Latest news with #ValueFund
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Grammarly secures $1 billion from General Catalyst to build AI productivity platform
Grammarly has raised $1 billion in non-dilutive financing from General Catalyst to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) offerings, aiming to grow into a comprehensive productivity platform, the companies said on Thursday. Grammarly, known for its popular writing assistant tool, plans to use the capital to fund sales and marketing costs and strategic acquisitions. It looks to use AI to build more communication-based productivity tools and even hosts third-party tools on its platform by leveraging access to its 40 million daily users. The investment, one of the biggest out of General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF), could help late-stage tech companies like Grammarly accelerate growth by using dedicated capital to acquire new customers. By reallocating funds typically tied up in sales and marketing, Grammarly can invest more in product development. In return, General Catalyst doesn't receive an equity stake in Grammarly, but will get a capped return linked to revenue generated through using this capital. This is structured as a percentage of the revenue generated from the fund being used in customer acquisition. Founded in 2009, Grammarly has an annual revenue exceeding $700 million and is profitable. In December, Grammarly appointed Shishir Mehrotra, previously CEO of the acquired productivity platform Coda, as its new leader, signaling a push into broader AI-powered workplace tools. "As Grammarly is going through a huge transformation of going from being a what is mostly known as a single-purpose agent to being an agent platform, it just felt very important for us to be able to bet big in our product development and in M&A as well as in our growth strategies," Mehrotra said in an interview. He added said the company has an eventual goal to go public, although no imminent plans. "I'm right now just focused on making sure we're innovating with new products, growing as fast as we can. But when we feel ready, we'll go public," Mehrotra added. The dedicated growth investment, if it pays off, could also benefit the valuation of Grammarly and General Catalyst's stake in the company, as it has also been an equity investor in Grammarly's series B funding in 2017. San Francisco-based Grammarly has raised over $550 million in venture capital, according to PitchBook. It was last valued at $13 billion in 2021. General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund operates apart from the firm's main venture funds with separate limited partners, and is not included in the newly raised $8 billion fundraising the firm announced. This approach is part of a strategic evolution for the tech investor, led by CEO Hemant Taneja, as it seeks to grow beyond the traditional venture capital model, including creating innovative funding mechanisms. Its customer acquisition fund has invested in nearly 50 companies, including Lemonade and Fivetran, as it leads on growth metrics to a more predictable path to returns. "Companies like Grammarly basically have a machine where they can invest dollars in sales and marketing and generate a very consistent return," said Pranav Singhvi, Managing Director at General Catalyst, "With this wave of AI, giving Grammarly the firepower to actually go and invest could land those customers beyond the 40 million."
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Grammarly secures $1 billion from General Catalyst to build AI productivity platform
Grammarly has raised $1 billion in non-dilutive financing from General Catalyst to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) offerings, aiming to grow into a comprehensive productivity platform, the companies said on Thursday. Grammarly, known for its popular writing assistant tool, plans to use the capital to fund sales and marketing costs and strategic acquisitions. It looks to use AI to build more communication-based productivity tools and even hosts third-party tools on its platform by leveraging access to its 40 million daily users. The investment, one of the biggest out of General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF), could help late-stage tech companies like Grammarly accelerate growth by using dedicated capital to acquire new customers. By reallocating funds typically tied up in sales and marketing, Grammarly can invest more in product development. In return, General Catalyst doesn't receive an equity stake in Grammarly, but will get a capped return linked to revenue generated through using this capital. This is structured as a percentage of the revenue generated from the fund being used in customer acquisition. Founded in 2009, Grammarly has an annual revenue exceeding $700 million and is profitable. In December, Grammarly appointed Shishir Mehrotra, previously CEO of the acquired productivity platform Coda, as its new leader, signaling a push into broader AI-powered workplace tools. Live Events "As Grammarly is going through a huge transformation of going from being a what is mostly known as a single-purpose agent to being an agent platform, it just felt very important for us to be able to bet big in our product development and in M&A as well as in our growth strategies," Mehrotra said in an interview. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories He added said the company has an eventual goal to go public, although no imminent plans. "I'm right now just focused on making sure we're innovating with new products, growing as fast as we can. But when we feel ready, we'll go public," Mehrotra added. The dedicated growth investment, if it pays off, could also benefit the valuation of Grammarly and General Catalyst's stake in the company, as it has also been an equity investor in Grammarly's series B funding in 2017. San Francisco-based Grammarly has raised over $550 million in venture capital, according to PitchBook. It was last valued at $13 billion in 2021. General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund operates apart from the firm's main venture funds with separate limited partners, and is not included in the newly raised $8 billion fundraising the firm announced. This approach is part of a strategic evolution for the tech investor, led by CEO Hemant Taneja, as it seeks to grow beyond the traditional venture capital model, including creating innovative funding mechanisms. Its customer acquisition fund has invested in nearly 50 companies, including Lemonade and Fivetran, as it leads on growth metrics to a more predictable path to returns. "Companies like Grammarly basically have a machine where they can invest dollars in sales and marketing and generate a very consistent return," said Pranav Singhvi, Managing Director at General Catalyst, "With this wave of AI, giving Grammarly the firepower to actually go and invest could land those customers beyond the 40 million."
News18
15-05-2025
- Business
- News18
LIC Mutual Fund Re-Introduces 5 Key Equity Schemes: All You Need To Know
Last Updated: The reintroduction is part of LIC's 'Funds in Focus Q1 FY25' initiative and the schemes are Value Fund, Small Cap Fund, Multi-Asset Fund, Dividend Yield Fund and Focused Fund. LIC Mutual Fund has reintroduced five of its flagship equity schemes as part of its strategic initiative, 'Funds in Focus Q1 FY25', aimed at aligning investment options with evolving market dynamics and investor preferences. 'We are re-introducing these five flagship equity schemes, which have the potential to generate significant wealth for investors with diverse financial needs over the long term," Yogesh Patil, chief investment officer (equity) at LIC Mutual Fund, said. Which Schemes Are Back? The five re-launched schemes are: LIC MF Value Fund LIC MF Small Cap Fund LIC MF Multi-Asset Allocation Fund LIC MF Dividend Yield Fund LIC MF Focused Fund These schemes span various investment themes and risk profiles, catering to long-term wealth creation goals for investors with different financial needs. Assets Under Management On the Rise LIC Mutual Fund's assets under management (AUM) saw a healthy uptick, rising 11% to Rs 37,554 crore in April 2024, up from Rs 33,854 crore in March. The growth reflects increased investor confidence and strategic fund positioning in line with market opportunities. What It Means for Investors For both new and existing investors, the reintroduction of these funds offers renewed opportunities to diversify portfolios and benefit from LIC MF's long-term equity strategies. With markets constantly evolving, such timely product realignment is expected to help meet changing investment goals more effectively. First Published: May 15, 2025, 11:02 IST
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What Makes Icon PLC (ICLR) an Investment Bet?
GreensKeeper Asset Management, an investment management company, released its first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Markets had a difficult start to 2025; with high levels of volatility in all of the main indices. The Value Fund finished the first quarter +3.0% net of fees and expenses net of fees and expenses. For the first quarter, the S&P/TSX retuned +1.5%, the S&P500 -4.2% and the Nasdaq –10.2%. The markets fell around 10% this past week as a result of President Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" tariff announcement. In addition, you can check the fund's top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2025. In its first quarter 2025 investor letter, GreensKeeper Asset Management emphasized stocks such as ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR). Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) is a clinical research organization. The one-month return of ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) was -13.11%, and its shares lost 50.23% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 9, 2025, ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) stock closed at $155.49 per share with a market capitalization of $12.567 billion. GreensKeeper Asset Management stated the following regarding ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) in its Q1 2025 investor letter: "We made one new purchase in the quarter: ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR). ICLR is a leading contract research organization (CRO) based in Ireland that manages clinical trials for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide. Despite some uncertainty driven by recent personnel changes at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we believe that new drugs and medical devices will continue to be developed, and scientific progress will continue. New drugs require rigorous clinical testing before reaching the market. As a leading CRO, ICLR will capture its fair share of clinical trials once the dust settles." A laboratory setting with a team of scientists working on a clinical trial. ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 46 hedge fund portfolios held ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 48 in the previous quarter. ICON Public Limited Company's (NASDAQ:ICLR) fourth quarter revenue was $2.04 billion, represents a year-on-year decrease of 1.2%. While we acknowledge the potential of ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. We covered ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) in another article, where we shared LVS Advisory's views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors. READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GreensKeeper Value Fund's Top Q1 Contributor: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B)
GreensKeeper Asset Management, an investment management company, released its first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Markets had a difficult start to 2025; with high levels of volatility in all of the main indices. The Value Fund finished the first quarter +3.0% net of fees and expenses net of fees and expenses. For the first quarter, the S&P/TSX retuned +1.5%, the S&P500 -4.2% and the Nasdaq –10.2%. The markets fell around 10% this past week as a result of President Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" tariff announcement. In addition, you can check the fund's top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2025. In its first quarter 2025 investor letter, GreensKeeper Asset Management emphasized stocks such as Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B). Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) engages in insurance, freight rail transportation, and utility businesses. The one-month return of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) was 3.40%, and its shares gained 27.92% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 9, 2025, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) stock closed at $521.41 per share with a market capitalization of $1.123 trillion. GreensKeeper Asset Management stated the following regarding Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) in its Q1 2025 investor letter: "The top contributor to the portfolio in Q1 was Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B), with a return of +17.5%. Berkshire finished 2024 on a strong note, with operating earnings rising 27.1% from the prior year. The Insurance and Utilities & Energy segments showed stark improvement, with profits increasing 66% and 60% respectively year-over-year. With over $300 billion of idle cash at year-end, Buffett may finally be getting his opportunity to bag an elephant. Like his major acquisitions of the past, these moves drive the future growth of the company's cash generation machine." A team of insurance professionals in a boardroom overlooking a city skyline. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) is in 15th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 131 hedge fund portfolios held Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 120 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. We covered Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) in another article, where we shared the list of debt-free halal stocks to invest in. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors. READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
