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PR Newswire

TDK Ventures presents DX Week 2022, a thought leadership forum on digital transformation

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  • DX Week 2022: Where the Analog World Meets the Digital World 
  • An online gathering of entrepreneurs, academia, government, scientists, venture capitalists, and visionaries at the forefront of digital transformation (DX) 
  • Five two-hour sessions with diverse expert panelists providing definitive insights into how digital technologies change the world 

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 17, 2022 — TDK Corporation (TSE: 6762) announced today that subsidiary TDK Ventures, Inc. will host DX Week from April 18 through 22, 2022. Following a similar format to TDK Ventures’ Energy Week 2021 in October which featured top leaders in the energy and battery fields, this global online gathering will bring together over 30 speakers made up of entrepreneurs, scientists, venture capitalists, and visionaries from around the world and who are at the forefront of digital transformation (DX). Interested participants can register for the event at this link: https://www.tdk-ventures.com/dx-week.

Each speaker will share her or his dreams, expectations, and challenges concerning the future of digitization and how it will influence science and technology, mobility, manufacturing, finance, computing, society, entertainment, and life as we know it.

"Our Energy Week 2021 delivered on its promise to show everyone the innovations that could power tomorrow’s world and cleanly produce and store its energy," said Nicolas Sauvage, President, TDK Ventures. "We hold even higher expectations for DX Week 2022 and its potential to offer a series of inspirational, provocative, interactive discussions that will inspire tomorrow’s inventors, engineers, entrepreneurs, and investors to follow their dreams and capitalize on their knowledge, skill, and insight."

DX Week 2022 days, times, and topics are below. All times are PDT (GMT -08:00).

  • Monday April 18, 4:00 PM-6:00 PM – Metaverse

Like many of today’s technologies, "the metaverse" remains somewhat anchored in the realm of science fiction. This discussion takes the viewpoint that its applications are not limited to gaming and entertainment, but include virtual workspaces, remote collaboration, the gamification of education, and other applications which are particularly relevant.

  • Tuesday April 19, 4:00 PM-6:00 PM – Connectivity

Connectivity has become an essential part of our everyday lives. This session will explore the development path of the tools that will usher in the next generation of communication and information dissemination, including cellular 5G/6G, Wi-Fi, fiber optics, satellites, wearables, and more, as well as the broad spectrum of applications these technologies may enable.

  • Wednesday April 20, 8:00 AM-10:00 AM – Edge Computing

The increase of IoT devices and AI/ML applications is producing a massive amount of data and requires high computing capacity at the edge. This session covers both edge devices and network edge. High-power efficiency and low latency are some of the key considerations.

  • Thursday April 21, 8:00 AM-10:00 AM – Industry 5.0

The data revolution and acceleration of DX has poised robots, intelligent machines, and the industrial internet of things to take over much of the boring, repetitive work required for much of the world’s production. The paradigm shift from a data driven world to the need for sustainability-enabled technology is already proving that innovative cleantech solutions enable cost efficient and effective operations. This panel discusses revolutions such as renewable energy generation, clean tech, data transmission, data acceleration, realistic simulations, biometrics, and much more, and highlights how and why sustainability is a core tenet of Industry 5.0.

  • Friday April 22, 8:00 AM-10:00 AM – Future of Mobility

There are two givens in life: the more people know, the more they need to explore, and humans will forever need face-to-face contact. Myriad challenges, however, remain before many of the world’s citizens will be ready to accept EVs, autonomously driven vehicles, and other transportation innovations. Car sharing, battery swapping, vehicle-to-grid integration, behind-the-grid storage, clean hydrogen, second-life, and alternative chemistries are on the table for discussion as well as the potential for personal flying cars, high-speed rail, and other futuristic transport.

Notable speakers include:

  • Metaverse: Rio Kurokawa, Director, IBM; Pearly Chen, VP, HTC VIVE
  • Connectivity: Nada Gozlmie, Ph.D., NIST Fellow & Chief of Wireless Networks Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology; Matt Grob, CTO, XCOM; Maryam Rofougaran, Founder and CEO, Movandi
  • Edge Computing: Chris Bergey, SVP/GM of Infrastructure, Arm; Pete Warden, Founding member, TensorFlow
  • Industry 5.0: Xiaolin Lu, Fellow and Director of IoT, Texas Instruments; Yasser Alsaied, VP of IoT, Amazon Web Services

Digital transformation has integrated mobile technologies, miniaturized embedded sensors and devices, integrated networking, enabled cloud computing, and delivered sophisticated data analytics. Together, through DX, we can and are bringing a better, even more sustainable, tomorrow. For information regarding online attendance to TDK Ventures’ DX Week 2022, visit https://www.tdk-ventures.com/dx-week.

About TDK Corporation

TDK Corporation is a world leader in electronic solutions for the smart society based in Tokyo, Japan. Built on a foundation of material sciences mastery, TDK welcomes societal transformation by resolutely remaining at the forefront of technological evolution and deliberately "Attracting Tomorrow." It was established in 1935 to commercialize ferrite, a key material in electronic and magnetic products. TDK’s comprehensive, innovation-driven portfolio features passive components such as ceramic, aluminum electrolytic and film capacitors, as well as magnetics, high-frequency, and piezo and protection devices. The product spectrum also includes sensors and sensor systems such as temperature and pressure, magnetic, and MEMS sensors. In addition, TDK provides power supplies and energy devices, magnetic heads and more. These products are marketed under the product brands TDK, EPCOS, InvenSense, Micronas, Tronics and TDK-Lambda. TDK focuses on demanding markets in automotive, industrial and consumer electronics, and information and communication technology. The company has a network of design and manufacturing locations and sales offices in Asia, Europe, and in North and South America. In fiscal 2021, TDK posted total sales of USD 13.3 billion and employed about 129,000 people worldwide.

About TDK Ventures

TDK Ventures Inc. invests in startups to bolster innovation in materials science, energy/power and related areas typically underrepresented in venture capital portfolios. Established in 2019 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of TDK Corporation, the corporate venture company’s vision is to propel the digital and energy transformations of segments such as health and wellness, next-generation transportation, robotics and industrial, mixed reality and the wider IoT/IIoT markets. TDK Ventures will co-invest and support promising portfolio companies by providing technical expertise and access to global markets where TDK operates. Interested startups or investment partners may contact TDK Ventures: www.tdk-ventures.com or contact@tdk-ventures.com.

You can download this text from https://www.tdk-ventures.com/tdk-ventures-presents-dx-week-2022 

Contacts for regional media

TDK Brand

Contact

Phone

Mail

TDK

Ms. Sarah MACKENZIE

Publitek

Portland, OR

+1 503.720.3743

TDK-US@publitek.com

TDK Ventures

Mr. Raphel FINELLI

TDK Ventures

San Jose, CA

+1 408.667.5970

raphel.finelli@tdk-ventures.com

 

 

PR Newswire

ThinkZone Ventures announces ThinkZone Fund II with $60 million in fund size and the largest local resources in Vietnam

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ThinkZone Fund II, founded by ThinkZone Ventures, is the largest local venture capital fund founded by Vietnamese entrepreneurs and conglomerate owners, including IPA Investments Corporation, Phu Thai Holdings, Stavian Group and other investors.

HANOI, Vietnam, Feb. 22, 2022 — ThinkZone Ventures announces ThinkZone Fund II with $60 million in fund size, the largest local venture capital fund in Vietnam thus far, to support the growth of Vietnamese startups.

In recent years, the Vietnam startup ecosystem has been more dynamic than ever, attracting a huge amount of investments in tech startups. In 2021, Vietnam recorded a total venture capital investment of up to 2.48 billion USD (according to a report by DealstreetAsia), nearly 24 times higher than 2016’s figure ($105 million). This number is expected to keep increasing in the coming years, as Bain & Company’s 2021 report predicts that Vietnam will be the country to have the highest growth of the Internet economy in Southeast Asia by 2030 (11 times higher than the current market size). This potential opens up great opportunities that attract domestic and foreign investors in Vietnamese startups, with a total of 108 investors in 2020 (3 times higher than 2016).

However, most of these venture capital funds come from abroad, with limited local resources to support Vietnamese startups. This also results in more complicated investment processes such as setting up a legal entity in Singapore, as well as legal processes for an investment license in other countries. Moreover, besides financial capital, startups also need lots of other support such as knowledge, experience, distribution channels, customer access and legal. These are the very advantages of local investors from Vietnam.

Stemming from those facts, ThinkZone II Fund was founded by ThinkZone Ventures and other notable Vietnamese conglomerate owners specialised in various verticals such as finance, retail, manufacturing, agriculture and F&B. With resources from the ecosystem of these conglomerates, ThinkZone II Fund can provide a huge amount of support to accelerate the growth of startups, and further to create sustainable development for the economy.

About ThinkZone Fund II

With a total committed fund size of up to $60 million, ThinkZone Fund II is the largest venture capital fund in tech startups founded by Vietnamese entrepreneurs and notable conglomerate owners. ThinkZone Ventures will invest in tech startups in various verticals from Pre-Seed to Series A (up to 3 million USD per startup). With huge financial resources, ThinkZone Fund II is ready to accompany founders who have great vision, passion and ambition to create products that create positive impacts for the society.

Besides financial resources, the biggest advantage of ThinkZone Fund II compared to other VC funds is the huge support from large Vietnamese conglomerates in many fields such as IPA Investments, Phu Thai Holdings, Stavian Group. In which:

– IPA Investments is a leading corporation in investment in many verticals such as finance, securities, banking, real estates and energy. Among the companies that have received investment from IPA, the most prominent is VNDirect. IPA Invesments is a founding shareholder of VNDIRECT Securities JSC, the Vietnam’s top 2 securities companies that provides a wide range of services from securities brokerage to investment banking.

– Phu Thai Holdings Group JSC is a leading multi-industry investment group in Vietnam with the outstanding strengths in the field of distribution and retailing of various products from luxury cars, fashion, industrial machinery and engines, veterinary drugs, pharmaceuticals to FMCGs…

With the advantage of having more than 30 member companies, wide logistics & distribution network, nationwide customer base, as well as close and reliable partnerships with major corporations in the world, Phu Thai Holdings Group has huge resources to support startups in developing domestic business and expanding to the international market.

– Stavian Group is a multinational multi-industry corporation and a leading distributor of primary plastic resins in Asia – Pacific region and the world. The Group is also known as one of the leading manufacturers of eco-friendly biodegradable packaging in Vietnam. Established in 2009, Stavian Group currently has branches and business networks in more than 80 countries around the world. Among the member companies of the Group, Stavian Chemical JSC is ranked at No. 6 in the TOP 100 Largest Chemical Distributors in the Asia – Pacific region and No. 22 in the TOP 100 Largest Chemical Distributors Worldwide (according to the ICIS Ranking in 2020).

Startups that receive investment from ThinkZone Ventures will have great potential to be supported and partner with these corporations, to take advantage of the huge resources in finance, production, distribution, retail, …

"Over 10 years as a startup founder and a startup supporter, I have learned a lot from my own failures and successes. Therefore, I and ThinkZone always want to contribute and create a launching pad for founders who have the passion and vision to create positive values for society. With Fund II, ThinkZone has more resources than ever to make that happen," said Mr. Bui Thanh Do, General Partner & CEO of ThinkZone Ventures.

Talking about ThinkZone Fund II, Ms. Pham Minh Huong, Co-founder of IPA Investments and Chairwoman of VNDIRECT, said, "I share the same investment principles as ThinkZone, which is that investment should focus on creating real values instead of pure goal to profit. Fund I has proven that ThinkZone has selected and developed companies with great potential, and with Fund II’s large resources, there are sure to be many more successful companies. This is also the first amount of capital that IPA allocates for startup investment, and ThinkZone is the very place that we trust to invest."

ThinkZone Accelerator Batch 5 is designed to be the largest resourced accelerator program in Vietnam

In parallel with the announcement of ThinkZone Fund II, ThinkZone also announces the launch of ThinkZone Accelerator Batch 5 to support early-stage tech startups that are in the process of product-market validation. This is the key activity that ThinkZone focuses on to create a source of potential startups, validate new business models, from which ThinkZone Fund II will be ready to invest in these startups in their next rounds. Support resources for startups from ThinkZone Accelerator include an investment of $50,000 – $100,000 per startup, along with a large network of support packages from ThinkZone’s partner network.

When joining ThinkZone Accelerator, startups will have access to a variety of support packages in sales & marketing, recruitment, technology, etc. with a total value of more than $150,000/startup. These are all support packages from major partners in the startup ecosystem such as Amazon Web Services, Deloitte, Goldsun Media, FPT Play, Vietnambiz, MISA and HubSpot.

In addition, these startups will also be supported by experts from many fields in ThinkZone’s mentor network, as well as connected with large corporate partners such as VNDirect, Phuthai Holding, Stavian Group, Viettel, Be Group, G-Group and Unilever to accelerate their growth process.

About ThinkZone Ventures

Founded in 2019, ThinkZone Ventures is a venture capital fund focusing on tech startups in the Pre-seed to Series A stage. ThinkZone invests in various verticals such as fintech, edtech, healthcare, transportation, digital transformation,… and was ranked by TechinAsia as the most active investor in Vietnam’s startups.

After 3 years of establishment, ThinkZone has invested in 11 tech startups with a total valuation of more than 110 million USD. Some prominent ThinkZone’s portfolio startups include GIMO – A flexible salary-advanced platform that has joined Y Combinator W2022, EMDDI – Vietnam’s largest taxi dispatching platform with 30,000 vehicles in more than 50 provinces, eJOY – An edtech startup providing a multi-platform English learning solution with 1 million users globally, and Educa – An edtech startup with highest growth rate in Southeast Asia with more than 5 million users,…

PR Newswire

Japanese Startup Receives Developer Grant to Build a Blockchain-based Electronic Voting System with Embedded User ID

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ZUG, Switzerland, Feb. 18, 2022 — PHI Inc. is the first company in Japan to be awarded the `Free and Open Grant’ by the Concordium Foundation. The grant has been awarded for the development of an innovative electronic open voting project, called Govote, which will run on the Concordium blockchain.

The PHI team has been working on a business model for managing teams and projects through a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) preparing for the Web3 era.The Govote project is part of PHI’s vision of digital governance of DAO society. Govote can be used for a general meeting of shareholders, distributed teams building and online communities.

In their search for a blockchain platform to meet the requirements of the next-generation voting system, the PHI team found Concordium blockchain which implements identity management. Privacy and anonymity are inherent  to voting mechanisms to Govote, which uses blockchain technology and zero-knowledge proofs to provide voting rights, vote anonymity, and tamper-resistance of voting results.

Lone Fønss Schrøder, CEO, Concordium, commented: "Online voting has long been talked about and is gaining momentum, especially in the post-COVID era. While the technology has been available for quite some time, concern is still rampant about the permeability and vulnerability of these systems. Using blockchain to overcome some of the challenges, is yet another use case for this technology. It is our honor to work together with the PHI team to make online voting a reality."

Takashi Oka, Co-founder of PHI commented, "We are delighted to be the first team in Japan to receive a grant from the Concordium Foundation. PHI team will be a bridge between Web2.0 and Web3.0, which will greatly contribute to the development of the blockchain space. Behind the slow progress in the use of public blockchain by companies and public cases, there is a very high hurdle to meet the regulatory requirements such as AML/CFT. On Concordium, it is possible to develop applications/services that solve this problem by utilizing the ID function to achieve both identity verification and privacy."

Concordium, based in Switzerland, is defining a new category of compliance facilitating blockchains. Concordium is a Web 3.0 based, sustainable and science-proven blockchain. It is the first decentralized blockchain with identification at the protocol level which helps facilitate greater regulatory compliance. This identity layer offers transactional privacy while supporting regulatory accountability, and, as such, is a great match with use cases of this nature.

CONTACT:

Media Contact
Sigal Biran-Nagar
VP Marketing
press@concordium.com
+972 54 9222 634

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/concordium/r/japanese-startup-receives-developer-grant-to-build-a-blockchain-based-electronic-voting-system-with-,c3509384

PR Newswire

1bill announces strategic investment in Accurassi

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Multi-million-dollar investment to transform Australia’s energy landscape and unlock the future of global energy retail

MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb. 7, 2022 — One of Australia’s leading financial technology innovators, 1bill Holdings, has announced a more than $2 million investment in visionary B2B Energy Technology SaaS Provider, Accurassi.

The strategic deal is expected to unlock the future of energy retail with market-first technology to accelerate the easy transition to green energy.

1bill CEO Neil Saligrama said there was a thirst in the Australian and global markets for more sustainable energy solutions, which current digital infrastructure including product and billing capabilities cannot service at scale or speed.

"No transition is easy, unless it’s made easy via technology, and that’s what this is about: using technology to simplify energy acquisition and management and provide clarity for consumers to make a smooth transition to sustainable solutions," Mr Saligrama said.

Accurassi CEO Colin Fraser said 1bill’s significant investment would allow them to build the platform of the future.

"The technology we are building will allow energy retailers to diversify and evolve through the innovation of energy plans and billing capabilities," Mr Fraser said.

"It will empower customers to choose what they want, how they pay, and when they pay for it – things like bundled hardware, energy subscriptions and plans customised to an individual’s needs.

"It’s going to make home de-carbonisation accessible to everyone through intelligent, dynamic energy plans, and greener, cheaper, simpler bills."

Mr Saligrama said the investment strategically aligned both companies by combining the strength of 1bill’s market reach with Accurassi’s revolutionary technology, creating compelling value for both companies and their shareholders.

"At 1bill, we’re very focused on adding technology that is unique to the market and relevant to the customer," Mr Saligrama said.

"Accurassi has been at the helm of energy innovation in the market, and their technology gives us a future-focused and cost-friendly solution that enables us to be the market leader."

Accurassi CEO Colin Fraser said the two companies share a vision for a greener planet.

"Such a vision can only be achieved with partners like 1bill who deeply understand and are aligned with our core purpose and culture," Mr Fraser said. 

"It’s fortuitous that our two businesses and our skill sets match up perfectly in terms of what we each bring to the table."

Mr Saligrama said the investment was an integral part of the company’s ambitious growth strategy.

"We’re always looking for new opportunities that offer the right synergy and support businesses that are innovative in any space that’s relevant – and that includes global opportunities to grow," Mr Saligrama said.

About 1bill

Australia’s most advanced bill management platform, 1bill, is the brainchild of Neil Saligrama and the award-winning team behind Australia’s largest utility connection and comparison platform Compare and Connect. Available as an Android and iPhone app, 1bill puts Australians back in control of their finances, allowing users to consolidate, view and pay household bills, compare and switch to better deals, unlock pay later functions and earn rewards. It provides an end-to-end solution for a range of industries, bringing convenience, control, savings and better data and insights for consumers, retailers and businesses.

For more information, visit www.1bill.com/, email enquiries@1bill.com, or phone 1300 391 320.  

About Accurassi

Accurassi was founded with a passion for the planet, originally providing technology to large organisations and government departments to help track and manage their carbon footprints. Their world-class team of engineers and business minds is now creating the most transformative, consumer-focused energy technology. Their modular Customer Acquisition and Management Platform enables the next generation of energy retailers to completely transform how they supply energy for the distributed, net-zero future.

For more information, please visit www.accurassi.com/, Twitter twitter.com/accurassi, LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/accurassi/, email info@accurassi.com, or phone 1300 070 351.

Media Contacts:

Jazz Rowland
Chief of Staff, Accurassi
jazz.rowland@accurassi.com
+61 432 911 397

Chris Gallichio
Chief Marketing Officer, 1bill Holdings
chris.g@compareandconnect.com.au
+61 413 130 971

PR Newswire

SK networks seeks to promote blockchain business through joint efforts with Hashed

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– MOU with Hashed Ventures on ‘Blockchain Startup Searching & Ecosystem Development’

– 21.7 million USD investment to search promising blockchain players and seek joint business opportunities

… Also acting as an external cooperation partner of SK Group’s blockchain business

– “Blockchain investment will be encouraged to lead the company’s future growth”

SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 4, 2022 — SK networks has chosen blockchain business reinforcement as a key strategy to ensure future growth, and it is now seeking cooperation with Hashed, a specialized blockchain investment company.

SK networks announced that it has signed an MOU on ‘Blockchain Startup Searching & Ecosystem Development’ with Hashed Ventures, a startup investment company established by Hashed. The announcement included planned execution of 21.7 million USD investment as well. Sung Hwan Choi(on the left), COO of SK networks is celebrating the MOU with Seo Joon Kim, the CEO of Hashed Ventures.
SK networks announced that it has signed an MOU on ‘Blockchain Startup Searching & Ecosystem Development’ with Hashed Ventures, a startup investment company established by Hashed. The announcement included planned execution of 21.7 million USD investment as well. Sung Hwan Choi(on the left), COO of SK networks is celebrating the MOU with Seo Joon Kim, the CEO of Hashed Ventures.

SK networks (CEO: Sang Kyu Park) announced on February 04 that it has signed an MOU on ‘Blockchain Startup Searching & Ecosystem Development’ with Hashed Ventures (CEO: Seo Joon Kim), a startup investment company established by Hashed. The announcement included planned execution of 21.7 million USD investment as well.

Hashed is a leading blockchain firm in Korea, engaged in blockchain technology investment and decentralization projects across the global market since its foundation in 2017. It has offered investment for blockchain teams with innovative technologies and services including Kakao’s Klaytn, Line’s Link, Terra, Axie Infinity and dydx. Seo Joon Kim, the CEO of Hashed, is known as a blockchain expert with high understanding of and insight into the market.

According to this agreement, the two companies agreed to work together on incorporating blockchain technology into the existing business models of SK Rent-a-Car and SK Magic, a subsidiary of SK networks, while seeking investment opportunities in promising global blockchain startups. It has been decided that Hashed Ventures will play the role of a key cooperation partner in carrying out the blockchain business of SK Group affiliates in the future. Through this, SK networks aims to stimulate global investment in blockchain and increase the synergy between promising future areas and company business.

Won Hee Lee, the head of SK networks Blockchain Business Division, said "This MOU with Hashed will allow SK networks to gain an important insight into the company’s future business models in relation to blockchain," and added, "The blockchain ecosystem development will be a win-win for both companies and the blockchain business will be encouraged to drive the growth of SK networks."   

PR Newswire

Retailo Raises $36M million in Landmark Series A Round For Empowering Community Commerce in MENA Region

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MENA’s fastest growing B2B start-up focusing on regional expansion and many new initiatives to carry momentum forward

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 2, 2022 — Retailo, the fastest growing startup in Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan (MENAP) which is digitizing the region’s retail supply chains, has raised $36 million in its Series A investment round which was a mix of equity and venture debt. Retailo is a regional B2B marketplace in MENAP and has raised a total investment of $45 million in less than 1.5 years of operations, a landmark for any startup in the region.

 

Retailo’s Co-founders (from L-R) Muhammad Nowkhaiz, Talha Ansari and Wahaj Ahmed.
Retailo’s Co-founders (from L-R) Muhammad Nowkhaiz, Talha Ansari and Wahaj Ahmed.

 

Retailo’s Series A round has attracted leading investors with proven track records of impactful investments. The round was led by Silicon Valley based Graphene Ventures which was an investor of tech giants Snapchat and Lyft.

For Retailo’s Series A, Graphene is joined by leading investors that include 500 Global, Agility, Aujan, Tech Invest Com and Mentor’s Fund, all of which have the relevant exposure and investments in the retail industry’s technology companies. The venture debt was raised from Nahda Fund – one of the Middle East’s first venture debt funds which is backed by IMM Investment Global, based in Hong Kong. Additionally, Shorooq Partners, Abercross Holdings, Arzan VC, AgFunder also participated in the round as repeat investors which demonstrates their continuing belief in Retailo’s successful future.

Retail in MENAP is a $500 billion industry which consists of over 10 million small businesses to serve a population of more than 700 million consumers. However, the majority of this retail industry is informal and undigitized. Small businesses have to rely on inefficient supply chains and limited financial resources while operating on impossible margins. Retailo aims to champion these small business owners by building a suite of technologies around them. The company has begun this via their B2B community commerce platform which is used by over 50,000 retailers monthly.

On Retailo’s mobile platform, small businesses can find a wide catalogue of over 5,000 SKUs which are delivered to their doorstep in less than 24 hours. They can also avail Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services, which give them flexible payment options and credit lines. By providing timely supply, competitive rates, and easy credit, Retailo is able to address the needs of retailers and significantly improve their business.

To offer a one-stop shop solution, Retailo (https://retailo.co) directly works with hundreds of leading local, regional and global brands. Retailo also optimizes end-to-end logistics in the supply chain via efficient warehousing operations and smart fleet management solutions. Leveraging its wide regional presence, Retailo has recently begun offering its sellers a cross-border distribution platform across the three biggest markets in the region: KSA, UAE and Pakistan. Retailo also provides data analytics services to sellers to help them evaluate sales performance and consumption trends.

Headquartered in Riyadh, Retailo was founded by former Careem executives Talha Ansari, Wahaj Ahmed and Mohammad Nowkhaiz in July 2020 with a unique regional launch. Growth has been quick and in only 18 months Retailo has scaled to 10+ cities in 3 countries: KSA, UAE and Pakistan. "The multi-market strategy from day one was unconventional and challenging. Covid made it even more so. But now Retailo is a scalable organization with hundreds of millions of dollars in annualized revenue and colleagues from multiple nationalities and diverse backgrounds who have left leading institutions like Amazon, Delivery Hero and Goldman Sachs to fulfil Retailo mission in building technology that empowers 10 million retailers in the region," said Himag Vaidya, Retailo’s Head of Strategy.

Nabil A. Borhanu, partner at Graphene Ventures said, "We are impressed with what Retailo has achieved in an astonishingly short time. Their vision is both ambitious and inspiring and we believe that partnering with them is a sound business investment and also a chance to truly improve the lives of millions of people."    

The Series A funding will help Retailo move into the next phase of expansion into new geographies, verticals and products. "As global supply chains come under stress pushing up commodity prices and depressing GDP growth, the value of smart supply chains becomes even more important," said Retailo’s CEO Talha Ansari. "The retail sector serves 700 million persons in MENAP, contributes almost 20% to the GDP and employs tens of millions. By providing technology solutions to this underserved market, we are not only improving lives but also uplifting the economy of the entire MENAP region."

For further information, please contact:
Sibtain Naqvi
Director Strategic Communications
Retailo Technologies
Email: sibtain.naqvi@retailo.co
+923062497523

PR Newswire

Genesis Systems, leading U.S. sustainable water technology start-up, breaks fundraising records with early round led by X-PRIZE’s Global Water Prize Co-founder.

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TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 26, 2022 — Genesis Systems, creator, and manufacturer of the world’s first and only sustainable air to water systems that can carbon (CO2) capture broke early fund-raising records in the water technology industry. The oversubscribed Seed Series of $10.25 Million enables rapid advancement and revenue growth in key water products and services in global markets.

The energetic round was led by Venture Capitalist and Co-founder of X-PRIZE India and Co-founder of X-PRIZE Water Abundance Prize, Mr. Paresh Ghelani; and institutional investors Southland Holdings, a top U.S. construction syndicate and owner of American Bridge Company, Johnson Bros. Corporation, and Mole; the owners of 1911 Ventures, the nation’s oldest continuously operating venture fund; and Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs; Mr. Jordan Noone, Co-Founder of Embed Ventures and former CTO & Co-founder of Relativity Space; and Dr. Ned Allen, Sr. Fellow and Former Chief Scientist at Lockheed Martin.

Mr. Ghelani said, "My partnership with Genesis is personal because as a child growing up without safe water, I know the importance of clean water. It’s commendable to see the rapid technological progress Genesis has made. It’s second to no other air to water tech in terms of efficiency and volume. This tech is something humanity must have for sustainable water supplies. The Genesis team’s passion, drive, and precision in addressing perhaps the single most important natural resource crisis humanity faces is unmatched."

Other notable participants in the round included Ambassador R. James Woolsey, 16th Director of Central Intelligence, and Mr. Phil Sumrall, former Apollo Program Engineer and Director of Advanced Programs at NASA, and Mr. Chad Hennings COO of Rubicon Representation, a former NFL player with three Superbowl Championship Rings.

Genesis Systems exited stealth in 2021 with the debut of WaterCube™ a one-of-a-kind water generator that makes 1,000-2,000 gallons a day from air using nano-liquids. WaterCube™ systems are the most efficient freshwater production systems on earth that scale-up. Genesis’ novel liquid-based technologies can generate mass water from the air at volumes between 100 gallons and 100 million gallons (306.7-acre feet) a day. The breakthrough technology can operate at low humidity and in weather conditions that excel beyond all current approaches to atmospheric water generation.

Genesis Systems are designed to operate in the most arid regions on earth, including the Middle East and North Africa, as well water-scarce areas in the United States, Australia, and Europe. WaterCube™ is available for order via Genesis’ Fortune 500 distribution and sales and leasing channels Richie Bros. and IronPlanet.com the largest equipment clearing houses in the world and at www.genesissystems.global.  

Genesis was recently named a Top 100 Startup™ and Best Startup™ and has won multiple awards and accolades for sustainable step-change water technologies. Genesis was incubated by FedTech, via U.S. Army Futures Command, and has won multiple U.S. Air Force grants and competitions including U.S. Army X-Tech Search 5, The Department of Defense Reimagining Energy Challenge, and letters of technical merit from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.

Genesis’ expansion and growth is fueled by customer pull driven by the expansion of global water scarcity and demand for better and more efficient technologies. According to the World Bank Group, water scarcity will negatively impact some national GDPs up to -18 percent. BlackRock forecasts domestic water scarcity will put 66% of 84,000 surveyed U.S. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) at risk by 2030.

Genesis’ CEO and Co-founder, Shannon Stuckenberg said, "Just a few short years ago we set out on a no-fail mission: Sustainably solve global water scarcity. We didn’t anticipate scarcity would progress this rapidly, but we began developing new technical approaches knowing these had to be ready. Because we’re proactive, we can provide water where, when, and how customers need it." Stuckenberg is a female CEO empowered to undertake a special mission, "Every time Genesis Systems places life-sustaining products, we near a future when everyone on earth can access essential water in the air around them. No person should be without water. And that understanding propels us at incredible speeds."

The Seed Series allows Genesis to open international markets, finalize the development of complementary water products and services, and increase commercialization staffing. Among the unique services, Genesis plans to provide is Water as a Service (WaaS) & water sale agreements to high-use customers (such as manufacturing and communities).

Genesis’ water technology may be powered by solar, wind, geothermal, or waste energy. The company plans to make carbon captures feature available on WaterCubes™ within 36 months. Stuckenberg noted, "The ability to field carbon neutral or even carbon negative water generators is something we should able to do more economically than most," according to Stuckenberg, "But our core focus right now is providing new freshwater supplies."

Citi’s Chief Economist Willem Buiter predicted in 2011, "Water as an asset class will, in my view, eventually become the single most important physical-commodity based asset class, dwarfing oil, copper, agricultural commodities and precious metals." This forecast is materializing as nations increasingly face the prospect of lower credit ratings and supply-chain disruptions due to failing water supplies according to Fitch.

Released by Marston & Webb of New York, NY

NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Throughout this press release, Genesis Systems (the "Company") makes forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements include the words "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "believe," "expect", "likely", "should" or "anticipate" and other similar words.  These forward-looking statements generally relate to our business plans and objectives for future operations and are based upon our reasonable estimates of future results or trends.  Although the Company believes that its investment plans and objectives reflected in or suggested by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such plans or objectives may not be achieved.  Actual results may differ substantially from projected results due, but not limited to, unforeseen developments, including developments relating to the following: The availability and adequacy of cash flow to meet financial requirements; economic, demographic, regulatory, and other conditions affecting the Company’s industry; Competition in the Company’s market niche in general; and Geopolitical aspects of the market-place. Other factors beyond the Company’s control.

MEDIA CONTACT
Victor Webb
Marston Webb Intl
Phone:(917) 887-0418
Email: Marwebint@cs.com

Contact
DAVID J. STUCKENBERG, Ph.D.                                                                                           
COO & Co-Founder
Email: D.Stuckenberg@GenesisSystems.global

PR Newswire

ViewSonic Announced Winners of the Global “Acceleration for All” Awards

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BREA, Calif., Jan. 15, 2022 — ViewSonic[i], a leading global provider of visual solutions, and Hustle Fund, a pre-seed venture capital firm that invests in early-stage startups, announced the Top 5 winners of the Acceleration for All Awards (The Affies) during an exclusive online awards ceremony held on January 12, 2022. The ceremony was hosted by comedian, actor and writer, Irene Tu, and included interviews with industry leaders.

ViewSonic announced the Top 5 winners of the Acceleration for All Awards (The Affies) during an exclusive online awards ceremony held on January 12, 2022, hosted by comedian, actor and writer, Irene Tu.
ViewSonic announced the Top 5 winners of the Acceleration for All Awards (The Affies) during an exclusive online awards ceremony held on January 12, 2022, hosted by comedian, actor and writer, Irene Tu.

"With over 1500 pitches from 30 industries representing an array of early-stage and mature startups, we are delighted to announce the Top 5 winners of the ‘Affies’. Allowing us to offer real solutions, such as tools, resources, and opportunities for these great founders," said Oscar Lin, General Manager of the Monitor Business Unit at ViewSonic. "By utilizing ViewSonic’s innovative devices and software, we hope to help passionate entrepreneurs and startups learn, grow, and realize their dreams."

The five categories included: Best B2B, Best Consumer, Best Creator, Best Frontier, and the public-voted People’s Choice. The winners of each of the categories were announced and given the opportunity of an investment or exclusive weekly one-on-one meetings with the Hustle Fund General Partners. They also received ViewSonic products valued at USD 6,000.

ViewSonic also provided the audience who joined the online ceremony with prizes, including a VG2440V video conferencing monitor, a TD1655 portable touch monitor, and a VG3456 ultra-wide docking monitor. For more information on The Affies, please visit the campaign website.

Winners of The Affies

  • Best B2B: Roberto Inetti of ROBOAMP. A SaaS company looking to decrease website loading time to a second or less with a single line of code.
  • Best Creator: Helen Huang of Co.Lab. An e-learning platform for live instructor-less classes.
  • Best Consumer: Tavis Schriefer of teleCalm. A stress-free phone service that protects seniors and empowers caregivers through filtered incoming and outgoing calls.
  • Best Frontier: Robert Luo of Mi Terro. A US-based company with a solution to re-engineer agricultural waste into plastic-alternative packaging material.
  • People’s Choice: Danielle Lumetta of Before Noon. A self-care membership platform focused on releasing stress.

About ViewSonic

Founded in California, ViewSonic is a leading global provider of visual solutions and conducts business in over 100 countries worldwide. As an innovator and visionary, ViewSonic is committed to providing comprehensive hardware and software solutions that include monitors, projectors, digital signage, ViewBoard interactive displays, and myViewBoard software ecosystem. With over 30 years of expertise in visual displays, ViewSonic has established a strong position for delivering innovative and reliable solutions for education, enterprise, consumer, and professional markets and helping customers "See the Difference." To find out more about ViewSonic, please visit www.viewsonic.com.

About Hustle Fund

Hustle Fund is a pre-seed/seed-stage fund based in San Francisco and Singapore founded in 2017 by Elizabeth Yin, Shiyan Koh, and Eric Bahn. From their combined experience as successful founders, tech employees, and investors, Hustle Fund’s General Partners learned that, despite entrenched stereotypes in the venture world, great founders look like anyone and come from anywhere. Hustle Fund’s core investment strategy is to invest in teams who demonstrate relentless speed and execution (defined as ‘hustle’) and has turned the VC model on its head. The investment team reviews over 600 deals per month, moves quickly to invest a modest initial check, and then works with the founder to monitor their speed/execution before qualifying startups for a larger, concentrated checks. Hustle Fund has developed an incredible global reputation with founders and investors alike.

[i] The Awards is hosted and sponsored by ViewSonic International Corp., located in New Taipei City, Taiwan. ViewSonic International Corp. is a subsidiary of ViewSonic Corp. located in California, USA.

 

PR Newswire

Electric Capital Releases 2021 Developer Report

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Crypto developer activity reached an all-time high in 2021

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 6, 2022 — Electric Capital today released their 2021 Developer Report, the industry standard for understanding the landscape across crypto developer ecosystems. We analyzed nearly 500K code repositories and 160 million code commits to create the 2021 Electric Capital Developer Report.

Crypto developer activity reached an all-time high in 2021
2021 was an exciting year across Layer 1s, DeFi, and the entire blockchain ecosystem. A few key insights:

  1. 2021 reached an all-time high of over 18K monthly active developers
  2. 65% of active developers in crypto joined in 2021
  3. Ethereum, Polkadot, Cosmos, Solana, and Bitcoin were the 5 largest developer ecosystems

Ethereum and Bitcoin continue to grow
Ethereum and Bitcoin added developers in 2021, growing by 42% and 9% respectively. Ethereum continues to have the largest ecosystem of tools, apps, and protocols, with a developer community 2.8x the size of the 2nd largest ecosystem. Ethereum draws 20% of total new crypto developers, and has the best retention of developers who stayed beyond year 4.

Which ecosystems are growing the fastest? 
Ethereum, Polkadot, Cosmos, Solana, and Bitcoin were the 5 largest developer ecosystems in 2021. Solana broke out with 5x growth, while NEAR moved up to the 6th largest ecosystem with 4x+ growth. Polygon, Binance Smart Chain and Cardano all more than 2x-ed their ecosystems in 2021.

Polkadot, Solana, NEAR, BSC, Avalanche and Terra are growing faster than Ethereum at the same point in its history.

For more information, we recommend you read the 2021 Electric Capital Developer Report directly. 

About Electric Capital
Electric Capital is a leading Web3 and blockchain early stage venture firm. We invest in cryptocurrencies, blockchain based businesses, fintech companies, and marketplaces. Our team of founders and builders compiles code, analyzes blockchains, profiles nodes, helps secure cryptonetworks, and generally contribute to the crypto community. The annual Electric Capital Developer Report is the industry standard for understanding the developer ecosystems across cryptonetworks. Electric Capital and its founders have invested in crypto companies such as Anchorage, Bitwise, Celo, Coda, DerivaDex, Elrond, dYdX, Lightning Labs, Mobilecoin, Oasis, and NEAR.

Media Contact:
Maria Shen
info@electriccapital.com

Related Links :

http://www.electriccapital.com

PR Newswire

Anchorage Digital Raises $350 Million in Series D Funding Round, Led by KKR

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New round values premier digital asset platform at over $3 billion

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 15, 2021 — Anchorage Digital ("Anchorage" or the "Company"), the premier digital asset platform for institutions, today announced it has closed a $350 million Series D funding round led by global investment firm KKR. Participants include Goldman Sachs, Alameda Research, Andreessen Horowitz, Apollo credit funds, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Blockchain Capital, Delta Blockchain Fund, Elad Gil, GIC, GoldenTree Asset Management, Innovius Capital, Kraken, Lux Capital, PayPal Ventures, Senator Investment Group, Standard Investments, Thoma Bravo, and Wellington Management. This funding round values Anchorage at over $3 billion.

"As more and more institutions look to add crypto services into their offerings, we find ourselves at an inflection point," said Diogo Mónica, President and Co-Founder of Anchorage Digital, "This funding positions Anchorage Digital to meet the unprecedented institutional demand for this rapidly evolving market. We’re grateful that KKR and this wider group of investors shares our vision to expand regulated institutional access to digital assets." 

The first crypto-native company to receive a banking charter from the Office of the Comptroller (OCC) in January 2021, Anchorage is making it safe and accessible for institutions to participate in the rapidly evolving digital asset space. Anchorage began as a custodian and has built a robust suite of additional services such as secure trading, financing, staking, and governance.

Anchorage Digital plans to use this latest funding to enhance its infrastructure solutions, specifically for global financial firms and fintech innovators. It will also invest to accelerate and simplify clients’ engagement with the latest in crypto innovation and increase the size of its team to continue to expand product offerings and grow its client base.

KKR is investing in Anchorage through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund II, a fund dedicated to growth equity investment opportunities in the technology space. This will be the firm’s first direct equity investment in a digital asset company.

"As a pioneer in enabling institutional investors to access digital assets, Anchorage has built a best in class, institutional grade digital asset platform that combines the best practices of both modern security and usability," said Ben Pederson, Senior Leader on KKR’s Technology Growth Equity team. "We are thrilled to lead this Series D round and work with Diogo, Nathan and their talented team as they continue to support the institutional adoption of digital assets through their differentiated, regulated and integrated suite of solutions."

"We are certain Anchorage will be a crucial part of the digital asset infrastructure and we are excited to be an investor," said Oli Harris, Head of North America Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs.

Anchorage’s Series D funding follows a dynamic year of growth. Significant milestones include:

  • Receiving a federal banking charter from the OCC
  • Announcing an $80 million Series C round that was led by GIC and included Andreessen Horowitz, Blockchain Capital, Lux Capital, and Indico
  • Facilitating Visa’s purchase of one of the most popular series of NFTs, Cryptopunk #7610
  • Growing headcount by 175% to date in 2021
  • Business growth in excess of 800% for each of the past two years.

About Anchorage Digital

Anchorage Digital is the most advanced digital asset platform for investors. From custody and trading to staking, governance, and financing, Anchorage offers a full range of crypto-native financial solutions that are compliant, built to adapt to emerging blockchain use cases, and made to evolve alongside the needs of digital asset investors. Today, Anchorage serves many of the largest institutional investors and enterprise brands in the digital asset space.

Anchorage Digital Bank makes it simple and secure for institutions to gain exposure to digital assets as the first federally chartered digital asset bank. With secure custody at its core, Anchorage is the premier partner for institutions and corporations. Anchorage offers financial solutions for today and tomorrow. To learn more, please visit anchorage.com and on Twitter @Anchorage.

About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management and capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of The Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Media Contacts:

Anchorage:
Lexi Wangler
anchorage@dittopr.co

KKR:

Julia Kosygina or Miles Radcliffe-Trenner
(212) 750-8300
media@kkr.com

Disclaimer

This press release is intended for informational purposes only. It is not to be construed as and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities in Anchor Labs, Inc., or any of its subsidiaries, and should not be relied upon to make any investment decisions. Furthermore, nothing within this announcement is intended to provide tax, legal, or investment advice and its contents should not be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or digital asset or to engage in any transaction therein.