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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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: VanEck’s Vectors Global Clean Energy ETF Soon To Debut On ASX
VanEck is in the final stages of prepping the Vectors Global Clean Energy ETF (ASX: CLNE) for launch on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in the ensuing weeks. The ETF will focus on the clean energy sector, which is expected to benefit from President Biden’s commitment to the climate agreement.
Alternative Investments/ESG: New ETF From UBS For Exposure To Swiss Equity + ESG
UBS launches the UBS SPI ESG ETF (SPISI SW). The new ETF from UBS Asset Management provides broad exposure to the Swiss equity market with an additional focus on ESG factors. The ETF has listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
Digital Assets: German-Listed Crypto Mining Company Northern Data To Float U.S. IPO
Northern Data AG (ETR: NB2) is a high performance computing (HPC) company providing solutions for AI and blockchain including crypto mining. At its data center in Texas, it operates HPC applications in blockchain such as bitcoin mining for large corporations. According to Bloomberg, the company is mulling a $500 million IPO in the U.S.
Venture Capital: Zomato’s Pre-IPO Raise Nabs $250M At $5.4B Valuation
Indian foodtech unicorn Zomato reeled in $250 million in a pre-IPO fundraise from new and existing investors. The startup’s IPO is slated for June this year. The round was led by Kora Management, which invested $115 million. Other existing investors were Fidelity Management and Research ($55 million) and Tiger Global Management ($50 million). New investors, Bow Wave Capital and Dragoneer Investment Group invested about $20 million and $10 million, respectively.
FinTech: Mastercard And Island Pay Debut A Card Linked To The Bahamas CBDC
Bahamians can now have the Bahamas Sand Dollar, the country’s CBDC, loaded onto a prepaid card issued by Island Pay in partnership with Mastercard (NYSE: MA). They can also use the card at any outlet in the Bahamas that accepts Mastercard and pay for their purchases by instantly converting their Sand Dollars to the traditional Bahamian dollars. The Sand Dollar and Bahamian Dollars are convertible on a 1:1 basis.
Artificial Intelligence: Fugaku, The World’s Fastest SuperComputer Predicts Tsunami Flooding
A tsunami warning system using dart buoys was badly off the mark when a tsunami struck Japan’s eastern coast a decade ago. A deadly 9.0 magnitude earthquake triggered the tsunami wave, which was as high as 50 meters in some places. Tragically, the buoy system estimated the wave size at only 3 meters. When it struck, the monster wave caused over 20,000 lives. However, Fujitsu (TYO: 6702) Labs used AI and a supercomputer to develop a more reliable system.
Digital Assets: Sweden’s Finansinspektionen Warns on Cryptos; Yellen Pans Bitcoin
Finansinspektionen (FI) was established in 1991 to create a single integrated regulator covering banking, securities, and insurance in Sweden. As the country’s financial supervisory authority, it issued a warning today on the risks surrounding purchases of financial instruments with bitcoin or other crypto-assets as an underlying asset.
Venture Capital: Renowned VC 500 Startups Makes Saudi Foray
500 Startups, which has backed more than 2,500 companies in 78 countries, spanning almost every continent, is making landfall in Saudi Arabia. The renowned VC firm has partnered with Saudi financial services firm Sanabil Investments for the launch of a seed accelerator program in Riyadh. 500 Startups recently set up its new MENA regional headquarters in Riyadh.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Tesla’s Bitcoin Foray Earned It $1B
According to Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) may end up making more money from its investment in bitcoin than from the sale of its EVs cars in all of 2020. The company is already sitting on unrealized profits of approximately $1 billion from its $1.5 billion investment in bitcoin.
FinTech: Brex, The Fintech For Startups, Applies For Banking License
Fintech Brex, which is backed by Kleiner Perkins Growth, YC Continuity Fund, Greenoaks Capital, Ribbit Capital, IVP, DST Global, as well as investors like Peter Thiel and Max Levchin, has filed for a bank charter.
Artificial Intelligence: After Gebru, Google Terminates Another AI Researcher
Margaret Mitchell, an AI researcher and a leader of Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Ethical AI team, was terminated by the company after a suspension that commenced last month. Dr Mitchell said in a tweet on Friday afternoon: “I’m fired.”
Venture Capital: Locus Robotics Turns Unicorn With $150M Series E Round
Locus Robotics, which provides robotic solutions for automating warehouses, raised $150 million in a Series E round led by Tiger Global Management and BOND. Scale Venture Partners and Prologis Ventures, the venture capital arm of Prologis, the global logistics real estate company, also participated. The round valued Locus at $1 billion, granting the startup the coveted unicorn status.
Digital Assets: MicroStrategy Raises $1B; BTC Hits New High; BTC’s Market Cap Over $1T
MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), the business information company that has recently become a cheerleader for corporate investing in bitcoin, announced today the closing of its offering of 0% convertible senior notes, due 2027, of an aggregate principal amount of $1.05 billion. The company said it will use the proceeds, which the markets are describing as “free money,” to buy additional bitcoin.
FinTech: Stripe’s $115B Valuation Is “Nuts” But “Not Utterly Insane”
Stripe, the payments processing company that Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison founded in 2010, has tripled its valuation in the space of the last 10 months. A Forbes report said transactions in the secondary market of the private fintech giant’s shares now value it at $115 billion, more than 3X the $36 billion valuation it garnered in an April 2020 funding raise.
Artificial Intelligence: AI To Log Fishing Effort In Oregon
How do you estimate and account for how much fishing – recreational or commercial – is actually going on in your friendly neighborhood ocean? That information is central to measuring catch and ultimately, the sustainability of the fish and marine life in the water body. The EDF launched today its SmartPass fishery monitoring system that combines the use of shore-based cameras, AI, and automated image analysis to monitor fishing effort.
Liquid Alternatives: The Wilshire Liquid Alternative Index Returns 0.01% in January
The Wilshire Liquid Alternative Index Returns 0.01% in January. This figure outperformed the -0.16% return from the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index in the month of January. The Wilshire index provides a representative baseline for the performance of the broader liquid alternatives space.
Digital Assets: Kia Motors Facing $20M Ransomware Demand
On Tuesday, Bleeping Computer reported that Kia Motors USA was experiencing a nationwide outage that affected its servers, dealer platforms, and phone support services. The size and scope of the dislocation led Bleeping Computer to speculate that “this is likely more than just a scheduled maintenance.” However, on Wednesday it reported unequivocally that the DoppelPaymer gang had unleashed a ransomware attack on Kia, demanding $20 million in ransom.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Down Under, Betashares Launches A Climate Change Innovation ETF
BetaShares, the Australian asset manager, has launched the BetaShares Climate Change Innovation ETF (ERTH). Many global companies will reap the benefits from the massive transition to a sustainable planet, given that climate change is recognized as the defining challenge of this age.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Protects Endangered Sea Turtles From Feral Pigs
Sea turtles are an endangered species, not only from mankind’s activities. Their nests on Queensland’s western Cape York are a favorite prey for feral pigs. The pigs have wiped out sea turtles from great swathes of beaches south of Aurukun, in the Far North Queensland, Australia. Scientists at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science research agency, and rangers have tried for the past six years to protect the nests from the marauding pigs using drones and helicopters. They are now harnessing AI for the purpose.
Venture Capital: Marquee Investors Put $300M Into Adjuvant Capital For Overlooked Diseases
Adjuvant Capital, which finances cures for “high-burden and neglected diseases,” announced today its raise of an oversubscribed $300 million fund from big names in pharma and philanthropy. Diseases such as malaria, shigella, hookworm, tuberculosis, and Lassa fever affect millions of people in the poorer countries.
FinTech: Google Maps Integrates Google Pay For Parking And Transit Fares
The ubiquitous and ultra-useful Google Maps has now some new features that allow payments using the app itself. On Wednesday, Vishal Dutta Product Manager, Google Maps, and Fausto Araujo Product Manager, Google Pay, announced in a blog that consumers can now go contactless with parking meter and transit fare payments.
Alternative Investments/Digital: NYDIG Joins The Queue For Bitcoin ETF Approval
NYDIG, a subsidiary of Stone Ridge Asset Management, filed an application for a bitcoin ETF with the SEC on Tuesday. With the change in administration at the SEC, NYDIG is eyeing better chances of the regulator finally approving a bitcoin ETF. It joins VanEck and Valkyrie, previous ETF applicants at the SEC. The new ETF proposed by NYDIG is dubbed the “NYDIG Bitcoin ETF.”
Digital Assets: Blockchain.com Raises $120M From Leading Macro Investors Including Google
Blockchain.com announced today the closure of a strategic financing round that raised $120 million. Investors included Moore Strategic Ventures (Louis Bacon), Kyle Bass, Access Industries, Rovida Advisors, Lightspeed Venture Partners, GV (aka Google Ventures), Lakestar, Eldridge, and others.
FinTech: Goldman Launches The Marcus Invest Robo-Adviser For Retail Investors
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is making a further push into digital and consumer-facing banking through its Marcus unit. On Tuesday the Wall Street giant unveiled Marcus Invest, a robo-adviser that will need a customer to deposit a minimum of $1,000 and pay an annual fee of 0.35%.