SBI Holdings USA, Inc.

Excited to be an official judge for Vibe-coding HACathon | Building AI for Finance on April 3 in San Francisco! This is a finance-focused hackathon for builders who want to create practical AI tools for real-world workflows across fintech, payments, banking, insurance, investing, compliance, and financial operations. I’m especially excited to see products that go beyond demos — tools that can actually help financial teams move faster, make better decisions, and work more effectively. Co-hosted by Hanwha AI Center (HAC) and AI Valley. Tool sponsors include Lovable, n8n, and MiniMax. If you’re building at the intersection of AI and finance, REGISTER NOW: https://luma.com/oeacjgyz

SBI HOLDINGS, LLC, through its U.S. subsidiary SBI Holdings USA, Inc., has made an investment in the AI2 Incubator Fund III newly established by AI2 Incubator Partners, an AI incubator. This investment aims to capture global investment opportunities in the AI field and strengthen collaboration with startups possessing cutting-edge technology. AI2 Incubator Partners is a prominent U.S. AI incubator that spun out from The Allen Institute for AI, which was established by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. It specializes in transforming groundbreaking AI research into commercial venture companies. Since its establishment, it boasts an outstanding track record with 90% of incubated startups successfully raising funds, and 24% being acquired by major technology companies such as Apple, Docusign, and Thomson Reuters. 👉 Subscribe to our weekly LinkedIn newsletter, the "Japan FinTech Observer", here: https://lnkd.in/gNjUuSxG https://lnkd.in/g4rExTmJ

Announcing our $80M AI Fund III! 💥💥💥 90% of our startups have raised venture funding and 24% of graduates have been acquired. We back entrepreneurs who want more than capital. They want true partners. Hands-on, long-term, and people-first. And everything comes together at AI House: Our home for founders, researchers, and builders. 🏠🌍 🧠 TECHNICAL FOUNDERS: You’ve built something powerful. Now make it real. 🏭 DOMAIN EXPERTS: You know the problems that matter. We’ll help you solve them with AI. Up to $600K funding, up to $1M cloud credits, and a full year of support. We back only ~15 startups per year, offering real attention, investor access, design, and GTM guidance so you can scale faster and smarter. 🧬🤝🚀💡🎯🔍💰 Apply here: https://lnkd.in/dG7RuRev Read more in GeekWire: https://lnkd.in/g8n7uab6 #AppliedAI #Founders #AIStartups #DeepTech #VentureCapital #AICommercialization

Together with SBI Holdings USA, Inc., we are excited to announce our investment in Kite, a San Francisco–based startup building the infrastructure for the agentic internet. Kite just raised $18M Series A, bringing its total funding to $33M. Through the SBI US Gateway Fund, Plug and Play is proud to back Kite as they empower AI agents to: ✅ Authenticate with trusted identity ✅ Transact in real time with stablecoin payments ✅ Operate autonomously with programmable guardrails With the agentic economy projected to reach $240B within a decade, Kite is laying the rails for trusted identity, accountability, and real-time coordination at scale. Read more about how Kite is shaping the future of autonomous AI: https://pnptc.in/4mP8CrB

Excited to announce that Kite has secured $18M in new funding, with PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst leading the round! 🚀 We’re honored to partner with Kite AI as they pioneer the infrastructure for a future where AI agents become the primary drivers of the digital economy. As the AI landscape rapidly evolves, one thing is clear: the current internet was designed for humans, not autonomous systems. Kite AI is reimagining this foundation — building what they call the Agentic Internet — so that: - Agents can independently discover and transact across APIs, data, and services - Developers can design agents with built-in trust, safeguards, and accountability - Enterprises gain access to a secure, cost-efficient platform for deploying at scale By introducing cryptographic identity, programmable governance, and seamless payments at the protocol level, Kite is setting the stage for a new era of scalable, reliable AI adoption. We believe this is more than just infrastructure — it’s the groundwork for an agent-first internet that will unlock enormous economic potential in the years ahead. A huge congratulations to Chi Zhang and Scott Shi for reaching this milestone. We’re excited to continue supporting you on this journey! ✨ https://lnkd.in/gi62MX8F

We’re co-hosting a special event on an amazing Cruise during #SeattleTechWeek tomorrow! Come meet top founders, VCs, and learn more about Alumni Ventures aboard a beautiful boat with stunning views of the Seattle skyline! Thanks for my great friend Susanna Niu and MeeBoss team for making it happen! Alumni Ventures Mike Collins Ray Wu Jack Statza, CFA Sophia Zhao 趙念菲 Shail Highbloom SBI Investment SVB Plug and Play Tech Center AI2 Incubator Venture Mechanics

4 years ago I moved from Germany to Silicon Valley with a dream and a vision. Today, we are accelerating on our mission to bring specialized AI to heavy industries. 🫡 💫 After another incredible quarter, Nexxa.ai is excited to announce a $4.4M pre-seed round driven by a16z speedrun. We are proud to share that we are part of Badge5 of this incredible program. 💥 Participation also comes from Augment Ventures, Propeller, Plug and Play Tech Center, SBI Holdings USA, Inc., Beat Ventures, Untapped Ventures, Cross Atlantic Angels as well as angel investors Rick Berry, Patrick McCarthy, Brian Wong, John Cordeiro, Matt Riesenweber CFP®, Eddie Chan 👏 Thank you Colin Campbell & Axios for breaking this story exclusively. Press release link in the comments! This is only the beginning. I want to thank our partners across the globe for the tremendous support and trust.  John Pleasants Danny Hamady Roman Bartik Patrick Guerra Anne Fischer Mario Mattern Dr. Şilan Hun Mike Nolan Dieter Gerdemann Philipp Jung