Qraft, a Seoul-based fintech using AI to disrupt the asset management industry, announced closing a $146 million investment from SoftBank, according to a press release.
The company says it will use the funding to accelerate ongoing expansion into the US and China, and to pursue the possibility of developing an AI-enabled public portfolio management system for SoftBank. To support these plans, it plans to hire top talent and open new offices across New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong.
Qraft uses deep learning-based algorithms to provide portfolio weight signals which can be alpha-generative, according to the release, and has demonstrated the performance of its AI engine throughout its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listed ETFs.
“There will be enormous synergy to be had with SoftBank, the leader in investing in disruptive startups, and public equities management powered by Qraft’s AI,” Qraft CEO Marcus Kim stated in the release, saying, “This only marks the start of AI technology fundamentally changing the US $100 trillion asset management industry.”
In addition to its asset management offering, Qraft also offers business-to-business (B2B) AI solutions including data processing, investment strategy discovery, order execution, investment analysis and reporting.
“Qraft can revolutionize the way financial institutions manage public equity assets, by providing their own AI technologies that have been tested and proven in the US equity market,” said Kentaro Matsui, former SoftBank Managing Director and current Managing Partner of SB Investment Advisers. “On the back of our extensive AI ecosystem, we are thrilled to partner up with Mr. Kim and the Qraft team and support their mission of disrupting the asset management industry globally.”
In other recent fintech news, Veya raised £500,000 in seed funding to push its title deed check service. The American Bankers Association (ABA) also added support for a single-day ISO 20022 Fedwire migration.