Alternative Investing Report - June 16, 2026

*as of 6/15; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

The industrial AI and robotics sectors each had a huge week of fundraising, led by Jeff Bezos’s physical AI startup Prometheus, which raised a massive $12 billion Series B round at a $41 billion valuation. German startup Neura Robotics raised a $1.4 billion round backed by both Nvidia and Amazon, with the company’s valuation jumping around 50% to $7 billion. Elsewhere, the Chinese humanoid robot startup EngineAI confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO, just months after a $200 million raise at a $1.5 billion valuation.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The robotics sector has already raised more than $55 billion so far this year, more than double last year’s record-setting haul. The significant influx of capital shows that investor demand for physical AI startups is growing exponentially. These companies are still a ways off from creating AI-powered robots with real-world applications, so the bets are still long-term plays. It also remains to be seen how big the total addressable market really is, but investors looking for asymmetric returns should consider the upside of the sector.

🤝 U.S.-Iran deal: The two countries agreed to a peace deal, ending the four-month war that has sent gas prices and inflation soaring in the U.S. and brought uncertainty to global markets. In response to the pact, the S&P 500 rose 1.7% and the Nasdaq 100 went up 3% while oil prices and bond yields fell.

🚀 SpaceX keeps rising: The newly public company rose nearly 20% in its first full day of trading and another 10% overnight, leaving its price up by nearly 60% in total since its debut. Meanwhile, a number of crypto exchanges were unable to secure any IPO shares to back their tokenized offerings and had to refund their users.

🎮 Record-breaking video game sale: A sticker-sealed copy of the original Super Mario Bros. game for the NES sold for $3 million, setting a new record for a video game. One of only three known sealed copies from the second production run of the game, this particular copy is believed to be the earliest one produced, and it is graded as a 9.6 out of 10 by PSA.

🏢 Collectibles boosting retail: Foot traffic is soaring at brick-and-mortar retail stores selling toys and collectibles, largely fueled by Millennials and Gen Z customers rather than children. Stores such as Pop Mart, Miniso, and Five Below have benefited from adults seeking trendy items like Labubus, Pokémon cards, and viral LEGO sets.

🏡 Record-high equity: The total value of owner-occupied real estate in the U.S. hit a new record-high of $48.7 trillion in Q1, a number that has doubled since 2016. Total equity held by U.S. homeowners is now $34.9 trillion, with mortgage debt hitting $13.8 trillion.

🎨 South Asian art continues surging: Christie's first London sale of South Asian modern and contemporary art since 2019 saw $23.9 million worth of sales, including a record-high sales for multiple artists. South Asian art has become a fast-emerging sector over the past few years, and these strong results follow Christie’s comparable New York sale in March that generated $27 million.

Looking for a place where you won’t have any neighbors to bother you? The last remaining house in the abandoned Welsh mining village of Troedrhiwfuwch is coming up for auction next week. More than 600 people left the town in 1985 due to fears of landslides and every building was demolished save for this house and a war memorial. Naturally, the three bedroom house needs considerable work, but it is only around 20 miles north of Cardiff, the Welsh capital, and carries a guide price of £35,000.