Alternative Investing Report - June 9, 2026

*as of 6/8; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

Last week saw two major fundraises in the nuclear fusion sector. First, German startup Focused Energy raised a $240 million Series A at a $1 billion valuation, making it Europe’s most valuable fusion company. Days later, the U.S.-based startup Helion raised $465 million at a $15.5 billion valuation, nearly triple its $5.4 billion valuation from January 2025. This activity follows a number of other major raises this year, including Thea Energy’s $100 million raise from May, Inertia Enterprise’s $450 million raise in February, and Type One Energy’s $250 million raise in January.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The nuclear fusion industry is generating investor demand, largely due to the growing need for cheap electricity to power AI infrastructure. Most of these companies are long-term bets that are years away from any viable energy production, and there is a high degree of risk with unproven technology. Investors who are bullish on the sector should spread their bets around companies with different approaches with the hope that one successful investment will deliver an exponential return.

SpaceX is going public this week, and in the latest episode of Smart Humans, Vincent's Slava Rubin is joined by Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund for an in-depth analysis of the upcoming IPO. They look into SpaceX's business segments, valuation, market potential, and everything else investors need to know before making an investment decision.

🏢 CRE returns steady: The NCREIF ODCE Index, which tracks the performance of the largest open-end core real estate funds, showed solid results in Q1, posting a 1.2% unlevered total return. Every sector had at least a 1.0% gain, with retail leading the way at 2.2%. Office is on the upswing, with a 1.3% quarterly return and a 4.3% annual return, the first positive annual return since 2022.

🤖 ChatGPT changes: AI startup OpenAI is reportedly planning to make sweeping changes to ChatGPT, shifting it from a chatbot into a "superapp" that would combine current features with coding and agentic browsing. As its rival Anthropic has surpassed OpenAI in valuation and is likely to go public first, OpenAI is betting on a radical transformation to get back on track.

🪙 Crypto VC funding craters: There were around 50 crypto VC deals in May, the lowest total in at least five years, as investors are moving away from the industry and into AI. With crypto’s market cap down around 15% in the past week, doesn’t expect VCs to be pouring back in the sector anytime soon.

⌚ Spring watch auctions: The luxury watch auction circuit is heading to New York, and after a record-breaking spring in Geneva and Hong Kong, there are high expectations for upcoming sales at Phillips, Sotheby’s, and Christie’s.

🥃 Scotch fundraise: The liquor-related AI startup Scotch raised a $20 million Series A round after achieving 500% year-over-year growth. The company provides “all-in-one” software for liquor retailers and this fundraise shows the demand for even niche AI products.

🎨 $60 million Modigliani: The centerpiece of a Sotheby’s auction in London later this month is Modigliani’s 1917 painting “Nu assis au collier,” which is expected to sell for as much as $60 million. The entire Lewis Collection auction has the highest pre-sale estimate ever for a single-owner auction in European history.

Are you interested in owning a former college campus for free? The former Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont, which closed in 2019, has 16 buildings on its 155-acre property, and the current owner is literally giving it away. Raj Bhakta — a former contestant on “The Apprentice” — bought the campus for less than $5 million in 2020 with plans to develop the property into a high-end resort with condos, a restaurant, a spa, and a distillery. Bhakta has now abandoned those plans in a dispute with the city, and is looking to gift the former campus to a Catholic or faith-based organization that will maintain the property. The estimated annual cost to do so is $1 million - $1.5 million, so while the property is free, the new owner will have to have some capital behind it. Bhakta has not picked out a winner yet, so there is still time to throw your name into the hat.