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PR Newswire

oVice raises $32 million in Series B to develop virtual offices for remote and hybrid teams

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oVice, a Japan-based virtual office platform, announces a 45 billion yen (around $32.5 million) Series B funding round led by multiple investors. The company plans on creating solutions that streamline remote and hybrid work and facilitate employee onboarding, team management, and online collaboration.

NANAO, Japan, Aug. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — oVice was launched in 2020 as a way to give teams, disconnected during the pandemic, a common meeting point. It offers fully customizable virtual spaces for offices, online classrooms, and event venues.

As of 2022, oVice has long-term contracts with over 2,200 organizations and boasts over $6 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). More than 60,000 daily active users log into the platform to work in over 30,000 spaces created since its launch.

oVice plans to solidify its standing as a leading online collaboration platform in Japan and grow its user base overseas. Furthermore, the company is focusing on creating new solutions for hybrid work — an approach that combines in-office work and telecommuting.

To that end, oVice secured a $32 million Series B funding round led by a group of Japanese and overseas investors. The investment puts the company’s total raised capital at $45 million.

The oVice team is allocating these resources in four key directions:

  • Building solutions tailored to hybrid workplaces that help align office and remote teams
  • Overseas expansion in North America, Europe, and other regions.
  • Attracting top talent to the project
  • Marketing and PR activities

According to Sae Hyung Jung, the CEO of oVice: “The end goal is to create a platform that would eliminate friction in remote and hybrid workflows: employee onboarding, instant communication, and team building. oVice is hoping to achieve this by bringing the social benefits of the physical office — visibility, accessibility, and immediacy — to online interactions“.

During the last two years, the platform’s consistent growth proved that organizations have a long-term interest in virtual office technology. In the future, the oVice team aims to make virtual offices an integral part of remote and hybrid collaboration tech stacks.

About oVice

oVice is a global virtual office space provider designed to facilitate collaboration and talent management in hybrid and remote workplaces. The platform pioneered the concept of the virtual office — an online space that resembles a physical office by design and features – in Japan and became one of the leading SaaS companies in the country.

Like a physical office, oVice enables instant connections and gives a clear view of who is available at the moment. First-time users can experience the features of the platform and directly connect with the product team in a public tour space.

For partnership opportunities and press inquiries, contact the oVice editorial team at media@ovice.co.

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PR Newswire

HR automation platform Omni HR raises USD 2.4mn pre-seed funding from Alpha JWC Ventures & Picus Capital to digitize employee management in SE Asia

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SINGAPORE, July 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — HR automation platform, Omni HR today announced it has recently closed USD 2.4 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round co-led by Alpha JWC Ventures and Picus Capital, with participation from FEBE Ventures, Basis Set Ventures, Ratio Ventures, and Frances Kang at Horizons Ventures. This round was also supported by a number of prominent angel investors including former executives at Namely and Ultimate Software.

Omni HR Team
Omni HR Team

Founded in 2021 by former Goldman Sachs executive Brian Ip and experienced data engineer YC Chan, Omni HR provides a seamless employee management system that helps companies digitize and automate the end-to-end employee lifecycle in a single platform.

According to Omni HR Co-Founder Brian Ip, “Most companies in Southeast Asia are currently using local HR software that supports only basic admin functions, leaving many HR processes to be done manually. Meanwhile, HR software is one of the software categories that require the most localization, due to the differing employment rules in different countries. This effectively creates a unique opportunity for local players to build a modern, scalable employee management platform based out of Southeast Asia.”

Omni HR is witnessing that the market is going through a shift from traditional HR or payroll software to more advanced, modern solutions addressing the end-to-end employee journey. Omni HR’s goal is to become the employee management platform that enables organizations to digitize employee records, automate administrative tasks, and interact employee data seamlessly across different systems. Omni HR believes that with the ongoing digital transformation and software adoption trends in Southeast Asia, its employee management platform would ultimately become an important piece of software infrastructure for the region.

Since its soft launch in March 2022, Omni HR has been adopted by a number of companies to automate manual HR processes such as employee onboarding, time off management, and document management. The company is now coming out of its stealth mode and is ready to expand across the region, starting with Singapore and Indonesia.

“Our initial traction has been promising and we’re off to a great start,” says Omni HR Co-Founder YC Chan. “We are better than incumbents not only because of our superior tech solutions, but also because of our understanding of the local context which enables us to design a product fitting our customer needs.”

The investors in this round are bringing in a unique combination of operational know-hows and strategic support. Alpha JWC is the investor in various leading Southeast Asian startups including Ajaib, Carro and Spenmo, while Picus Capital has extensive experience investing in HR tech companies such as Personio, Bennie and Workmotion.

With the new funding, the company will further enhance its all-in-one product offering, including the launch of a recruitment module by Q3 and a performance management module by Q4, respectively.

“Omni is building an end-to-end HR suite that covers the entire employee life cycle and automates the repetitive workflow to help the management handle their people operations. With solutions that cater to problems faced by most, if not all, kinds of companies, we believe Omni HR has the unique potential to grow fast and become the region’s HR SaaS of choice,” says Jefrey Joe, Co-Founder and General Partner at Alpha JWC Ventures.

“While the HR function is the most crucial one in every business, we believe that the Southeast Asian market is still a white space with no comprehensive and localized tool to manage a workforce efficiently and offer a strong employee experience. Omni HR has built a clearly superior solution by going beyond basic administrative functionality into automating repetitive workflows like onboarding in the HR departments. This need has been especially accelerated by an increasing number of software being used in a company and an increasingly remote workforce which is harder to manage with traditional IT infrastructure,” says Florian Reichert, Partner & Managing Director at Picus Capital.

Omni HR is a software-as-a-service company that provides a seamless employee management system to help companies digitize and automate the end-to-end HR processes in a single platform. Its platform currently offers features to automate manual HR processes from employee onboarding, time off management, to document management. Founded in 2021, Omni HR is taking a regional approach for its business, starting with Singapore and Indonesia. For more information, please visit www.omnihr.co

Alpha JWC Ventures is an early to growth-stage Southeast Asian venture capital firm. Its debut fund was launched in 2016 as Indonesia’s first independent and institutional early-stage venture capital fund. Over the years, Alpha JWC has established a strong reputation and clear positioning in the market as the leading venture capital firm with one of the region’s largest on-the-ground teams and a global network. The firm currently manages around US$ 650 million AUM – the largest early-stage fund in Southeast Asia – and 60+ active portfolio companies across Southeast Asia. For more information, please visit www.alphajwc.com

Picus Capital is an international, privately financed venture capital company with headquarters in Munich and offices in New York, Beijing, Berlin, London, Bangalore, Stockholm and São Paulo. Picus predominantly invests in Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A rounds and focuses on technology companies in real estate, financial services, HR, energy & climate, logistics & mobility, e-commerce, healthcare, crypto & web3 and deeptech. As an entrepreneurial sparring partner, Picus Capital pursues a long-term investment philosophy and supports founders from the ideation phase to the IPO and beyond. For more information, please visit www.picuscap.com

For media queries, please contact:
Lynette Teo | Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Omni HR
lynette.teo@omnihr.co

PR Newswire

China’s Digitized Container Duckbill Speeds Up, Faster and Smarter

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Backed by a new round of capital, Duckbill aims high to be a dominant player in the domestic container trucking market

BEIJING, July 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Chinese digital container logistic platform Duckbill announced today the completion of a Series C financing round valued at CNY 330 million (around USD 48.85 million). This round was led by the SAIC-CICC private equity fund. Existing shareholders including Shunwei Capital, Future Capital and Furong Capital continued to pump money into this deal.

The startup will use the fresh funds to support the ongoing research and development of digitalization in container land transportation, business expansion to more ports across China, and optimization of service, the statement reported.

A latecomer, but a quick grower

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in large-port megacity Shanghai, Duckbill is an innovator in the container trucking industry, with branches and services in all the main ports in China, including Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Guangzhou and Tianjin — they are also parts of the world’s top 10 busiest ports in terms of container throughputs in 2021.

Although it is only a five-year-old startup, Duckbill has previously closed six rounds of funding since its inception, snagging a total of approximately USD 200 million from a bunch of notable venture capital firms. They include Singapore’s state-owned investor Temasek and growth-stage venture investor Pavilion Capital Partners. Within this frame of reference, Duckbill is the most promising drayage servicer in China.

The company has long specialized in the international freight container business — a more complex but lucrative niche market — and redefined it via its state-of-the-art algorithm-empowered software and management system. Meanwhile, with a team of experienced IT professionals from the shipping logistics industry featuring deep insights and superb execution skills, giving this trucking service platform featuring intelligent dispatching and transportation management an unparalleled advantage in upgrading the whole chain of container transportation through digital systems.

There is no doubt that Duckbill, a latecomer to the industry, has made tremendous strides in its first five-year journey.

Duckbill is ambitious, with supportive operating figures
Duckbill is ambitious, with supportive operating figures

According to the official website, it garnered the crown in terms of trucking capacity and scale, with over 2,100 trucks under control and about 13,000 partnered vehicles by the end of 2021. The volume of orders topped 1.1 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containers in the past year accordingly, 54 times larger than that of 2017, with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 172.3% from 2017 to 2021, putting it stands heads and shoulders above other competitors in China in this regard.

However, Duckbill’s ambitions go much further than that.

It is accelerating its path of expansion actively to cover four more ports this year, namely Lianyungang, Nantong, Qinzhou and Haikou. Moreover, it also plans to build a fleet of more than 10,000 trucks serving globally by 2025; in its envisioned future, orders will accordingly enlarge over six times the size of its current operations.

The scale of its business is matched by a large number of high-profile clients. The company’s official website shows that it currently ships over 100,000 foreign trade factories and serves more than 9,000 companies, including Shanghai-based logistics giant Sinotrans, China Merchants Group-backed Sinotrans (SH:601598; 0598:HK), state-owned COSCO Shipping, home appliance supplier Midea (SZ:000333) and Alibaba’s logistics arm Cainiao.

Digitalization: There is hope

As with all startups EqualOcean covers, we care most about future opportunities and the potential of rising stars. Through an in-depth analysis of the company, we find a keyword in Duckbill’s success — digitalization.

China’s foreign trade volume stood at USD 6.05 billion in 2021, up 30.1% year-on-year despite the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to weigh on global trade, official data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed earlier this year.

Buoyant exports have become the backbone of China’s economy, for sure; however, with rising domestic labor costs, the labor-intensive manufacturing sector is falling out of favor with developed economies. The pandemic has accelerated this shift even more, with Southeast Asia, Africa and South America becoming more preferable options. Vietnam, for example, reported upward Q1 economic figures and promising outlook when China was fighting with Omicron flare-ups in major manufacturing hubs like Shanghai.

Total exports and imports make up a large share of GDP, but its losing pace
Total exports and imports make up a large share of GDP, but its losing pace

At the same time, the game of great powers as well as the continued industrial transformation and upgrading have all contributed to a weakening of the momentum of China’s foreign exports.

“This trend is irreversible. We deeply believe that in the medium to long term, the sustainable growth for the container trucking industry pivots on utilizing digitalization and mobile interconnection to accelerate industry integration, carrying out scale operation, reducing operating costs while enhancing the customers’ experiences,” said Duckbill, who has faith in this assertion and been decisively engaged in it. The paperless campaign that has been vigorously promoted in recent years has further strengthened the industrial base in building a digital truck land transportation industry.

In fact, the whole world is going digital, and not just shipping. Since 2016, the world’s largest container firm Maersk, SIPG (SH:600018), China Merchants Group, China COSCO and a slew of others logistics companies have put forward a vision for the development of digital transformation. While only until recent years, the urgency is being rapidly amplified.

It follows that the company attaches great importance to research and development along with technological transformation, the proportion of R&D personnel reached 30% as of the end of 2021, with dozens of in-house intellectual property rights annually.

The company’s self-developed intelligent transportation service platform www.yazuishou.com provides international clients and freight forwarders a fully online, instantaneous, complete freight management system that offers immediate quotations, bookings, inspection services plus real-time 24/7 shipment track and trace under ‘EXWLocal Manager.’ It guarantees visible, reliable and efficient transportation services in the whole process of cross-border transportation from factories to targeted ports. Such certainty is even more crucial in the current VUCA world — volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous — and is then only available in a technology-driven company like Duckbill via its forward-looking strategies.

When it comes to the internal data center, its dispatching system, transportation management and risk control system are also noteworthy. Based on big data, Chinese satellite navigation system Beidou as well as AI-powered algorithms, Duckbill enables intelligent dispatching and real-time dynamic supervision of trucks on the run. Instantaneous data exchange also creates positive synergies in processes of transportation, loading, terminal release and customs clearance. Highly granular customer data analysis is another highlight of its digitalization solutions, which enables Duckbill to maximize user contributions, helping it to personalize its services, identify and fill in the gaps in its current operational capabilities.

In addition to its ongoing digital enhancements to optimize customer experience, Duckbill also values its freight drivers truly. It has launched a one-stop service terminal for container truck drivers named Future Truck Boss, a ‘freight version’ of Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi’s app. The mobile app provides drivers with a series of after-vehicle services such as pick-ups, collaboration, billing and refueling, which greatly lowers the thresholds for drivers to enter the industry, saves time and boosts efficiency. At the same instant, thanks to Duckbill’s intelligent dispatching algorithms and 7/24 manual support, drivers on the platform can also enjoy a stable, standardized and guaranteed workflow. This is something not offered by Duckbill’s rivals in the traditional trucking industry.

Duckbill’s digital solution has multiple advantages
Duckbill’s digital solution has multiple advantages

Tang Hongbin, the founder of Duckbill, told EqualOcean that the rational and effective application of new technology is the strongest driver of the industry. “We have made digitization our core competency at the current stage and continued to optimize customer service in exchange for a higher level of trust.”

Rosy future ahead

China overtook the United States as the world’s largest trader in goods for the first time in 2013, and even in the eventful 2021, China still maintained that lead.

The fact that container land transportation between factories and domestic ports is entirely undertaken by domestic freighters has created the largest as well as the most geographically concentrated niche market in the world. According to the Ministry of Transport, the container handling volume at China’s ports stood at 282.72 million TEUs in 2021, which gives the A-level player Duckbill in this segment a large growth potential.

“Looking ahead, we must embrace new technologies such as autonomous driving to strengthen our overwhelming advantages,” added Tang, whose team also eyes on the research and development of autonomous driving in port scenarios with a CNY 200 billion market cap. Currently, Duckbill is incubating its sub-brand BOOM, with plans to have a production model off the line by 2024 and mass production capability by 2025. “We expect auto-driving to reshape the economic model of the container logistics industry.”

The fully-automated logistic plant with zero carbon emissions is also on its list, which is designed to improve both security and efficiency via intelligent algorithms and big data analysis. It would also be a showcase for Duckbill’s social responsibility.

At present, Duckbill gets further ahead of its challengers in a number of key indicators, including fleet size, transport flexibility and visibility, fulfillment capacity and the volume of orders. It is telling a new story to the capital markets: starting from container trucking, it is heading towards the prosperous track of building a closed-loop for the whole on-land logistics market.

This path contains sizable opportunities, although Duckbill’s future may not always be roses and rainbows; maybe, long-termism is the best answer.

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PR Newswire

Precision Immersion Cooling Specialist, Iceotope Technologies, Secures £30m Funding from Global Syndicate Led by Impact Investor ABC Impact

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  • Singapore impact private equity firm, ABC Impact, is investing in Iceotope to drive the reduction of carbon emissions from data centres and contribute to the achievement of net-zero emissions for the sector
  • Syndicate includes nVent, a leading global provider of electrical connection and protection solutions, and the SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust plc, a FTSE 250 investment company, as strategic investors

LONDON, July 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Iceotope Technologies Limited (“Iceotope”), the global leader in precision immersion cooling technology, today announced that it has closed a £30m funding round from a global investment syndicate led by Singapore impact private equity firm ABC Impact. Iceotope’s environmentally efficient technology reduces the energy and water required to cool data centre servers and contributes toward the achievement of net-zero emissions for the data centre industry.

Iceotope Technologies Secures £30m Funding from Global Syndicate, Led by Impact Investor ABC Impact
Iceotope Technologies Secures £30m Funding from Global Syndicate, Led by Impact Investor ABC Impact

The global syndicate includes strategic investments from nVent – a leading global provider of electrical connection and protection solutions, as well as FTSE 250 investment company, SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust plc. Other investors in this round include Northern Gritstone, British Patient Capital, Pavilion Capital, and existing investor, Edinv.

As part of a strategic alliance with Iceotope, nVent will offer new modular integrated solutions for data centres, edge facilities, and high-performance computing applications. This alliance will further drive the rapid deployment of Iceotope’s technology globally through its holistic suite of data centre solutions.

Tan Shao Ming, Chief Investment Officer at ABC Impact said: “Climate and water solutions form a key investment theme for us. Given that a large share of data growth in the coming years is expected to come from Asia with the advent of IoT and the 5G rollout, data centres in the region are set to proliferate. Iceotope’s precision cooling solutions enable data centres to transit to a more sustainable infrastructure with a reduced environmental and real estate footprint. By increasing efficiency in their use of energy and water, data centres can contribute to global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. We see vast potential to deploy this technology in Asia, especially regions with tropical climates, and we look forward to working with Iceotope to scale its positive impact.”

David Craig, CEO of Iceotope Technologies said: “This significant investment, one of the largest amounts recently invested in liquid cooling, is a testament to the great work of our designers for our customers across the globe, as well as the many technology and channel partners that have placed their trust in our ability to cool data centre servers more efficiently in a vertical rack form factor. Given the global importance of the data centre sector, which can only increase as edge facilities proliferate and extend to the far reaches of civilization, we look forward to accelerating our global deployment plan with the help of our new and existing investment partners.”

While liquid cooling is long-established and has become the standard in high-performance computing (HPC) applications, air-cooling had been the preferred approach in cooling large data enterprise, co-location and cloud data centres. This situation is changing rapidly as the adoption of liquid cooling accelerates, with the global data center liquid cooling market expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.8%[1] to $6.4 billion by 2027.

Engineered to cool the whole IT stack, in every use case, from Hyperscale to the Extreme Edge, Iceotope’s patented Chassis-level Precision Immersion Cooling offers up to 96% water reduction, up to 40% power reduction, and up to 40% carbon emissions reduction per kW of ITE[2]. 100% sealed at chassis level, Iceotope’s liquid cooling solutions offer extreme cooling performance whilst isolating and protecting the critical IT from the surrounding environment and atmosphere. Industry-standard form factors allow simple maintenance and hot-swapping to be carried out – in any location – with ease, without mess, nor the need for heavy lifting gear.

Joe Ruzynski, nVent President of Enclosures said: “I’m excited to deepen our relationship with Iceotope. Together we’ve created sustainable, innovative cooling solutions that efficiently solve for heat and avoid downtime in data centres. Moving forward, we have the opportunity to build on our success and drive the next phase of precision immersion cooling solutions in an exciting and growing space.”

Jonathan Maxwell, founder and CEO of Sustainable Development Capital LLP, SEEIT’s investment manager said: “The data centre market is one of the fastest growing sources of demand for power and cooling globally. We are delighted to be supporting Iceotope in its efforts to expand the use of its innovative energy efficient technology in this dynamic sector.”

In the last 18 months, Iceotope has been widely recognised for innovation with Edge Computing Product of the Year DCS Award 2021, Data Centre Magazine Top 10 Most Innovative Cooling Companies, STL Partners 100 Edge Companies to Watch 2022, and most recently Electrical Review and Data Centre Review Excellence Awards in London winning Data Centre Design & Build Product of the Year and Data Centre Cooling Product of the Year 2022.

  1. Research and Markets; Global Data Center Liquid Cooling Market by Component, End User, Data Center Type, Type of Cooling, Enterprise and Region – Forecast to 2027: https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5610635/global-data-center-liquid-cooling-market-by?
  2. Independently verified by Cundall: Desktop Study Report- Liquid and Air-Cooling Compared

About Iceotope

Iceotope’s chassis level precision immersion cooling solutions are engineered to cool the whole IT stack, in every use case, from Hyperscale to the Extreme Edge. By removing the need for fans and air-cooling infrastructure, Iceotope’s technologies operate in near silence — bringing game-changing reduction in energy and water consumption, and significant cost reductions in the design, build and operation of data centres. For more information, visit: www.iceotope.com.

About ABC Impact

ABC Impact is a Singapore-headquartered and Asia-focused private equity firm dedicated to impact investing. We invest in companies that drive positive change by addressing the world’s most pressing challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, and deepening inequality. Our investment themes include financial and digital inclusion, better health and education, climate and water solutions, sustainable food and agriculture, and smart and liveable cities.

We believe that investing with an impact lens demonstrates the positive power of private capital and can help to foster more innovative and resilient companies that deliver societal and environmental benefits. We are a disciplined investor with a rigorous and evidence-based impact assessment approach that aims to generate positive and measurable social or environmental outcomes, alongside a compelling risk-adjusted return for our investors.

Our investment themes are aligned with the ABC Framework for an Active Economy, a Beautiful Society, and a Clean Earth. The ABC Framework was established by Singapore investment company Temasek and builds on the ideals of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations.

Our inaugural S$405 million fund includes investors such as Temasek Trust, Temasek, Pavilion Capital, Mapletree Investments, Seatown Holdings, Sembcorp Industries, and Singapore Power.

Visit www.abcimpact.com.sg for more information. Our latest Impact Report, “Inspiring Impact”, is available at www.abcimpact.com.sg/impactreport2021.

About nVent 

nVent is a leading global provider of electrical connection and protection solutions. We believe our inventive electrical solutions enable safer systems and ensure a more secure world. We design, manufacture, market, install and service high performance products and solutions that connect and protect some of the world’s most sensitive equipment, buildings and critical processes. We offer a comprehensive range of enclosures, electrical connections and fastening and thermal management solutions across industry-leading brands that are recognized globally for quality, reliability and innovation. Our principal office is in London and our management office in the United States is in Minneapolis. Our robust portfolio of leading electrical product brands dates back more than 100 years and includes nVent CADDY, ERICO, HOFFMAN, RAYCHEM, SCHROFF and TRACER. Learn more at www.nvent.com.

nVent, CADDY, ERICO, HOFFMAN, RAYCHEM, SCHROFF and TRACER are trademarks owned or licensed by nVent Services GmbH or its affiliates.

Media Contacts

Iceotope Technologies Ltd
Damien Wells, Spa Communications
e: dwells@spacomms.com
m: +44 (0) 7900 302102

ABC Impact Media Contact
e: media@abcimpact.com.sg

PR Newswire

BRV China-backed Service Robot Company Wissen Technology Completes US$10 Million Pre-A+ Series Financing

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BEIJING, July 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Wissen Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd (Wissen Technology), a leading service robot innovator, raised close to US$10 million in a Pre-A+ Series financing led by BlueRun Ventures China (“BRV China”). The funding will go towards reinforcing Wissen Technology’s technological edge in the development of collaborative robots (‘cobots’) and boosting its efforts across talent acquisition and commercialization of applications. Wissen Technology is the only cobot provider with a full-stack technology offering all-in-one smart robot solutions utilizing light, flexible robotic arms.

Founded in 2019, Wissen Technology has dedicated itself to redefine the industry of cobots by reaching new standards in flexibility, agility, elasticity and safety. The KT200 Dual-arm Field Operation Robot, equipped with a variety of end-execution tools, was awarded Contemporary Good Design Award 2021 by Red Dot Design Awards, one of the world’s largest design competitions, and is now fully functional across social and public services.

Cobots have grown rapidly in recent years. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, China is a core driving force within the world’s robotics industry having created more than RMB100 billion in total revenue over the past year. Further, industrial cobots have been put into use in nearly 200 industries and sectors in China and have proved their competence across education, healthcare and agriculture.

Despite rising demand, cobots face considerable barriers. It requires technological breakthroughs in every stage whether in hardware components such as the base, rotary joints and end-of-arm tools or in terms of software programming such as navigation, visual image analysis and movement control. Only when all elements are perfectly in place can cobots function properly. 

“The investment is meant to lift robotics innovation to a new level,” said Wei CAO, Partner of BRV China. “Currently, labor shortage due to an ageing population has led to skyrocketing demand for interactive operation robots in order to carry out unmanned operations across industries.”

“There is a need for comprehensive solutions in the form of collaborative robotic arms that are safe, agile and cost-effective. As such products get widely applied across public services, the utility sector, health and sanitation industries, intelligent parks and other areas. We look forward to Wissen’s efforts to drive the technology industry forward,” added Mr. Cao.

The founding team of Wissen Technology said: “We are determined to deliver a brand-new user experience and expand the utility of elastic robots. With the funding round, Wissen is keen to move towards the mass production of well-rounded collaborative service robots that can safeguard frontline workers and boost operational efficiency.”

About BRV China

BlueRun Ventures China (BRV China) is a leading early-stage venture firm in China with offices in Beijing and Shanghai. Having its heritage in Silicon Valley since 1998 and entered China in 2005, BRV China has managed over $2 billion through multiple USD and RMB funds, with over $1 billion cash distributions. BRV China focuses on investing in entrepreneurs who create a sustainable impact through technological innovations across enterprise services, transportation and smart machine, digital healthcare, and consumer technology sectors in China. The firm has invested in more than 150 portfolio companies, including Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI), QingCloud (688316.SH), WaterDrop (NYSE: WDH), Energy Monster (NASDAQ: EM), Mogujie/Meilishuo (NYSE: MOGU), Qudian (NYSE: QD), Ganji/58.com, PPTV, Guazi, Meishubao, Nanyan, Shanzhen, Gaussian Robotics, Yi Auto, Pinecone, etc. The firm has been recognized as the “No.1 Early-Stage Investment Firm” in China by Zero2IPO and ChinaVenture, and “Consistent Performing Venture Capital Fund Manager” by Preqin. For further information, please visit https://www.brv.com.cn/en/.

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PR Newswire

LeadSquared secures $153mn from WestBridge Capital; Turns Unicorn

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ATLANTA, June 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Sales automation platform, LeadSquared recently announced that it has secured an investment of USD $153mn in the Series C funding round from WestBridge Capital. 

LeadSquared founders Sudhakar Gorti, Nilesh Patel & Prashant Singh
LeadSquared founders Sudhakar Gorti, Nilesh Patel & Prashant Singh

Founded by Nilesh Patel, Prashant Singh, and Sudhakar Gorti in 2011, LeadSquared’s vision is to make high-velocity sales execution software a growth engine for companies around the globe. 

LeadSquared has built a global, best-in-class sales platform that takes away the guesswork from sales execution and makes efficiency the focus of every customer interaction, no matter how complex the customer journey. It now serves more than 2,000 customers globally. 

“We are grateful for the support of our investors as we strive to build LeadSquared into a globally significant business. With this financing, we will double down on growth investments in India and North America, start building in APAC and EMEA, add new offerings to our product portfolio, and fund acquisitions. To support our growth, we plan to double our headcount in the next 18 months,” shared Nilesh Patel, Founder & CEO, LeadSquared.

Remarking on the investment, Sumir Chadha, Co-founder and Managing Director at WestBridge Capital, said, “LeadSquared has shown a remarkable ability to scale and grow efficiently. Its core SaaS metrics are unique and best-in-class in the industry. Its focus on building an easy-to-use platform that transforms sales processes through automation delivering unparalleled efficiency, has significant potential for growth in the global market. Future of LeadSquared is very exciting to us and we look forward to a long partnership with the company.”

Gaja Capital’s Managing Partner, Gopal Jain opined, “LeadSquared is fast emerging as a category leader in high-velocity sales execution software. Nilesh and the team have built a strong platform with robust unit economics. With this round, the company has the balance sheet strength to further invest for growth in India as well as international markets, especially the US. We look forward to LeadSquared being the engine of growth for ambitious companies in India and around the world.”

LeadSquared is the growth partner for organizations in higher education, edtech, professional education, healthcare, financial services. LeadSquared is headquartered in Bengaluru, India alongside its presence in the United States, APAC and EMEA.

The company’s existing investors include Gaja Capital, IFC, and Stakeboat Capital. 

Barclays acted as the exclusive placement agent for the Series C funding.

Media Contact: Arushi Dhar; pr@leadsquared.com

Email ID Sales: Shubhankit Mishra sales@leadsquared.com

PR Newswire

Trajan to acquire leading chromatography consumables and tools business building critical mass in the gas chromatography portfolio

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Highlights

  • Trajan to acquire Chromatography Research Supplies, Inc. (CRS), a leading global manufacturer of high-quality analytical consumables
  • Provides Trajan with enhanced and extended production capabilities to service its growing gas chromatography business. Strengthens Trajan’s product portfolio particularly in the critical area of the gas chromatography inlet and sample introduction
  • Expands global infrastructure footprint with the acquisition of manufacturing real estate assets in the US
  • Follows three successful acquisitions and one strategic investment since listing on the ASX in June 2021
  • Acquisition delivers FY22 forecast revenues of US$14.1 million (A$20.1 million[1]) and EBITDA of US$4.2 million (A$6.0 million[1])[2], and estimated annual synergies of ~A$1.3 million[7]
  • Acquisition price of US$43.3 million (A$61.9 million[1]) implies ~9.5x FY22F EBITDA (pre synergies)[3]
  • Expected to deliver FY23F earnings per share accretion of >31%[1],[4],[5],[6] (excluding the impact of synergies) or >42% (including 100% of the pro forma impact of identified corporate savings and product line synergies[7])
  • Acquisition to be funded via a fully underwritten A$29.7 million institutional placement (Placement), A$20.0 million in acquisition debt financing through a facility with HSBC and $13.4 million from existing cash
  • Investor webinar to be held at 10:30am (AEST) Friday 17th June 2022. Register via this link.

MELBOURNE, Australia, June 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Global analytical science and device company Trajan Group Holdings Limited (ASX: TRJ) (Trajan or the Company) has today announced the signing of a binding share purchase agreement and a real estate purchase agreement to acquire 100% of Chromatography Research Supplies, Inc. (CRS), a leading global manufacturer of high-quality analytical consumables based in Kentucky, USA.

Having operated for over 25 years, CRS is a leading manufacturer of electronic and manual crimping tools, gas filters, ferrules, and injection port septa. Its products are used in analytical laboratories and various other industries worldwide and are known for their quality, ease of use and high levels of support.

The acquisition is highly complementary to Trajan’s existing product portfolio in the analytical workflow and consolidates Trajan’s current market leading position in gas chromatography sample introduction, supporting the quality of flow path connection and sealing functions with two leading product lines – septa and ferrules. CRS has been a long-term supplier of consumables to Trajan since Trajan’s acquisition of SGE Analytical in 2013.

In addition, the acquisition extends Trajan’s portfolio via CRS’ other product lines. Such product lines include tools that relate to sealing sample vials which are highly complementary to the Trajan Soltec business acquired in late 2018, and coating technologies that align strongly with Trajan’s automation businesses Axel Semrau and LEAP Pal Parts which were both acquired in late 2021.

CRS has a track record of strong financial performance, with accelerated growth expected in FY22F, adding FY22 forecasted revenue of US$14.1 million (A$20.1 million[8]) and forecast EBITDA of US$4.2 million (A$6.0 million[8])[9]. The acquisition price of US$43.3 million (A$61.9 million[8]) implies a ~9.5x EV/FY22F EBITDA[10] on a pre synergies basis.  

Trajan has identified significant revenue and cost synergies as well as corporate savings realised from the date of acquisition and product line alignment, for total estimated annual synergy benefits of ~A$1.3 million[11], expected to ramp up within the first 2–3 years of ownership. Through the consolidation of current manufacturing facilities, Trajan can realise additional synergies over the medium to long term.

Stephen Tomisich, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Trajan said: “The acquisition of CRS enhances multiple areas of our business and builds on our previous successful acquisitions to deliver comprehensive and best in class products in the analytical workflow.”

“Our market leadership in gas chromatography is enhanced with the addition of septa and ferrules components, as well as introducing a broader portfolio of products in other areas of the analytical workflow that build on our automation business.

As with our previous acquisitions, we have partnered with CRS for many years, understand their business, and know precisely where they fit within Trajan. The acquisition is earnings accretive and able to be rapidly integrated. Importantly, our acquisitions are building on capabilities to achieve our vision of personalised, preventative, data-based healthcare.”

Trajan has a proven framework to identify, acquire and integrate complementary businesses into its infrastructure. This framework involves a ‘founder friendly’ approach which is driven by deep industry relationships, targets solutions within the analytical workflow that have the potential to become industry best standard, is complementary to one or multiple business segments, and provides accretive and strategic opportunity to enhance shareholder value. 

Utilising this framework Trajan has, over the past 11 years, built a strong track record of delivering acquisitive and organic growth. That process has accelerated since the Company’s IPO in June 2021, having acquired laboratory automation business Axel Semrau GmbH in November 2021, microsampling business Neoteryx LLC in December 2021, and LEAP PAL Parts and Consumables in December 2021, as well as entered a strategic investment in consumer health monitoring with Humankind Ventures Ltd (trading as Forth) in November 2021.

Acquisition consideration

Trajan is acquiring CRS for US$43.3 million (A$61.9 million[12]) through a share purchase agreement and a real estate purchase agreement, the latter being for the purchase of the land and building from which CRS operates in Kentucky, USA.   

The Company will fund the acquisition of CRS via a fully underwritten A$29.7 million Placement to eligible institutional, sophisticated, and professional investors, an acquisition debt facility from HSBC of A$20.0 million and A$13.4 million from existing cash. Completion of Trajan’s acquisition of CRS is conditional on completion of the Placement and on Trajan satisfying customary conditions to drawdown under the HSBC acquisition financing facility.

The Placement is being issued at an offer price of $2.00 per new share (Offer Price), which represents a 11.1% discount to the last closing price of $2.25 on 16 June 2022.

The Placement will result in the issue of approximately 14.8 million new shares (New Shares), representing approximately 11.0% of Trajan’s existing shares on issue. The New Shares issued under the Placement will rank equally with existing Trajan shares at their date of issue.

Share Purchase Plan

Trajan will also offer eligible shareholders in Australia and New Zealand the opportunity to participate in a non-underwritten Share Purchase Plan (SPP). The SPP has a limit of $30,000 per eligible shareholder.

  • New Shares under the SPP will be issued at $2.00 per share, being the same price as the Offer Price under the Placement.
  • The SPP is being undertaken to raise up to $5.0 million[13].
  • Trajan intends to use the proceeds of the SPP to support the Company’s growth objectives through further strategic acquisitions and organic growth opportunities.
  • The SPP will open on Friday, 24 June 2022 and is expected to close at 5.00pm (AEST), Tuesday 12 July 2022.
  • Further details relating to the SPP will be provided to eligible shareholders in Australia and New Zealand in due course.

Canaccord Genuity (Australia) Limited and Ord Minnett Limited are joint lead managers and underwriters to the Placement and DLA Piper is acting as legal advisor to Trajan.

Indicative timetable

The timetable below is indicative only and subject to change. The Company reserves the right to alter the dates at its discretion and without prior notice, subject to the ASX Listing Rules and Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

Event

Date[14]

SPP Record Date

7:00pm, Thursday, 16 June 2022

Offer announcement

Friday, 17 June 2022

Placement bookbuild opens

Friday, 17 June 2022

Placement bookbuild closes (all jurisdictions)

2:00pm, Friday, 17 June 2022

Announce completion of Placement and trading halt lifted

Monday, 20 June 2022

Settlement of New Securities under the Placement (DvP)

Wednesday, 22 June 2022

Allotment and normal trading of New Securities issued under the Placement

Thursday, 23 June 2022

SPP opens

Friday, 24 June 2022

SPP closes

5:00pm, Tuesday, 12 July 2022

SPP results announced to the ASX

Friday, 15 July 2022

SPP Securities issued

Tuesday, 19 July 2022

Authorised for ASX release by the Board of Trajan Group Holdings Limited.

[1] AUD/USD 0.70 based on assumed AUD/USD exchange rate

[2] CRS FY22F EBITDA includes a rent expense of US$228K

[3] EV / FY22F EBITDA multiple of 9.5x is based on an enterprise value of US$40.2 million (excluding the acquisition of freehold title to real estate owned by CSR for US$3.1 million) and an FY22F EBITDA of US$4.2 million converted to AUD at AUD/USD0.70

[4] Before one-off transaction and implementation costs

[5] Accretion assumes a pre-tax interest rate of 4%

[6] FY23F accretion assumes analyst consensus NPAT estimate of A$8.8m and CSR NPAT of A$4.7m (excluding corporate savings and product line synergies) and an effective tax rate of 20% for CSR based on Trajan management’s due diligence

[7] Refer to page 17 of the ASX Investor Presentation dated 17 June 2022

[8] AUD/USD 0.70 based on assumed AUD/USD exchange rate

[9] CRS FY22F EBITDA includes a rent expense of US$228K

[10] EV / FY22F EBITDA multiple of 9.5x is based on an enterprise value of US$40.2 million (excluding the acquisition of freehold title to real estate owned by CSR for US$3.1 million) and an FY22F EBITDA of US$4.2 million converted to AUD at AUD/USD0.70

[11] Refer to page 17 of the ASX Investor Presentation dated 17 June 2022

[12] AUD/USD 0.70 based on assumed AUD/USD exchange rate at time of completion

[13] The Company reserves its discretion regarding the final amount to be raised under the SPP

[14] The above timetable is indicative only and is subject to change without notice. All dates and times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).

About Trajan

Trajan is a global developer and manufacturer of analytical and life sciences products and devices founded to have a positive impact on human wellbeing through scientific measurement. These products and solutions are used in the analysis of biological, food, and environmental samples. Trajan has a portfolio and pipeline of new technologies which support the move towards decentralised, personalised data-based healthcare.

Trajan is a global organisation of 600 people with seven manufacturing sites across the US, Australia, Europe, and Malaysia, and operations in Australia, the US, Asia, and Europe.

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AUTOCRYPT closes Series B with $25.5 million to expand V2X and in-vehicle systems security for intelligent transport

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SEOUL, South Korea, May 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — AUTOCRYPT, a leading secure mobility and V2X communications company, has raised a $25.5 million Series B round, with post-money valuation of $120 million. Leading backers included Korea Asset Investment Securities, Ulmus Investment, BSK Investment, Shinhan Venture Investments, JB Asset Management, STIC Ventures, Pathfinder H, and Hyundai Venture Investment. 

In 2020, the company closed its Series A round with $15 million and began its Series B round in late 2021 with the goal to expand its V2X offerings globally. Establishing subsidiaries in Toronto, Canada and Munich, Germany, AUTOCRYPT is quickly growing its foothold in Europe and North America, with plans to open its Singapore office later this year.  

CEO and co-Founder Daniel ES Kim said in a statement regarding the funding round, “We’re proud of AUTOCRYPT’s progressive growth, and believe the investments are a reflection of the tremendous amounts of effort we have put into cultivating relationships in this rapidly changing industry of connected mobility.”  

Kim continued regarding AUTOCRYPT’s plans for the next year, remarking, “We believe secure V2X will be the key to wider adoption of autonomous driving – this means implementing secure V2X connectivity in not just vehicles, but roads, infrastructure, but also pedestrian devices.” Kim refers to AutoCrypt SCMS, a tri-standard compliant PKI for message verification across all types of end-entities in the V2X environment. 

AUTOCRYPT is currently in talks with several public agencies across the globe to implement its V2X security and SCMS for C-ITS projects. AUTOCRYPT already manages security and PKI for all C-ITS projects on the Korean peninsula. 

Besides its advancements in V2X security, AUTOCRYPT has also added Security Analyzer™ and Security Fuzzer™ to its in-vehicle systems security solution. Security Analyzer is an SBOM-based software vulnerability analysis platform, protecting vehicle software throughout its entire lifecycle, while Security Fuzzer effectively detects software flaws through smart fuzzing. Both tools are essential for today’s increasingly software-oriented E/E architecture. The company also plans to showcase its newest Plug&Charge (PnC) and EV-related offerings in Oslo at the 2022 International Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition (EVS35).  

About AUTOCRYPT 

AUTOCRYPT is the leading player in automotive and smart mobility technologies, paving the way for C-ITS and autonomous driving through a multi-layered, holistic approach. Through security solutions for V2X, V2G (including PnC security), in-vehicle systems, and fleet management, AUTOCRYPT ensures that security is prioritized before vehicles hit the road. For more information, contact global@autocrypt.io.

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People Moves at Golden Gate Ventures

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Dea Sujardi takes on Senior Advisor role; Kelly Ang takes on Investor Relations responsibilities

SINGAPORE, April 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Golden Gate Ventures, one of Singapore’s first VC funds, founded by Silicon Valley natives, recently announced a series of updates to its team, as it continues to invest in its top talent.

Dea Sujardi, former Head of Indonesia, takes on the role of Senior Advisor in Indonesia. Leveraging her deep local market knowledge, she will focus her energy on bringing to the firm deep insights about the fast-changing Indonesian landscape to help the investment team stay ahead-of-the-curve, and to give founders a finger-on-the-pulse, especially for those eyeing expansion plans into Indonesia.

After two years with the firm, Andri Wardhani, Senior Associate is moving on to a new adventure and Golden Gate Ventures is very excited for her to continue to have a positive footprint in the region.

As one of the oldest established VC funds in the region, Golden Gate Ventures sees itself as a catalyst to help nurture and develop great talent for the local ecosystem.

Building on her tenure at Golden Gate Ventures, Kelly Ang, will be expanding her responsibilities under an investor relations track, with the anticipated influx of investor capital flowing into the region. With the support of the firm, Kelly is on executive education classes with University of Colorado Boulder and University of Virginia. This is part of the firm’s continued talent investment strategy that has similarly benefited Partners Angela Toy and Justin Hall.

Meanwhile, Associate Freddy Shen will be moving to a corporate venture capital role after three years with the firm to focus on later-stage investment.

About Golden Gate Ventures

Golden Gate Ventures is a VC fund in Southeast Asia (SEA) founded by Silicon Valley natives. Since 2011, Golden Gate Ventures has launched four funds and invested in over 60 companies. The firm focuses on investing in the rising consumer internet class in Southeast Asia. Breakout companies include Carousell (mobile classifieds), Appota (Vietnam mobile publishing platform), Alodokter (HealthTech), Carro (Auto Marketplace), and Xendit (Payment Processing).                

For more information, please contact:

Golden Gate Ventures

Motley Crew Consulting (for Golden Gate Ventures)  

Email: press@goldengate.vc    

michelle.tham@motleycrewconsulting.com

Website: www.goldengate.vc  

Mobile: (65) 96384209

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Japan’s first laser nuclear fusion company, EX-Fusion raises 130 million JPY in pre-seed round, paving way for the development of critical components needed for commercialization of nuclear fusion

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Funds will be used to develop technologies that enable continuous injection of target material and auto tracking and alignment of the laser systems to build a commercial fusion reactor

OSAKA, Japan, April 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — EX-Fusion Inc., the first startup in Japan aimed at commercializing laser based fusion energy, announced on March 31, 2022 that it has closed a pre-seed round funding of 130 million Japanese yen. The pre-seed round was led by ANRI, a Tokyo based venture capital firm, along with Osaka University Venture Capital (OUVC) and was the first company funded within ANRI’s latest ESG specific fund.

EX-Fusion Team Photo, from left to right: Kenjiro Takahashi, Takayoshi Norimatsu, Kazuki Matsuo, Yoshitaka Mori, Koichi Masuda
EX-Fusion Team Photo, from left to right: Kenjiro Takahashi, Takayoshi Norimatsu, Kazuki Matsuo, Yoshitaka Mori, Koichi Masuda

The funding enables EX-Fusion to accelerate the development of the continuous target supply system (CTSS) and the laser target tracking system (LTTS), both fundamental systems for the commercialization of laser powered nuclear fusion reactors. By combining the two systems, EX-Fusion aims to demonstrate the feasibility of high frequency repetition laser plasma experiments using high power pulse lasers and to demonstrate the ability to continuously generate neutrons in sequential laser fusion reactions.

EX-Fusion was co-founded between Kazuki Matsuo, postdoctoral research fellow at University of California San Diego, Shinsuke Fujioka, professor at the Institute of Laser Engineering at Osaka University, and Yoshitaka Mori, associate professor at the Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries.

“We believe that nuclear fusion is the solution for meeting our global energy needs and helping the world reach carbon neutrality by 2050,” said Matsuo. “And by focusing our research and development around the fundamental technology related to commercial operation of laser-based nuclear fusion, we can achieve safe and affordable clean energy faster. This initial funding will kick start our efforts to build the two systems, continuous target supply system and laser target tracking system, which will prove that continuous target injection as well as laser targeting can be achieved at or above 10Hz.”

Masahiro Sameshima, Partner at ANRI, said,

“I have been encouraging researchers to establish their own ventures with the hope of creating a nuclear fusion venture that could become a new power source in Japan. I am thrilled to be supporting the launch of EX-Fusion from the beginning. Investment in fusion ventures is accelerating around the world toward the realization of fusion technology, and Japan is lagging far behind in terms of the amount of funds raised. However, we are not pessimistic about this, and are determined to help refine EX-Fusion’s original technology and prove that we can compete on the world stage. Furthermore, we hope to apply this laser technology to various fields such as processing of metal materials and semiconductor manufacturing.”

Yousuke Hirai, Investment Principle at OUVC, said,

“I am very excited to be investing into the EX-Fusion team whose goal is to provide the ultimate clean energy in the form of commercial nuclear fusion power. While we realize that laser based nuclear fusion is one of many forms of nuclear fusion, there have been rapid advancements in the field of laser fusion recently and thus is considered one of the most commercially viable methods amongst various nuclear fusion methods. By taking the learnings from the research conducted at Osaka University over the past 50 years, EX-Fusion will lead the advancement of laser nuclear fusion and pave the path to commercialization of the technology.”

EX-Fusion is collaborating with the Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE) at Osaka University, the Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries (GPI) as well as multiple private sector corporations in its development of these technologies. The joint development project with ILE involves the development of the CTSS, which will allow for material targets to be placed inside the fusion reaction chamber continuously, consistently and congruently against the high powered pulse laser system. The collaboration with GPI will be focused on developing the LTTS, which will allow for real-time alignment of multiple lasers such that it can direct the energy at maximum efficiency towards the reactor target.

About EX-Fusion

EX-Fusion is a Japan-based private company aiming to develop the first commercial laser based nuclear fusion reactor for power generation.

Laser fusion is a method of obtaining energy by using a high power laser to compress a mixture of deuterium and tritium to high density and heat it to high temperature, causing a nuclear fusion reaction. Research is being conducted mainly in the US, Japan, France, the UK, China, and Russia.

In the U.S., in August 2021, an experiment at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved a fusion output of 1.35 megajoules, which is more than 70% of the laser input energy. This demonstrated that it is possible to ignite and burn fusion fuel using a laser method.

On the other hand, in order to realize a commercial reactor, it is necessary to (i) improve the efficiency of fusion reaction generation, i.e., to achieve a fusion power that exceeds the laser input energy, and (ii) to generate a steady-state fusion reaction with a repetition rate of about 10 Hz and to recover the fusion energy and convert it into consumable energy forms such as electricity and hydrogen. In Japan, for (i) improving the efficiency of fusion reaction generation, we are focusing on the fast ignition method, in which high-density fusion fuel is externally heated by a laser, which is expected to increase the efficiency, and experiments are being conducted using the GEKKO XII and LFEX lasers at the Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE), Osaka University. The founder, Kazuki Matsuo is one of the lead researchers on fast ignition and is the world record holder for fast ignition type of reaction [1]. The recent results have been referred to in the summary of the world fusion research published by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) in the United States [2]. Furthermore, as for (ii) fusion generation by high frequency repetition lasers, our executive officer Mori, as a core member of the Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries (GPI), has been conducting joint research with Toyota Motor Corporation and other partner institutions using high power lasers developed by Hamamatsu Photonics [3].

Our company was established to consolidate the knowledge of laser fusion that has been cultivated in Japan and to realize a commercial laser fusion reactor. Currently, we are transferring the 10Hz continuous target feeding system [4] owned by the Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries to our company. With this technology as our core technology, we will start our research and development with the support of our partner institutions.

[1] K. Matsuo et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 35001 (2020).

[2] Samuel E. Wurzel, Scott C. Hsu arXiv:2105.10954v4 (2022)

[3] Y. Mori et al., J. Plasma Fusion Res. vol. 97, 352-364 (2021) (written in Japanese). 

[4] Y. Mori et al., “Ten-Hz beads pellet injection and laser engagement” Nucl. Fusion. NF-104796.R1 (2021)

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