Akros Technologies, an AI-powered asset management platform, raises funding from Z Holdings • businessroundups.org

Artificial intelligence is taking over almost every industry. The investment and financial sector is no exception. In the 2019 Deloitte reportthe company reveals that AI is transforming the financial ecosystem to reduce costs and make operations more efficient by providing automated insights and alternative data, analytics and risk management.

Technology such as AI has digitized the financial industry, ranging from payments and remittances to loans. However, asset management is still in the early stages of digitization, according to the chief strategy officer and co-founder of Akros TechnologiesJin Chung.

Akros Technologies aims to disrupt the current asset management industry through its AI-driven asset management software platform that mines market data for stocks. Akros just raised $2.3 million at Z Venture capitalthe corporate venture capital that is wholly owned by Z Holdingswhich also owns the Japanese messaging app Line and internet portal Yahoo Japan.

Akros plans to strengthen strategic ties with Z Holdings through strategic investments, the startup said. The latest funding, which brings Akros’s total amount raised to $6.1 million since its inception in 2021, will help Akros scale its asset management software platform and products and serve its users, including local and global financial institutions and fintech companies. companies to increase.

The outfit is already in talks with potential partners to expand its AI-powered product, called portfolio management as a service PMaaS, an all-in-one portfolio management operating system. Chung explained to businessroundups.org that PMaaS “enables B2B customers such as financial institutions, fintech startups and robot advisors to create their own exchange traded funds (ETFs) without setting up ETF teams and infrastructure.”

He added that it expects to bring in more than five B2B customers in the first quarter of 2023.

The startup claims its AI-powered portfolio management platform can reduce “the overall cost structure.” [of] traditional fund development”, including management fees and unnecessary fees associated with the investment process, by more than 80%. The outfit aims to maximize the financial management performance of data-driven ETFs and provide a portfolio management solution through the PMaaS for Akros’ users to help them compete with global ETF institutions such as Vanguard or JPMorgan.

In August, Content Technologies launched Korean pop music, also known as K-pop, and Korea Entertainment ETF, on the NYSE Arca Exchange under the ticker KPOP, using Akros’ PMaaS solution to develop the ETFs. Additionally, in May, Akros listed an AI-driven target income ETF called Akros Monthly Payout ETF (ticker: MPAY) on the NYSE with monthly payouts at an annual target rate of 7%, according to the startup.

To build a whole range of investment strategies that reduce portfolio modeling costs and generate numerous investment portfolios, Akros applies a generative AI model based on a decision transformerwhich predicts future actions through its sequencing model, Chung said, adding that the company also uses GPT-3 natural language processing (NLP) to analyze unstructured language data.

Akros plans to continuously improve its technical technology by strengthening its business to disrupt the asset management market and attract new partners around the world, including Japan, Singapore and the U.S., co-founder and CEO Kyle Moon said in a statement. .

Founded by CEO Moon, CSO Jin and chief marketing officer Justin Gim, Akros employs seven people.

Moon previously worked for Qraft Technologies as chief of AI research and CSO and had experience listing four ETFs on NYSE. Prior to co-founding Akros, Gim had more than nine years of experience in the asset management industry; Chung did research for Bayesian deep learning in autonomous driving cars at the Oxford Robotics Institute.

In March, Akros raised $3.75 million in funding from PeopleFund, a South Korean peer-to-peer lending platform. The company declined to comment when asked.