TAI ER MAKES SPLASH WITH MAIDEN SAUERKRAUT FISH OUTLET IN SINGAPORE

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 (Bernama) -- Riding the recent wave of popular Chinese food and beverage brands entering Singapore, Tai Er Chinese Sauerkraut Fish has opened its first store at the Jewel Changi Airport recently.

On the day of the official opening, the restaurant was full, with guests queuing outside as they waited to dine.

The restaurant’s decor is centered around the simple black-and-white logo and motif popular in the company’s China restaurants.

Guests are able to see the kitchen through a transparent window, to check the hygiene conditions or simply marvel at the kitchen’s sights and smells – the swirling of hot oil around the pan, the crackle and pop of stir-fried chilis, and the scattering of chrysanthemum petals.

All the original elements of Tai Er, as well as the unique operation philosophy, can be found in the restaurant, according to a statement.

As a professional of traditional Sichuan cuisine, Tai Er’s Singapore store features a number of classical Sichuan dishes besides the signature Chinese sauerkraut fish.

A black envelope could be found on each of the seats in the restaurant. Inside each envelope was a letter written by a Chinese fan to their new ‘friends’ in Singapore, explaining how to get the most from their Tai Er experience.

In China, Tai Er’s features such as ‘tagline exchanges’ and ‘Bro Er’ are hugely popular among younger patrons.

With 300 restaurants across China and 12 million fans, business is booming at Tai Er, with some Chinese fans saying they would wait as long as three hours during holidays for a bite of that tasty sauerkraut fish.

In Tai Er’s dishes, the seasonings used - sauerkraut, chilis, Sichuan peppers – are imported direct from Sichuan Province. 

-- BERNAMA

ETAN HON PRODUCT MANAGER OF TURBO AFTERMARKET SERVICES FOR NIKKISO CRYOGENIC SERVICES

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 (Bernama) -- Nikkiso Cryogenic Industries’ Clean Energy & Industrial Gases Group (Group), a subsidiary of Nikkiso Co Ltd (Japan), announced Etan Hon has been appointed Product Manager of Turbo Aftermarket Services (AMS) for the Nikkiso Cryogenic Services unit (NCS).

This addition to their management team supports the Group’s objectives to further grow their AMS for Turboexpanders. The Turbo All Brands line will also expand to support and service more brands, including ACD, Rotoflow, Atlas Copco, and Cryostar, among others.

“The NCS team is excited to have Etan in this new Turbo AMS Product Management role. His years of experience and focus on customer service has exceeded our expectations. I’m looking forward to his success continuing in this new role,” said NCS President, Jim Estes.

According to a statement, Hon received a degree in Aerospace engineering from the University of California, San Diego. He started his career by providing oilfield services to customers within the oil & gas industry in Texas working for Schlumberger and Baker Hughes.

In 2017, he joined ACD LLC as a Field Service Manager. After the acquisition by Nikkiso in 2019, he transitioned into the role of Service Manager of Turbo AMS for NCS and helped move the ACD Turbo AMS division into a new facility in Irvine, CA.

Nikkiso Cryogenic Services provides service and support globally, including locations in Malaysia, Germany, India, Australia, Taiwan and China as well as six locations in North America.

Cryogenic Industries Inc (now a member of Nikkiso Co Ltd) member companies manufacture engineered cryogenic gas processing equipment and small-scale process plants for the liquefied natural gas (LNG), well services and industrial gas industries.

-- BERNAMA

AJC hosts ASEAN’s 54th Anniversary Virtual Symposium, Aug 27

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 -- The ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC) will organise ASEAN’s 54th Anniversary Virtual Symposium on ‘ASEAN Economic and Social Regional Integration in the New Normal’ on Aug 27.

It will be co-organised with the ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN Committee in Tokyo, a committee of 10 Japan-based ASEAN ambassadors, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (TBC) and the International Peace Foundation.

At the symposium, 2007 Nobel Laureate in Economics, Professor Eric S. Maskin Adams, University Professor and Professor of Economics and Mathematics at Harvard University, will deliver a keynote speech.

It will be followed by a panel discussion among prominent officials from ASEAN, including the ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General for Community and Corporate Affairs, and experts from universities in Japan.

They will exchange viewpoints and discuss globalisation and inequality in ASEAN under the new normal, according to a statement.

AJC is an intergovernmental organisation established by the ASEAN Member States and Japan in 1981, with objectives to promote trade, investment, tourism as well as people-to-people exchanges between the ASEAN Member States and Japan.

AJC has been organising the ASEAN Anniversary Symposium since 2017 to commemorate the establishment of ASEAN, bringing together ASEAN stakeholders and the Japanese public and private sectors to discuss the current issues in ASEAN.

More details at https://www.asean.or.jp/en/

-- BERNAMA

Digital video veteran David LaPalomento appointed JW Player Chief Technology Officer

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 -- JW Player, the leading video software and data insights platform, has announced the appointment of David LaPalomento as Chief Technology Officer, effective immediately.

The strategic hire will accelerate JW Player’s product innovation to meet the needs of a rapidly growing Digital Video Economy, leveraging the recent infusion ofUS$100 million in Series E funding from LLR Partners. (US$1 = RM4.237)

“David has proven himself to be a visionary leader in both developing and scaling innovative video delivery products,” said Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of JW Player, Dave Otten in a statement.

“I have no doubt that his expertise will strengthen our position as a leading force for innovation in the digital video industry. With his leadership, we will scale our engineering teams and bring new products to market that further empower customers with independence and control in the Digital Video Economy.”

During his decade-long tenure at Brightcove, LaPalomento built a world-class engineering team to modernise its video delivery platform.

His leadership helped triple revenue, launch new products, and integrate acquisitions to address new market segments. His experience will be invaluable as JW Player rises to meet the explosive growth in demand for digital video since the pandemic began.

“JW Player has built the most comprehensive platform for success in this digital video ecosystem, with unmatched consumption and contextual data insights, cutting-edge monetisation and engagement features, and world-class video experiences on any screen. I look forward to building on this platform to bring new innovations to market,” said LaPalomento.

JW Player’s API-driven video platform empowers hundreds of thousands of customers to independently control and operate their mobile, OTT and web video applications at global scale.

More details at http://www.jwplayer.com.

-- BERNAMA

Crocus Technology unveils isolated current sensor with no performance compromises

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 -- Crocus Technology Inc, the leading supplier of disruptive Tunnel Magneto-Resistance XtremeSense™ TMR sensors, has announced the CT430 and CT431 isolated current sensor with 1MHz bandwidth and less than one per cent total error over the full temperature range.

The high speed operation and accurate output allow customers to optimise system design for smaller size and higher efficiency, according to a statement.

Products like the CT430 and CT431 which have an industry standard footprint enable customers to easily upgrade their existing products and accelerate product adoption.

In contrast to existing designs that utilise a Hall Sensor, the XtremeSense™ TMR sensor enables a no-compromise design solution by combining high bandwidth response and high accuracy.

“Our customers have been astounded by the level of performance we are able to deliver in their applications. The combination of high response time and accuracy provides system designers the flexibility they have been eager to achieve without any compromises,” said President and Chief Executive Officer of Crocus Technology, Zack Deiri.

The Crocus proprietary TMR technology inherently offers very high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) which allow for high resolution measurements required for precision control or monitoring applications.

Investments made last year to expand its production capacity have enabled Crocus to be prepared to support high volume production today.

The CT430 and CT431 are available in an industry standard 16-lead SOIC-Wide package with dimensions of 10.20 10.31 2.54 mm. Samples and evaluation boards are currently available, and the devices are in full production in August 2021.

More details at http://www.crocus-technology.com.

-- BERNAMA

ASIA PACIFIC EDUCATION LEADERS CONVENE FOR BLACKBOARD TEACHING AND LEARNING CONFERENCE

SINGAPORE, Aug. 18, 2021 /Medianet International-AsiaNet/ --

Educators from India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and around the Asia Pacific region are convening virtually today and tomorrow for the Blackboard Teaching and Learning Conference Asia Pacific (TLC) 2021.
 
The two-day free event, created and hosted by global education technology leader Blackboard, went virtual for the first time last year. It is intended to bring the education community across the region together to share and learn from one another.
 
Delegates to the event will discuss issues including educator empowerment, change management, assessment practices, academic integrity, driving learner success and optimising the student experience.
 
"It has been a challenging 18 months for learners, educators and everyone in the education industry globally. Now, more than ever, it's important for us to come together as a community," said Yves Dehouck, Vice President Asia Pacific at Blackboard.
 
"The silver lining of hosting TLC virtually again this year is that we have been able to broaden the reach of the event, making the lessons learned during the pandemic more accessible to more people across the Asia Pacific region," he said.
 
TLC Asia Pacific 2021 will also offer more than 40 sessions, feature speakers from Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines and Singapore and include client-led sessions featuring case studies and showcasing their innovations based on Blackboard solutions.
 
For more information visit: https://bbtlcapac.com or follow @BlackboardAPAC on Twitter and #TLCAPAC for updates.
 
SOURCE: Blackboard Inc  

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COACH AND GROW PROGRAMME GRADUATES GENERATED AN AVERAGE REVENUE GROWTH OF 163% FOR 2020-21

 ^{‘Key Statistics from The Coach and Grow Programme Season 5’}


10 year public-private collaboration between Cradle and Proficeo proves itself once again in helping Malaysian tech start-ups and scaleups
 

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- Known in the ecosystem as the best C-suite intervention programmes, the Coach & Grow Programme (CGP) has proven itself once again with its current cohort of graduating companies. The CGP is a public-private partnership between Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle), Malaysia’s leading early stage influencer and industry partner, Proficeo, and is designed to bring together key players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem to support and fortify technology entrepreneurs to scale their businesses to greater heights.

Launched in the midst of the 1st Movement Control Order in 2020, Season 5 or Cohort 5 of the programme came at an opportune time helping 108 companies navigate the unprecedented changing economic and business landscape that came as an aftershock to the pandemic that shook the world.

“When we started, MCO 1.0 was just launched. Many of the companies were still reeling from trying to figure out how to move into virtual business mode, Work-from-Home, keeping customers happy etc. Even all of us at Proficeo had to find solutions to coordinate and run the program virtually. It was chaos in the beginning but I knew we had to persevere because more than ever the entrepreneurs needed us to help them through survival and pivoting” said Renuka Sena, CEO and Co-Founder of Proficeo Consultants. The economic impact of the pandemic has shifted dynamics in society from the way we live, work, play and how consumers and businesses spend their money. The dramatic shifts that have been taking place and will continue to take place has forced companies to rethink their go-to-market and scaling models. “What used to work in the past was no longer a certainty”, she added.

Case in point, AI Smartual that came into the programme with an e-learning platform for students and teachers. Some may say that it was perfect timing for their product as students, teachers and parents were forced to use e-learning platforms as a tool to facilitate learning during the lockdown. The industry was ready and looking for solutions but it was wrong timing for AI Smartual as their product was new and untested. To give credit to the founder, they did try but the e-learning space was busy and competitive and they struggled. Their Coaches and mentors worked with AI Smartual to rethink how to utilise their asset to capture a niche market. As it happened, the founder David Cheng had vast experience with listed companies and handling investor relations. Additionally he had good networks and credibility in this market segment. As such, six months into the programme the company launched their e-AGM solution into the market, and from being on the verge of giving up AI Smartual is now solidly booked out for the rest of the year and generating revenue in excess of RM200k.

AI Smartual is one of the many compelling business turnaround stories. In fact the average revenue growth rate of the CGP5 companies is 163%, an incredible feat in view of the ensuing economic lockdown that has plagued the country since 2020. “Despite a highly challenging year, these companies with the help of their coaches not only survived but also increased their total cumulative sales by RM68 million”  said Rafiza Ghazali, Group CEO of Cradle. “For 108 companies to chalk up a total of RM176 million in 12 month over RM108 million achieved in the preceding 12 months is unprecedented under normal circumstances but during a pandemic is just inspiring. I’m sure all the CGP5 Graduates are extremely grateful for the support they received through CGP”, she added. 

Rewarded for their achievements, companies that were outstanding in the various industry verticals were recognised for their achievements during the virtual graduation ceremony.  A notable award recipient was Women Entrepreneur of the Year, Rena Rifaee, Co-founder of Natugee, who overcame personal and business challenges to grow her business by 650% since joining the CGP.

Unlike the previous cohorts, this time around Companies and Founders were also assessed and rewarded for their resilience, persistence and contributions to the ecosystem during COVID-19.  Cradle and Proficeo social media channels were abuzz over the past couple of weeks with “Road to Graduation” content honouring start-ups in categories like “Tech-for-Good” recognising start-ups creating social impact; “Empowerment platforms” for women, youth, seniors and e-commerce;  “COVID Game Changers” for companies that are disrupting their industries and “Future-Tech” for companies in the forefront of AI, Robotics, AR/VR and Nanotechnology.  “It was a tough year and so many of the companies in this Cohort worked hard and rose to the challenge so we thought the very least we could do was to recognise their achievements”, said Renuka. “I would give them all an award if I could because this Cohort was definitely the best ever in terms of calibre, resilience and true entrepreneurship spirit”, she added proudly.

Now a decade old, the graduating cohort will join the CGP alumni network making up a total of 577 companies strong. They will join the ranks of notable alumni such as iPay88, Easyparcel, Babydash, JomParking, Signature Market, Dropee and Doctor-on-Call.
 
You can learn more about the graduating companies here.
 
 
ABOUT CRADLE FUND SDN BHD (CRADLE)

Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle) is Malaysia’s leading early stage technology-based start-ups influencer. Our mission is to create an ecosystem that supports a strong and innovative business-building environment for technology entrepreneurs through our Cradle Investment Programme (CIP). Established in 2003 with a mandate to fund high-calibre tech start start-ups, Cradle has supported over 1000 Malaysian Technology-Based companies across multiple sectors and holds the highest commercialisation rate amongst funding agencies in the country.

Cradle also runs the Coach & Grow Programme (CGP), a market-driven coaching programme that trains entrepreneurs and administers the Angel Tax Incentive programme which is designed to stimulate and encourage angel investments in support of the tech startup sector.

Cradle’s programme offerings are not restricted to monetary aid, but also include commercialisation support and various other value-added services to accelerate growth.

Cradle is a government-linked company under the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI).

For more information, please visit www.cradle.com.my   
 
ABOUT PROFICEO CONSULTANTS SDN BHD (PROFICEO)
 
Proficeo’s vision is to mould ecosystems around the entrepreneur and facilitate the creation of a structure whereby all stakeholders within the ecosystem are working together in a unified and focused manner to support the success of entrepreneurs. Proficeo’s programs impart real world experiences on building businesses via high impact and unique knowledge sharing sessions. They are designed and customised for entrepreneurs at various stages of their business life-cycle from pre-commercialisation stage through to pre-IPO. The programs focus on the practical implementation of strategies coupled with show-how and experience provided by entrepreneur/investor-coaches. Over the past 10 years, Proficeo has worked with over 1000 entrepreneurs via their training, coaching and mentoring programs.
 

ABOUT CGP 5 AWARD WINNERS
 
BEST STARTUP PIVOT
AI Smartual Learning Sdn Bhd
David Cheng, Managing Director
 
BEST SCALEUP PIVOT
Puncak Stainless Steel & Machinery Sdn Bhd
Justin Lim, Product Development Manager
 
OUTSTANDING BUSINESS TURNAROUND AWARD
Social Groove Solutions Sdn Bhd
Christopher Tock, Founder
 
MOST RESILIENT AWARD
Effortless Beauty Sdn Bhd
Miko Teck, Founder & CEO
 
BEST TEAM AWARD
Zaahara Ventures Sdn Bhd
Anas bin Pawan Chik, CEO
 
WOMEN ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Natugee Sdn Bhd
Rena Rifaee, Founder
 
STARTUP OF THE YEAR AWARD
Pandai Education Sdn Bhd
Khairul Anwar Mohamad Zaki, Founder & CEO
 
SCALEUP OF THE YEAR AWARD
RPG Commerce Sdn Bhd
Melvin Chee, CEO


SOURCE : Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle)

SENSEFORTH.AI SECURES US$14 MILLION INVESTMENT FROM FRACTAL

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 (Bernama) -- Conversational AI leader Senseforth.ai has announced a US$14 million investment from Fractal, a global provider of artificial intelligence and analytics solutions to Fortune 500® companies. (US$1 = RM4.235)

This investment will help Senseforth.ai scale and expand its footprint across Fractal’s clients globally, while also strengthening Fractal's conversational AI offerings as it advances on its mission to power every human decision in the enterprise.

“This strategic investment creates a new growth blueprint for Senseforth.ai. We are thrilled to deliver on our vision 'to make technology humanlike', enabling continuous Human-AI interaction and transforming complex business processes,” said Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Senseforth, Shridhar Marri.

Meanwhile, announcing the strategic investment, Fractal’s Co-Founder, Group Chief Executive and Vice Chairman, Srikanth Velamakanni said: “We are excited to partner with the Senseforth.ai team to contribute to their next phase of growth.”

Senseforth.ai’s patented and award winning zero-code platform A.ware automates customer experience across digital touchpoints for global enterprises.

According to a statement, it is estimated that by 2022, 30 per cent of customer experiences will be handled by conversational AI, up from three per cent in 2017.

A.ware makes it easy to build, train, deploy, and scale conversational AI solutions to drive revenue, reduce costs and increase operational efficiency.

More details at www.senseforth.ai.

-- BERNAMA

AT TOKYO KYUSHU CENTER #1 (QC1) TO BE SET UP IN FUKUOKA

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 (Bernama) -- AT TOKYO Corporation (AT TOKYO) will establish AT TOKYO Kyushu Center #1 (QC1) in Fukuoka, Kyushu.

The opening of the new centre in Fukuoka following its Tokyo and Osaka centres will promote digitalisation and data traffic decentralisation in Japan’s regional areas.

According to a statement, the centre will begin operations in November, 2021.

QC1 will reside within QTnet’s Fukuoka Data Center 3 (QD3) operated by QTnet Co Ltd (QTnet). Managed by the data centre operator of Kyushu Electric Power Group, QD3 achieves a high level of customer satisfaction with its superior facilities, support systems, and prime location.

AT TOKYO’s QC1, located in Fukuoka, a core business district of Kyushu, is a long-awaited data traffic hub in Kyushu and Western Japan, and will create valuable business environment for telecommunications, cloud service providers, and its customers in the region.

In conjunction with Tokyo and Osaka centres that are already well used by a range of domestic and overseas customers, QC1 will become a platform for domestic and global business expansion.

AT TOKYO aims to create a platform to support the future of Japan’s society with data centre operations that highlight continuity, connectivity, and the co-creation of value.

The establishment of QC1 is a sure footing for AT TOKYO to tap into the edge data centre sphere in Japan, and is an important milestone to further develop its position as data centre hub.

AT TOKYO offers high-quality and reliable data centre services to customers and assists in accelerating the growth of their business.

-- BERNAMA

BECA AND BLACK & VEATCH ANNOUNCE COLLABORATION TO DELIVER SOLUTIONS FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE AUSTRALIAN MINING INDUSTRY

 MELBOURNE, Australia, Aug 13 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Beca & Black & Veatch (B&BV) have announced a collaboration to deliver sustainability and decarbonisation solutions, combined with a strong local presence, to service minerals and metals operations across Australia.

“Clients recognise the need for more sustainable operations and more efficient resource management approaches from extraction and processing through to delivery. Our collaboration brings sustainability expertise, at scale, to mining operations across Australia,” said Paul Language, a Business Director at Beca. “We understand what it takes for miners to succeed in Australia”.

“Clients have set ambitious sustainability and decarbonisation goals and we are helping them develop and implement the sustainability roadmaps that will make these goals attainable,” said Jim Spenceley, Senior Vice President of Black & Veatch’s mining business. “For many years B&BV have collaborated for the benefit of clients in New Zealand and we look forward to extending our services to Australia.”

Part of B&BV’s strength is a strong shared culture. Both are employee-owned, a business model that has been delivering success for more than a century for each organisation. Both companies are committed to the safe delivery and management of critical infrastructure, and embracing reconciliation in the minerals and metals sector. Sustainability and responsible corporate stewardship are core to both companies’ operations, in the way they act and the projects they deliver.

About Beca

Beca is an employee-owned professional services firm that has been delivering community-shaping Engineering, Advisory and Management Consulting services across the Asia-Pacific Region for over 100 years.. We have more than 3,300 people in 21 offices who are delivering projects in over 70 countries. We have had offices in Australian since 1969 and we’re proud to be supporting our customers across market segments including Minerals and Metals, Transport and Infrastructure, Energy, Water, Food and Life Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing, Health and Defence.

Creative people together transforming our world’ is our vision. It reflects our culture, our aspirations and our purpose - to make everyday better. We create value through understanding and delivering successful solutions, exceptional service and our enduring relationships and use our skills and systems to empower innovation; helping our clients shape communities, optimise their assets and streamline their operations. Follow us on www.beca.com

About Black & Veatch

Black & Veatch is an employee-owned global engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people around the world by addressing the resilience and reliability of our most important infrastructure assets. Our revenues in 2020 exceeded US$3.0 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and on social media.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210812005004/en/

Contact

Media Contact Information, Beca:
Cameron Menzies I +61 421 055 486 I cameron.menzies@beca.com

Media Contact Information, Black & Veatch:
MALCOLM HALLSWORTH | +44 1483 319287 p | +44 7920 701764 m | HallsworthM@BV.com
24-HOUR MEDIA HOTLINE | +1 866 496 9149

Source : Black & Veatch

INNIO JOINS UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL COMPACT FURTHER UNDERSCORING COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY

• INNIO joins more than 9,500 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories to support UN goals and issues
• INNIO joins United Nations Global Compact as part of continued pursuit to achieve climate-neutral future
• Joining the United Nations Global Compact demonstrates another step in INNIO’s commitment to sustainability across its Jenbacher and Waukesha businesses

JENBACH, Austria, Aug 11 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- INNIO today announced that it has joined the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. In joining this critical voluntary leadership platform, INNIO continues its path to build on an expanded commitment to its environmental, social and governance (ESG) program. As part of the Global Compact initiative — which is focused on the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible business practices – INNIO proudly aligns itself with thousands of other companies and non-business signatories globally committed to taking responsible business action to create a better world.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210810005096/en/

 

As part of its relentless pursuit to achieve a climate-neutral, greener and more secure energy future, INNIO established its Sustainability Review Board (SRB), tasked with developing INNIO’s ESG goals and strategy for its Jenbacher and Waukesha businesses in close alignment with INNIO’s growth strategy. In an act to cement its commitment to sustainability, INNIO leadership – in conjunction with its SRB – moved swiftly to become a participant of the Global Compact. INNIO recognized the Global Initiative as being a beacon platform bringing together companies and non-business signatories everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption, and to take action in support of UN goals and issues embodied in the Sustainable Development Goals. Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact is composed of more than 9,500 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and more than 70 Local Networks.

“We are delighted to have taken this step to add our voice to that of thousands of others in helping to impact positive change across the world through business,” said Carlos Lange, president and CEO of INNIO. “While our expertise lies in the domain of power generation and gas compression, we recognize that our responsibility does not end with the sustainable production and delivery of electricity and gas compression. As a responsible corporate citizen, we are ethically and morally bound to maintain a responsible role as it pertains to human rights, labor, and anti-corruption as well as the environment. As part of the Global Compact, we are now positioned with our corporate neighbors to advance broader societal goals, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, through collaboration and innovation. Together, we can push further and faster to effectively address the world’s most pressing challenges.”

INNIO, a global provider of energy services, equipment and digital solutions for power generation and gas compression at or near the point of use, is relentlessly dedicated to being a model corporate citizen. As part of this effort, INNIO recently took a bold step in advancing sustainability in the power industry to build the first industrial scale hydrogen-fueled power plant. In close collaboration with HanseWerk Natur, INNIO initiated field testing of a 1-megawatt (MW) pilot power plant with a Jenbacher gas engine that represents the world’s first large-scale gas engine in the 1 MW range, capable of operating with variable hydrogen-natural gas mixtures or up to 100% hydrogen. INNIO’s efforts are being recognized as evidenced with its recent accolade of receiving a Silver Medal rating from EcoVadis, placing INNIO Jenbacher in the top 17% of its peers working towards sustainability.

In its capacity as a thought leader, INNIO always seeks new energy sources and better energy solutions to support its customers and their communities, while investing in its Jenbacher and Waukesha product lines and digital solutions to support the energy transition. Its gas engines—many of which have passed stringent sustainability tests for efficiency and energy savings—offer industry-leading emission levels and reduced carbon footprints. INNIO’s gas engine fleet helps to provide a more sustainable future by developing new, innovative low-carbon technologies, such as its hydrogen-ready Jenbacher gas engine technology. Its Waukesha gas engines help customers achieve low emissions and responsibly produce natural gas now and in the future. INNIO’s digital products and solutions play an important role in reduction of emissions and remote smart management of assets for our customers.

In 2021, EcoVadis awarded INNIO Jenbacher a silver medal to honor its engagement for a climate-neutral, greener, and more secure energy future. This places INNIO Jenbacher in the top 17% of its peers working towards sustainability.

About INNIO

INNIO is a leading provider of renewable gas, natural gas, and hydrogen-based solutions and services for power generation and gas compression at or near the point of use. With our Jenbacher and Waukesha gas engines, INNIO helps to provide communities, industry and the public access to sustainable, reliable and economical power ranging from 200 kW to 10 MW. We also provide life-cycle support and digital solutions to the more than 53,000 delivered gas engines globally, through our service network in more than 100 countries. We deliver innovative technology driven by decarbonization, decentralization, and digitalization to help lead the way to a greener future. Headquartered in Jenbach, Austria, the business also has primary operations in Welland, Ontario, Canada, and Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S. For more information, visit the company's website at www.innio.com. Follow INNIO on Twitter and LinkedIn. 

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FALCONX RAISES $210M FOLLOWING 30X YOY REVENUE GROWTH; NOW VALUED AT $3.75 BILLION

Series C Led by Altimeter Capital, B Capital Group, Sapphire Ventures, and Tiger Global Management, with participation from Amex Ventures and Mirae Asset.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 11 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- FalconX, a digital assets and cryptocurrency financial services company that provides institutions trading, credit, and clearing across major cryptocurrencies, announced a $210M Series C financing round, valuing the company at $3.75 billion. The round was led by Altimeter Capital, Sapphire Ventures and existing investors B Capital Group and Tiger Global Management, with participation from Mirae Asset. Amex Ventures also increased its existing investment as part of this round. They join existing investors Accel, Accomplice VC, Coinbase Ventures, CMT Digital, Flybridge Capital Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Avon Ventures, a venture capital fund affiliated with FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments.

In just three years, FalconX has become one of the most highly valued institutional cryptocurrency companies in the world, driven by strong unit economics, profitability, and revenue growth across business lines. FalconX leverages machine learning to provide institutions a single counterparty with access to global cryptocurrency liquidity with 99.9%+ uptime through its web interface, APIs, and 24/7/365 white glove trading desk. Its credit business enables institutions to access short term financing for trades – filling the gap between long term loans and derivatives markets for institutions looking to increase their balance sheet efficiency in an elastic manner. FalconX plans to officially announce several new product offerings in the coming months, each of which are currently live, growing quickly, and profitable.

“FalconX is the trusted one-stop-shop for the world’s leading institutional cryptocurrency market participants – providing the technology, security, and reliability necessary to power their strategies at scale,” said Raghu Yarlagadda, CEO and Co-Founder of FalconX. “Serving the world’s leading investors, we are at the forefront of a megatrend which will fundamentally change financial services – if you wouldn’t accept Google or Amazon only working 5 days a week – why aren’t financial services 24/7, truly global, and more accessible? Blockchain has proven that it is possible at scale, and FalconX is excited to lead that change.”

FalconX’s growth is driven by demand from a diverse range of institutional market participants, including some of the world’s largest financial institutions, hedge funds, asset managers, venture capital firms, payment providers and investment applications – for secure, reliable, and bespoke cryptocurrency products. FalconX will use the funding from the Series C round to expand its product lines, explore strategic acquisitions, and continue to hire great talent globally, including key executives with backgrounds at the convergence of traditional financial markets, digital assets and technology.

Quotes on the Round:

“FalconX has clearly positioned itself as a leading institutional cryptocurrency company – we’re excited to back a market leader in an industry in the early innings of strong secular growth. FalconX’s product velocity and pace of innovation is remarkable and we believe will play an important role in the future of financial and crypto market infrastructure.” - Brad Gerstner, Founder & CEO, Altimeter Capital

“FalconX is recognized as a best-in-class institutional platform for cryptocurrency that facilitates billions in crypto trading each month. We have repeatedly heard institutional customers praise FalconX for their unmatched reliability and a one-stop-shop infrastructure platform to meet all their long-term crypto trading needs. We’re excited to partner with the FalconX team to build the de-facto platform that powers global discovery, exchange and transfer of all digital assets worldwide.” - Rashmi Gopinath, General Partner, B Capital Group

“FalconX has delivered strong business growth while building a world-class team that brings together talent from Silicon Valley, traditional financial markets and the blockchain ecosystem. This team is uniquely positioned to partner with its customers to create winning strategies and deliver new products that help them find scale.” - Rajeev Dham, Partner, Sapphire Ventures

“As institutional investors continue entering the cryptocurrency market, FalconX has significantly scaled its business and product lines to meet their needs. We’re excited to double down on the leading one-stop-shop for institutional trading, credit and clearing.” - Scott Shleifer, Partner, Tiger Global Management

About FalconX

FalconX is an all-in-one cryptocurrency and digital assets financial services platform facilitating trading, credit, and clearing for institutions. The company is backed by Accel, Accomplice VC, Altimeter Capital, B Capital Group, American Express Ventures, CMT Digital, Coinbase Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mirae Asset, Sapphire Ventures, Tiger Global Management and Avon Ventures, a venture capital fund affiliated with FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments. FalconX has offices in Silicon Valley, Chicago, Bengaluru, and Malta. For more information visit falconx.io. 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=40730

TELEDYNE'S NEW AI SOFTWARE ALLOWS LEARNING AT RUNTIME

WATERLOO, Ontario, Aug 11 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teledyne is pleased to announce its Sapera Vision Software Edition 2021-07 is now available. Sapera™ Vision Software from Teledyne DALSA offers field proven image acquisition, control, image processing and artificial intelligence functions to design, develop and deploy high-performance machine vision applications.

The new upgrades to the Sapera Vision Software include enhancements to its AI training graphical tool Astrocyte™ and the image processing and AI libraries tool Sapera Processing.

“We are excited to introduce continual learning to the Astrocyte package. This helps improve the accuracy of a classifier ‘on the field’ by training only the samples that fail, without having to retrain from scratch,” said Bruno Ménard, Software Director for Teledyne’s vision solutions group. “Astrocyte now includes a new anomaly detection called ‘pixel-level anomaly detection’. This new algorithm is much more robust and precise than the previous one. It also has the ability to generate heatmaps at runtime,” he continued.

Sapera Vision Software is ideal for applications such as surface inspection on metal plates, location and identification of hardware parts, detection and segmentation of vehicles and noise reduction on x-ray medical images.

New features in this release:

• Continual Classification: New algorithm allows to pre-train a classifier in Astrocyte and then perform further training at runtime in Sapera Processing.
• New Anomaly Detection with Output Heatmaps: New Anomaly Detection algorithm which is more robust in locating defects while providing the ability to generate output heatmaps. Heatmaps at runtime are very useful for obtaining the location and shape of defects without the need for graphical annotations at training.
• Live Acquisition for Dataset Creation: When creating dataset in Astrocyte you can now acquire live video from a camera and generate a series of files automatically prior to training. During acquisition images are prepared for training (i.e. adjusted for size and aspect ratio) before being saved to disk.

For more information visit our website.

About Teledyne
Teledyne’s imaging businesses form an unrivalled collective of expertise across the spectrum with decades of experience. Individually, each company offers best-in-class solutions. Together, they combine and leverage each other’s strengths to provide the widest imaging and related technology portfolio in the world. From aerospace through industrial inspection, scientific research, spectroscopy, radiography and radiotherapy, geospatial surveying, and advanced MEMS and semiconductor solutions, Teledyne offers world-wide customer support and the technical expertise to handle the toughest tasks. Their tools, technologies, and vision solutions are built to deliver to their customers a unique and competitive advantage. 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=40724

DECOM HOLDINGS PROVIDES SOLUTION TO MONETARY AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE ON GLOBAL CHALLENGE FOR RETAIL CBDC

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Aug 5 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As a response to the Global Challenge for retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) solutions organized by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on 23 June 2021, a group of experts from Decom Holdings Vietnam has proposed innovative ideas and solutions to address 12 different problem statements raised by the MAS and partner organizations from all over the world. These statements are centered on three key areas: CBDC Instrument; CBDC Distribution; and CBDC Infrastructure.

All senior experts in different time zones and working environments have worked diligently together to come up with the most original and innovative proposal possible for this contest. With a group of experts’ expertise and experience in financial and banking, blockchain security, cryptography, and other blockchain applications, the team is very confident in contributing to enhance payment efficiencies and promote financial inclusion through the Global Challenge for Retail CBDC Solutions launched by MAS.

This project marks the first time ever to have an independent research team on blockchain in Vietnam, with members from a variety of fields such as finance, cryptography, technology, marketing, etc., work together remotely on a public project with an international scale.

“We are overjoyed to be a part of this competition hosted by the Singapore government. It is a great way to encourage organizations, groups and individuals across the globe to share their brilliant proposal for retail CBDC solutions,” said Trung Phan, Chairman of Decom Holdings Joint Stock Company, an expert in investment and DEFI solutions. “We learned about the competition only a few weeks ago, but we quickly put together a team and started the project right away. We did run into some obstacles during the process due to the intense Covid outbreak in Vietnam right now, but the team still tried our best since we don’t want to miss this opportunity to share our knowledge and foster the mass adoption for Blockchain via CBDC.”

To add on, Ms. Lynn Hoang, Director of Binance Vietnam and Blockchain expert of Vietnam Innovation Network, shared: “The challenge launched by MAS is extremely essential. Many central banks in China, UK, Germany, US and around the world are actively exploring the issuance of national digital currencies, while having to explore a range of policy and technology challenges. This competition encourages creative communities around the world to develop and showcase solutions that can maximize the potential of CBDCs to bring efficiency to payment services, improve financial inclusion in line with central banks' core mission of stabilizing currencies.” 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=40701

BEST'S MARKET SEGMENT REPORT: AM BEST ASSIGNS STABLE OUTLOOK TO MALAYSIA'S NON-LIFE INSURANCE INDUSTRY

SINGAPORE, Aug 2 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- AM Best has assigned a stable market segment outlook to Malaysia’s non-life insurance industry, based on the sector’s underwriting discipline and robust pricing, as well as increased use of digital solutions to enhance data and pricing capabilities, claims automation, product innovation and distribution.

In its Best’s Market Segment Report, “Market Segment Outlook: Malaysia Non-Life Insurance,” AM Best states the economic fallout from COVID-19 is expected to remain a key challenge for the Southeast Asian country’s non-life segment for at least the near term. A slight contraction in non-life insurance premiums was offset partially by growth in health insurance, as the pandemic boosted demand and raised awareness for health and medical products. Looking ahead, AM Best expects the health line of business to remain an important driver of the non-life industry’s growth.

Economic recovery likely will be affected adversely by the need to impose periods of stricter COVID-19 containment measures, such as those seen in May, June and July 2021. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination programme will be instrumental in allowing the country to open up more freely over the months ahead.

According to the report, Malaysia’s non-life market has made good progress in upgrading its infrastructure to enable minimal disruption in a remote working environment, as well as in expanding digital platforms to manage operations. AM Best notes that most insurance companies now have an established framework and developed risk management guidelines to govern a digital-based remote working environment during periods of movement control orders with business contingency plans set up.

AM Best notes that capital market volatility remains a risk over the near term and is likely to be dependent on ongoing global and regional developments, as well as management of the pandemic. In response to these market conditions, AM Best expects the segment’s non-life insurers to continue to closely monitor their underlying risk exposure to various investment classes and adjust and refine their portfolio allocation as part of their risk management approach.

To access the full copy of this market segment report visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=311223.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=40660

I'MBESIDEYOU ‘UNION OF EMOTIONS’ SERVICE USES AI, VISUALISING CHEERS ACROSS NATIONAL BORDERS

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 (Bernama) -- I’mbesideyou Inc (I'mbesideyou) has launched the ‘UNION OF EMOTIONS’ service on July 23, the opening day of an international sporting event.

This is the first time it has been able to visualise people cheering each other with emotion analysis AI, according to a statement.

More than 20,000 cheers have already been sent from over 79 cities across more than 14 countries worldwide, and the sight of the cheers flying across the globe has moved many people on social media.

UNION OF EMOTIONS is the world's first example of people's emotions connecting in real time across countries with the help of AI. It is scheduled to be available until Aug 8, when the closing ceremony of the international sporting event will be held.

Cheers sent from around the world will be visualised on the globe using I'mbesideyou's emotion analysis technology.

I’mbesideyou has embarked on this journey with the hope that people worldwide will feel a sense of connection to the world and to themselves by sending each other inspirations for the athletes' efforts and transcend national boundaries.

Submissions from around the world include not only those cheering for their own country, but also many that sent encouragement to other countries.

UNION OF EMOTIONS is a service that utilises I'mbesideyou's emotion recognition technology to help people worldwide connect with each other via emotions by capturing and posting videos and photos of people cheering on athletes.

The service is completely free of charge and does not include any advertising. It is purely an effort to encourage athletes to compete without spectators.

I'mbesideyou hopes people the world over will feel free to participate and connect with each other through the celebration of sports.

More details at https://world-emotions.imbesideyou.com/index.html.

-- BERNAMA