News
Each day, DailyAlts tracks major developments across the alternative investment world. Our content is procured from primary contacts in the industry and secondary sources across the web. Our goal is to give readers the most up-to-date news and engaging experience to open new doors and areas of knowledge. Our stories cover nine separate verticals of the alternative investment industry.
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Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) has launched its ETF platform with six Calvert ETFs listed on NYSE Arca. The ETFs feature Calvert’s responsible investing approach and offer access to four indexed and two active ESG strategies across asset classes.
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Artificial Intelligence: MusicLM, A New Generative AI Tool From Google, Creates Music From Text
Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) recently published a research paper on its new AI tool, MusicLM, designed to create music. The tool is based on machine learning and is trained on vast amounts of data to learn how to recreate different forms of content, including music.
Artificial Intelligence: Snap Mulling AR Glasses Powered By Generative AI
Snap (NYSE: SNAP), the parent company of Snapchat, has hinted at future AR glasses powered by generative AI technology. CEO Evan Spiegel stated that AI will be critical to the growth of AR, including AR glasses, and that the company is thinking about integrating AI into its Lens Studio technology. (daijiworld.com)
Digital Assets: Binance And Mastercard Launch Prepaid Crypto Card In Brazil
Binance and Mastercard (NYSE: MA) have jointly launched the Binance Card in Brazil, allowing Binance users in the country to make purchases and pay bills with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and BNB at over 90 million Mastercard merchants globally. However, the user must have a valid national ID.
Artificial Intelligence: Instagram Co-Founders Are Back With Artifact, A Personalized Newsfeed App
Instagram co-founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, are launching Artifact, a news reading app that uses machine learning to understand users’ interests and offers a personalized newsfeed of articles from a curated list of publishers.
Alternative Investments: BlackRock In Move To Attract Younger Savers To Its ETFs
BlackRock is teaming up with neobroker Bux to offer low-cost ETF savings plans in Europe. The savings plan, which will cost just €1 per month on the Bux platform, will allow investors to build portfolios of up to 10 BlackRock iShares ETFs, with a €1 commission fee for portfolio trades.
Venture Capital: Generative AI Startup Anthropic May Nab $300M Funding
Anthropic, a San Francisco-based AI start-up specializing in generative AI, is close to securing $300 million in funding, according to sources. The deal could value the company at $5 billion, said the New York Times.
Artificial Intelligence: AI-Powered Study Finds Earth Will Reach 1.5C Warming In The Next Decade
A new study warns that the world is close to exceeding a critical climate threshold, signaling that time is rapidly running out to avoid the most disastrous effects of global warming.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Detects Eight “Technosignatures” From Vast Trove Of Radio Telescope Data
Scientists say a new machine learning technique has discovered eight previously unknown “signals of interest” in the search for alien life. The signals, detected in five nearby stars, could indicate alien intelligence on other planets.
FinTech: UK Digital Bank Monzo Eyes Potential Profitability In 2023
UK neobank Monzo achieved revenue growth of 250% during 2022, raising hopes that 2023 would be the first year it makes into the black. Revenues surged 250% to £440m in the year ending December 2022, compared to the 92% growth to £154.2m reported for the year ending February 2022. Monzo now aims to break even this year, a singular achievement among Europe’s neobanks. The bank has been cash flow positive since October 2022.
FinTech: Stripe Could Raise $2.5B At A $55B-$60B Valuation
Thrive Capital, founded by Joshua Kushner, is leading an investment in Stripe, a payments provider, at a $55 billion to $60 billion valuation, down from two years ago, according to sources. Stripe aims to raise $2.5 billion and Thrive has committed $1 billion, another source said.
FinTech: Stripe Becomes Primary Payments Infrastructure For BMW Of North America
Stripe, the fintech firm, has been chosen by BMW of North America to handle its US ecommerce, including preorders and online sales of BMW warranties, maintenance, digital services, and more. The move comes as automakers seek digital solutions to meet rising customer expectations.
Venture Capital: Steel Decarbonizing Company Boston Metal Raises $120M
Boston Metal, a decarbonization tech firm for steel production, announced the close of its $120M Series C funding led by ArcelorMittal. Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund and SiteGround Capital also joined as new investors, along with existing ones.
Venture Capital: Digital Health Insurer Angle Nabs $58M Series A
Angle Health, a digital-first health insurance provider, announced $58 million in Series A funding led by Portage. The funding round also included participation from PruVen Capital, Wing Venture Capital, SixThirty Ventures, Mighty Capital, Wormhole Capital, Mindset Ventures, Crew Capital, Aloft VC, and Pilot founder Waseem Daher, and support from existing investors Blumberg Capital, Correlation Ventures, TSVC, and Y Combinator.
Digital Assets: NBA and Meta Extend Collaboration For Basketball In The Metaverse
The NBA has announced an extension of its partnership with Meta to broadcast 52 games using virtual reality technology in the metaverse. The games will be available on Xtadium, a co-viewing platform, and five of them will be presented in a more immersive way on Horizon Worlds, Meta’s flagship metaverse app. This move aims to provide existing fans with a more interactive experience and attract new fans familiar with VR technology to the sport.
Venture Capital: French Startup Renaissance Fusion Lands €15M ($16.3M) Seed Round
French nuclear fusion startup Renaissance Fusion has raised €15 million ($16.4 million) in a seed round led by US climate tech venture capital firm Lowercarbon Capital. European investors including HCVC, Positron Ventures and Norrsken also participated in the round.
Venture Capital: VC Giant NEA Raises $6.2B For Two Funds Focused On Tech And Healthcare
New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a 45-year-old venture capital firm, announced that it has closed on $6.2 billion across two funds, bringing its assets under management to over $25 billion as of December 31, 2022.
FinTech: Kroger Health To Use Its Vast Network To Facilitate Clinical Trials
Kroger Health, the healthcare division of The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), announced the creation of its clinical trial site network in partnership with pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations, and health systems. The company’s first trial, in collaboration with Persephone Biosciences, is currently recruiting participants for a study on colorectal cancer gut and immune health. Initial enrollment for the study will take place at select Kroger pharmacies and The Little Clinic LLC locations in Toledo, Ohio, with plans to expand locations and participants over the next year.
FinTech: Stripe Evaluating Alternatives To Enable Employees To Cash In Soon-To-Expire Options
Payment startup Stripe plans to go public next year, according to a Thursday report by The Information. Despite being valued at $95 billion in 2021 and being one of the most highly-anticipated IPOs of 2023, Stripe co-founder John Collison had previously stated that there were no immediate plans for a public offering. This may now change as the company faces the issue of 10-year stock units awarded to veteran employees that are set to expire at the end of this year.
Artificial Intelligence: AI-Powered ZFDesign Enables Gene Therapy By Manipulation Of Zinc Fingers
An AI program has been developed by researchers at NYU and the University of Toronto that allows for the simple production of customizable zinc finger proteins to treat diseases by turning genes on and off.
The tool promises to speed up the development of gene therapies on a large scale, and can be used to treat illnesses such as cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, and sickle cell anemia by editing errors in the order of DNA letters.
Artificial Intelligence: BuzzFeed To Collaborate With OpenAI To Create Content
BuzzFeed (NASDAQ: BZFD) announced it will collaborate with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, to utilize artificial intelligence in creating content for its audience. This marks a significant step in how media companies integrate new technology into their operations.
FinTech: Kayak And Affirm Tie-Up To Offer ‘Pay Later’ To Air Travellers
Affirm, a payment network that helps consumers and merchants, announced a partnership with KAYAK, a leading travel search engine, making Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM) the company’s exclusive ‘buy-now-pay-later’ (BNPL) provider in the US.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin Infrastructure Company Blockstream Raises $125M
Blockstream, a leading Bitcoin infrastructure firm, has raised $125 million in convertible note and secured loan financing to expand its institutional bitcoin mining services. Kingsway Capital led the convertible note, with other investors including Fulgur Ventures.
Artificial Intelligence: A Study Shows WiFi Signals Can “See” People Inside Rooms
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh have developed a way to use WiFi signals to monitor human movement in indoor environments. By analyzing the ratio of the transmitted signal wave and the received wave, a neural network can recognize the specific pose of each person in a room.
Artificial Intelligence: Atomic AI Closes $35M Series ‘A’ For RNA Drug Discovery
Atomic AI, a biotechnology company, has developed a proprietary, AI-driven ‘Platform for AI-driven RNA Structure Exploration’ (PARSE). PARSE is a 3D RNA structure discovery engine that can vastly improve RNA structure prediction and develop a new generation of RNA-targeting medicines to tackle diseases that were previously untreatable. The company came out of stealth with a $35 million Series A round led by Playground Global, with participation from 8VC, Factory HQ, Greylock, NotBoring, AME Cloud Ventures, and renowned angel investors including GitHub ex-CEO Nat Friedman, Doug Mohr, Curai CEO Neal Khosla, and UC Berkeley professor and Arc Institute Co-founder Patrick Hsu.