Michael Jordaan launches two AI ventures

Former FNB CEO and venture capitalist Michael Jordaan has announced two new artificial intelligence ventures: AI Asset Management and AI Capital Partners.

Jordaan is widely regarded as the best banking CEO of his generation, who created tremendous value for FirstRand shareholders and FNB clients.

Under his leadership, FNB showed strong subscriber growth and was named the most innovative bank in the world at the 2012 BAI-Finacle Global Banking Innovation Awards.

After leaving FNB, Jordaan founded Montegray Capital, a private equity firm that invests in disruptive technologies and disruptive business models.

Through Montegray Capital, he partnered with over 20 South African ventures, including Bank Zero, Rain, Valr, and Numerical.

His latest ventures are dedicated to the rapidly growing artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

AI Asset Management focuses on institutional investors and uses mathematical and statistical methods to guide and automate investment decisions.

The company is already investing in the NASDAQ stock exchange to build a performance track record.

AI Capital Partners is a private equity fund focused on institutional investors and invests in businesses that benefit disproportionately from data-driven decision-making.

AI Capital’s founding partners are Nic Kohler, Willem Roos, Michael Jordaan, and Roger Grobler, who have been investing together for the last eight years.

“As the four founding partners, we have all been CEOs, founders of new and, in some instances, large, scaled businesses and, more recently, active investors,” the company said.

“We are entrepreneurs and operators, first and foremost, enabling us to partner successfully with the management teams of the companies in which we invest.”

The AI Capital Fund and its sub-funds have been incorporated in Singapore as an investment fund for institutional investors through AI Capital Partners. It intends to raise $200 million.

Jordaan said artificial Intelligence would become ubiquitous, indispensable and powerful across our modern world.

“No use fighting this macro trend. Rather lean in,” he said.