In the halls of investment banking, a quiet revolution is underway, spearheaded by the transformative power of generative AI (“GenAI”). This cutting-edge technology is not only streamlining processes but also fundamentally altering the landscape for junior roles within the industry. Rumor has it AI saves junior bankers two hours of sleep per night.
Imagine a world where the arduous tasks once shouldered by entry-level analysts are swiftly executed by AI algorithms, leaving behind a trail of efficiency and opportunity. That’s the thought of JP Morgan’s co-head of investment banking, Jay Horine, who sees AI cutting some tasks from ten hours to ten seconds! Maybe AI could be the ultimate assistant, saving us from ‘#REF!’ forever.
Many banks have begun investing in internal AI products. JP Morgan’s patent application for a GenAI service designed to aid investors in equity selection is one example. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley's innovative tool empowers Relationship Managers to deliver personalized insights to clients in real time, revolutionizing client interactions. With GenAI on our side, are we witnessing the birth of the ultimate financial sidekick?
However, while some institutions embrace the future with open arms, others remain cautious and hesitant to fully integrate GenAI into their operations. Concerns about computing costs and intellectual property constraints cast a shadow over the potential benefits, leaving many banks tinkering at the edges of innovation.
Despite the uncertainty that the future of AI-powered investment banking holds, it might be a welcome development for junior analysts to upgrade their job descriptions from “Excel enthusiasts” to “AI aficionados”.
Portfolio News
CEO of Simetrik shares how changing their business model gave them a meteoric rise - An e-commerce company at birth, Casas and team decided to pivot and solve problems, specifically financial and accounting issues, for large companies instead of directly competing with them. Read more
Forbes' Middle East Fintech 50: Qlub - U.A.E. based restaurant payment solutions provider and FinTech Collective portfolio company made this year's list of top players that are revolutionizing the financial technology landscape in the underserved region. Read more
OXIO’s telecom-as-a-service platform expands to connect M2M and IoT devices globally - OXIO now provides reliable connectivity to M2M and IoT devices across 800 networks in over 180 countries. With this global expansion, M2M companies can take advantage of resilient network coverage via one intuitive cloud-based platform and alleviate the need to work with multiple vendors across different countries. Read more
Octane redefines powersports lending with the release of Dealer Portal 2.0 - Octane's over 4,000 Powersports and Outdoor Power Equipment dealer partners can deliver an even faster, easier financing experience for their customers using new lead, deal, and credit features in the portal. Read more
Atinuke Idowu, Termii's Co-founder, on working behind the scenes and the rollercoaster ride of building a startup - The Termii Co-founder and COO was one of three outstanding women featured in an interview series celebrating Women's Month, where the focus is on highlighting their achievements and resilience demonstrated in overcoming obstacles. Read more
Antler appoints Scalable Capital founder as general partner - Adam French will co lead Antler’s U.K. team and funds in London alongside existing general partner Jed Rose. Read more
Multifi partners with Plaid to support UK SMEs - The collaboration between Plaid and multifi, a cashflow management platform, aims to address the challenge of lengthy finance applications for U.K. SMEs by leveraging open banking technology. Read more
1inch launches a crypto-fiat debit card with Mastercard, Baanx - Dubbed the "1inch Card," this innovative offering allows users to seamlessly spend their digital assets for online purchases, in-person transactions, and cash withdrawals at ATMs globally. Read more
The Ultimate Financial Sidekick
The worst part of a Wall Street career may be coming to an end - Artificial intelligence tools can replace much of Wall Street’s entry-level white-collar work, raising tough questions about the future of finance. Read more
Been there, doing that: How corporate and investment banks are tackling GenAI - Wholesale banks have vast expertise in traditional AI. It’s a sound investment that is paying off again as generative AI takes hold. Read more
Industry News
Costco makes hundreds of millions on 24-karat gold bar sales - The big box retailer, which started selling 1-ounce nearly pure 24-karat gold bars priced at about $2,000 last fall, has seen a growing amount of consumer interest recently amid inflation and economic uncertainty. In a new equity research note from Wells Fargo, the bank estimated Costco has generated $100m to $200m per month in gold bar sales. Read more
Banks strike back against private credit - So far this year, a lot of financing deals are actually coming back to banks from private credit. In the first quarter, almost $12b of debt previously from direct lenders was refinanced via the so-called broadly syndicated loan market, a channel dominated by banks. This was a sharp reversal of the opposite pattern in the prior two quarters. Read more
Empower signs definitive agreement to acquire Petal - The company also completed its acquisition of Cashalo, a consumer credit and lending company headquartered in the Philippines. The combined companies will fold into Empower and continue to transform the way people access and build credit, enabling greater participation in established and emerging credit economies. Read more
FBI: More than $12b lost to online fraud in 2023 - American consumers and business owners lost a record $12.5b last year to online scammers, marking a 22% spike in cybercrime over 2022, according to the FBI. Despite these losses, the FBI's newly released annual internet crime report indicates Americans are growing more vigilant. Read more
Jamie Dimon says AI may be as impactful on humanity as printing press, electricity and computers - In his annual letter to shareholders released Monday, Dimon said he was convinced that artificial intelligence will have a profound impact on society. The CEO also said that he had ongoing concerns about inflationary pressures and reiterated his warning that the world may be entering the riskiest era in geopolitics since World War II. Read more
Goldman Sachs named as authorized participant on BlackRock bitcoin ETF - The world’s largest asset manager also named UBS Securities, Citigroup Global Markets, Citadel Securities and ABN AMRO Clearing USA as authorized participants, the disclosure notes. Read more
PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin now supports cross border payments - PayPal announced the integration of its PYUSD stablecoin with its Xoom cross border payment app. U.S. customers can fund payments using the stablecoin with no transaction fees. Read more
Tradeweb to buy money-market fund portal ICD - The electronic-trading platform, long known for its fixed-income offerings, will pay $785m in its biggest acquisition yet. The deal will give Tradeweb access to one of the largest U.S. institutional money-market fund portals that works with about 500 corporate treasury organizations. Read more
Santander to launch Openbank digital bank in U.S., Mexico - Openbank serves 2m customers in four European countries — Spain, Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands — and has €18b in deposits. Read more
Fintech Revolut receives Mexican banking authorization, eyes expansion - Revolut received a banking license in Mexico and is preparing to expand operations in Latin America's second largest economy with an aim to facilitate cross-border remittances. Read more
Google Cloud wins major FS deals - Google Cloud has teamed up with Citadel for its next-generation quantitative research technology platform, with Discover to introduce GenAI to customer care centers, and with Scotiabank to expand its customer security
and GenAI practices. Read more
Select Financings
Akad - Brazil based insurtech company raised $22.5m in Series A funding led by Valor Capital Group and Across Capital. Read more
Alpen Labs - New York based bitcoin scaling startup raised $10.6m in Seed funding led by Ribbit Capital. Read more
Ellipsis Labs - New York based crypto exchange developer raised $20m in Series A funding led by Paradigm. Read more
FloQast - California based workflow automation software for accountants raised $100m in Series E funding led by Iconiq Growth. Read more
Guesty - New York based provider of property management software for the short-term rental and hospitality markets raised $130m in Series F funding led by KKR. Read more
Honey Insurance - Australia based home insurance startup raised $108m in Series A funding led by Gallatin Point Capital. Read more
Ikas - Turkey based e-commerce platform raised $20m in Series A funding led by IFC. Read more
Juicer - San Francisco based provider of restaurant revenue management and pricing solutions raised $5.3m in Seed funding led by York IE. Read more
Leasecake - Winter Park based multi-unit lease management software company raised $10m in Series A funding led by PeakSpan Capital and Las Olas Venture Capital. Read more
Mezo - San Francisco based Bitcoin scaling network raised $21m in new funding led by Pantera Capital. Read more
Mimo - London based B2B payments platform raised £15.5m in Series A funding led by Northzone. Read more
Monad Labs - New York based Layer 1 blockchain developer raised $225m in Series A funding led by Paradigm. Read more
Novidea - Israel based enterprise insurance management platform raised $30m in Series C funding led by HarbourVest Partners. Read more
Pactio - London based digital architect for private markets raised $14m in Series A funding led by EQT Ventures. Read more
Smartpay - Japan based digital embedded finance company raised $7m in Seed funding led by SMBCVC and Angel Bridge VC. Read more
Summer - New York based student loan solution raised $9m in Series B funding led by Rebalance Capital and SemperVirens. Read more
Tabs - New York based accounts receivable platform for B2B companies raised $7m in Seed funding led by Lightspeed. Read more
TaxDown - Spain based tax planning and filing platform for Spain and Latin America raised €5m in new funding led by Base10. Read more
Tomo - LA based crypto social finance startup raised $3.5m in Seed funding led by Polychain Capital. Read more
TransferGo - U.K. based global remittances fintech raised $10m in new funding led by Taiwania Capital. Read more
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