FatKat (investment software)
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder | Raymond C. Kurzweil |
| Headquarters | , |
| Website | fatkat |
FatKat, Inc. is a privately held company founded in 1999 by Raymond C. Kurzweil, an author, inventor, and futurist. He's perhaps best known for creating an optical character recognition system that – in conjunction with a flatbed scanner and text-to-speech synthesizer – reads text aloud to the sight-impaired. FatKat is an acronym derived from "financial accelerating transactions from Kurzweil Adaptive Technologies". The aforesaid company is one of a total of nine Kurzweil companies.[1]
The purpose of FatKat as listed with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Corporations Division is "investment software".[2] Kurzweil, who specializes in artificial intelligence coupled with pattern recognition, has created software that uses quantitative methods to pick stocks for investment purposes.[3]
Although selecting stocks based on software-generated recommendations is not new, FatKat's approach was unique at the time because of its "nonlinear decision making processes more akin to how a brain operates". The software can evolve by creating different rules, letting them compete, and using (or combining) the best outcomes. After FatKat's inception, other investment and/or software companies rushed to develop software based on this and similar Darwinist evolutionary principles, using genetic algorithms.[3]
In 2005, Kurzweil reported that the FatKat software was "doing very well – 50% to 100% returns for the last two years".[1] But as of December 2008, FatKat does not offer its software for sale.
Corporate structure[edit]
FatKat was registered as a foreign corporation in 1999 with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division. It was originally formed as a company in the state of Delaware. Ray Kurzweil is the president of FatKat, with Aaron Kleiner serving as treasurer and secretary. Michael Brown is listed as a director.[2]
Related hedge funds[edit]
Two hedge funds exist that use the FatKat name: FatKat Investment Fund, LP and FatKat QP Investment Fund, LP. Both of these investment fund companies list Kurzweil Capital Partners LLC as a general partner. These companies were formed in December 2005, also in Delaware.[2] Neither of the hedge funds is publicly traded. Kurzweil Capital Partners LLC and the two hedge funds are not listed on the Kurzweil companies' web site.
Investors[edit]
Documented investors in FatKat, Inc. and its hedge funds are venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and Michael W. Brown (former CFO of Microsoft and chairman of NASDAQ).[1] Other investors have not been disclosed.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Port, Otis (1 August 2005). "Raymond C. Kurzweil: Prophet of Longevity". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 31 December 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
- ^ a b c "Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division".
- ^ a b Duhigg, Charles (24 November 2006). "A Smarter Computer to Pick Stock". New York Times Late Edition (East Coast). pp. C-1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 December 2008.