GWC on BlackRock, Nasdaq, and the New Investment You Need to See

While retail investors are refreshing Nasdaq tickers and Twitter timelines to keep up with the latest in AI, the real story is playing out underground.

Here’s the headline:

BlackRock is bullish on AI. But we’re betting where they can’t.

Let’s unpack that—and show you the investment we made as a result.

What BlackRock Just Did

In April, BlackRock filed for the iShares Artificial Intelligence & Big Data ETF. The fund tracks the STOXX Global Artificial Intelligence & Big Data Index, which includes names like: NVIDIA, Alphabet, Amazon, Oracle, Palantir, Snowflake.

All big. All public. All (mostly) late to this cycle’s innovation edge.

BlackRock isn’t wrong. These companies are safe bets for institutions who want exposure to the AI boom without venturing beyond the traditional S&P 500 comfort zone. But that’s the catch.

Where We’re Looking Instead

At Growth Warrior Capital, we’re not chasing logos. We’re not following the hype curve.

We’re looking where leverage lives:

• In vertical workflows that still run on spreadsheets
  
• In process-heavy, people-heavy sectors
  
• In pain points that can’t be solved with a chatbot
  
  

We’re backing builders who aren’t just sprinkling AI on top—they’re rebuilding the entire system beneath.

Which brings us to our latest investment.

Meet the Company Replacing a $500M Category

MenuData is not another AI-powered foodtech startup.
They are the future of foodservice intelligence.

Here’s the problem: food distributors rely on outdated, labor-intensive processes to update product catalogs, pricing, availability and menu integration. It’s a $500M+ category riddled with human error, lagging systems and zero automation.

MenuData’s solution: AI that extracts, standardizes and deploys data from restaurant menus across the U.S.—making it instantly usable for vendors, distributors and platforms.

The result?

• Increased margins for suppliers
  
• Reduced friction for ordering platforms
  
• Better visibility across the entire supply chain
  
  

This is a full-stack transformation—not a shiny new front-end.

And the best part? They are already live with multi-billion-dollar distribution partners.

Why This Matters

The public markets are crowded with AI bets that look the same.
The private markets are full of pitch decks promising the moon.

But the best investments today?
They’re quiet. Operational. Gritty.

They’re built by teams with deep domain experience, clear distribution wedges and products that don’t just “demo well”—they deliver.

That’s what we’re backing at GWC.
Not slides. Not sizzle.

Systems. Solved.

The Bigger Picture

When the public markets go loud, smart investors go quiet.
When everyone’s watching the index, we’re watching implementation.

We don’t just want exposure to AI.
We want ownership in the companies actually building it for industries that need it most.

And that’s not happening on the Nasdaq.It’s happening here.