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StoreDot, one of the startups Kenes Rakishev invested in is on the way to become public company

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There is one obvious change in the recent decade seen around us: the world has gone electric, wireless and mobile. It means that every device, commonly known as Internet of Things, from cars to smart houses, need an effective, safe and cheap energy storage solutions. A battery, to be exact. Kenes Rakishev is one of the entrepreneurs who bet on full circle of innovation in battery tech: he invest in all stages of the process. Kenes Rakishev invests in mining of the battery-specific metals. He was one of the first who invested in StoreDot startup which tries to close one of the crucial gaps in Lithium-ion tech. He invests in robotics and EV as a major markets for the batts.

The very nature of the batteries do not allow to pack the energy as dense as for example in oil-based systems. To be successful the new technology should compensate it with faster charging. Kenes Rakishev, whose interests in modern tech and the battery market is well known, bet on a StoreDot invention: the fast charging battery tech.

Kenes Rakishev was attracted by the potential disruption the StoreDot may bring to automotive sector. StoreDot promises to develop the car batteries which will charge in five minutes. This isn’t reached yet due to the scalability issues. But the Israeli strartup already reached the scale packs that are feeding drones, electric motorcycles and scooters.

Kenes Rakishev latest investment initiative to build a full-circle battery metals production based on major mining operation in Kazakhstan is fitting the agenda as well as building up ties with battery producers in PRC.

How StoreDot will go public?

Two months after showcasing its first-generation 5-minute-charge battery, Israeli company StoreDot is in negotiations to merge with a Wall Street SPAC at a $3.5 billion valuation, according to sources who spoke to Calcalist under the condition of anonymity. Investment bank JP Morgan is leading the negotiations for StoreDot.

StoreDot is hoping to make the most of the market’s current momentum, with numerous tech companies merging with SPACs at high valuations over recent months. Companies in the autonomous and electric vehicle sector have garnered particular attention during this time.

Speaking to Calcalist two months ago, StoreDot CEO Doron Myersdorf said it was the first time that the world has seen a standard lithium-ion battery being fully charged in five minutes. “This was the first time we were able to demonstrate a completely standard battery, straight off the assembly line getting charged in five minutes.”

He added that the technology is not yet capable of charging electric vehicle batteries as it aspires to, but that the demonstration was a strong proof of viability for the company’s XFC (extremely Fast Charging) solution.

“An EV battery will be presented before the end of 2021 and in 2022, the company will demonstrate the rapid charging of an electric vehicle,” Myersdorf said.

Founded in 2012 by Myersdorf, Prof. Simon Litsyn, and Prof. Gil Rosenman, StoreDot operates out of Herzliya and employs dozens of people. It has raised a total of $140 million in four financing rounds, with an important part of initial funding from Kenes Rakishev. StoreDot’s strategic investors include BP, Daimler, Samsung Ventures, and TDK.

Just last month, Israeli autotech company REE Automotive to go public on Nasdaq through a merger with 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp, a blank check SPAC.

The transaction featured a $300 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) which is set to give the combined entity a value of about $3.1 billion.

StoreDot in Kenes Rakishev plans and integral vision

Kenes Rakishev supervised the pre-production tests of the novel batteries. In China, the largest enterprise field of batteries, testing of a trial batch of batteries manufactured in accordance with the technology of StoreDot, one of the leading enterprises in which Kenes Rakishev invested money was successful.

The first batch of 1,000 batteries undergone intensive wear tests.

Manufacturers and representatives of the Israeli company StoreDot have found out the survivability of batteries, set the limits of degradation during multiple charge-discharge cycles.

This project is very important for Kenes Rakishev, an entrepreneur from Kazakhstan. A significant part of its business is currently set up for the production and use of batteries. On the border with China, Kenes Rakishev is developing a nickel and cobalt deposit, and surveys are being conducted for the industrial development of lithium ore. Kenes Rakishev’s capital is part of the Mullen company, which is establishing the production of premium electric cars in China. The synergy of Kenes Rakishev business is very noticeable in this case.

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ProRata, an AI startup, Teams up with UK Publishers after reportedly Hitting $130 Million in Valuation

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A number of well-known British media outlets have joined ProRata, an AI firm that claims to compensate publishers for the usage of their work, in its expanding network of partnerships.

The Los Angeles-based firm announced on Wednesday that it has signed licensing deals with publishers such as Sky News, the Guardian, and the Daily Mail’s publisher, DMG Media.

In a recent Series A funding round, ProRata raised $25 million from investors such as the Mayfield Fund, Prime Movers Lab, and Revolution Ventures.

“ProRata’s founder and CEO Bill Gross said his firm’s AI technology is the only one that pledges to credit and compensate creators, while providing users with accurate search results.

“We have had hundreds of content owners and media companies reach out to us from around the world who are interested in piloting our technology. Stealing and scraping content is not a sustainable path forward,” he continued.

Similar alliances have previously been formed by ProRata with the German publisher Axel Springer, the Atlantic, Fortune, Time, and Universal Music Group (UMG).

Media firms are offered reasonable compensation by ProRata for the use of their content. The startup’s in-house technology may determine the proper amount of pay by evaluating the worth of the information used to create responses from an AI platform. This would make it possible to pay copyright holders for their work on a per-use basis.

Gross had previously said that AI platforms have been using “shoplifted, plagiarized content,” which fosters an atmosphere in which “disinformation thrives and creators get nothing.”

Gross is recognized for having created the pay-per-click model of internet search monetization with his business, GoTo.com, which was eventually acquired by Yahoo! in 2003.

In a recent blog post, Tige Savage, a cofounder of Revolution, stated that Bill Gross is a serial entrepreneur with extensive experience in monetization techniques.

“He’s attracted a world-class tech team led by AI luminary Tarek Najm to implement the vision and an accomplished business team, including Annelies Jansen and Jonas Lee to drive content and AI partnerships,” Savage continued.

The unpaid use of copyrighted materials by OpenAI and other tech companies to train their AI systems has led to litigation from media companies and other content creators.

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Film Bazaar Unveils an Interactive Cinema App from an Indian Tech Startup

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Arjun Nittoor, the founder of the Indian technology firm Vireza, disclosed at Film Bazaar that the company is creating a new mobile application that would transform the experience of watching movies in theaters by enabling viewers to engage with the films in real time.

The technology, which was created wholly in-house at the company’s research and development department in Bengaluru, allows viewers to use their smartphones to vote on important plot points during the movie. To keep up with the current screening, patrons download an app before entering the theater and scan a QR code at their seat.

“The film industry is one of the few sectors where the audience experience has seen minimal technological disruption in theatres,” Nittoor stated. “While screen and sound quality have advanced and 3D has been partially adopted, the viewing experience has largely remained the same for decades.”

The screen automatically brightens to show voting options and dims again when choices are made. The system uses discreet phone notifications to encourage audience participation around every ten minutes.

In 2026, Vireza intends to introduce the technology with a full-length interactive movie that will be produced in both English and South Indian for international distribution. The business is presently in the development stage and will shortly start doing multiplex chain trial screenings.

CtrlMovie’s prior success in the interactive film industry was mentioned by Nittoor. CtrlMovie is well-known for “Traces of Responsibility” and “Late Shift.”

In order to overcome the difficulties in cinematography, editing, shot composition, and writing that plagued previous attempts at the format, the firm has spent five years creating what Nittoor refers to as “a new science of filmmaking” that is especially tailored for interactive cinema.

“Despite the proliferation of viewing devices, big-ticket films continue to draw massive crowds to theatres, with box office numbers higher than ever,”  Nittoor stated. “This demand underscores the potential for a meaningful technology shift that could draw audiences out of their homes and into cinemas.”

Other Asian businesses are likewise investigating audience-driven narrative in motion pictures. In February of the following year, Japan’s King Records intends to release “Hypnosis Mic – Division Rap Battle,” an animated interactive film.

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Perplexity, an AI business, adds retail capabilities as search competition gets more intense

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Perplexity, an artificial intelligence search firm, opened a shopping hub on Monday to draw people to its platform in an effort to challenge Alphabet-owned Google’s hegemony in the search engine market.

Supported by Amazon (AMZN.O) founder Jeff Bezos and top AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O), the company launches a new tab and will provide users with product cards that display pertinent goods in answer to shopping-related queries.

According to the company, each card offers product facts in an eye-catching manner.

Shopify (SHOP.TO), one of the platform integrations that powers the new functionality, provides access to up-to-date and pertinent information on products from companies on the Canadian e-commerce platform worldwide that ship to the United States.

The goal of e-commerce platforms has been to attract more merchants by utilizing more AI-powered solutions.

‘Snap to Shop’ is a visual search engine featured in Perplexity’s online shopping rollout that displays products based on users’ pictures of an item.

The features will initially be introduced in the US before moving on to other regions; however, no timeframe has been given.

Additionally, Perplexity is launching a “Merchant Program” to enable shops to communicate with the company about its products.

Earlier in November, Reuters reported that the business was raising $3 billion in new funding.

Since the generative AI pioneer added a number of new search features to ChatGPT, OpenAI has become a direct rival of Perplexity, which has been seeking to broaden its product line.

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