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☆ Just Climate raises $1.5 billion with help from Microsoft fund
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 8 (Reuters) - Asset manager Just Climate said on Thursday it had raised $1.5 billion for its inaugural fund after strong demand from institutional clients including Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund helped it beat the original target of $1 billion. Established by Generation Investment Management, Just Climate aims to focus investment on the sectors where cutting greenhouse gas emissions is hardest to do, such as cement, shipping, industrials and land use. The firm's initial fund, Climate Assets Fund I, will focus on helping companies with proven technology scale their business to a level to attract more risk-averse investors. "Proven, transformational climate solutions are being developed to decarbonise the industrial sectors. Among other investors to back the fund include IMAS Foundation, Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Harvard Management Company, California State Teachers’ Retirement System, and Colonial First State Investments.

Persons: Shaun Kingsbury, Kingsbury, Clara Barby, Simon Jessop, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Innovation Fund, Generation Investment Management, Climate, IMAS Foundation, Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Harvard Management Company, Colonial, Investments, ABB, Meva Energy, Thomson Locations: California

☆ Check out the 31-slide pitch deck startup Yuvo used to raise $20 million to help community health centers grow revenue
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Leena Rao | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Yuvo wants to help the 1,400 Federally Qualified Health Centers in the US grow revenue and capacity. His startup, Yuvo, helps community health centers participate in value-based programs from insurance companies, which rewards health care providers with incentive payments for the quality of care they give people. As a middle man between the insurance providers and the health centers, Yuvo opens up access for these health centers to participate in the programs by assuming the risk involved in some of these contracts. From the success of the program, Yuvo added five other health centers in New York and Ohio, said Herrera. "We can double the revenue of health centers for many patients and that's game changing for an organization," said Herrera.

Persons: Yuvo, Cesar Herrera didn't, Herrera Organizations: Health Centers, Mastry Ventures, Federally, Health Center, AV8 Ventures, New York Ventures, HLM Venture Partners, VamosVentures, Social Innovation Fund Locations: NY, Detroit, New York, Ohio

☆ Check out the 13-slide pitch deck Mitiga, a startup using AI to predict climate risks, used to raise $14 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A startup using AI to predict climate risks has just raised 13 million euros (around $14 million). A startup using AI to predict climate risk to protect people and assets has just raised 13 million euros (around $14 million) in a round backed by Microsoft. A bevy of voluntary initiatives exist encouraging businesses to report climate risk, while some businesses in Europe must report physical risks associated with climate change. Existing solutions use historical data to predict risk, Mitiga cofounder and CEO Dr. Alejandro Martí told Insider. Mitiga also presents customers with an overall climate risk score and a breakdown of how risks relate to one another.

☆ David Tepper’s Appaloosa hedge fund raises Uber stake, adds small bet on Cathie Wood's innovation fund
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Hedge fund veteran David Tepper's Appaloosa Management dramatically increased its stake in Uber last quarter, while building a small bet on Cathie Wood's flagship innovation fund, according to a new regulatory filing. Tepper boosted his Uber stake by 390%, to $190 million, at the end of March, making it his third biggest holding. The hedge fund also hiked its stake in Alphabet to more than $200 million, making the Google parent Appaloosa's top holding. Meanwhile, Appaloosa also added an $80 million stake in FedEx last quarter, making the freight carrier its ninth biggest bet at the end of March. The hedge fund took a small stake in Ark Innovation Fund ( ARKK ), worth $20 million at the end of March.

☆ 7. Anduril Industries
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Anduril Industries operates in an increasingly complex security environment, where science and technology innovation are needed for the U.S. military to keep an edge. Throughout 2022, defense technology specialist Anduril Industries supplied drones, artificial intelligence software and training to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces conduct surveillance and reconnaissance missions. With a recent round of venture financing directed toward cutting-edge autonomous militaristic products, Anduril Industries stands to help fill this gap and scale it up. Building on that acquisition, last year Anduril Industries partnered with the U.S. Special Operations Command on a 10-year, $967 million contract to provide systems for shooting down drones. Anduril also bought startup Dive Technologies, a maker of underwater vehicles, to expand its suite of autonomous vehicles.

☆ US debt ceiling: How to trade off it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BlackRock says (BLK.N) it's been buying Treasuries in anticipation of an economic slowdown and a protracted debt ceiling fight. 2/ RAINY DAY DEFAULT PROTECTIONCredit default swaps (CDS), which work like insurance against a debt default, are seeing strong demand. "If debt ceiling concerns grow we think markets will price in more Fed rate cut expectations, which means 5-year yields would fall," said Miyairi. 5/ ALL THAT GLITTERSDeutsche Bank strategist Robin Winkler says a good hedge may be buying gold against the dollar, as it has the tightest relationship with newsflow around the debt ceiling. In August 2011, as a debt ceiling crisis prompted a U.S. credit rating downgrade, gold rose 11% that month alone.

☆ There's been one big beneficiary of the banking crisis so far: Cathie Wood
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

While most of the Wall Street is in panic mode amidst the spreading banking crisis, one big investor is having a field day. Cathie Wood's flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) reeled in $397 million in new money just Tuesday alone, notching the biggest one-day inflow since April 2021, according to FactSet. She expects a grand rally could be upon her innovation stocks when rates stop their ascent. ARKK 1Y mountain Ark Innovation ETF ARKK has rallied 21% this year as Wood's top holdings, such as Tesla and Roku , rebounded dramatically. The innovation fund is focused on advanced technology companies in areas such as genomics, robotics, internet and fintech.

☆ Cathie Wood's ARK Fund set for worst week since Sept as higher rates loom
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( David Randall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Tesla (TSLA.O), the fund's top holding, is down nearly 11% for the week to date, while online education company 2U Inc (TWOU.O) is down nearly 18% for the week. Overall, the fund is down approximately 10% for the week to date, its worst weekly performance since an 11.1% decline in the week ending Sept. 23, according to Refinitiv data. None of the 27 companies in the fund's portfolio are in positive territory for the week. Higher rates weigh heavily on technology stocks by increasing the cost of borrowing and decreasing the value of expected future profits. "(ARK) is a good barometer of sentiment toward higher risk, higher reward investments.

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - The European Union's executive body is set to provide permits, regulatory support and easier access to public and private funding for certain strategic green technologies, according to a draft document seen by Reuters. Certain technologies, such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), were not included in the draft as potential candidates for the support scheme. The rules would also support auctions to deploy renewable energy sources, adapt innovation funds and provide easier access to public-private procurement. If the goals aren't achieved by 2030, the European Commission will propose "additional measures aimed at covering the identified gaps," the draft says. The European Commission declined to comment on the draft document, which an industry source said was expected to be released in the coming weeks.

☆ Microsoft, Kimbal Musk, NBA's Russell Westbrook invest in Brooklyn-based climate tech company BlocPower
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Ian Thomas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The round, which includes more than $24 million in Series B funding, was led by VoLo Earth Ventures. Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Credit Suisse, New York State Ventures, Kimbal and Christina Musk, and NBA player Russell Westbrook also were part of this equity round. The company also raised $130 million of debt financing led by Goldman Sachs, bringing BlocPower's total capital raised to-date to more than $250 million. BlocPower, a two-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company, has focused on improving the energy consumption and efficiency issues that many of the old buildings in the U.S. face. Since its founding in 2014, BlocPower says it has completed energy projects in more than 5,000 households, commercial buildings and houses of worship.

☆ Cathie Wood's Ark Invest snapped up $35 million of Shopify stock as the e-commerce company suffered one of its worst-ever trading days
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest increased its Shopify holdings as the company's shares plummeted Thursday. The famed money manager snapped up 609,763 Shopify shares on Thursday for its ARK Innovation (ARKK) exchange-traded fund. Shopify is the eighth largest holding in Ark's flagship fund, with the ETF holding $391.3 million of the stock. Ark Invest took the stock price's decline as a chance to buy Shopify at a discount, a strategy Wood's firm has implemented many times before. As a selling point to investors for her innovation fund, the Ark Invest CEO said: "Look through [the Nasdaq] now, you will not find the kind of disruptive innovation, it certainly doesn't dominate those indexes."

☆ Bill Gates on why he'll carry on using private jets and campaigning on climate change
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

During a recent interview with the BBC, the billionaire said rich countries needed "to get their emissions down to zero as fast as they can." Bill Gates does not agree that using a private jet and campaigning on the issue of climate change represents a contradiction open to allegations of hypocrisy. It says it "uses a technology called 'direct air capture' to capture carbon dioxide directly from the air." Gates has previously spoken about using Climeworks to "pay for direct air capture." "So a new way of making cement or steel, you know, electric passenger cars, that's all in the rich countries."

☆ Cathie Wood's flagship Ark ETF just logged its best month in history as its stock darling Tesla makes a comeback
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Cathie Wood's flagship Ark Invest fund just notched its best month ever as tech stocks bounce back. The famed money manager's Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) logged a gain of about 28% for January. A handful of stocks in ARKK's portfolio led the win, including Tesla, Spotify and Roku. The famed money manager's Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) rose 3.7% on Tuesday to deliver an almost 28% gain for January — though it's still down 47% on a year ago. The gain follows two low-performing years for the exchange-traded fund, which dropped 69% in 2022 and 21% in 2021.

☆ 'Big Short' legend Michael Burry issues a grave warning to investors with a one-word tweet: 'Sell.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Burry recently compared the S&P 500's rebound to its short-lived rally during the dot-com crash. The benchmark S&P 500 index gained 6.2% in January, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 11%, marking its best January performance since 2001. Burry has been pouring cold water on the stock rally this year. The implication was that the S&P 500's 17% rally since last October's low could also prove short-lived. GMO's Jeremy Grantham recently declared the S&P 500 could plummet 50% in a worst-case scenario, while Universa Investments's Mark Spitznagel diagnosed the "greatest tinderbox-timebomb in financial history."

☆ Cathie Wood predicts the market value of disruptive innovation companies will rise to $200 trillion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ark Invest's Cathie Wood said Wednesday she's standing by her disruptive innovation strategy, betting on the market value of these companies to compound 40% annually to hit $200 trillion by 2030. "Our focus is solely on disruptive innovation. After a brutal 2022, her flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) rallied 27.8% in January alone as her beaten-down innovation darlings staged a big comeback in the new year. ARKK 1Y mountain Ark Innovation ETF She said the market value of truly disruptive innovation is around $13 trillion globally today, less than roughly 10% of the global equity market. She sees the figure rise $200 trillion by the year 2030 with a 40% compound annual rate of return.

Steel producers are estimated to produce 7-9% of all harmful emissions, according to the World Steel Association. Boston Metal makes parts for cells in which electricity splits iron ore, creating liquid iron and no byproducts or emissions apart from oxygen. "What is the point of having an electric car running on a battery and carrying dirty steel?" ArcelorMittal's investment marks a shift in steel companies' willingness to invest in the technology since Boston Metal first went out looking for funding in 2018, Carneiro said. Now all the steelmaking companies are very interested in following what we are doing because they need a solution."

☆ Microsoft and ArcelorMittal back MIT spinout trying to green the $1.6 trillion steel industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The $1.6 trillion steel industry is the backbone of the modern world. That's why massive global businesses, including international steel giant ArcelorMittal and tech stalwart Microsoft , are investing in Boston Metal, a company that spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and developed a new way of making clean steel. "There is no economy, there is no infrastructure without steel," Boston Metal CEO Tadeu Carneiro told CNBC in a video call on Wednesday. The same year they launched a company, Boston Electrometallurgical Corp., to scale and commercialize that technology. He is a veteran of 40 years career in the steel industry, mostly at Brazilian metals giant CBMM.

☆ Wood's ARK Innovation Fund on pace for best month ever as battered stocks surge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( David Randall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Cathie Wood's ARK Innovation Fund is closing in on the best monthly performance in its history as it rides a rebound in many of the high-growth stocks that took a beating last year. The $7.3 billion ARK Innovation (ARKK.P) fund is up slightly more than 25% for the month to date, putting it ahead of the 25% gain it notched in April 2020. Investors are awaiting the Feb. 1 conclusion of the Fed's monetary policy meeting for clues on whether easing inflation is swaying policymakers to a less hawkish view. The central bank is widely expected to increase its key policy rate by another 25 basis points next week. Overall, January's rally has helped ARK Innovation's assets under management grow by approximately $1.2 billion this month, while investors have pulled a net $59 million out of the fund, according to Lipper data.

☆ This startup is helping brands like Dior and Lacoste build virtual stores. Check out the 11-slide pitch deck Emperia used to raise $10 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

London-based Emperia has raised $10 million in Series A funding for its virtual retail platform. A startup that has created a virtual platform for immersive retail experiences has just raised $10 million from Base10 Partners. Its virtual store SaaS platform is deployed to companies, who can use customers to better enhance the retail experience. Emperia works with brands such as luxury fashion house Dior, clothing company Lacoste, and luxury department store chain Bloomingdale's. She added that Emperia's aim is to "make virtual experiences the future of brands' long-term e-commerce strategy."

☆ Ark's Wood remains bullish on Tesla, says oil stock rally 'defying logic'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( David Randall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Star stock picker Cathie Wood of Ark Invest suggested the rally in energy stocks will soon end and reiterated her bullish view on electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) in a webinar on Thursday. Yet the rally energy stocks over the last six months despite the roughly 30% decline in the price of oil suggests that the market is now over-valuing value stocks, she said. Tesla, meanwhile, will continue to take market share as global oil demand falls by 30% or more over the next five years, Wood estimated. Wood's ARK Innovation fund fell 3.2% on Thursday while the benchmark S&P 500 fell nearly 0.8%. The fund fell nearly 67% in 2022, leaving it among the worst performing U.S. equity funds tracked by Morningstar.

☆ This startup that makes green hydrogen more efficient and safer just raised $26 million. Check out the 20-slide pitch deck Hystar used to win over investors.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The company has developed technology to help create green hydrogen more efficiently and safely. A startup helping others make hydrogen more efficiently and safely just raised $26 million in a Series B funding round. The process is a chemical reaction that splits water into oxygen and hydrogen; hydrogen created this way is known as green hydrogen, in order to differentiate from other production methods. There is strong momentum for green hydrogen from both politicians and the public, Hystar CEO Fredrik Mowill told Insider. "Almost all of the losses in electrolyzers are a result of that resistance across that membrane," Mowill said.

☆ Peppy provides employees with personalized care for gender-based health conditions. Check out the 9-slide deck used to raise $45 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The startup offers personalized consultations for gender-based health issues as an employee benefit. London-based Peppy has raised a $45 million Series B from AlbionVC to bring its employee benefits platform to the US. Peppy's app provides live chats and one-to-one consultations with specialists, so users can get personalized advice in real time. Peppy's app offers employees live consultations with specialists. Peppy has now partnered with some of the biggest health insurers in the UK, such as Axa Health and Vitality.

☆ Wood's Ark Invest nearly liquidates Silvergate Capital position
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( David Randall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Star stock picker Cathie Wood's Ark Invest sold 403,990 shares of embattled crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital Corp (SI.N) on Thursday as shares in the firm plunged more than 40%, according to disclosures by Ark Invest. The selling nearly liquidated the firm's share holdings and came from the $645 million ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF.P), and not the firm's flagship $5.9 billion ARK Innovation fund (ARKK.P), which does not have a position in the company. Total deposits from digital asset customers at Silvergate fell to $3.8 billion at the end of December, compared to $11.9 billion at the end of September. Ark Invest first bought shares in Silvergate in November, 2019, according to Morningstar data. Shares of Silvergate were down 9.2% in midday trading on Thursday, while shares of the ARK Fintech Innovation fund were up 0.8%.

☆ Analysis: Wood’s ARK slammed by higher interest rates in 2022 along with other growth funds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( David Randall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The ARK Innovation Fund has lost around 67% year to date, more than tripling the decline of the S&P 500 index (.SPX). With the S&P 500 on pace for its biggest annual decline since the Great Financial Crisis, few funds are likely to escape 2022 unscathed. Wood's fund ranked 3,544 among all 3552 actively-managed U.S. equity mutual funds tracked by Morningstar. The worst performing fund of the year, by comparison, was the Voya Russia fund, which is down 92% for the year to date. CRASH LANDINGOther funds that soared in recent years on the backs of large bets on technology stocks fell on hard times in 2022.

☆ Amazon and Microsoft are backing this battery-powered generator startup
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

While big legacy companies like Generac and Caterpillar are beginning to offer small battery-powered units in addition to their larger diesel generator lines, California-based startup Moxion Power is focused entirely on this new power frontier. Huelskamp says diesel generators are notoriously difficult and expensive to maintain and burn diesel fuel very inefficiently. Amazon is both investing in the company and currently leasing Moxion units for two video productions, a movie and a series. Roughly half of the carbon emissions from the average movie come from the fuel used to power generators and transportation. In addition to the Amazon Climate Pledge fund, Moxion's backers include the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Enterprise Holdings, Energy Impact Partners, Tamarack Global and Sunbelt Rentals.

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