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: European Vertical Farming Startup Infarm Raises $200M, Including From The Qatar Wealth Fund
Infarm’s vertical farming technology uses 95% less water, 90% less transport and zero chemical pesticide. Infarm, the fast-growing Dutch vertical farming startup, raised a $200 million Series D round that launched it into ‘unicorn’ status. The Qatar Investment Authority, Partners in Equity, Hanaco, Atomico, Lightrock, and Bonnier and other existing and new investors participated in…
FinTech: Deal-Making In The LatAm Payments Space
The Latin American fintech industry saw two acquisitions this week, one each in Chile and Brazil. Santiago, Chile-based Mercado Libre (NASDAQ: MELI), a POS market player in Latin America, acquired Redelcom. In Brazil, Sao Paulo-based, Advent-backed Ebanx acquired Brazil-based international money transfer firm Remessa Online for $229 million.
Alternative Investments/Digital: A New ETF From Valkyrie Invests In Companies That Own Bitcoin
Valkyrie Funds, LLC announced Wednesday the launch of the Valkyrie Balance Sheet Opportunities ETF (Nasdaq: VBB), an exchange traded fund (ETF) that would invest in forward-looking public companies with exposure to bitcoin.
Artificial Intelligence: Nokia Using AI To Monitor Vehicular Noise In The City Of Genk, Belgium
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has deployed AI-powered Scene Analytics to monitor noise pollution emitted by vehicles on the Stalenstraat, a street in the city of Genk in Belgium. The system, currently only a “proof-of-concept,” will help address health and safety concerns of residents and visitors suffering from noise levels due to exhaust modifications in cars, motorcycles and other vehicles.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin Jumps As Fed Accelerates ‘Taper,’ Mulls Three Rate Hikes In 2022
At the conclusion of its two-day confabulations, the Fed said it will step up the rate of reduction (‘taper’) in its bond purchases. Further, projections showed that the central bank could hike interest rates as many as three times in 2022, twice in the year following, and again twice in 2024. However, at the latest meeting, the Fed kept rates on hold. The FOMC’s decisions were approved by members unanimously.
Venture Capital: Norwest Venture Closes On $3B Fund NVP XVI
Norwest Venture Partners, the Silicon Valley-based VC firm, closed on Norwest Venture Partners XVI, LP, a $3 billion fund to finance “paradigm-shifting” business across the consumer, enterprise and healthcare sectors. The announcement of the new fund, its biggest so far, coincided with the firm’s introduction of an ESG policy in parallel with its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Digital Assets: Institutional Digital Asset Platform Anchorage Lands $350M In KKR-Led Round
Anchorage Digital, the institution-focused digital asset company that offers custody, secure trading, financing, staking, and governance, announced today its $350 million Series D funding round led by global investment firm KKR that valued the company at over $3 billion.
Artificial Intelligence: Signal AI, Which Sifts Through The Web For Data Insights, Raises $50M
Signal AI specializes in delivering knowledge to decision makers that can help them understand the risks and opportunities associated with their business. Signal AI’s decision augmentation solution is able to understand the unique decision context; its AIQ component identifies and maps relationships between the companies, people, products, and topics that matter to the decision makers.
Alternative Investments/ESG: J.P. Morgan Asset Management Launches Climate Change ETF
J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) announced Tuesday the launch of its first active, sustainable ETF that will give investors exposure to companies addressing the huge challenge of climate change and are poised to benefit from it. The JPMorgan Climate Change Solutions ETF (TEMP) will invest in companies that are producing less carbon-intensive energy such as wind or solar power; improving the electric grid; investing in less carbon-intensive forms of agriculture, construction, or transportation; or developing technologies to reduce waste.
FinTech: Chime Partners With Walgreens To Allow Free Cash Deposits
“That’s more walk-in locations than you’d have using any bank in the US,” proudly claims Chime in an announcement. Customers can make free cash deposits into their Chime Spending Accounts at any Walgreens (NASDAQ: WBA) outlet.
Venture Capital: Jack & Annie’s Raises $23M For “Meat” From The Jackfruit Plant
Annie Ryu discovered the jackfruit and its meat substitute potential while working in India as a pre-med student in 2011. She has since succeeded in building Jack & Annie’s into a leading vegan frozen food brand that just announced its $23 million Series B funding round led by Creadev, Desert Bloom, Wheatsheaf, and existing investors Beta Angeles and Investco.
Digital Assets: Dogecoin (DOGE) On A Moonshot After Musk Says Tesla Will Accept It In Payment For Merchandise
“Tesla will make some merch buyable with Doge & see how it goes,” tweeted Elon Musk today, lighting a fire underneath the hitherto somnolent DOGE cryptocurrency. The comment led to an initial spike of over 25% (over 24 hours) in the price of DOGE. At the time of writing, it is trading at 0.1928, still up over 20%.
Artificial Intelligence: “AI Will Never Be Ethical,” Says An AI Tool In A Debate
The topic of the debate: ‘This house believes that AI will never be ethical.’ An AI tool debating on the above topic has issued a blunt warning that AI will never be ethical. And it should know: It was trained on 63 million news articles, Wikipedia and Reddit Discourse. The AI tool, which has the…
Venture Capital: Fix-Now-Pay-Later Platform Bumper Snags $12M
London-based, car repair funding platform Bumper has raised $12 million in a Series A round led by Autotech Ventures and which included participation by Porsche Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover’s InMotion Ventures fund, and a host of angel investors. The round brought Bumper’s total funding till date to $17.5 million.
Digital Assets: Mubadala Investing In The Ecosystem Around Crypto, Says CEO
In a huge plug for the growing acceptance, adoption and legitimacy of digital assets, cryptocurrencies and blockchain, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the CEO of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company said the fund had started to invest in “the ecosystem around crypto.”
FinTech: Circular Economy-Focused Twig Buys Loopster, A Marketplace For Pre-Loved Clothing
London-based fintech Twig describes itself as “the next generation banking, powering the circular economy,” that enables you “to turn your things into cash, instantly.” In a strategic move designed to broaden its offerings, Twig announced Friday its acquisition of Loopster, a marketplace that pays upfront for clean, unwanted clothes. Like Twig, Loopster encourages customers to join the circular economy and close the loop between use and reuse of clothes.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Surveillance Firm SenseTime Forced To Put Off IPO After US Blacklisting
SenseTime, a Chinese AI startup, put its $767 million Hong Kong IPO in abeyance after being placed on a US investment blacklist for allegedly using its facial recognition technology to identify repressed ethnic minorities such as the Uighurs.
Digital Assets: Coinbase Allows Customers To Earn Yield On The DAI Stablecoin
Eligible customers in over 70 countries can now access decentralized finance services through crypto exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN). Holders of the DAI stablecoin issued by Makerdao may earn attractive yields on their coin.
Digital Assets: Kickstarter’s Crowdfunding Platform To Move To Blockchain
Kickstarter PBC, the crowdfunding platform founded in 2009, will rework its technological process and base it on the blockchain in a bid to “create a decentralized version of Kickstarter’s core functionality.” More details of the move would be available in a white paper to be released in the coming weeks. However, the new decentralized protocol would reside on the Celo blockchain, an open source and carbon negative blockchain platform.
Alternative Investments/AI: WisdomTree Launches Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Fund (WTAI)
WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF) announced Thursday the launch of the WisdomTree Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Fund (WTAI) on the CBOE. The passively managed ETF will track the WisdomTree Artificial Intelligence & Innovation Index. Charging an expense ratio of 0.45%, the fund will offer investors exposure to businesses primarily involved with the theme of AI and innovation.
Venture Capital: Rapid Grocery Delivery Startup Flink Raises $750M
Flink, the grocery 10-minute delivery startup operating out of Berlin and serving 10 million customers in more than 60 cities, has closed a $750 million Series B round led by DoorDash (NYSE: DASH). The lion’s share of the funding will be used to continue the startup’s growth, with a small portion earmarked for strategic acquisitions.
Artificial Intelligence: Chinese AI Company And IPO-Hopeful SenseTime To Land Up On US Blacklist
In protest against human rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the US is likely to place SenseTime, the Chinese AI company, on an investment blacklist, the Financial Times reported Thursday. Washington will take the action against SenseTime on Friday, on the occasion of Human Rights Day, and alongside similar steps against a host of other countries, sources familiar with the matter told the FT.
FinTech: Mambu Scores Largest Private Fundraise For A Banking Platform
Mambu is valued at more than $5.3 billion after $266 million Series E raise. SaaS banking platform Mambu raised €235 million (about $266 million) in a Series E round led by EQT Growth that valued the company at €4.9 billion post money (~$5.3 billion). The funding marked the largest ever financing round for a banking…
Digital Assets: Bitcoin PermaBull MicroStrategy Loads Up On Another $82M
MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor tweeted about the company’s latest purchase of bitcoin. MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), which is led by bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor, has reeled in a fresh tranche of 1,434 bitcoins, paying about $82.4 million in cash at an average price of approximately ~$57,477 per bitcoin, according to a tweet from Saylor. (CryptoNews) After…