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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Digital Assets: Crypto Exchange Bybit Ties With Mastercard To Launch Crypto Debit Cards
Bybit, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, has launched a debit card, Bybit Card, powered by Mastercard (NYSE: MA) and issued by Moorwand, enabling users to convert their crypto balances into fiat currency to purchase goods and services or withdraw cash from ATMs directly.
FinTech: WhatsApp Gets Brazil’s Nod For Payments To Small Businesses
Guilherme Horn, PhD, Head of WhatsApp, Latin America, announced that Brazil’s Central Bank has authorized the launch of the payment service for small and medium-sized enterprises through WhatsApp.
Artificial Intelligence: Bad Actors Are Using Voice Impersonation To Dupe Victims
Increasingly sophisticated AI allows scammers to replicate someone’s voice with an audio sample that could be as short as just a few sentences. Voice impersonation scams are on the rise in the US. The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has made it easier for bad actors to mimic voices, tricking people into believing that their loved ones are in distress.
FinTech: Klarna Reports Record $1B Loss In 2022
Klarna, the Swedish fintech company that was once Europe’s most valuable private tech firm, has reported its largest annual loss to date in 2022, but is optimistic about its prospects for returning to profitability. The company’s annual losses increased by 47% to SEK10.4bn ($1bn) in the 12 months to December 31, 2022, up from SEK7.1bn ($680m) in the previous year.
Digital Assets: Key Crypto Players Sever Links With Silvergate Capital
On March 2nd, four firms related to cryptocurrency announced that they will no longer be doing business with Silvergate Capital (NYSE: SI). This decision was made after Silvergate revealed in an SEC filing that it was delaying its annual report due to ongoing investigations. (PYMNTS)
Venture Capital: Fertility Facilitator Kindbody Lands $100M
Kindbody has raised $100 million in capital from Perceptive Advisors, a leading life sciences investment firm, to support future company growth. This latest financing brings Kindbody’s total equity and debt funding to more than $290 million and its valuation to $1.8 billion, making it the largest women-owned fertility company serving employers and consumers.
FinTech: Zenus Bank Ties With Visa To Issue Debit Cards Across 46 Countries
Zenus Bank and Visa (NYSE: V) have extended their partnership, and Zenus has become the first bank to launch a single Visa Infinite Debit Card to customers across the globe. Zenus offers true US bank accounts remotely to people in over 46 countries and provides a virtual Visa Infinite debit card, and a physical card can be received in under 10 days.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Can Be Useful For Reinventing Business Processes
In the 1990s, companies used enterprise resource planning systems and the internet to carry out business process reengineering (BPR) in order to bring about radical changes to broad end-to-end business processes. However, the implementation of such systems often failed to meet expectations.
Digital Assets: Binance Creates AI-Fueled Frenzy On Bicasso, Its NFT Generator
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, has announced the launch of Bicasso, an AI-based art generation platform that allows users to create and mint NFTs on demand. The beta version of Bicasso was launched on March 1, but the overwhelming demand for the platform caused technical issues, with the hard cap of 10,000 NFT mints selling out within just 2.5 hours.
FinTech: Payments Giant Stripe May Accept A Lower, $50B Valuation In Funding Round
As negotiations progress, investors are reportedly seeking to lower the Stripe valuation. Payments processing company Stripe has reduced the valuation of its $55 billion fundraise by around 10%, according to sources cited by The Information. The valuation has been reduced from $23 per share to around $20 per share, bringing the company’s overall valuation down…
Artificial Intelligence: Bridgewater Post-Dalio – More AI And Machine Learning, Less People
CEO Nir Bar Dea is now at the helm of Bridgewater. Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, is adopting a new strategy under the leadership of CEO Nir Bar Dea, following its founder Ray Dalio’s departure five months ago. Bar Dea’s strategy aims to improve returns, increase profitability, and develop new sources of revenue….
Venture Capital: 8VC Raises $880M For Its Fund V
8VC has launched its fifth fund with $880 million in new capital to support and partner with entrepreneurs at all stages of their journey, and to build companies. Despite the evolution of the venture world over the last decade, big problems remain, and innovative people from all over the planet are inspired to address them through technology. 8VC’s mission to “fix a broken world” remains the same, and it works with founders to chase dreams and explore the vast uncharted wilderness yet to be explored.
Liquid Alternatives: Man Group Anticipates Higher Demand For Liquid Alternatives This Year
Man Group (LON: EMG), one of the largest publicly traded hedge funds, has reported higher pre-tax profit in 2022, up from 2021, and raised its core net revenue by 14%. The UK-based asset manager has said that it expects more demand for liquid alternative strategies this year after delivering positive returns for investors from the strategy in 2022.
FinTech: CoreLogic Acquires Digital Mortgage Platform Roostify
CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a property information and analytics provider, has acquired digital mortgage platform Roostify for an undisclosed amount. The integration of Roostify’s digital lending platform with CoreLogic’s data and analytics suite will allow lenders to access important data on borrowers and properties early in the lending process, resulting in a faster and more efficient customer experience with lower underwriting expenses.
FinTech: Revolut Reaches Profitability Milestone In 2021
Revolut has reported revenues of £636.2 million ($766.9 million) in 2021, three times what it made the previous year, and swung to a net profit of £59.1 million. The main drivers of its profitability were higher subscriptions to its paid packages and growing use of its app.
Digital Assets: Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Circulates Discussion Paper To Allow Crypto Trading
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) has proposed regulatory amendments that would allow clients of non-banking institutions (NBMs) to trade cryptocurrencies. NBMs, which provide investment, advisory, and brokerage services, currently cannot accept direct deposits or act as custodians, but TASE intends to expand their authorized activities to include crypto trading.
Venture Capital: Bain Capital Ventures Raises $1.9B Across Two Funds
Bain Capital Ventures (BCV) has raised $1.9 billion in two oversubscribed funds, furthering its support for technology startups from seed to growth. The funds will be used to discover and grow the most innovative and promising companies within fintech, infrastructure, apps, and commerce.
Artificial Intelligence: A New AI Tool More Accurately Assesses Organs For Transplant
A team of researchers in the UK has developed a pioneering method to score potential organs for transplant using artificial intelligence (AI). The new AI tool, known as OrQA (Organ Quality Assessment), compares images of potential donor organs with tens of thousands of other organs that have been used in transplant operations.
Venture Capital: Cloud Security Startup Wiz Nabs $300M Series D Financing
Wiz, a cloud security provider, has raised $300 million in a recent funding round, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and supported by Greenoaks Capital Partners and Index Ventures. Wiz’s latest valuation is now $10 billion, making it the largest cybersecurity unicorn globally and the fastest SaaS company to reach such a valuation.
FinTech: Italian Paytech Nexi Buys 80% Of Banco Sabadell’s Merchant Acquiring Business For €280M
Italian paytech company Nexi (BIT: NEXI) has acquired an 80% stake in the merchant acquiring business of Banco Sabadell (BME: SAB), the second-largest merchant acquirer in Spain, for €280 million. The transaction reflects an Enterprise Value of 350 €M for 100%. The business is expected to generate an EBITDA of around 30 €M based on 2023 figures, resulting in an implied EV/EBITDA 2023E of ~11.5x.
Artificial Intelligence: Robin AI Raises $10.5M For Legal Services Powered By Generative AI
Robin AI, a legal tech startup, has announced that it has secured $10.5 million in Series A funding led by Plural with participation by Episode 1 and a cohort of angel investors. Robin AI will use the funding to scale its mission of changing the way the legal industry operates by using AI and generative models with “lawyers-in-the-loop” to cut legal costs and make simple legal tasks even easier. The company offers access to legal services, including a first-in-class AI-driven contract editor, to individuals, startups, and beyond, to process legal contracts at little to no cost.
Digital Assets: Coinbase to Delist Binance-Branded BUSD Stablecoin Effective March 13
However, Coinbase assures that holders can withdraw their BUSD funds anytime. Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, has announced that it will suspend the trading of Binance-branded BUSD stablecoin on its platform, citing its failure to meet Coinbase’s internal listing standards. The stablecoin will be de-listed on March 13th…
Venture Capital: Skydio, Maker Of Autonomous Drones, Lands $230M Series E
Drone manufacturer Skydio has raised $230m in a Series E funding round, led by Linse Capital, which values the company at $2.2 billion, more than double its valuation two years ago. Andreessen Horowitz, Next47, IVP, DoCoMo, Nvidia, the Walton Family Foundation, UP Partners, Hercules Capital, and Axon also participated in the round.
Artificial Intelligence: Snapchat+ Now Features An AI Chatbot
My AI, an OpenAI-powered chatbot, makes its appearance on Snap and is accessible to Snapchat+ subscribers. In a statement, Snap (NYSE: SNAP) said “My AI can recommend birthday gift ideas for your BFF, plan a hiking trip for a long weekend, suggest a recipe for dinner, or even write a haiku about cheese for your cheddar-obsessed pal.”