulator, and Innovate UK are inviting applications for a £450 million (US$620 million) energy innovation fund in the areas of heating, transport, digitalization, and system integration.
FinTech: PayPal Looking To Offer Stock Trading
A CNBC report revealed Monday that fintech giant PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) is considering offering stock trading to individual investors amid a retail trading boom that has drawn millions of new investors into stock markets.
Artificial Intelligence: SenseTime’s Proposed IPO Could Be The World’s Largest In AI
Chinese AI company SenseTime on Friday submitted an application to the Hong Kong Exchange for an IPO that could value it at a massive $12 billion. The company, whose product lineup includes facial recognition and autonomous driving, clocked revenue of 1.6 billion yuan ($247.2 million) in the first half of 2021 but incurred a net loss of 3.7 billion yuan. However, it did not disappoint on growth because turnover surged 91.8% year on year.
Digital Assets: A Brussels Bar With An Anarchic Past Will Accept Bitcoin
This colorfully attractive bar on a Brussels street has come a long way since its checkered history of anarchism. Unsurprisingly, its street frontage is a bright red, and inside, it has a cosy, eclectic décor, music, and a great choice of local beers. But it’s moving with the times and now offers “pints” for “coins,” that is to say, bitcoin.
FinTech: Amazon Customers To Get Affirm’s BNPL Solution At Checkout; Affirm Shares Spike 43%
Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM) announced it is partnering with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) on a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) solution, also known as a flexible payment facility, to be made available by Affirm to Amazon.com customers. BNPL has become highly popular across the globe, particularly after the pandemic, as customers sought payment solutions that were less expensive than credit cards.
Venture Capital: Form Energy Scores $240M For Its Revolutionary Iron-Air Battery
Secretive but high profile battery technology startup Form Energy has collected a $240 million Series D funding round that included Breakthrough Energy Ventures as an investor. Breakthrough is backed by investors such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. Form Energy’s first commercial product is a rechargeable iron-air battery capable of storing electricity for 100 hours.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Detects Newly-Formed Craters On Mars In Seconds
Scientists can estimate the age of old craters on the surface of Mars by looking at the characteristics of new ones that have been captured as images by the Context Camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). But its tricky to pinpoint which image(s) depict new craters – especially if you have to manually scan the 112K lower-resolution images taken by the MRO over the past 15 years. But an AI algorithm can do the job incredibly faster.