Three Things (6/28)

“Every organization should be able to benefit from the AI revolution with more control over how their data is used.” Ali Ghodsi, Co-founder and CEO of Databricks

MosaicML’s 6x exit

Databricks, a software and data analytics company, has acquired MosaicML, a generative AI platform that enables businesses to build and train their own generative AI/ML tools. MosaicML is also notably one of the initial investments in the ARK Venture Fund. After raising $64 million at a valuation of $222 million in its last funding round, the acquisition valued at $1.3 billion is an impressive leap for the company.

A big nod to ARK’s investment thesis, the deal also highlights the rapidly growing demand for AI talent and technology.

Fidelity enters the crypto chat

Another traditional financial giant, Fidelity, may be joining the pack of money managers including BlackRock, WisdomTree, Invesco, VanEck, and Bitwise, to file for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the SEC, according to the Block. Crypto prices have continued to climb amidst the headlines as the recent filings revive optimism in the crypto market.

While Fidelity has so far declined to comment on the news, the company is no stranger to the crypto world, having offered institutional custody and trading services business through Fidelity Digital Assets since 2018. Whether the second time's the charm for Fidelity or not, it’s another clear signal that institutions continue to have a positive long-term outlook for Bitcoin.

Costco crackdown

Costco is tightening its grip on membership sharing after noticing a spike in unauthorized use of member IDs at self-checkout. The wholesale club, determined to safeguard exclusive benefits and pricing to valued members, will now be required to present their own membership card or even a photo ID, i.e., no more using mom’s card for groceries…

The move follows in the steps of companies like Netflix and YouTube TV that also enacted stricter account sharing rules outside over the past year. While an annoyance for consumers, amongst whom sharing equals caring, unfortunately for businesses, sharing does not equal profit.

As of writing this newsletter, BTC is a holding in Titan Crypto offered through Bakkt Crypto Solutions.

At the time of this writing, MosaicML is a 2.47% holding in the ARK Venture Fund. ARK venture fund is offered by Titan's affiliate, Titan Global Technologies LLC. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the ARK Venture Fund. You should read the fund’s prospectus in its entirety before investing [see prospectus]. The ARK Venture Fund is an interval fund. Investments in interval funds are highly speculative and an investor may lose all or part of his or her investment

You should read the fund’s prospectus in its entirety before investing. The fund’s prospectus contains the fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other information, which should be considered carefully before investing. You may view the ARK Venture Fund prospectus here.