Alternative Investing Report - February 13, 2026

*as of 2/12; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, 30YM

Erebor
Most recent official valuation: $4.35 billion

• Erebor is a fintech startup that was co-founded by Palmer Luckey, the founder of Anduril

• It is the bank for the innovation economy, they know the sector, they know how to service their target clients

• It wants to fill a gap in the market that the legacy banks are not really filling

• Erebor already has a conditional charter from the OCC, which gives them a regulatory start and a moat

• The potential upside is much bigger than with a late-stage mature company

Here’s a list of our past expert investing picks.

Anna Joo Fee is the Founder & CEO of Goodfin, a venture-backed startup harnessing the power of AI to modernize private wealth management. A second-time fintech founder, Anna holds deep conviction that AI will unlock sophisticated financial services on a global scale. Anna began her professional career as a lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP before co-founding her first startup, a trading platform for private equity fund investors. She is a graduate of Harvard College & Harvard Law School.

Vincent's Slava Rubin, Milk Road's John Gillen and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund discuss the current state of crypto, gold, and prediction markets, and the shift towards financial entertainment in investing.

🤖 Apptronik fundraise: One of the biggest names in the robotics sector finalized a $520 million Series A extension at a reported valuation of more than $5 billion, triple its original Series A valuation. Robotics startups had their biggest year of funding ever in 2025, and 2026 is off to a fast start with this deal and Skild AI’s $1.4 billion January raise.

🏡 Existing home sales fall: Even with lower mortgage rates, existing home sales fell 8.4% in January and 4.4% year-over-year, with a harsh winter possibly partially to blame. The decline was the biggest monthly drop in four years, and overall existing home sales are nearing 30-year lows.

🚀 Defense tech funding: Startups in the sector brought in nearly $50 billion in funding in 2025, double the total from 2024, and deal volume and deal count stayed steady on a quarterly basis in Q4.

🪨 Rare earth futures: The derivatives marketplace CME Group is planning to launch the first ever rare earth minerals futures contracts, which could eventually offer investors a more direct exposure to a sector crucial to modern electronic manufacturing.

🪙 SkyBridge buying the Bitcoin dip: The Anthony Scaramucci-led fund is continuing to buy Bitcoin as its price falls, remaining bullish on President Trump’s pro-crypto stance, though there are worries that his other policies could hurt the sector’s image.

💵 Blue Owl secondaries: The alternative asset manager launched its first ever secondaries fund, raising $3 billion, well above its initial target of $2 billion.

Monday: 🤖 AI spending, 🔥 Geothermal energy startups
Tuesday: 🚀 Hot startup sectors, 🏢 Top CRE markets
Wednesday: 🤖 OpenAI advertising, 📊 Small business optimism
Thursday: 📊 U.S. jobs report, 🏡 Housing affordability improves

Have a great weekend!