<div>
  <p>
  </p>
  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        Ladder, a digital life insurance provider, had partnered with Envestnet | MoneyGuide, a leading financial planning software firm, to provide advisors with digital access to term life insurance offerings.
      </p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <p>
        Through the partnership, financial advisors using Envestnet I MoneyGuide Elite's Advanced Lifetime Protection platform will be able to offer their clients digital term life insurance.&nbsp;
      </p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <p>
        Advisors will also have the capability to visually demonstrate how a strategically laddered Ladder policy may save clients up to 40% over a 30-year term compared to traditional term coverage.
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ladder-and-envestnet--moneyguide-announce-integration-to-provide-more-advisors-digital-access-to-term-life-insurance-offerings-302042929.html">
      Press release
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


InsurTech: Personal Lines

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 
<p>Digital life insurance provider, Ladder, has partnered with financial planning software firm, Envestnet | MoneyGuide, to offer digital access to term life insurance offerings for advisors. Through this collaboration, advisors utilizing Envestnet I MoneyGuide Elite's Advanced Lifetime Protection platform can now provide their clients with digital term life insurance. Additionally, they can demonstrate how a strategically laddered Ladder policy may save clients up to 40% over a traditional 30-year term coverage.</p>
 
</div>

Ladder and Envestnet | MoneyGuide partner to provide advisors digital access to term life insurance

Empowering Tomorrow's Innovations with Generative AI Infrastructure

Generative AI Infrastructure

INCUMBENTS_PRESENT

<div>
 <p>Amazon Web Services (AWS) has introduced an innovative tool called Automated Reasoning checks as part of its Bedrock model hosting service. This tool has been purposed to mitigate AI hallucinations and uses a validation system that checks model responses against information supplied by customers.</p>
 <p>These Automated Reasoning checks function by comparing AI responses with ground truth data from customers. These checks produce rules which can be honed and applied to various models. While generating responses, they carry out cross-verification and at the same time display correct responses in conjunction with possible falsehoods for contrast.</p>
 <p>AWS declares that it is the first among major cloud providers to offer a safeguard effect against AI hallucinations. Moreover, it empowers clients to establish as well as personalize safety, privacy and truthfulness within an all-in-one solution. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is already incorporating this tool in producing AI assistants for its clientele. However, AWS hasn't shared any data that demonstrate the tool's reliability.</p> 
</div> <p>Analyst <b>QuickTake:<br>
 </b> The update builds on AWS' existing hallucination detection capabilities, initially having Guardrails for Amazon Bedrock in <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/24413"> November 2023 </a> . In <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/31381"> July 2024 </a> , the company announced contextual grounding checks (to detect hallucinations in model responses based on a reference source and user query) and ApplyGuardrail API, which allows customers to evaluate input prompts and model responses against configured safeguards for any foundation model.</p>

AWS launches Automated Reasoning checks to combat AI hallucinations

Additive manufacturing makes objects by systematically adding material via a CAD program

Additive Manufacturing

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

<div>
 <p>Metals additive manufacturing provider Amaero International has formed a three-year supply agreement with Perryman Company, a titanium parts provider. The agreement stipulates that Perryman will function as the primary source of titanium alloy bar feedstock for Amaero's production of premium spherical powder. The agreement includes specific pricing for the year 2025, which will experience annual increases and fluctuating surcharges based on the market rates of Ti64. The set pricing relates to yearly minimum order requirements of 45 metric tons in 2025, and 100 metric tons for both 2026 and 2027.</p>
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> Amaero has been actively ramping up its production capacity in the US over the past few months <b>. </b> This news comes only two months after the company <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/33656"> raised USD 16.9 million </a> in an institutional placement, which it earmarked for purchasing capital equipment, including a second atomizer, and improving its Tennessee headquarters.</p>

Amaero enters long-term supply agreement with Perryman

<div>
 <p>3D printing company, Raise3D, has introduced six new resins for its DF2 Resin digital light processing (DLP) printer, bringing its total product range to 15 resins. These new products have been designed for high-performance engineering prototyping and low-volume production.</p>
 <p>The new offerings are Raise3D Draft Grey V1 for high-speed prototyping, Forward AM Ultracur3D EL 4000 with Shore 90A hardness for hard products, Forward AM Ultracur3D EL 60 for elastic projects, and three Henkel LOCTITE products: 3D 3843 for impact strength, 3D PRO410 for high resolution, and 3D PRO417 for high strength applications.</p>
</div>

Raise3D launches six new resins for DF2 DLP solution

<div>
 <p>Anzu Partners LLC, a technology investment firm, has agreed to acquire voxeljet AG, a provider of large-format 3D printers and on-demand 3D printed parts, for EUR 20 million (~USD 21 million).</p>
 <p>Following the acquisition, Anzu's managing partner Whitney Haring-Smith will become chair of the board of directors, while current CEO Rudolf Franz will continue to lead the business.</p>
 <p>The transaction, expected to close in March or April 2025, includes a "go-shop" period until January 12, 2025, allowing voxeljet to consider alternative acquisition proposals.</p>
</div>

Anzu Partners acquires voxeljet for EUR 20 million

Managing employee health-related benefits

Health Benefits Platforms

<div>
 
 <p>Soda Health, a benefits management provider, has raised USD 50 million in a Series B funding round. This was led by General Catalyst, along with contributions from Bruce Broussard, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Define Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners US, and SVB Capital, increasing the company's total raised funds to USD 81 million.</p>
 <p>The funding will be utilized to scale operations, introduce new data products, and develop capacities to new compliance management systems. This includes CMS-compliant benefit categories and gap closure strategies. The ambition is to establish risk-based structures with Medicare Advantage and Medicaid plans and widen CMS-compliant benefit offerings.</p>
 <p>As of December 2024, Soda Health's Smart Benefits platform operates in over 50,000 retail locations in the US, including prominent chains such as Kroger, Albertsons, CVS, and Hy-Vee. In the same year, over 33 million seniors relied on Medicare Advantage, accounting for USD 131 billion in supplemental benefits and reward dollars.</p>
 
</div>

Soda Health raises USD 50 million in oversubscribed Series B funding to scale operations

<div>
 
 <p>StretchDollar, a health benefits platform, has garnered USD 6 million in a seed funding round. Fika Ventures and Oscar Health were the lead investors, with Precursor Ventures and Springbank also participating. This amplifies the total funds secured by StretchDollar to USD 7.6 million.</p>
 <p>The capital will be utilized to augment the company's self-service platform and refine the benefits experience for small businesses.</p>
 <p>The platform of StretchDollar capitalizes on the Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) rule instated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This rule enables employers to allocate pre-tax dollars towards employee healthcare expenses. As of December 2024, the company offers its platform to small businesses without any charges.</p>
 
</div>

StretchDollar raises USD 6 million in seed funding to expand platform

A concentration of wealth and a willingness to adopt age-in-place technologies present new opportunities.

Age Tech

<div>
 
 <p>Digital care coordination company, ThoroughCare, has successfully integrated its care management software into PointClickCare's platform. This strategic integration merges ThoroughCare's care coordination offerings with PointClickCare's cloud-based elder care software. As a result, long-term and post-acute care providers can now access comprehensive patient data including demographics, vital signs, chronic conditions, and medication records, all from a unified platform. </p>
 <p> The key features of this integration include a single sign-on capability and the creation of specific care plans facilitated by ThoroughCare's assessment tools. Furthermore, these care plan reports are effortlessly forwarded to patient charts on PointClickCare’s platform, optimizing the overall care process. This partnership aims to streamline care management, making it more efficient and effective for all parties involved.</p>
 
</div>

ThoroughCare integrates care management software with PointClickCare for coordinated healthcare delivery

Empowering sustainable food innovation through food engineering tech

Alternative Ingredients

<div>
 <p>Fraunhofer IME, metaX Institut für Diätetik GmbH, and Candidum GmbH have collaborated on the NovelSweets project to develop a new protein-based sweetener, X3. This initiative comes as part of the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture's efforts to decrease sugar content in ready-to-eat foods. </p>
 <p>Brazzein, a sweet protein in the African plant, Pentadiplandra brazzeana, is used to create X3, which is reportedly 10,000x sweeter than regular table sugar. The production process embeds sweet-tasting protein genes into yeast cells, multiplies them in a bioreactor, and then refines and dehydrates the product.</p>
 <p>X3 is a calorie-free sweetener, posing no risk of cavities or raised blood sugar levels. MetaX is at the moment developing the inaugural range of X3 products, with a cocoa-based beverage powder being the first. Prior to seeking regulatory approval, further optimization of the manufacturing process is necessary. </p>
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> Given the product's high potency, this development marks a major milestone for the food tech industry. During the year, <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/29597"> Sweegen </a> and <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/36552"> MycoTechnology </a> launched brazzein and honey truffle sweet protein products, although these showcased much less sweetness than X3 (around 500x–2,500x).</p>

NovelSweets project develops protein-based sweetener 'X3'

Foundation Models

<div>
 <p>Amazon Web Services (AWS) is collaborating with Anthropic in developing Project Rainier, an immense AI supercomputer, equipped with Trainium 2 chips from AWS.</p>
 <p>This supercomputer is anticipated to become the biggest reported AI machine worldwide, with its size being 5 times larger than the current cluster owned by Anthropic.</p>
 <p>An enormous number of AWS's AI training chips, alongside Trn2 UltraServer clusters, will be used in this project. This provides a financial advantage as it offers cost savings between 30% and 40% compared to the GPU-based solutions from NVIDIA.</p>
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> Amazon has invested in Anthropic, most recently including a USD 4 billion <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/36441"> round </a> to become the latter's primary cloud and training partner. The funding will enable the company to manage its cash burn, reportedly <a href="https:<br>
//www.theinformation.com/briefings/anthropic-projected-to-burn-more-than-2-7-billion-in-cash-this-year"> projected </a> to be USD 2.7 billion in 2024. Despite this financial backing, Anthropic has faced challenges. In <a href="https:<br>
//techcrunch.com/2024/11/04/anthropic-hikes-the-price-of-its-haiku-model/"> November 2024 </a> , the company unexpectedly increased the price of one of its models and <a href="https:<br>
//the-decoder.com/anthropic-delays-next-gen-ai-model-opus-3-5-with-no-new-timeline/"> delayed </a> the launch of its anticipated next-generation model, Claude 3.5 Opus.</p>

Amazon partners with Anthropic to build world's largest AI supercomputer 'Project Rainier'

<div>
 <p>Amazon Web Services (AWS) has teamed up with Anthropic for Project Rainier, the development of a high-level AI supercomputer that leverages AWS' Trainium 2 chips. Representing a significant expansion from Anthropic's existing setup, the supercomputer is projected to be the world's largest reported AI machine.</p>
 <p>The project will greatly benefit from the hundreds of thousands AWS' latest AI training chips and Trn2 UltraServer clusters. The use of these resources is estimated to provide significant savings in the range of 30% – 40% compared to alternatives based on NVIDIA's GPU.</p>
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> Amazon has invested in Anthropic, most recently including a USD 4 billion <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/36441"> round </a> to become the latter's primary cloud and training partner. The funding will enable the company to manage its cash burn, reportedly <a href="https:<br>
//www.theinformation.com/briefings/anthropic-projected-to-burn-more-than-2-7-billion-in-cash-this-year"> projected </a> to be USD 2.7 billion in 2024. Despite this financial backing, Anthropic has faced challenges. In <a href="https:<br>
//techcrunch.com/2024/11/04/anthropic-hikes-the-price-of-its-haiku-model/"> November 2024 </a> , the company unexpectedly increased the price of one of its models and <a href="https:<br>
//the-decoder.com/anthropic-delays-next-gen-ai-model-opus-3-5-with-no-new-timeline/"> delayed </a> the launch of its anticipated next-generation model, Claude 3.5 Opus.</p>

All Updates

Ladder and Envestnet | MoneyGuide partner to provide advisors digital access to term life insurance

AWS launches Automated Reasoning checks to combat AI hallucinations

Amaero enters long-term supply agreement with Perryman

Raise3D launches six new resins for DF2 DLP solution

Anzu Partners acquires voxeljet for EUR 20 million

Soda Health raises USD 50 million in oversubscribed Series B funding to scale operations

StretchDollar raises USD 6 million in seed funding to expand platform

ThoroughCare integrates care management software with PointClickCare for coordinated healthcare delivery

NovelSweets project develops protein-based sweetener 'X3'

Amazon partners with Anthropic to build world's largest AI supercomputer 'Project Rainier'

Amazon partners with Anthropic to build world's largest AI supercomputer 'Project Rainier'

InsurTech: Personal Lines

Ladder and Envestnet | MoneyGuide partner to provide advisors digital access to term life insurance

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