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: Private Chinese Satellite Internet Startup GalaxySpace Valued At $1.58B In New Funding
Chinese satellite internet startup Galaxyspace, which was founded in 2016, now commands a valuation of $1.58 billion after a recent funding round led by CCB International, an investment vehicle belonging to China Construction Bank Corporation, one of China’s big four banks, along with Anhui Sanzhongyichuang Industry Development Fund, Hefei Industry Investment and Sincere Fund. Existing investors Legend Capital and Chaos Investment also participated.
Digital Assets: Rich Pickings For Distressed Asset Investor Who Picked Up Mt. Gox Claims In 2017
The collapse of crypto exchange Mt. Gox in 2017 spelt opportunity for Thomas Braziel, a distressed asset investor and son of two insolvency lawyers. He raised $1 million from a family office and scooped up about 4,000 bitcoins worth of claims from customers of the exchange, which lost 850,000 bitcoins in a hack that forced it into bankruptcy in 2014.
FinTech: Home Improvement Retailer Lowe’s Ties With Instacart For Same Day Delivery
Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) is now offering same day and scheduled delivery, even for large items weighing up to 60 pounds, through the Instacart App. This fall, holidays will be even more memorable with items such as small Halloween inflatables, fire pit essentials and even small portable grills landing up at home with a few clicks on the App.
Venture Capital: Blockchain And Web3 Infrastructure Developer Mysten Labs Nabs $300M Series B
Mysten Labs, a developer of the Sui blockchain network and creator of infrastructure for Web3, announced an initial close of $300 million series B funding round led by FTX Ventures. The round valued the startup at more than $2 billion.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin May Drop To $10K, Says Analyst Who Correctly Called 2018 Bottom
According to the analyst, Decentrader’s Filbfilb, the upcoming winter in Europe amidst a severe energy crisis could escalate into a major emergency in 2023 and take a toll on risk assets including bitcoin.
Artificial Intelligence: NetDragon Websoft, A Chinese Tech Company, Appoints A Virtual Humanoid Robot As CEO
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKG: 0777), a listed Chinese company with global internet operations, has appointed Ms Tang Yu, an AI powered virtual humanoid robot, as the rotating CEO of its subsidiary Fujian NetDragon Websoft Co., Ltd.
Artificial Intelligence: National Grid Uses AI And Satellite Imagery To Save Costs On Pruning Vegetation
National Grid has save as much as $2 million on its vegetation management costs after deployment of AiDash’s dashboard that uses AI and satellite imagery to home in on problems such as overgrowing trees, power lines and circuits.
FinTech: Mike Cagney-Led Figure Tech To Offer Banking-As-A-Service Via New Subsidiary
Figure Technologies, which is led by CEO and co-founder Mike Cagney, announced it will offer Banking As A Service (BaaS) through Figure Payments Corp, a subsidiary to be known as Figure Pay. Figure Pay, a scalable and rapidly deployable API-driven platform, offers two alternatives – one focused on fintech, non-banks, and retailers, and the other for banks.
Digital Assets: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele Gets Flak From Media For Bitcoin Catastrophe
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has been roundly criticized by the media on the first anniversary of the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender in the country. In view of the prolonged slump in the value of bitcoin after its life high in November 2021, it is understandable that the government chose to be reticent on the occasion. Not so the media, which was critical of the exercise, masterminded by Bukele.
Alternative Investments: Direxion Launches Inverse ETFs To Bet Against Amazon, Google, And Microsoft
Direxion, provider of tradeable and thematic ETFs, announced the launch of an additional six single stock leveraged and inverse ETFs, listing on the NASDAQ. These new ETFs follow on Direxion’s previously introduced four single stock leveraged and inverse ETFs, namely TSLL, TSLS, AAPU, and AAPD.
Artificial Intelligence: Enterprise Voice Assistant Provider PolyAI Raises $40M
PolyAI, a provider of human sounding voice assistants for enterprises, announced its $40 million Series B round led by Georgian with participation from Twilio Ventures as well as existing investors (Khosla Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners).
Alternative Investments/ESG: Emerge Canada Launches Five Sustainable ETFs Under Its EMPWR Program For Women-Led Managers
Emerge Canada launched a new, proprietary EMPWR program that includes separate account strategies, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds available to investors in both Canada and the US. The program promotes sustainable investing while supporting women-led investment managers.
Alternative Investments/ESG/Digital: Fidelity Launches Five Thematic ETFs In Europe
Fidelity International has launched in Europe five thematic equity ETFs spanning the themes of clean energy, electric vehicles & future transportation, cloud computing, digital health, and the metaverse. The ETFs will trade on European bourses including London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Börse Xetra, and SIX Swiss Exchange, and Borsa Italiana. Each ETF features an expense ratio of 0.50%.
Alternative Investments/Digital: LGIM Launches Metaverse ETF With ESG Overlay
Legal & General Asset Management (LGIM) has launched four thematic ETFs to be listed on the London Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana, Deutsche Boerse and Six Exchange. Of these, the L&G Metaverse ESG Exclusions UCITS ETF (MTVR) will be a part of LGIM’s all-new “Access” range that is intended to be a strategic tool for investors seeking access to “non-traditional investment opportunities.” On the other hand, the L&G Optical Technology Photonics ESG Exclusions UCITS ETF (LAZG), the L&G Emerging Cyber Security ESG Exclusions UCITS ETF (ESPY) and the L&G Global Thematic ESG Exclusions UCITS ETF (THMZ) will be included in LGIM’s flagship thematic range.
Alternative Investments/ESG: DWS Expands ESG Range With Three Paris-Aligned ETFs
DWS has launched three new ETFs as an extension of its existing suite of climate-focused ETFs. To be listed in Europe, the three new Paris-aligned equity ETFs provide large and mid-cap exposure to stocks from the US, Europe, and Japan. The new ETFs are the Xtrackers USA Net Zero Pathway Paris Aligned UCITS ETF (XNUS GY), which comes with an expense ratio of 0.10%, and the Xtrackers Europe Net Zero Pathway Paris Aligned UCITS ETF (XEPA GY) and Xtrackers Japan Net Zero Pathway Paris Aligned UCITS ETF (XNJP GY), both of which are priced at 0.15%.
Artificial Intelligence: Japanese Drivers Unionize Against Amazon Protesting Unrealistic, AI-Drawn Routes
A labor movement is spreading across Amazon Japan, with delivery drivers in Nagasaki organizing themselves into a union, months after drivers in Yokosuka took a similar step. The group of 15 drivers in Nagasaki are protesting Amazon’s long hours and excessive load of deliveries without overtime pay, as well as impossible-to-execute delivery schedules and routes set out by the company’s AI system.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Franklin Templeton To Debut Metaverse ETF In Europe
Franklin Templeton is launching the Franklin Metaverse UCITS ETF (FLRA) on European exchanges this week, the announcement coming on the heels of the debut of the Fidelity Metaverse UCITS ETF (FMTV) earlier this week.
Alternative Investments/ESG: AXA Investment Managers Launches ETF Platform For Responsible Investments
AXA Investment Managers has launched an ETF platform with two active UN SDG (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) aligned ETFs, classified as Article 9 funds under SFDR regulation. To focus on climate and biodiversity themes, the two ETFs will offer investors the twin benefits of long-term financial growth as well as a positive impact on the environment. The platform would also feature active strategies and enhanced liquidity for investors.
Artificial Intelligence: Robotic, Solar-Powered Boat To Clean India’s Gomti River
The district administration of Lucknow, in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, has pressed into service an AI-enabled trash boat to clean the Gomti river. In a 30-day trial, the boat, built by the Centre For Innovation Policy And Social Change, will operate on the river and collect plastics, water hyacinth and other types of waste.
Liquid Alternatives: Bobby Blue, Senior Manager Research Analyst, Morningstar, On The Rising Inflows Into Liquid Alts
As equities and bonds suffer in a challenging macroeconomic environment, liquid alternatives have made a comeback. Investors are plowing money into strategies such as managed futures, volatility, long-short equity, and more. Since last year, as bonds and stocks stumbled, inflows have surged into liquid alternatives. Liquid alts are mutual funds, closed-end funds, and ETFs that invest in alternative investment strategies offering downside protection and diversification opportunities while providing daily liquidity which makes them accessible to all investors.
FinTech: US Bank Subsidiary Elavon Launches Talech Register, An All-In-One Payments And Analytics Platform
U.S. Bank (NYSE: USB) subsidiary Elavon announced the launch of talech Register, a next generation Point-of-Sale platform suitable for small businesses in North America. Talech Register is an all-in-one payments and business analytics platform that frees up business owners to better manage their operations.
FinTech: Balance Money, A Fintech, Launches Digital Banking
Fintech company Balance Money has debuted a new digital banking service that also provides real-time spend management, thereby providing the additional benefit of budgeting and financial discipline alongside banking functions. Said to be a solution ideal for Millennials and GenZ’rs, it automatically calculates in real time what amount is safe to spend, saving them the “mental gymnastics’ of working it out by checking their bank account each time.
Digital Assets: Congress Wants Action Taken Reports On Crypto Fraud From Agencies, Digital Exchanges
The Committee shot off a series of letters earlier this week to four agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Trade Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as five digital asset exchanges — Coinbase, FTX, Binance.US, Kraken, and KuCoin, asking for details of actions taken to “identify, investigate, and remove or flag potentially fraudulent digital assets or accounts,” as well as highlight discussions around “whether to adopt more stringent policies.”
Venture Capital: Identity Decisioning Platform Alloy Lands $52M
As an identity decisioning platform, Alloy helps banks and fintech companies automate their decisions for onboarding, transaction monitoring and credit underwriting of customers. Using the platform, Alloy clients can access customer information, traditional credit bureau data, and other alternative data through a single point of integration, providing a complete picture of their customer. The company raised an additional $52 million led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Avenir Growth with participation from existing investors Canapi Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Avid Ventures, and Felicis Ventures.