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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Venture Capital: Another Big Ticket Deal in CyberSecurity – Menlo Raises $100M
Menlo Security, which is based in Mountain View, California, announced its fundraising of $ 100 million led by Vista Equity Partners. Neuberger Berman, General Catalyst, JP Morgan, and other existing investors also participated in the Series E round. The round valued it at $800 million.
Alternative Investments/Real Estate: The Global X Data Center REITs & Digital Infrastructure ETF (VPN)
“The common denominator for game-changing technologies like 5G, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence is the physical digital infrastructure that enables the seamless transfer, computation, and storage of data,” says Global X. “With surging demand and physical capacity constraints, data centers and cellular towers are real estate assets that could offer investors the potential for both growth and income generation.”
Digital Assets: Blockchain And AI Combine To Optimize Car Parking In Munich
Cambridge-based AI lab Fetch.ai and enterprise blockchain solutions provider Datarella announced trials of M-ZONE, their smart city zoning infrastructure. The project will utilize multi-agent blockchain-based AI digitization services to unlock data and provide smart mobility solutions around commercial real estate in the city center.
FinTech: U.K.’s iwoca Aims To Lend Over £200M To Small Businesses
Lender to small businesses, iwoca, has determined to lend another £ 100 million to U.K.’s small businesses under the CBILS scheme, it announced today. With £ 100 million already lent, that would bring iwoca’s loan total to over £ 200 million by January 31, 2021.
Venture Capital: A Big Fundraise, And An Acquisition, In Cybersecurity
SentinelOne announced Wednesday its Series F raise of $267 million in a round led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from Sequoia Capital Global Equities and existing investors including Insight Partners and Third Point Ventures. The same day, Palo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW) announced its agreement to acquire Expanse Inc for approximately $ 800 million.
Artificial Intelligence: The European Space Agency Will Use AI to Burn Space Debris
The European Space Agency is embarking on its first mission to remove space debris from orbit. A rough estimate, about 34,000 pieces of junk are presently orbiting the Earth, and their presence is a danger to space missions carrying cargo and humans. At risk also are expensive satellites that perform essential services for mankind such as communications, weather prediction, and the Internet. The ESA’s first target is to recover an obsolete payload adapter – the Vespa Upper Part – that is currently orbiting at 660 km above the Earth.
Digital Assets: China Construction Bank To Float $3B Of CDs On The Blockchain
China Construction Bank (HK: 0939), a Big Four bank in China, and the second largest bank globally, has digitally issued bonds through its offshore branch in Labuan, Malaysia. The first tranche of the $3 billion debt issuance is worth $58 million and will accept investments from both institutions and retail individuals. The minimum investment is only $100.
FinTech: Blockchain-Based Financial Services Provider Figure Tech Eyes Banking Charter
San Francisco-based Figure Technologies offers financial services using the blockchain. These include home equity lines, mortgage refinance, a marketplace for buying and selling loans, digital fund services, asset management and cap table management. Figure said it had applied last week for a national bank charter from the Office of the Controller of the Currency (OCC).
Alternative Investments/Digital Assets: Saylor And Druckenmiller Weigh Bitcoin Versus Gold
Michael Saylor is Chief Executive, MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), the listed company that made waves with its bold investments aggregating $425 million in bitcoin earlier this year. Stanley Druckenmiller is a billionaire with a background – he and George Soros broke the British pound in 1992. Their recent pronouncements reveal a preference for bitcoin over gold as an investment.
Venture Capital: Carbon Health Raises $100M To Open 1,500 New Clinics
Carbon Health, the high technology healthcare company that provides both virtual and in-clinic care to patients, announced Tuesday its raise of $100 million. The Series C funding round was led by Dragoneer Investment Group and saw participation by existing backers Brookfield Technology Partners, DCVC, and Builders VC.
Artificial Intelligence: Auto Remarketing Company V.I.P. Auctions To Use AI For Vehicle Inspections
UVeye is a computer vision company that develops automated inspection systems for vehicles, powered by artificial intelligence and proprietary hardware. It announced Tuesday that Georgia-based V.I.P. Auctions will be the first remarketing group in the U.S. to utilize its artificial intelligence technology to support inspections of pre-owned vehicles.
Alternative Investments/ESG: The New Fixed Income SPDR ETF From State Street For ESG Investors
The new SPDR Bloomberg SASB Corporate Bond ESG Select ETF (NYSEARCA: RBND) from State Street Global Advisors expense the asset manager’s ESG lineup. The ETF suits investors seeking exposure to US dollar-denominated investment-grade corporate bonds with accompanying ESG attributes.
Digital Assets: Cerealia’s Blockchain-Based Platform For Trading Crops Is Live
Traders of physical crops such as wheat, sorghum, corn, and barley, conducting their trades by telephone in Russia and Europe, now have a digital platform as an alternative. Cerealia SA, based in Pully, Switzerland, has thrown open its blockchain-based physical agriculture trading platform for commercial use.
Venture Capital: Nuro, Which Makes Self Driving Vehicles For Local Deliveries, Raises $500M
Nuro, a four-year-old start-up that is developing self-driving delivery robots, has several firsts to its credit. Earlier this year, it’s R2 robot became the first autonomous vehicle to be approved by the US Department of Transportation. It then became the second autonomous vehicle to be awarded a driverless testing permit in California. Lastly, Nuro has the distinction to be testing R2 for the past few months in the three different states of California, Texas, and Arizona. It announced Monday its new $ 500 million Series C funding round.
FinTech: India’s Competition Commission Orders Probe Against Google Pay
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered its investigation arm, the Director-General, to conduct a detailed probe against Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) for indulging in allegedly anti-competitive practices to promote its Google Pay online payment system and digital wallet platform.
Artificial Intelligence: The Vatican Library Deploys AI To Secure Its Digital Collections From Bad Actors
It’s a mammoth project. The Vatican Apostolic Library, also known as the “Pope’s Library,” was established in 1451 and holds an invaluable collection of manuscripts. These range from classical Greek and Latin literature, medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts all the way to texts on mathematics, science, law, and medicine that are over 2,000 years old.
Alternative Investments/Digital Assets: BTCetc Exchange Traded Bitcoin ETC (BTCE) Scores $100M AUM In Four Months
The bitcoin exchange-traded crypto from the stable of the ETC Group that trades on the Deutsche Boerse has taken the honors to become the first crypto ETP to chalk up an AUM of $100 million.
Venture Capital: California Headquartered Chinese Driverless Company Pony.ai Raises $267M
Pony.ai, a Chinese company that is testing its autonomous driving technology in California and China, has nabbed $267 million in its latest fundraising, bringing its cumulative financing to over $1 billion. The round saw participation by existing investors Fidelity China Special Situations PLC, 5Y Capital (formerly Morningside Venture Capital), ClearVue Partners, and Eight Roads. Interestingly, the Teachers’ Innovation Platform (TIP), a fund from the stable of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, led the round.
FinTech: Ant Group May Lose Half Its Value Following IPO Debacle
A Bloomberg report estimates that Ant Group’s valuation could plummet by about $ 140 billion.
Last week, what was to be the world’s largest IPO turned out to be a nightmarish fiasco for Ant Group and Jack Ma. Chinese authorities did not allow the Group’s IPO to proceed and proposed regulatory changes that the fintech, valued around $ 280 billion, would have to comply with.
Digital Assets: Demand For Bitcoin Growing Faster Than Its Supply (Bill Miller)
Veteran investor Bill Miller says cryptocurrency has been the “single best performing asset class” in the last year, five-year, and 10-year periods.
That’s already quite a track record, but according to Bill Miller, the legendary investor who founded Miller Value Partners, the cryptocurrency is now out of the woods, despite its volatility.
Artificial Intelligence: Amidst The Middle East’s New-Found Love For AI, Mubadala Owns A Piece Of Group42
Mubadala, the deep-pocketed sovereign wealth fund based in Abu Dhabi (pictured above), now owns a minority stake in Group42, which provides AI and cloud-powered industry solutions in the region. Mubadala announced its investment on Friday after Group42 acquired the Injazat and Khazna Data Centres.
Alternative Investments/Digital Assets: Bitcoin Shoots Past $15,000
Bitcoin in recent months has got a lot of love from corporates, institutions, and retail investors. It is currently trading at $15,500.
Digital Assets: DOJ Seizes Bitcoin Worth $1B, Allegedly Linked To Silk Road
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed to forfeit approximately “69,370.22491543 Bitcoin (BTC), 69,370.10730857 Bitcoin Gold (BTG), 69,370.10710518 Bitcoin SV (BSV), and 69,370.12818037 Bitcoin Cash (BCH), obtained from 1HQ3Go3ggs8pFnXuHVHRytPCq5fGG8Hbh on or about November 3, 2020.