Benzinga | Jan 14, 2022 03:23AM EST

AI-Driven Asset Management Startup, Catapulted To Fame By Tesla Trades, Raises $146M From SoftBank

Artificial intelligence-focused fintech group Qraft Technologies Inc. said it has received a $146 million investment from Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. (OTC:SFTBY).

What Happened: The investment includes primary growth capital and secondary capital that will be used to fund share purchases from investors, Qraft said.

The South Korea-based startup expects the SoftBank investment to accelerate its ongoing expansions into the U.S. and China. The two parties will also work on developing AI-enabled public portfolio management systems for SoftBank.

Qraft CEO Marcus Kim said his company's partnership with SoftBank marks the start of AI technology fundamentally changing the $100 trillion asset management industry.

See Also: Famed Robot-Run ETF Says This Is Why It Now Has Tesla As Its Top Holding

Why It Matters Qraft develops and operates deep learning-based algorithms that provide portfolio analysis to financial institutions.

The company has looked to demonstrate the performance of its proprietary AI engine throughout its exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Qraft AI-Enhanced US Large Cap Momentum ETF (NYSE:AMOM) became popular over accurately predicting the price movements of electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares in multiple instances.

The ETF revealed in December that it had Tesla as its top holding during that month.

Price Action AMOM shares closed almost 3.6% lower in Thursday's regular trading session at $32.07 and further lost 2.5% in the after-hours session to $31.49.

SoftBank's shares closed almost 3.2% lower in the regular trading session at $24.05.

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