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: Leading Logistics Investor Greenbriar Commits $500M To Uber Freight
New York-based Greenbriar Equity Group, a top-tier investor in logistics businesses, will invest $500 million in a Series A preferred stock financing for Uber Freight, the logistics arm of Uber. The transaction valued Uber Freight at $3.3 billion, post-money.
FinTech: Blackline Acquires Rimilia, Which Automates A/R Using AI
Blackline (NASDAQ: BL) helps businesses automate their manual accounting processes with its cloud-based solutions and customer service. It announced October 2 the acquisition of Rimilia, a SaaS platform that helps automate Accounts Receivable (A/R) using the cloud.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Helps Firmenich Create “Lightly Grilled Beef” Flavor
Plant-based meat alternative makers will welcome the new “lightly grilled beef flavor” launched by Firmenich, the world’s largest privately-owned perfume and taste company. Created using AI, the new flavor is the result of a collaboration between Firmenich and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).
Alternative Investments: Liquid Alt ETF Provider Accelerate Offers Ready-Made Alternative Investment Strategy
Last month, Accelerate Financial Technologies launched the OneChoice Alternative Model Portfolio. It’s a quick and easy route to gain exposure to a collection of alternative investment strategies as a diversification to a client’s core portfolio.
Alternative Investments/VC: The Defiance SPAC ETF Starts Trading
Defiance ETFs announced today the trading launch of the very first SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company)-focused ETF. Its Defiance Next Gen SPAC Derived ETF (NYSE: SPAK) begins trading today. The ETF will provide investors exposure to previously private companies that obtained listing by combining with a SPAC. The ETF will also invest in SPACS that are still holding cash pending an acquisition or merger.
Artificial Intelligence: Kroger Enlists AI To Smoothen Self-Checkout
Retail chain The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) has selected AI company Everseen to deploy artificial intelligence technology at 2,500 stores across the U.S. Kroger’s objective is to reduce the errors that occur occasionally at self-checkout. The technology will allow customers to self-correct the errors.
Venture Capital: Online, U.K.-Based, Used Car Marketplace Cazoo Raises $310M
Cazoo, the UK-based online marketplace for used cars, announced Thursday that it had raised £ 240 million ($ 310 million) in its latest funding round from an “all-star line-up of leading investors.”
Digital Assets: Venezuela Testing Decentralised Digital Exchange To Be Available Worldwide
According to reports, Venezuela will soon launch a pilot test of a decentralized stock exchange featuring both crypto and fiat currencies that can be used for trading from anywhere in the world. Presumably, the exchange will run on the Ethereum blockchain indicated by its use of ERC token models.
FinTech: Goldman Sachs Acquires GM Credit Cards In Continuing Consumer Thrust
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is making a second foray into credit cards after its partnership with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) for Apple Card. According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the development, Goldman Sachs pipped Barclays plc (LON: BARC) to the finishing line with a bid of approximately $ 2.5 billion for the GM credit cards business.
Digital Assets: Venezuela May Soon Use Cryptos To Evade Trade Sanctions
In a televised speech, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro proposed a new bill to stimulate the use of petro, the country’s homegrown digital token, and other global cryptos in domestic and international trade.
Venture Capital: E-Commerce Specialist VTEX Snags $225M At $1.7B Valuation
Riding a pandemic-induced surge in its business, ecommerce platform VTEX achieved unicorn status with a $225 million Series D round. The round comes within less than a year of its previous, Softbank-led $140 million round last November.
FinTech: October, An Alternative Lender To European SMEs, Raises $300M
October is a pan-European lending platform founded in 2014. It focuses on European SMEs and connects them to private and institutional lenders for their financing requirements. It announced Wednesday its raise during summer of € 258 million in cooperation with major international investors.
Artificial Intelligence: Spanish Insurer Settles Auto Claims Using Tractable AI
Spanish insurer Admiral Seguros, which is a subsidiary of global insurer Admiral, has made it very easy for its customers to report and claim for vehicle damage. Admiral Seguros has deployed technology company Tractable’s AI solution to accurately assess vehicle damage. The insured person simply has to upload photos of the car crash via the web, and the AI does the rest.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Amundi Expands ESG Range With Two New ETFs
Amundi Asset Management launched its Amundi MSCI Emerging ESG Universal UCITS ETF offering investors exposure to large- and mid-cap securities in 26 emerging markets countries.
Digital Assets: Devere’s Nigel Green Says Bitcoin Would Be “Ultimate Safe Haven”
Devere Group CEO Nigel Green was speaking at an interview with MoneyFM on the occasion of the launch of new crypto indices by the Singapore Exchange. Green has been a perma-bull on cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin. In the interview, he cited bitcoin’s growing rate of adoption. Also, its limited availability, similar to gold, and its popularity with younger people, could boost the value of bitcoin in the future.
Artificial Intelligence: Zhu Songchun, UCLA’s Prized AI Expert, Returns To China
A statement last Friday from Peking University said Professor Zhu Songchun, the renowned computer vision expert at the University of California at Los Angeles, had returned to China to lead its Institute of Artificial Intelligence.
Venture Capital: SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 Leads $319M Funding In XtalPi
American-Chinese biotech XtalPi, an AI-based drug discovery company, is known for its Intelligent Digital Drug Discovery and Development (ID4) platform. The platform uses quantum physics, artificial intelligence, and high-performance cloud computing algorithms for predictions in drug discovery and development.
FinTech: Blank Check Company Raises $230M In SPAC IPO
Fintech Acquisition Corp. IV (NASDAQ: FTIVU) began trading on the Nasdaq from September 25 after completing its IPO. It issued 23,000,000 units at $10.00 per unit, including 3,000,000 units issued under the underwriters’ over-allotment option.
Artificial Intelligence: Early Detection Of Osteoarthritis Using AI
Osteoarthritis, the painful and incurable joint disease that afflicts over 3 million Americans, may soon be detected much earlier thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and Carnegie Mellon University have harnessed AI to detect osteoarthritis years before symptoms even start to appear.
FinTech: Ant Bank, The All-New Virtual Bank From Ant Group, Is Live in HK
Hong Kong’s citizens can now look forward to bank with an arm of the largest fintech unicorn in the world. Ant Bank, a part of the Ant Group, has launched its virtual banking services after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority granted it a banking license. Ant Bank was one of eight such lucky applicants.
Alternative Investments/ESG: New ETFs For ESG Investing From iShares
iShares launched September 24 its new suite of ESG screened ETFs that track S&P 500 sustainability indexes by market capitalization. Investors looking to keep their portfolios with a greater component of S&P tracked stocks but with a sustainable focus may find these new ETFs useful additions.
Venture Capital: Mosa Meat’s Slaughter-Free Hamburger
Alternative meat startup Mosa Meat, which harvests beef directly from cow cells, rather than raising and slaughtering a whole animal, announced its Series B fundraising of $ 55 million. The amount was a first closing – part of a larger series B funding round.
Led by Luxembourg-based Blue Horizon Ventures, the round was joined by Bell Food Group, M Ventures, and others.
Digital Assets: Consensys To Work On CBDC for HK-Thai Cross-Border Payments
Consensys is a leading U.S. blockchain technology company specializing in Ethereum blockchain infrastructure and applications for new economic systems. It announced September 25 its win of a contract from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) project.
Digital Assets: Novogratz Prefers Bitcoin To Gold; Is Short On Stocks
Michael Novogratz, the founder, CEO, and Chairman of Galaxy Digital has a bearish view of stocks and the dollar and is bullish on gold and bitcoin. But he favors bitcoin over gold for its potential greater upside.