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: G20 Asks The IMF And FSB To Prepare Technical Paper On Global Crypto Regulation
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) are working together to develop a technical paper that proposes a coordinated global approach for regulating crypto assets. The paper will be presented at the next meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in October.
Venture Capital: Dutch AI Agtech Source.ag Raises $23M Series A
Dutch company Source.ag has raised $23 million in a Series A funding round led by Astanor Ventures, with further investment from Acre Ventures Partners and several of the Netherlands’ leading greenhouse operators. Source.ag develops artificial intelligence (AI) tools to provide growers with guidance on optimal crop cultivation techniques.
FinTech: Hong Kong-Based FundPark Provides Collateral-Free Loans To SMEs
Hong Kong-based start-up FundPark is seeking a new round of fundraising to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) access trade finance. Unlike banks, FundPark provides SMEs with a range of financing options for working capital without collateral requirements.
Artificial Intelligence: Raphael Painted A Mystery Painting, According To AI
New facial recognition technology has been used to examine a painting known as the de Brécy Tondo, leading researchers to conclude that it is highly likely to be a masterpiece by Raphael. The technology was developed by Professor Hassan Ugail, of the University of Bradford, and uses a deep neural network to identify patterns in images with greater accuracy than the human eye.
Digital Assets: Russian Perpetrators Of Ponzi Forsage DeFi Platform Indicted
Four individuals from Russia, Vladimir Okhotnikov, Olena Oblamska, Mikhail Sergeev, and Sergey Maslakov, have been indicted in the US for allegedly running a global Ponzi scheme through their decentralized finance (defi) crypto platform, Forsage. The US Justice Department announced that the platform had defrauded investors of around $340 million. The accused are each charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and could face a maximum of 20 years in prison if found guilty.
Venture Capital: Senior-, And Value-Based Care Focused Vytalize Health Raises $100M Series C
Vytalize Health, a provider enablement platform, has secured $100 million in funding led by Enhanced Healthcare Partners and Monroe Capital, with North Coast Ventures also participating. The investment will enable Vytalize Health to strengthen primary care practices and accelerate responsible value-based care for seniors.
FinTech: FinTech Powers LatAm E-commerce Giant MercadoLibre Inc To Quarterly Profit
Mercadolibre (NASDAQ: MELI), a leading e-commerce company in Latin America, reported better-than-expected profits in Q4, leading to a surge in its stock price by over 6% during Thursday’s extended session. The company’s earnings per share for the quarter were $3.25, exceeding consensus estimates by $0.93. The 40.8% increase in revenue from the previous year was also slightly higher than analysts’ expectations.
Alternative Investments/ESG: The Energy And Remediation ETF From Horizon Kinetics Rides Two Boats
Horizon Kinetics has unveiled the Horizon Kinetics Energy and Remediation ETF (NYSEARCA: NVIR), a fund listed on the New York Stock Exchange that aims to strike a balance between meeting global energy needs and investing in existing remediation technology. The actively managed fund will hold both attractive, carbon-based energy companies and remediation companies that use existing technology to generate carbon-based energy in a more environmentally sensitive manner.
Artificial Intelligence: NVIDIA’s Blockbuster A100 Chip Is The Preferred Workhorse For AI Such As ChatGPT
Despite a 21% decline in overall sales, Nvidia’s (NASDAQ: NVDA) AI chip business, reported as data centers, rose by 11% and generated sales of over $3.6 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter. This growth in the company’s AI chip business contributed to the company’s shares rising 14% on Thursday, outperforming the S&P 500 and other semiconductor stocks with a 65% increase so far in 2023.
Digital Assets: Binance And Ingenico Tie Up For In-Store Crypto Payments In France
Ingenico, the world leader in payment acceptance solutions, has partnered with Binance, the world’s largest blockchain ecosystem and digital asset exchange, to offer an in-store cryptocurrency payment acceptance solution in France.
Artificial Intelligence: Consulting Firm Bain Announces Global Services Alliance With OpenAI
Bain & Company, a top-level management consulting firm, has announced a global services alliance with OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT. Bain will be integrating AI into its client operations and various other tasks. The company aims to use AI to support the necessary changes to improve technology, processes, operating models, and data assets.
FinTech: Mission Lane Customers To Get Access To Plaid Apps In Expanded Tie-Up
Mission Lane strives to extend financial inclusion to credit excluded people. Fintech company Mission Lane has announced an expansion of its partnership with data network Plaid to provide the latter’s secure open finance solutions to its over two million customers. The partnership will leverage Plaid’s open finance API data connectivity solution to enable customers to…
Venture Capital: South African, Cars-On-Subscription Startup Planet42 Raises $100M
Planet42, a South African startup that offers car subscriptions to those who cannot access traditional bank credit, has raised US$100 million in combined equity and debt funding to support its expansion.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Global X Debuts ESG-Focused, Options-Based ETFs
Global X ETFs, a company based in New York that offers exchange-traded funds (ETFs), has revealed the introduction of two new funds. These funds, the Global X S&P 500 ESG Covered Call ETF (XYLE) and the Global X Nasdaq 100 ESG Covered Call ETF (QYLE), add to the company’s range of options-based funds.
Venture Capital: Indian Meat Delivery Startup FreshToHome Raises Amazon-Backed $104M Funding
FreshToHome, a Bengaluru-based fresh fish and meat retailer, has raised $104 million in a Series D funding round led by Amazon’s Smbhav Venture Fund. Existing investors, including Iron Pillar, Investcorp, Investment Corporation of Dubai, Ascent Capital, and others, also participated in the funding round, while new investors like E20 Investment Ltd, Mount Judi Ventures, and Dallah Albaraka joined in.
FinTech: Dutch Challenger Bank bunq Pivoted To A Profit In Q4 Of 2022
Bunq, the second largest neobank in the European Union, has achieved a significant milestone by reporting a pre-tax profit of €2.3 million in the final quarter of 2022. This achievement marks the first time the challenger bank has recorded a quarterly profit and is expected to fuel its future growth and expansion as it aims to become the world’s first neobank for location-independent people and businesses.
Alternative Investments/ESG: BNY Mellon To Launch ETF Focused On Empowerment Of Women
BNY Mellon (NYSE: BK), a leading investment management company, has announced plans to launch an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that invests in companies supporting women’s empowerment. The BNY Mellon Women’s Empowerment ETF will focus on investing in companies that aim to improve women’s quality of life, with a particular focus on gender equity in the workplace and products or services that enhance women’s productivity.
Digital Assets: Another Casualty From The FTX Saga – Crypto Hedge Fund Galois Capital Shuts Down
Quantitative hedge fund Galois Capital has decided to close down and return remaining money to investors after half of its assets were trapped on the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, according to documents seen by the Financial Times.
Artificial Intelligence: AI To Transcribe, Live, Hearings At The Supreme Court Of India
Using AI tools and Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology, the Supreme Court of India implemented a live transcription system for oral arguments for the first time in its history on Tuesday.
Digital Assets: Hong Kong Releases ‘Consultation Paper’ On Digital Assets; Beijing Looks On
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong has proposed new regulations for the cryptocurrency industry (“virtual asset trading platforms”), and has requested feedback from the public. The proposed rules are set to go into effect on June 1, 2023, and include stricter guidelines for cryptocurrency trading platforms, such as licensing and investor protection measures.
FinTech: Israeli Fintech Liquidity Group Turns Unicorn After $40M Investment By MUFG
Israeli-founded fintech company Liquidity Group has raised $40 million from Japanese banking giant MUFG Bank (NYSE: MUFG), valuing the company at $1.4 billion and pushing it into unicorn status.
Venture Capital: Chinese EV Maker Geely Nabs $750M Series ‘A’ For Its Zeekr Brand
On February 13th, 2023, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding), the largest private-owned automotive group in China, announced a successful fundraising of USD 750 million for its premium pure play electric mobility brand, ZEEKR Intelligent Technology (Zeekr), based in Hangzhou, China.
Alternative Investments/Digital: BlackRock Unveils Metaverse Themed ETF
BlackRock, one of the largest ETF issuers in the US, has launched a thematic equity fund targeting companies worldwide that are shaping the development of the metaverse, a future iteration of the internet comprising persistent, shared, 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe. The iShares Future Metaverse Tech and Communications ETF (NYSEARCA: IVRS) has been listed with an expense ratio of 0.47%.
Artificial Intelligence: FRIDA, An AI-Powered Robotic Painter, Creates Art On Demand!
Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute has developed a new project called FRIDA, which stands for Framework and Robotics Initiative for Developing Arts. FRIDA is an AI-powered robotic painting system that collaborates with humans to create works of art.