Latest news with #Alta
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Former Spotify Executive Jeremy Erlich Launches Alta Music Group, Signs Blackpink's Jennie to Management Division
Jeremy Erlich, most recently the global head of music for Spotify, is setting up his own shop with the announcement Alta Music Group, an independent full-service music company folding in recording, publishing and management. The company will be based in Los Angeles. Alta has already partnered with the Orchard for distribution and label services as well as THEBLACKLABEL, founded by producer Teddy Park, in a co-development and promotion agreement. More from Variety Lady Gaga's 'Mayhem' Launches to No. 1 as Her Biggest Debut on Streaming Yet Jennie Brings 'The Ruby Experience' to Los Angeles for a Sweet and Sultry Intro to Her Solo Era: Concert Review Jennie Taps Doechii for Red-Hot 'ExtraL' Single and Video The company's first management signing, in partnership with OddAtelier, is Blackpink member Jennie, who recently released her debut solo album, 'Ruby.' Erlich was previously co-managing the pop star and was integral in Blackpink's signing to Interscope. 'Throughout my career, I've focused on the best way to service artists around the world that would create an environment that sets them up for long-term, global success,' said Erlich in a statement. 'With Alta we have the opportunity to do just that – a best-in-class team focused solely on supporting our artists and the music they create. Everything else does not matter.' Alta's leadership team at launch includes Nima Khalilian (formerly with Stem, Interscope), Parker Ulry (Interscope, Warner), Drake Hofer, Elise Eriksen, Gillian Taugher and Michael Seltzer (Universal Music Group). Prior to Spotify, where he spent almost six years first as vp and head of music strategy before moving up to global head of music, Erlich worked for eight years between Universal Music Group and Interscope Geffen A&M. Khalilian adds, 'ALTA is about putting artists first and helping them navigate an ever-evolving industry with a clear strategy.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? Final Emmy Predictions: Talk Series and Scripted Variety - New Blood Looks to Tackle Late Night Staples
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Hershey Bears Forward Luke Philp Signs In Sweden
Former Hershey Bears forward Luke Philp has signed a one-yea deal in Sweden with Farjestad BK, it was reported late last week. Philp, who hails from Canmore, Alta., spent the entire 2024-25 season with the Bears, collecting 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points in 58 regular season games. With the Bears having made the playoffs, Philp put up a further four points in eight games. Having turned pro in 2019, Philp has played in a total of 281 AHL regular season games over the course of his career with the Bears, Stockton Heat and Rockford IceHogs. Philp has also managed to get into three NHL games – all with the Chicago Blackhawks – where he collected an assist. With Philp off to the SHL, he will be someone to monitor on the offensive side of the puck. Always able to produce no matter what level he is playing at, Philp will be a nice addition to Farjestad BK when he steps out onto the ice.
Forbes
09-07-2025
- Forbes
What An Overnight Stay In Norway's Ice Hotels Is Really Like
The honeymoon suite at Sorrisniva Ice Hotel near Alta, Norway. getty The first thing that hits you in one of Norway's ice hotels is the silence. A soft, icy hush that settles over everything, broken only by the crunch of your insulated boots on snow-packed floors. Then, you marvel at the intricate ice sculptures glowing under LED lights, including Arctic wildlife and a Viking ship. There's even a life-sized polar bear to greet guests at the front desk. At the ice bar, you sip a tart Arctic berry cocktail served in a glass made of ice, while you chat to other guests wrapped in thermal capes like medieval nobles. There's laughter, wonder and the clicking of smartphones trying to capture it all. Then, bedtime. You zip yourself into a high-tech sleeping bag rated for extreme conditions and lie down on a bed carved from solid ice. Only a reindeer pelt separates you from the cold slab below. The novelty wears off quickly. The air is crisp inside your nose. Your breath clouds in front of your face. Suddenly the fantasy is very real: you're spending the night in subzero temperatures. Will you sleep, or will you shiver through until dawn? How Norway's Ice Hotels Work Ice hotels aren't like regular hotels in design or routine. You don't simply check in mid-afternoon, head to your room, and unwind. An overnight stay is more of a guided experience, and the schedule is part of the charm. Chilled drinks await guests at Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel in Norway. David Nikel Guests typically arrive in the afternoon, check into a nearby warm cabin or main lodge, and take part in optional activities like snowmobiling, husky sledding, or northern lights chasing, depending on the location. Then, there's a hearty dinner, often featuring local Arctic ingredients such as reindeer, king crab and cloudberries. Only later do you begin your journey into the ice. There is usually a guided tour of the hotel to admire the design, learn how it was made, and get oriented. The final step is what could be described as a safety briefing. Staff explain how to dress, how to use the sleeping bag properly, and how the overnight logistics work, including where to find heated restrooms and showers, usually in the main service building. Yes, that means if you need the restroom in the middle of the night, you'll have to leave the ice hotel and visit the main building. It might only be a minute's walk, but it's enough to make you rethink that after-dinner coffee. Guests at Sorrisniva receive a drink served in an ice glass. David Nikel Although the rooms are made entirely of ice and snow, you do not store luggage there or spend much time relaxing inside. The ice suite is essentially a sleeping chamber. Guests leave their belongings in a heated area, change into the right gear, and enter the cold room only when they are ready to sleep. Inside, the temperature stays around 19°F to 25°F, regardless of the weather outside. Everything from the bed to the walls to the artwork is sculpted from snow and ice, often with impressive artistic detail. You are given a thermal sleeping bag and extra layers if needed, but once you zip up and settle onto a mattress covered with reindeer hides, it is just you, the crisp air, and the complete stillness of your frozen room. Popular Ice Hotels In Norway Located just a few miles from the Russian border, Kirkenes Snowhotel is a true anomaly. It stays open 365 days a year, offering visitors a winter experience even in the height of summer. This is made possible by a purpose-built, refrigerated structure that maintains a constant indoor temperature even at the height of summer. Its location makes it especially convenient. Kirkenes serves as a turnaround port for Norway's famous coastal voyage, meaning guests on northbound or southbound sailings can add on a night at the ice hotel, while roundtrip passengers often drop by for a daytime visit. Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel hosts weddings at its ice hotel chapel. David Nikel Near the 'northern lights town' of Alta, Sorrisniva offers a more seasonal take on the ice hotel experience. Known as the world's northernmost ice hotel, Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel is constructed anew every winter on the banks of the Alta River. The build takes around five weeks and uses snow and ice harvested locally. The hotel usually opens before Christmas and welcomes guests through early April. Inside, visitors will find around 30 rooms, including themed suites, a dramatic ice bar, a snow chapel, and a gallery of frozen art. Ice Hotels Beyond Norway Visiting somewhere else on your Scandinavian adventure? No problem! While Norway's ice hotels are impressive, you'll also find unforgettable experiences elsewhere in the region. Sweden's original Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, near Kiruna, is perhaps the most famous, with art suites created by international ice sculptors and a permanent ice bar open year-round. In Finland, several resorts offer glass igloos for Northern Lights viewing alongside ice bars and hotels. MORE FROM FORBES Forbes This Winter Cruise Offered So Much More Than Just Northern Lights By David Nikel Forbes Why You Should Plan A Northern Lights Trip To Scandinavia In 2025 By David Nikel Forbes Norway Proposes 3% Tourist Tax As Visitor Numbers Soar By David Nikel
Business of Fashion
01-07-2025
- Business
- Business of Fashion
How Investors Fell Back in Love With Fashion Tech
Alta was exactly what Amy Wu Martin was looking for. Last year, Wu Martin, an investor at Menlo Ventures, was searching for a startup that used AI to address the lack of personalisation in online shopping. After being introduced to Jenny Wang and trying out a beta version of her personal styling app Alta — which suggests looks built from their existing wardrobes, akin to the virtual closet in the 1995 film 'Clueless' — she wanted to help bring the app to the wider market. 'Every major e-commerce company probably has tried personalization to an extent, but doesn't really know you,' said Wu Martin, who previously invested in AI-driven companies like Gen-AI video platform Higgsfield and mental health startup Slingshot AI. 'Alta's thesis is they need to understand what's in your closet because that's the starting point.' It all led to Alta ultimately raising an $11 million seed round in June, led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from Aglaé Ventures, a venture firm backed by the Arnault family's holding company Financière Agache. Alta's fundraise is indicative of a wider trend among venture capitalists. The rapid adoption of AI is spawning a new class of startups that have encouraged Silicon Valley to give fashion tech — which they've sparsely invested in before — another look. In the past year, a number of startups that offer solutions for everything from design assistance to social shopping have collectively raised more than $100 million from serial tech investors like Thrive Capital, Menlo Ventures and Forerunner Ventures, among others. Luxury is also taking note of AI's impact on fashion: This year's LVMH Innovation Award winners, which go on to partner with the conglomerate's brands, included AI-driven content creation studio Omi and Kahoona, an AI-powered customer data platform. While 10 years ago, investors poured millions into e-commerce brands that pitched themselves as tech companies simply because they sold online, today they're attracted to those attempting to solve industry pain points via technology, such as virtual try-on and personalised shopping. But they're also the latest in a long line of businesses that have attempted to do the same and failed — it's been 30 years, and there's still no version of the 'Clueless' closet that's reached mass adoption. Still, venture capitalists are convinced that reality has never been closer. To get there, they're backing founders with rigorous tech chops, and unlike the DTC brands that were pressured to expand quickly, are more patient in helping new founders grow with gradual technological improvements. 'The nature of VC is that most of these companies will fail, and if anything has happened now … is that it's much easier to build a product,' Wu Martin said. 'The onus is really on the investor to really spend time with that founder; understand what the longer term defensible vision really is.' A New Investment Philosophy Investors today are less seduced by charismatic founders selling a dream — or fashion brands overselling their minimal tech capabilities. Instead, the companies securing funding have leaders with real expertise. Wang, for instance, is a software engineer who worked for companies like DoorDash. Search and discovery platform Daydream, which raised $50 million last June, was co-founded by Julie Bornstein, a former chief operating officer at online styling service Stitch Fix, while Cheryl Liu, a former technical product manager at Amazon founded Gen-AI design platform Raspberry AI, which raised $24 million in January. AI-powered virtual try-on app Doji, which raised $14 million in May, was created by former Google machine learning engineer Jim Winkens and Dorian Dargan, who helped build VR games at Meta. That experience allows founders to see both the big picture and the finer details of their businesses. Wang's technical skills made it easier for her to fine-tune Alta's software to improve the quality of its recommendations, according to Wu Martin; having a founder with those capabilities made her more confident investing in the platform. 'It was really important for us to find a team that was very AI native because we thought that actually solving the challenge of serving style is one of the hardest parts,' Wu Martin said. Investors are also keen on backing founders who have experience building similar platforms — particularly those that have already delivered for them. Bornstein, co-founder of AI-powered platform Daydream, which she describes as 'ChatGPT for fashion,' previously founded the personalised shopping startup, The Yes, which went on to be acquired by Pinterest in 2022. When the idea for Daydream first came to her, she reached out to Forerunner Ventures founder Kirsten Green, who had invested in The Yes. Green soon signed on as a partner, co-leading Daydream's seed round last June with Index Ventures, and participation from Google Ventures and True Ventures. 'When it comes to AI, you really want to bet on a founder,' said Frédérique Dame, a general partner at Google Ventures. 'When you find a founder that is as exceptional as Julie at understanding fashion intrinsically and how people shop, it's really incredible to be able to invest early.' Even fashion tech startups that don't use AI explicitly are getting a lift from the excitement around its potential to change the industry. Alexa von Tobel, founder of venture firm Inspired Capital, for example, said she invested in affiliate marketing software platform ShopMy in December 2023, in part because she predicts that a boom in AI-generated content will push consumers to seek referrals from humans — be it friends or their favourite influencers. Similarly, Try Your Best, a platform founded by Outdoor Voices founder Ty Haney that offers shoppers rewards from their favourite brands for sending referrals, posting about products and more, raised an $11 million Series A co-led by Strobe Ventures, which typically invests in Web3 companies, in June. 'The future of commerce will be more social, and there will be more real recommendations from real people, in a sea of a lot of noise,' Von Tobel said. A Slow Burn Founders that are trying to fundamentally change how people shop understand it will take longer to grow — and increasingly, so do investors. 'Now, companies are actually building a product with AI in mind in a way where you can push the agenda on personalisation and product discovery in a way you couldn't do before,' Dame said. 'It takes a while to build infrastructure that is flexible enough.' In the past year, Daydream reconfigured its system twice: it shifted from building its personalised search functions using OpenAI and receiving somewhat accurate results, to using multiple models, including Google's Gemini, to improve its search engine, Bornstein said. The company went into beta testing last October and officially launched its platform last month. 'It's a pretty complex system,' Bornstein said. 'To build it so it sort of works is actually quite easy; to build it so it really works is actually quite hard.' After launching, startups are introducing new features based on user demand in order to avoid building tools that won't resonate. Alta, for example, started generating packing lists for users' upcoming travel plans based on the city and climate after users asked for it. Later this year, it will begin recommending items a user needs to purchase ahead of a trip — another feature users requested, Wang said. It's not just making a product that works, but one that people will actually want to use. Last year, Alta was able to grow its user base to more than 10,000 after nabbing high-profile endorsements from investors like model Jasmine Tookes and television and podcast host Keltie Knight, but that is a miniscule number compared to the platforms people already go to for shopping and fashion inspiration: Instagram, TikTok and Substack. Getting more users to hop on board will likely be these apps' biggest challenges moving forward. 'Is it super fun and intuitive and exciting and easy to use? Are you thinking about it after you close out the app?' said Mary Korlin-Downs, who tracks the latest developments in the sector via her Instagram account, All Things Fashion Tech. 'Those are little factors that could totally set companies apart.'
Mint
20-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
AI tracker: Turning to chatbots for news updates
A recent survey reveals a growing trend of people using AI chatbots like ChatGPT for news updates, especially among younger demographics. The report highlights the increasing integration of AI in everyday information gathering, while also showcasing advancements in AI-driven personal shopping with the launch of Alta's innovative stylist app. People are increasingly turning to generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT to follow day-to-day news, a recent media report has found. The yearly survey from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found 'for the first time' that significant numbers of people were using chatbots to get headlines and updates. Seven percent of people report using AI to find news, according to the Institute's poll of 97,000 people in 48 countries carried out by YouGov, but the proportion is higher among the young, at 12% of under-35s and 15% under-25s. Many more used AI to summarise (27%), translate (24%) or recommend (21%) articles, while almost one in five asked questions about current events. AI fashion stylist New york based fashion tech startup Alta announced that it has raised $11 million in seed funding to build 'the next generation of personal shopping and styling' powered by AI. Alta's core product is an AI stylist/personal shopper that creates shopping and outfit recommendations based on a user's closet, lifestyle, budget, occasion, and weather. The app leverages over a dozen proprietary multimodal generative AI models trained on fashion data, a press release from the company said. Users can also try recommended outfits on their virtual avatar—including mixing and matching shoppable items with items from their own closets.
