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>>> The Clean Jet-Fuel Technology Winning Over Wall Street
Twelve's sustainable aviation fuel plant in Moses Lake, Wash., is expected to begin production next year.
The Wall Street Journal
by Amrith Ramkumar
September 19, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/clean-jet-fuel-technology-winning-122100846.html
Cutting emissions from aircraft is one of the toughest challenges in the energy transition. A small group of startups say they have an answer, and investors are racing to give them cash.
The latest is a company called Twelve, which raised $645 million from backers including the private-equity firm TPG and Alaska Airlines in one of the largest investments ever for clean jet fuel.
The investment values Twelve at more than $1 billion. It is one of several startups using a chemical process that mimics photosynthesis to produce jet fuel with far lower emissions than fossil fuels. They are raising significant amounts of cash in the midst of a rush of funding deals.
Last week, Brookfield Asset Management said it would invest more than $200 million into a company called Infinium that has a generally similar approach. Brookfield might put in up to $850 million more. A few years ago, Prometheus Fuels, a startup with a deal to sell fuel to American Airlines that has a comparable process, hit a $1 billion valuation. A competitor called HIF Global is also a unicorn after raking in investment.
Investors are shifting their bets in clean fuels to companies that use chemistry to turn carbon dioxide, water and renewable electricity into energy. Known as eFuels, synthetic fuels or power to liquids technologies, they offer the tantalizing possibility of producing limitless amounts if given enough cheap renewable power.
“This actually has a shot at eventually replacing fossil fuels,” said Zachary Bogue, co-managing partner at the venture-capital firm DCVC. It was one of Twelve’s first investors and is putting money in again in the new fundraising.
Such approaches are seen as the most practical long-term fuel source. Airlines are currently using some biofuels, which are made from fats, oils and greases; trash; or plants. The supply of these will likely be constrained eventually by the availability of feedstock material and land.
Many clean fuels projects are facing high costs and failures, contributing to Air New Zealand’s recent shelving of a 2030 emissions target.
The wave of investment into eFuels backs a trend in the energy transition under which companies with cash and the backing of big companies emerge as potential winners.
“We’re trying to move as quickly as we can to bring supply to the market,” Nicholas Flanders, Twelve’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. Alaska Airlines and a group of European carriers including British Airways have agreed to buy Twelve’s fuel, which can have emissions up to 90% lower than conventional jet fuel.
Twelve’s first plant, located in Moses Lake, Wash., will make about 50,000 gallons annually when it starts operating next year. Production of the new fuel won’t make a dent in the 100 billion gallon a year jet-fuel market for at least another decade, but capacity is growing across the industry.
The list of industry unicorns is short. Twelve joins Prometheus, HIF and a rival startup called LanzaJet, which is backed by Southwest Airlines and makes fuel from ethanol.
TPG committed $400 million to future Twelve plants and invested in a roughly $200 million fundraising for the company as a whole. The rest of the funding is small loans from banks including Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui.
Flanders co-founded Twelve in 2015 at Stanford University’s business school with a pair of students getting doctorates in mechanical engineering and chemistry. The company’s name refers to the most abundant form of carbon on earth, the isotope carbon-12.
Twelve’s process uses devices that run on renewable power called electrolyzers. They bring carbon dioxide and water into contact with metal catalysts. Removing an oxygen atom from CO2 yields carbon monoxide, which is combined with hydrogen from the water to make synthesis gas. That syngas can be processed into fuel.
While many companies use electrolyzers to make hydrogen, Twelve is one of the few adding carbon in an integrated process, which it says can work at much lower temperatures. Its technology also makes a hydrocarbon product that can be used to make everything from plastics to laundry detergents. Procter & Gamble and Mercedes-Benz are among the companies talking to it about its applications.
Flanders is the son-in-law of Carlos Ghosn and says he talks to the former CEO of Nissan about managing Twelve’s suppliers. Supply-chain and construction kinks have contributed to delays at Twelve’s initial plant and pushed up costs across the industry.
Subsidies from the 2022 climate law and state incentives help producers close the cost gap with conventional jet fuel, as can government grants and loans.
One constraint on the burgeoning industry is the supply of green power. Twelve’s Washington project runs on hydropower, giving it an edge over its rivals. Power availability will be a key factor dictating where Twelve locates subsequent plants, Flanders said.
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Fox Robotics - Autonomous forklifts - >>> Walmart looks to bet $200 million on autonomous forklifts -sources
Reuters
by Siddharth Cavale and Jeffrey Dastin
Jul 26, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-walmart-looks-bet-200-110416770.html
Walmart (WMT) has plans to potentially spend $200 million on self-driving forklifts as part of broader efforts to automate more warehouse operations, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The world's largest retailer wants autonomous forklifts to move pallets of goods in its distribution centers, which replenish Walmart stores. It has intended to buy possibly hundreds from Fox Robotics and invested $25 million in the Austin-based startup, the sources said.
The rollout, which Walmart could stop at any time, would occur in stages over several years and hinges on the retailer's satisfaction with the "FoxBots," said the people, who were not authorized to discuss the plans publicly.
Details about Walmart's investment and rollout have not been reported before. They underscore the company's strategy for warehouse automation, which aims to grow profit and help it compete with retailers like Amazon.com.
Camille Dunn, a Walmart spokesperson, declined to comment on the $200 million spending plans. She referred Reuters to an April announcement that said Walmart had piloted the technology and would add at least 19 FoxBots to four facilities, noting that deployments are "an evolving process" from proof of concept to rollout.
"We evaluate the performance at each phase to determine if the technology meets our ability to better serve customers," she said in an email. "Some initiatives we scale, some initiatives we don't."
Fox Robotics said its customer deals are confidential.
In recent years, Walmart has focused increasingly on robotics to help it replenish stores, manage costs and keep the price of goods low.
Analysts from Jefferies estimated the company could add $20 billion to its profit before interest and taxes by fiscal 2029, thanks to its efforts in automation and artificial intelligence. Arun Sundaram of CFRA Research added: "Expect more and larger deals in the future."
As one example, Walmart announced a deal in 2022 with the robotics vendor Symbotic to implement automation in 42 distribution centers. Walmart owned more than 13% of Symbotic stock as of a January securities filing.
Now, Walmart has taken a stake in Fox Robotics and has warrants to invest more, the people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The Fox and Symbotic deals are similar in that they restrict use of their technology by Walmart's biggest competitors, the sources said. Exclusive deals with suppliers are not uncommon in retail.
The Symbotic agreement states that key employees would be bound by non-competes and receive competitive pay, while Symbotic would be barred from selling its technology in certain non-Walmart warehouses. Details were redacted in a securities filing.
Walmart declined to comment on its contractual agreements with the robotics vendors. Symbotic said it does not comment on its customers' business strategies.
Stemming turnover
Tested for more than a year, the FoxBots unload pallets and help put them into Symbotic's automated system, which catalogues and stores goods, Walmart has said in press releases.
A single human operator can manage up to six of the autonomous forklifts at a time, saving as much as 40% on labor costs, Fox Robotics said on its website. A worker is still needed to open warehouse doors for instance, but the goal is for Walmart to depend less on labor in the long run, the sources said.
Dunn said, "People will always be part of our warehouse operations."
Finding workers to staff warehouse and other blue-collar jobs can be challenging, two of the sources said. Employers might pay little for onerous work, and sometimes staffers do not show up, one of them said. "There's a younger generation of people that just don't want to do these jobs," the source said.
At Walmart, a freight handler at its Coldwater, Michigan distribution center might "lift up to 40 to 60 pounds repetitively for extended periods of time," according to a job posting on Glassdoor. Another ad asked if a candidate had proficiency in operating equipment such as a forklift and would work 12-hour or overnight shifts, for $19.30 to $24.80 an hour.
For David Guggina, executive vice president of supply chain operations at Walmart U.S., automation has meant new technical roles for associates and other employment opportunities, not job cuts. It reduces physically demanding work, giving Walmart "substantially low turnover," he said.
"A reduction in turnover absolutely drives savings," Guggina told Reuters. "You improve your productivity because you have less folks that are sitting in what I call (the) learning curve."
Asked how much Walmart was spending on automation overall, Guggina said Walmart was investing billions of dollars into its supply chain network.
In spite of their promise, robotics have not always paid off for the company, which pulled the plug on shelf-scanning units in its stores years ago.
Their long-term feasibility can be uncertain, depending on significant adjustments and a controlled environment, whereas humans can adapt faster, said Katie Driggs-Campbell, a professor the University of Illinois’ Grainger College of Engineering.
"We are still far away from the robotics replacing humans in the retail industry," she said.
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Avid Solutions - >>> Hydrogen becomes a battery
Control Global
July 16, 2024
Avid Solutions system integrates the largest proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer facility in the U.S.
by Jim Montague
https://www.controlglobal.com/manage/sustainability/article/55126268/hydrogen-becomes-a-battery
One of the hottest topics in sustainability today is using hydrogen to store power. However, what makes it even more attractive to net-zero supporters is using the excess capacity of renewable energy sources like solar and wind to electrolyze water into green hydrogen, which can be consumed, emissions-free at a later time.
“We focus on sustainability and particularly decarbonization. A major strategy of decarbonization is using green hydrogen to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Because green hydrogen uses renewable energy like solar and wind, and has the potential to decarbonize many industries, it’s been a focus of ours for some time,” says Justin Ryan, director of technology and energy transition at Avid Solutions Inc., a system integrator and certified member of the Control System Integrators Association. “Green hydrogen can be used when alternative energy sources aren’t feasible, when electrification and batteries aren’t viable, or where carbon-intensive hydrogen is used in manufacturing.”
Ryan reports that Avid was the system integrator for the largest proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer facility in the U.S., which started production in January 2024. The Plug plant is located in Woodbine, Ga., and produces up to 15-tons per day of liquid hydrogen. Plug produces hydrogen that’s used by its fleet of fuel cells or sold to customers.
“Fuel cells require hydrogen to produce power. As a result, Plug has been steadily acquiring companies and technologies to produce green hydrogen themselves. Leveraging their PEM electrolyzer technology, Plug built its first industrial-scale production facility. Its electrolyzer and overall, balance-of-plant (BOP) controls were designed and deployed by Avid. These controls were based on Rockwell Automation’s PlantPAx process automation system. This includes the controls of all BOP applications, including pure water for electrolysis, plant air, cooling systems, purge gas, power distribution and rectifier integration, and storage and shipping terminals. In addition to the BOP controls, we integrated unit controls for the main process consisting of electrolysis, gas drying, pure-gas filtering and liquification,” explains Ryan. “For example, liquefaction uses a cryogenic process to compress and cool hydrogen for storage and shipment at -423 °F based on Chart Industries technology. All of these assets were designed to be integrated and work together.”
The facility also has FM-listed, fire-and-gas system (FGS) protection and a safety instrumented systems (SIS) provided by Avid. These act as independent layers of protection. The FGS was designed with detector placement based on a provided gas dispersion analysis. The provided detectors monitor for leaks, flame and gas concentration above a safe, lower explosive limit (LEL).
Liquid, green hydrogen from the Woodbine plant is shipped via cryogenic storage trucks to clients with large warehouses, such as Amazon, Wal-Mart and Home Depot, which use it in their hydrogen-powered forklifts. These retailers can refill a forklift with hydrogen in about 5 minutes, compared to needing 15 hours to recharge a battery-powered forklift. “The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DoE) estimates that demand for hydrogen in the U.S. will reach 10 million metric tons per year (MMT/yr) by 2030 and 50 MMT/yr by 2050,” says Ryan. “To achieve this goal, tax breaks are available for switching to renewable energy sources or using them in infrastructure projects. To demonstrate some of this capability, Caterpillar and Microsoft use hydrogen fuel cells for data center backup power as a replacement for a fossil-fuel solution.”
Match know-how with application
To accelerate decarbonization projects and technologies, Ryan recommends partnering with a trusted partner, who is focused and experienced in green hydrogen production. “We gained a ton of experience in green hydrogen production in the past few years. Working with our client and technology partners, there was a lot to learn from integrating these systems at this scale.” explains Ryan. “We developed fit-for-purpose applications with the company’s electrolyzer OEM group to help build its first green hydrogen plant with standardized repeatable solutions.”
Over the past 35-years, Avid specialized in pharmaceutical, chemical, nuclear, and oil and gas projects. Ryan explains that undertaking green-hydrogen projects meant adding more staff with the right experience to meet demand. “There’s simply not a lot of engineers with green-hydrogen experience,” adds Ryan. “This is why we had to investigate and learn more about hydrogen gas processing. From material-of-construction choices to instrument selection to operating philosophy, there any many nuances to consider.
“In addition to process operations and control knowledge gains, it’s critical for project developers to work with good partners, EPCs and technology providers to properly plan and scope projects. Avid works closely with partners like Endress+Hauser, SMA, ABB, Rockwell, S&B Engineering and aeSolutions to bring valuable experience to the table. Beyond having good partners, it’s also essential to study and participate in hydrogen-related organizations, such as the NFPA 2’s prescriptive standard for hydrogen and the Compressed Gas Association’s H5 requirements.”
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Kinetic Automation - >>> Startup unveils robotic system that use AI-eyes to fix EV damages
Kinetic Automation claims to fill a significant gap in the collision repair aftermarket.
Interesting Engineering
Jun 21, 2024
by Prabhat Ranjan Mishra
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/kinetic-automation-robots-electric-cars
Kinetic Automation
A California-based startup has developed a robotic system to quickly diagnose issues with an electric vehicle’s digital system.
Kinetic Automation’s system uses computer vision and machine-learning software to provide diagnostics and recalibration of the high-tech systems in modern vehicles.
The robotic system’s rapid diagnosis is likely to increase EV sales, which has cooled down in 2024 due to increasing cost of repairs for EV models.
Kinetic Automation maintains that today’s modern vehicles have more technology in them than ever before. “Repairing them is an urgent need and an extraordinary opportunity,” the company says.
Kinetic Automation leverages robotics, proprietary AI
The company claims that it leverages robotics, proprietary AI, and specialized expertise to automate digital collision repair across all makes and models.
“We help businesses adapt to the evolving automotive landscape by repairing digital collision damage in minutes rather than hours, increasing capacity, and growing revenue with unparalleled speed and precision.”
Only 26% of US consumers are likely to consider purchasing an EV
The innovative repair method comes as a 2024 study by J.D. Power found that only 26% of US consumers are very likely to consider purchasing an EV in the next twelve months, while more than 20% are very unlikely to consider an EV purchase.
The startup claims to fill a significant gap in the collision repair aftermarket, providing digital repair solutions for a wide range of businesses from national collision chains to dealerships and fleets.
Kinetic Hub can support up to 80 calibrations per day
According to the company, every state-of-the-art Kinetic Hub can support up to 80 calibrations per day. And with cycle times under 60 minutes, from drop-off to delivery, this gives collision repair businesses the flexibility and capacity to accept more customers and grow revenue without burdening their own staff, and without adding additional equipment or floor space.
When a customer’s car rolls up to one of Kinetic’s service bays, it is first scanned from bumper to fender with machine vision sensors, some on a robotic arm that peers over the top of the vehicle. The scan determines which systems need to be precisely programmed or need a recalibration, reported CNBC.
Then Kinetic’s software, which is connected to the vehicle’s systems, will initiate and track the completion of those fixes.
The company claims that all new vehicles have at least 3 sensor modules, with most modern vehicles having 30 or more. “New capabilities such as camera, lidar, radar and ultrasonic-based technologies are exponentially increasing the complexity of repairing today’s vehicles.
Kinetic Automation aims that one day it will provide its services to robotaxi fleets, and to the owners of other autonomous vehicles.
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https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/kinetic-automation?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=profile_cta&utm_campaign=yahoo_finance
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Sierra Nevada Corporation -
>>> Sierra Nevada Corporation is an aerospace and defense contracting company. They design and manufacture spacecraft, aircraft, ground vehicles, electronics, hardware, and software. They provide services that serve astronauts, warfighters, and first responders. Their services include aircraft integration, modification, secure ISR solutions, and electromagnetic services. <<<
>>> Fatih Ozmen was born and raised in Turkey, yet this dynamic entrepreneur has come to embody the American dream. Today, Fatih is the owner and CEO of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), one of America’s fastest growing private companies with a reputation for rapid, innovative and agile technology solutions. Fatih joined SNC in 1981 with a broadengineering background culminating with a M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno. With a strong vision for the future of SNC, Fatih Ozmen and his wife Eren Ozmen acquired the company in 1994 and set their plans in motion to expand and grow. With the Ozmens at the helm, SNC has grown from a small company of 20 employees, to a full-service systems integrator with over 3,000 personnel in 34 locations worldwide. <<<
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/sierra-nevada-corporation?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=profile_cta&utm_campaign=yahoo_finance
>>> US Air Force awards $13 billion Doomsday plane contract to Sierra Nevada
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https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174316496
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>>> Israel's Cyera triples valuation to $1.4 bln in funding led by U.S. investment firm
Reuters
Apr 9, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/israels-cyera-triples-valuation-1-141755593.html?.tsrc=fin-srch
April 9 (Reuters) - Israel's data security firm Cyera has tripled its valuation to $1.4 billion in less than a year as it raised fresh capital in a series C funding led by U.S. tech-focused fund Coatue Management.
Cyera, founded in 2021 and backed by venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Accel, raised $300 million, taking its total funds raised so far to $460 million, the company said on Tuesday.
The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence has resulted in companies spending more to protect their systems from hack, leading to higher demand for firms such as Cyera that provide data security using its AI-driven platform.
The funding is a rare bright spot for Israeli startups that are facing a decline in funding over the last one year as planned judicial reform and war with Hamas in Gaza deter several investors, according to an annual report by Startup Nation Central.
The latest funding was also joined by new investors - Spark Capital, Georgian and AT&T Ventures - along with existing investors Sequoia, Accel, Redpoint and Cyberstarts.
Cyera had raised $100 million at a valuation of $500 million in June last year.
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>>> Solarcycle may be growing as it has formed a long-term partnership with Greenbacker Renewable Energy to recycle decommissioned solar panels, indicating an expansion of its client base and service offerings. The company has also established a new headquarters in Mesa, Arizona, which includes a research lab, suggesting an investment in innovation and an increase in operational capacity. Furthermore, Solarcycle has secured funding from leading corporations and institutions, which supports its financial stability and potential for further development.
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https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/solarcycle-inc/signals_and_news
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>>> Anthropic is an AI-driven research company that focuses on increasing the safety of AI systems. Its research interests span multiple areas including natural language, human feedback, scaling laws, reinforcement learning, code generation, and interpretability. The initial product from the company is Claude, an AI helper for tasks of any size.
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/anthropic?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=profile_cta&utm_campaign=yahoo_finance
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>>> Helion is a fusion power company focused on generating zero-carbon electricity from fusion. By building on the successes of its latest fusion prototypes, Helion is building the world’s first fusion electricity demonstration facility. Their pulsed non-ignition technology will be capable of low-cost 24/7 power generation that replaces the energy sources the world currently relies on, enabling a future with limitless, reliable and affordable clean electricity.
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https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/helion-energy?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=profile_cta&utm_campaign=yahoo_finance
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>>> LG Group is a multinational conglomerate company that makes electronics, chemicals, and telecom products. The company operates worldwide through more than 30 companies in the electronics, chemical, and telecom fields. Its electronics subsidiaries manufacture and sell products ranging from electronic and digital home appliances to televisions and mobile telephones, from thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal displays to security devices and semiconductors.
LG Group also operates the Coca-Cola Korea Bottling Company, manages real estate, offers management consulting, and operates professional sports clubs. It also continues to manufacture some of these products for the South Korean market, such as laundry detergent.
LG Group was founded on January 5, 1947, and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea
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https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lg-group?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=profile_cta&utm_campaign=yahoo_finance
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>>> How 3D printing could revolutionize auto manufacturing
Marketplace
by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Mar 27, 2023
https://www.marketplace.org/2023/03/27/how-3d-printing-could-revolutionize-auto-manufacturing/
In an industrial office park south of Los Angeles, an American automaker is churning out sports cars in an attempt to transform manufacturing as we know it.
“It’s literally like saying in the typewriter era, ‘I’m about to create a desktop system,’” said Kevin Czinger, founder and CEO of Czinger Vehicles and Divergent Technologies.
Czinger’s system is making cars and car parts. They’re designed using artificial intelligence, constructed with specialized 3D printers and assembled by a team of robots.
“What I’m trying to do is create a machine that takes manufacturing, which is still stuck in 100-year-old-plus technologies, into the digital age,” Czinger told Marketplace’s Kai Ryssdal on a tour of his companies’ production facility in Torrance, California. “3D printing is one piece of an overall system.”
The Divergent Blade, which was designed by Czinger, made headlines for featuring a fully 3D-printed body and chassis when it was unveiled in 2015. Customer deliveries for Czinger’s latest offering, the 21C, are scheduled for later this year.
The 21C has a $2 million base price, and as Czinger was quick to point out, set records at both WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and the Circuit of the Americas in 2021.
“What it showed is with these tools, a small American team of inventors and designers could, within a two-year period of time, create a car that outperforms every existing car company’s vehicle,” he said.
But the 21C is only one step in Czinger’s ambitious plan to digitize manufacturing.
“If you wanted to leap ahead 20 years, you know what you want to have?” he asked Ryssdal rhetorically. “You want to have a globe filled with localized manufacturing where there’s no barrier to entry to people that want to create useful products.”
The term “localized manufacturing” is a key component of Czinger’s thesis. While colossal factories like the Ford Motor Co.’s River Rouge complex in Michigan or Foxconn’s compound in China known as “iPhone City” rely on economies of scale to cover their startup costs, Czinger argues that flexible manufacturing facilities that can adapt to changing demand and design specifications are the way of the future.
“You don’t have to have hundreds of printing presses printing different books,” said Czinger, returning to his desktop computer system analogy. “You can send data and it prints the Bible, you send data and it prints the ‘Brothers Karamazov’ … that’s the fundamental difference.”
That flexibility, he said, can help localized factories remain permanent fixtures of their communities.
As an example, he showed Ryssdal a hexagonal-shaped assembly system at the center of the production facility.
“This has assembled a sports car, luxury SUV parts, other brands’ sports car and a drone for General Atomics back-to-back-to-back with zero switchover time,” he said. “And if you changed all of those designs and rolled them back in, it would immediately start to assemble them again.”
“Let me ask you the labor force question,” said Ryssdal, mentioning Czinger’s older brothers, who worked as car dealership mechanics in Cleaveland while he was coming of age. “Could they get a job here working for their little brother?”
“Absolutely,” Czinger responded. “When people asked me the question, ‘Will this wipe out auto factory jobs?’ which is the question you’re really asking, [I say,] ‘If you go to a modern auto factory, you see half-mile-long lines where … there are no workers.’” At today’s factories, robots doing specialized tasks, like welding one piece of sheet metal to another, have already taken the place of many workers.
Czinger insists that the majority of jobs that do still exist in modern auto factories — general assembly jobs — would not be impacted by the type of transformation he envisions.
“We replace the cost and expense of building those leviathan factories, with all of their capital risk … with something that’s much more flexible,” he said. “So it actually makes any automotive factory in the West stronger and more competitive, without taking away any general assembly jobs.”
This system is still relatively new. Czinger’s companies are in the midst of building 80 Czinger 21Cs, while making parts for other brands such as Aston Martin and continuing to refine their technology.
As they ramp up production, Czinger said financing remains one of his biggest headaches. “Our financial system and venture capital are designed to finance quick cash-generation software applications,” he said. “I’m doing something that literally required hundreds of fundamental inventions just to make it work.”
As the credit markets tighten in the wider economy, Czinger said he’s grateful for a recent investment from Hexagon AB, a Swedish company.
“That gives us a very good-feeling capital buffer, knock on wood, some years out,” he said.
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>>> A Pop-Up Concert Company Gives Bands a Place to Perform, and 70% of the Profit
Sofar Sounds rides out the industry’s tough times with shows for fledgling acts.
Bloomberg
By Alice Kantor
July 3, 2023
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-03/how-sofar-sounds-helps-indie-bands-find-new-fans?utm_campaign=bw&utm_medium=distro&utm_source=yahooUS
In a white-brick mansion in the north London neighborhood of Hampstead, about 50 people sit on the floor of a high-ceilinged living room. Just past 8 p.m., the four-piece band fronted by Irish singer-songwriter Lisa Canny steps onto a makeshift stage. As Canny picks up her harp and launches into a 25-minute set, attendees sip booze they brought to the event. Most of those in the audience, who paid £25 ($32) each for the show, are hearing her for the first time—and no one knew she’d be playing tonight.
What’s brought everyone together is Sofar Sounds, a London company that organizes pop-up concerts featuring budding musicians in intimate venues. Tickets top out at about $30, the location is announced just one day in advance, and artists’ names are kept secret until they walk onstage.
Launched in 2009 in founder Rafe Offer’s living room, Sofar—the name stands for “Sounds from a Room”—has organized thousands of events in 78 countries, though it’s largely focused on the US, the UK and Australia. And some of its acts have gone on to stardom (in 2016, Billie Eilish played a Sofar gig in Los Angeles) or are already there (the following year, Ed Sheeran did one in Washington, DC).
The pandemic lockdowns devastated the indie music scene, and it’s being further buffeted by skyrocketing prices. As the cost of touring rises, bands are more frequently canceling concerts, and venues are shutting down at a record pace. Few people directly support new artists, typically sticking with acts they know. And algorithm-driven platforms such as Spotify reinforce these trends, steering listeners toward favorite tunes. “It’s hard for small artists to get noticed,” says Martin Ljungdahl Eriksson, a strategist at researcher Kantar Group. “Only a small number generate good revenue in today’s music environment.”
Sofar is bucking those trends—though no one will get rich from Sofar alone, which pays $100 to $150 for a 25-minute set. The company says about 70% of the profit from a show goes to its artists, with Sofar pocketing the rest. Rather than replacing small venues, the idea is to create a “global grassroots community” of performers and fans, says Jim Lucchese, Sofar’s chief executive officer. A musician himself, Lucchese recalls a spot he used to play in Boston that was turned into condos. “Cities are becoming more hostile to businesses that promote local artists,” he says. “We want to support this network.”
The company, which has 117 full-time employees, is planning 10,000 concerts this year, up from 6,000 in 2022. Early backers include Octopus Ventures and Virgin Group, which invested $6 million in 2016. Three years later, the company raised an additional $25 million from Battery Ventures and Union Square Ventures, giving Sofar an implied valuation of $99 million in 2021, according to researcher Tracxn.
At first, Sofar relied on word-of-mouth and volunteer staffers, holding shows in the homes of friends and supporters. Tickets were free, with the artists passing a hat during the performance. That model sparked criticism that Sofar was paying artists more in exposure than money. In 2019 the company reached a $460,000 settlement with the New York Department of Labor for asking unpaid volunteers to work full time organizing events. Sofar says it has amended its ways, with salaried employees and more shows in commercial or charity spaces.
New York music writer Liz Pelly questions how much has changed, saying that relying on Sofar to foster a local music scene is like expecting Airbnb to enrich a neighborhood. The platform doesn’t facilitate lasting connections between artists and listeners, who she says often struggle to remember the name of the bands they’ve just seen but are unlikely to forget that Sofar organized the show. “Is Sofar a success for local artists?” Pelly asks. “That’s still up for debate.”
Michael Kwatia, a 29-year-old musician in London whose stage name is Moak, has played about 20 Sofar shows. While he makes more at corporate events, the singer-songwriter prefers Sofar audiences, who are “very attentive, very quiet,” he says. “It’s also a group of people that would never have heard of me if not for this.”
Sofar didn’t invent the home concert or the “blind date” performance, but the company does help up-and-coming artists such as Moak find an audience, says Sybil Bell, founder of Independent Venue Week, a group that organizes an annual series of US and UK shows. Although Bell declined an offer from Sofar to cooperate on events, she says she appreciates the company’s efforts to expand access to live music—and perhaps spark interest in shows at more established venues in need of support. Sofar “provides a space for people to enjoy the arts,” she says. “Considering today’s financial pressures on the independent music industry, that’s a big deal.”
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>>> USDA approves Upside Foods, Good Meat to sell cultivated chicken
Yahoo Finance
by Brooke DiPalma
June 21, 2023
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/usda-approves-upside-foods-good-meat-to-sell-cultivated-chicken-210908105.html
On Wednesday, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) granted approval for Upside Foods and Good Meat, a subsidiary of Eat Just, Inc., to produce and sell their lab-grown cell-cultivated chicken products in the United States.
Both companies are gearing up to debut their products with well-known restauranteurs. Upside Foods plans to debut its products at 3-Michelin star chef Dominique Crenn's Bar Crenn in San Francisco. Good Meat is teaming up with celebrity chef José Andrés at one of his restaurants in Washington, DC, though there's no word on which one or when customers will start seeing the meat on the menu.
Good Meat's products have been available in Singapore since 2020 and are sold everywhere from fine-dining establishments to roadside vendors. In a press release, Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of GOOD Meat and Eat Just, called its entry into the US market a "major moment for our company, the industry and the food system."
Upside founder and CEO Uma Valeti told Yahoo Finance on Wednesday that it believes its "delicious, complex, and whole-textured chicken product" will "set the gold standard for the industry."
Both companies cultivate their meat by placing chicken cells in large steel vessels. They then feed the cells nutrients to help them multiply and grow. It takes the meat about two to three weeks to develop and be harvested before it's ready to eat. On its website, Upside compared the process to that of brewing beer, "but instead of growing yeast or bacteria, we grow animal cells."
For now, however, cultivated meat will come at a cost. Valeti told Yahoo Finance the company will start with premium pricing.
“Our aspirational goal at the moment is to beat the conventional prices....we're going to start out with premium pricing when we come into the market...that's because we are on a small scale," Valeti said back in December when it received FDA approval. He said prices will likely come down over time. "We expect our products to be at parity with conventional meat, but that's going to be 5 to 15 years away.”
As of now its production center, known as the Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center (EPIC) can produce up to 50,000 pounds, with plans to expand capacity to 400,000 pounds.
A spokesperson from Good Meat said pricing for its products will be similar to those at the upscale restaurants where it's being offered. He added that the company is willing to lose money as it gains customers' interest.
"We strive to work with restaurant partners to price our chicken dish on par with traditional dishes. We're not making money on sales, in fact, we're losing money, but it's important that our consumers are paying what they would for a traditional dish. As we scale, the cost will come down."
Neither company plans to enter grocery stores in the near future. Good Meat said it will be "quite a while" until it will hit grocery stores.
The industry is only beginning to heat up though. Per Grand View Research, the cultivated meat market was valued at $246.9 million last year and is set to grow at an annual rate of 51.6% from 2023 to 2030.
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>>> Stability AI CEO says AI will prove more disruptive than the pandemic
Goldman Sachs Intelligence
MAR 23, 2023
https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/stability-ai-ceo-says-ai-will-prove-more-disruptive-than-the-pandemic.html?chl=em&plt=briefings&cid=407&plc=intro?chl=em&plt=briefings&cid=407&plc=intro&bt_ee=ATUzvAXjmS7W6GGfrVVt02kVYX%2F%2BQ5tnZ4TGKlrYrSt2BRdl3WHVjZdzgB65Ra7s&bt_ts=1684948321149
Topic:
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGY DRIVING INNOVATION
“We figured out how to make humans scale,” Emad Mostaque, founder and CEO of Stability AI, told an audience at Goldman Sachs 2023 Disruptive Technology Symposium in London.
The generative artificial-intelligence company’s chief cited a range of examples of the technology’s recent achievements. He explained that during the COVID-19 pandemic, an AI-powered meta-study of mask efficacy led to better policies. Closer to home, he said that when his son was diagnosed with autism, he was able to do an AI-powered literature review that helped him find new ways to help him. Mostaque says 41% of all new software code on GitHub is now AI-generated.
“AI can absorb information very quickly and spit it out,” Mostaque said during an interview with Eric Sheridan, the senior U.S. internet analyst in Goldman Sachs Research. “It’s a bit like a really talented intern with a bad memory,” he said, and when the memory issue gets fixed, AI may be ready for a promotion to analyst or associate level work.
Mostaque offered several predictions about the impact that AI will soon have on business and society — with change coming in entertainment, education, medicine and of course the IT industry itself.
Citing the AI art generation program Midjourney, he described how it is possible to generate images that are almost photorealistic today and will be even better tomorrow. Already the technology is being used in filmmaking and is saving millions of dollars, he said.
“This is massively disruptive for media,” Mostaque said. It has become possible to imagine an AI-generated new season of Game of Thrones. “You’ll see the entire cost structure of media creation, video game creation and others change dramatically.”
Education is another area where Mostaque predicted AI can bring a revolution. What’s been shown to be most effective, he said, is one-to-one instruction. “And now, basically, as of this year, you can have your own personalized tutor that adapts to you,” he said. With AI-powered instruction comes great promise for solving learning challenges, he said, predicting that dyslexia, for example, will be “solved” in the next few years.
A similar dynamic is likely in medicine, he said, citing Google’s recent success in optimizing its large language model to answer medical questions. “We finally have a single file that’s as good as a human doctor,” Mostaque said.
Mostaque acknowledged AI will create challenges. As much as the development of AI holds promise for boosting efficiency and productivity, it also raises fears, including the possibility that workers will see jobs disappear in categories that until recently looked safe.
“This is a much bigger disruption than the pandemic,” he told the audience, going back to his point about AI large language models successfully writing software code. OpenAI’s ChatGPT can pass Google’s exam for a high-level software engineer, Mostaque said, even though it’s a non-specialized model. “There’s no programmers in five years,” he predicted.
Across the software industry, big competitive shifts are coming, Mostaque said, with some companies that have regulatory protection or pricing power benefiting and others seeing their position eroded. Whole new industries will be invented, he added.
The world has been talking about so-called expert systems for decades, but now suddenly, they have actually arrived, Mostaque explained, and the disruption they bring is accelerating. “I’m not sure that any of us can cope with the speed. You know, frankly it’s terrifying,” he said.
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>>> SpinLaunch is a spaceflight technology development company working on mass accelerator technology to move payloads to space.[3] As of September 2022, the company has raised US$150 million in funding, with investors including Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, Airbus Ventures, ATW Partners, Catapult Ventures, Lauder Partners, John Doerr, and the Byers Family.[4][5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpinLaunch
History
SpinLaunch was founded in 2014 by Jonathan Yaney in Sunnyvale, California. The company's headquarters are in Long Beach.[6] In 2020 it opened a launch site. SpinLaunch continued development of its 140,000 square-foot (13,000 m2) corporate headquarters in Long Beach, and of its flight test facility at Spaceport America in New Mexico.[7]
In late 2021, SpinLaunch was named one of the "World's Best Employers in the Space Industry" by Everything Space, a recruitment platform specializing in the space industry.[8]
In March 2022, SpinLaunch was listed as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Companies of 2022 by Time Magazine. In April, SpinLaunch received a launch contract from NASA to test a payload.[9][10]
Technology
SpinLaunch is developing a kinetic energy space launch system that reduces dependency on traditional chemical rockets, with the goal of significantly lowering the cost of access to space while increasing the frequency of launch. The technology uses a vacuum-sealed centrifuge to spin a rocket and then hurl it to space at up to 4,660 mph (7,500 km/h; 2.08 km/s). The rocket then ignites its engines at an altitude of roughly 200,000 ft (60 km) to reach orbital speed of 17,150 mph (27,600 km/h; 7.666 km/s) with a payload of up to 200kg. Peak acceleration would be approximately 10,000 g.[11] If successful, the acceleration concept is projected to lower the cost of launches and to use much less power, with the price of a single space launch reduced by a factor of 20 to under US$500,000.[12][13]
The SpinLaunch system's historical predecessors include centrifugal guns.
Flight testing
At Spaceport America in New Mexico on 22 October 2021, SpinLaunch conducted the first vertical test of their accelerator at 20% of its full power capacity, hurling a 10-foot-long (3.0 m) passive projectile to an altitude of "tens of thousands of feet." This test accelerator is 108 ft (33 m) in diameter, which makes it a one-third scale of the operational system that is being designed.[14][15][16] The company's first 10 test flights reached as much as 30,000 feet (9,100 m) in altitude.
A September 2022 test flight carried payloads for NASA, Airbus US, Cornell Engineering’s Space Systems Design Studio (SSDS) and Outpost. [17]
Criticism
A number of reasons why this technology may not work have been put forward, including problems with massive spinning objects, potential for catastrophic damage to the payload, incompatibility with traditional liquid rocket fuels, increased atmospheric drag (and heat?) relative to existing technologies, and other potential problems with the idea.[18]
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>>> Solarcycle Plans To Recycle 1 Million Panels A Year With Help From $30 Million In Financing
Forbes
Mar 15, 2023
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkart/2023/03/15/solarcycle-plans-to-recycle-1-million-panels-a-year-with-help-from-30-million-in-financing/?sh=73c8b5015406
Solar panels don’t last forever, but they don’t have to die, either. A California startup called Solarcycle has developed proprietary technology to turn old panels into materials for new ones.
Company CEO and Cofounder Suvi Sharma says the tech can return more than 95% of valuable materials like aluminum, glass, copper, silver and silicon back to the domestic solar value chain. That can make for a more sustainable and scalable solar industry in the United States that relies less on overseas suppliers.
Solarcycle has just raised $30 million in Series A funding, bringing the company total to $37 million since its birth in January 2022. The round was led by large asset manager Fifth Wall and HG Ventures, the corporate arm of The Heritage Group. Other participants included Prologis Ventures and existing investors Urban Innovation Fund and Closed Loop Partners.
The equity and infrastructure financing will be used to grow the capacity of a Solarcycle recycling plant in Texas from 500,000 to 1 million panels by the end of the year and invest in further research and development.
Sharma explains that solar panels last for maybe 25-30 years, at the most. So panels that were installed decades ago are reaching the end of their lives, and being landfilled or replaced by mining new materials.
He says he spent 18 years in the solar industry and helped establish Solarcycle out of necessity. “I was looking for a recycler that could truly recycle solar panels and couldn’t find any.”
A report by Yale Environment 360 details an expected surge of retired solar panels from the fastest-growing source of energy in the U.S. and says about 90% of old modules end up in landfills after they’ve lost their efficiency due to age or are defective.
Solarcycle is one of only five companies in the United States listed by an industry group as being capable of providing recycling services.
Sharma argues that Solarcycle has the most-advanced and cost-effective solution.
“We are a solar company that does recycling, not a recycling company that does solar.”
But there’s plenty of need for solar panel recycling.
“There are about 500 million solar panels installed in the country,” the CEO says. “There’s more solar panels than there are people.
“There’s going to be 1 billion (solar panels) within the next five years” in part from incentives for domestic manufacturing under the Inflation Reduction Act.
“We need more materials for those and we need to get those materials for the next generation of panels from the old panels that are reaching the end of life.”
The Solar Energy Industries Association said in a recent solar market insight report that “projections for this and next year show a broad market recovery with growth across all sectors averaging 19% per year until 2027.”
Solarcycle can recycle more than 90% of a solar panel from a volume or weight perspective. Sharma says the technology can recycle more than 95% of the materials from an old panel. The company is still finalizing the recycling of plastics.
Solarcycle has a corporate headquarters in Oakland, California. Its recycling facility on 15 acres in Odessa, Texas, takes in panels from residential, commercial and industrial sources, and utility companies.
The process is being fine-tuned in Texas and Solarcycle hopes to expand from a capacity of 500,000 panels per year to 1 million by the end of 2023. That’s a lot, but “we are really at the tip of the iceberg on this thing,” Sharma says.
Research by Rystad Energy of Norway projects that recyclable materials from solar panels will be worth more than $2.7 billion by 2030, up from $170 million this year.
“While the end of life stream of solar panels is relatively small today,” Sharma says, “it’s growing extremely rapidly and will continue to for the next 20 years—almost exponential growth.”
At its Texas facility, Solarcycle is building a system using “second-life” solar panels, or those that still work but were replaced by users who wanted to upgrade. The company plans to install the system this year and Sharma says it can supply all or most of the energy needed to power the recycling facility.
Each old panel there will come in handy later on. “When it does truly reach the end of life, we don’t have to ship it anywhere again. We really just recycle it on-site, with a huge environmental benefit,” he says.
Beyond the latest round of financing, Solarcycle is looking to expand closer to areas where old panels need recycling.
“The Southwest, like California for example, is currently the largest solar state,” the CEO says. “Also, it’s got a lot of the old systems. Right now, we are bringing in panels from all over the country for recycling. As needs grow, we will set up something closer to California, in the Southwest.”
For now, Solarcycle has a domestic focus and international aspirations. Sharma says the bulk of solar product installed in the U.S in the last five to 10 years has come from China or Chinese manufacturers.
“In order to build a strong, domestic industry here for manufacture of solar, it’s critical to get these materials like glass, aluminum, silicon and put them back into the material set for the next generation of panels. That’s one way we can really become more self-reliant in the U.S. on solar manufacturing.”
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>>> LG Chem is going to build a $3B EV battery cathode factory – the largest in the US
Electrek
by Michelle Lewis
Nov 22 2022
https://electrek.co/2022/11/22/lg-chem-ev-battery-cathode-factory/
LG Chem today announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the state of Tennessee to build a $3 billion cathode factory for electric vehicles.
The new plant, which will be sited in Clarksville, will be the largest of its kind in the US. It will sit on 420 acres and is expected to produce 120,000 tons of cathode material annually by 2027. That’s enough to power batteries in 1.2 million EVs with a range of 310 miles per charge.
LG Chem said it chose Tennessee because of its proximity to key customers, ease of transporting raw materials, and cooperation from state and local governments.
It also cites the passage of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as a catalyst for the new factory, which will see the creation of 850 jobs.
LG Chem said that the Tennessee site will function as a supply chain hub, where material and recycling partners work together to supply global customers such as Tesla and GM.
The Clarksville factory will produce advanced NCMA – nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum – cathode materials for next-gen EV batteries with improved battery capacity and stability.
NCMA cathode materials are among the most critical ingredients for determining the battery capacity and life of electric vehicles. The company’s battery recycling partner is Li-Cycle.
The Tennessee plant will feature LG Chem’s most advanced production technology, including the ability to produce more than 10,000 tons of cathode material per line. LG Chem has already successfully applied this technology in its cathode factory in Cheongju, South Korea.
The company also plans to utilize its smart factory technology in Tennessee to automate the entire production process and establish a quality analysis and control system.
Construction of the factory will begin in the first quarter of 2023, with mass production to start in the second half of 2025. LG Chem says the new factory will run completely on solar and hydroelectric power.
The Tennessee site will play a critical role in Seoul-headquartered LG Chem’s strategy to increase its battery materials business, including cathode material fourfold from Korean won ?5 trillion in 2022 to ?20 trillion by 2027.
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Meati - >>> Start-up uses mushrooms to make plant-based meat that mimics the texture of steaks, chicken breast and jerky
Bloomberg
Aug 25, 2022
https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3146263/start-uses-mushrooms-make-plant-based-meat-mimics-texture
Mycelium, the vegetative part of fungi, can be processed to mimic cuts of meat, and is packed with healthy protein, zinc, fibre, vitamins and minerals
US start-up Meati says its product requires fewer chemicals and less processing than other alternative meats
While plenty of plant-based meat companies claim to replicate the taste of the real thing, industry leaders like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods mostly sell products that mimic ground beef or sausages, rather than the texture of a cut of meat.
Now, a new start-up focused on mushrooms wants to change that. Meati Foods, backed by American restaurateurs including Grant Achatz and David Barber, is using mycelium – the vegetative part of fungi – to make jerky, chicken breast, steaks, and deli meat.
“We’ve been eating mycelium ever since we’ve been eating mushrooms,” said Meati chief executive officer and co-founder Tyler Huggins. “The advantage of mycelium is it’s very adaptable.”
The fungi has been used as a replacement for plastic, shipping material, housing insulation, and fake leather, as seen in the vegan Adidas Stan Smith shoe.
Using it for a meat alternative is a relatively new practice, but it shows promise, said Caroline Bushnell of Good Food Institute, an organisation that advocates for plant-based and cell-based foods.
Properly replicating the texture of animal tissue is the biggest obstacle for fake-meat companies, Bushnell said.
Eating two mushrooms a day nearly halves cancer risk, study finds
Meati harvests a fast-growing strain of mycelium from grasslands around the world. It is put into big metal tanks with sugar and left for 18 hours. The result is easily mouldable chunks that mimic the texture of real meat.
As the company claims on its website: “Meati Foods is focused on using proprietary, clean technologies to provide nutritious, fungi-based protein that everyone can enjoy and feel good about eating every day. The company strongly believes that finding the right protein should be easy and consumers should never have to choose between health, taste or the environment.”
The alternative-meat market is projected to grow from US$4.2 billion in 2020 to US$74 billion in the next 10 years, according to a recent Bloomberg Intelligence report, which is less than one per cent of the US$1.3 trillion conventional meat market. Analysts, food companies, and investors foresee growth opportunities akin to Beyond Meat’s 2019 public listing and Impossible Foods’ entry into mainstream US stores like Walmart.
But upstarts like Meati – and mycelium-based bacon competitor Atlast – have to fight for shelf space alongside Beyond, Impossible and other established vegan brands. And they have to woo consumers who may be put off by higher prices: USDA ground beef costs US$4.38 per pound, compared to US$8.39 a pound of Beyond Meat and US$6.49 of Impossible Foods ground meat product.
Meati hasn’t set its prices yet, but aims to charge something in line with standard animal protein products. The company has conducted preliminary market testing in local restaurants.
Meati emerged from a US Department of Energy entrepreneurship programme in 2019. Huggins, a field biologist and environmental engineer, and co-founder Justin Whiteley, a trained material scientist, started Meati, then called Emergy Foods, looking for an environmentally friendly meat substitute that required fewer chemicals and less processing.
The pair secured US$5 million in funding to build an initial plant in Boulder, Colorado. The company, which doesn’t have any revenue yet, closed a US$50 million round of financing in July.
Huggins said his company aims to go beyond vegans and environmentally conscious eaters. He wants people to choose his product because they prefer it over traditional animal meat.
“I know we’re successful when our Meati steaks are served at a diner in rural Kansas,” he said.
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>>> Meati Foods sinks teeth into $150M to expand its mushroom-root meat operations
TechCrunch
Christine Hall
July 21, 2022
https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/21/meati-foods-150m-plant-based-meat/
Meati Foods, which is developing the Eat Meati brand of proteins made from mushroom root, is poised to begin shipping its plant-based meat product later this year after closing on $150 million in new Series C funding.
The round, which gives the company $278.6 million in total funding, according to Crunchbase data, was led by Revolution Growth, with participation from existing and new investors, including CPP Investments, Grosvenor, Wellington Management and Chipotle Mexican Grill’s new venture fund, Cultivate Next. Meati is among Cultivate’s first cohort of investments.
Founded in 2017, Meati makes whole-cut meats that are 95% mushroom root and have as much as 17 grams of protein, 12 grams of dietary fiber and a healthy dose of zinc and vitamin B12.
The company is among a handful of startups leveraging mycelium, the structural fibers of fungi, to make healthier protein options than traditional animal products. Fellow companies include Perfect Day, MyForest Foods and Fable Food.
We profiled Meati in 2021, when the company announced $46 million in both equity and debt investments. At that time, co-founder and CEO Tyler Huggins, who started Meati with Justin Whiteley, had 30 employees and was starting a pilot plant.
Today, it has 150 people and made its retail debut this month in restaurants throughout Colorado and Arizona after selling mainly online. Meati has had “multiple months of record sellouts” online, and the company has plans to expand its national footprint in the U.S. by 2023, Huggins said.
The new funding enables the company to complete its over 100,000-square-foot Mega Ranch facility in Colorado. Once it ramps up, the facility will have the capability of producing over 45 million pounds of product. In addition, the company is also breaking ground on its first Giga Ranch, a facility it will replicate all over the world, with plans to produce hundreds of millions of pounds annually.
“We will be, at that point, one of the largest single ‘beef’ producers in the United States,” Huggins told TechCrunch. “We will set the gold standard for how we can produce in a clean, nutritious, delicious and sustainable way.”
Huggins plans to get Meati into “10,000 doors by the end of 2023,” with a goal of reaching a $1 billion in revenue run rate by 2025. For now, “it’s more of an issue for us to supply and demand in order to move as fast as we possibly can,” he added.
Indeed, how companies in the plant-based and cultivated meat sectors scale to meet consumer demand has long been a burning question, especially as companies like Meati and UPSIDE Foods take in hundreds of millions of dollars in funding.
For example, this week, Meatable, a Dutch company in the cultivated meat space, unveiled its first pork sausage product but told my colleague Paul Sawers that it is still looking at another three years before it launches commercially.
Therefore, it is promising to finally see companies like Meati and UPSIDE Foods announce how closer they are to broader commercialization of their products.
“The research is done,” Huggins said. “It’s now time to scale. We are continuing to finish out our production facility with the Mega Ranch and lay the groundwork for the Giga brands. We want to have the support mechanisms of staff in place to make sure that we can support this rapid growth.”
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Boxabi - >>> The Company That Built Elon Musk's Tiny Home Has Now Raised Over $74 Million From Retail Investors
Benzinga
by Kevin Vandenboss
August 15, 2022
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/company-built-elon-musks-tiny-133852199.html
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk generated headlines last year when he announced in a tweet that he would sell almost all his physical possessions and will not own a house. Musk reportedly followed through with that plan and moved into a tiny house in Texas after disposing of all of his mansions.
Recent rumors suggested that Musk’s primary residence was a prefab house manufactured by Boxabl. It turns out, however, that the $50,000 foldable house is actually being used as a guest house.
What is Boxabl?
Boxabl is a rapidly growing startup that has gained popularity partially thanks to Elon Musk, but also because of the growing demand for tiny homes and a housing affordability crisis with no end in sight.
The company’s flagship product is the Boxabl Casita, a 20-foot by 20-foot accessory dwelling unit that can be delivered directly to a customer’s backyard and ready to occupy in an hour. The unit is fitted out as a studio apartment with a full-size kitchen, bathroom and living room and is expected to sell for $50,000.
The company recently completed a $9.2 million order for the U.S. government and has a waitlist of over 120,000 units. To fulfill the current demand, Boxabl is raising capital from institutional and retail investors to build the world's largest and most advanced housing factory.
Boxabl received a strategic investment from D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI), who agreed to share resources to help the company scale and placed an order for 100 units. The company is also raising capital on StartEngine through a Regulation A+ offering, which allows non-accredited investors to buy preferred shares with a $1,000 minimum investment.
The current crowdfunding campaign for Boxable on StartEngine has already exceeded $19 million in addition to over $55 million that was previously raised.
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>>> Citadel Securities is a leading global market maker across a broad array of fixed income and equity securities. Our world-class capabilities position us to meet the liquidity demands of our diverse group of institutional clients in all market conditions. In partnering with us, our clients, including asset managers, banks, broker-dealers, hedgefunds, government agencies and public pension programs are able to gain a powerful trading advantage and are better positioned to meet their investment goals.
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>>> Sparta Biomedical Receives FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for SBM-01 Biomimetic Implant
Sparta Biopharma, Inc.
Mar 17, 2021
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sparta-biomedical-receives-fda-breakthrough-device-designation-for-sbm-01-biomimetic-implant-301249628.html
DURHAM, N.C., March 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sparta Biomedical Inc., a developer of orthopedic solutions, today announced that its SBM-01 Biomimetic Implant has been granted a Breakthrough Device Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). SBM-01 is intended to replace damaged knee cartilage in patients having single or multiple chondral or osteochondral defects in the knee.
The Breakthrough Device Program is designed to accelerate patient access to promising technologies that have the potential to provide more effective treatments for debilitating conditions. The Program provides patients and health care providers timely access to these medical devices by assisting sponsors in their development, assessment, and review, consistent with the FDA's mission to protect and promote public health.
"The Breakthrough Device Designation reflects our team's drive to develop a truly unique solution to address a large clinical need," said Dushyanth Surakanti Co-Founder & CEO of Sparta Biomedical. "This new treatment option is designed for the hundreds of thousands of patients who experience persistent knee pain and compromised mobility after failing conservative care, but who are too young for a total knee replacement."
"This Designation will enable us to interact with the FDA more frequently to accelerate preclinical and clinical development for SBM-01," Co-Founder and COO Dimitrios Angelis added. We look forward to making this game-changing technology available to orthopedic surgeons so they may help their patients suffering from knee pain and immobility."
Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common and debilitating joint disorders. The condition is characterized by progressive, irreversible articular cartilage degeneration, resulting in significant joint pain, joint motion limitations, and the formation of bony osteophytes. Most commonly, OA in the knee is first treated conservatively with non-pharmacological management, viscosupplementation injections, and anti-inflammatory medications. Patient-specific conditions, behaviors, or preferences make these options challenging to administer or achieve a high level of regimen compliance. Those who go through these interventions, often only achieve marginal temporary, palliative success.
SBM-01 Biomimetic Implant is a minimally invasive treatment for chondral or osteochondral defects of the knee cartilage. It mimics the properties of native cartilage and provides a smooth articulating surface, providing support to surrounding cartilage while stabilizing subchondral bone, and thereby limiting further exacerbation of the disease.
"SBM-01 has the potential to have a significant impact on patients who are suffering from knee cartilage damage," said Adam Yanke, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Director of the Cartilage Restoration Center for Rush University Medical Center and Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopedics. "I'm delighted that the FDA will be collaborating with us to bring this novel technology to the market as quickly as possible."
About Sparta Biomedical, Inc
Sparta's mission is to empower orthopedic surgeons with advancements that fundamentally restore movement for their patients. More information at www.sparta-biomedical.com
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>>> Synchron says it's the first to implant a human brain-computer interface in the US
Engadget
by Jon Fingas
7-19-22
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/synchron-says-its-the-first-to-implant-a-human-brain-computer-interface-in-the-us/ar-AAZKIUC
Brain-computer interfaces have become a practical (if limited) reality in the US. Synchron says it has become the first in the country to implant a BCI in a human patient. Doctors in New York's Mount Sinai West implanted the company's Stentrode in the motor cortex of a participant in Synchron's COMMAND trial, which aims to gauge the usefulness and safety of BCIs for providing hands-free device control to people with severe paralysis. Ideally, technology like Stentrode will offer independence to people who want to email, text and otherwise handle digital tasks that others take for granted.
Synchron Stentrode brain-computer interface implant
Surgeons installed the implant using an endovascular procedure that avoids the intrusiveness of open-brain surgery by going through the jugular vein. The operation went "extremely well" and let the patient return home 48 hours later, according to Synchron. An ongoing Australian trial has also proven successful so far, with four patients still safe a year after receiving their implants.
It may take a long time before doctors can offer Synchron's BCIs to patients. The company received FDA approval for human trials in July 2021, and it's still expanding the COMMAND trial as of this writing. Still, the US procedure represents a significant step toward greater autonomy for people with paralysis. It also represents a competitive victory — Elon Musk's Neuralink has yet to receive FDA permission for its own implant.
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Climeworks - >>> Microsoft inks 10-year carbon dioxide removal deal with Climeworks
The agreement represents the company’s first long-term foray into tech-based carbon removal as part of its climate plan.
Microsoft aims for carbon negativity by 2030; by 2050, it plans to remove all carbon emitted since its founding.
Protocol
Lisa Martine Jenkins
July 13, 2022
https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/microsoft-climeworks-carbon-dioxide-removal
Microsoft just made a major commitment to sucking carbon from the sky. The company signed a 10-year deal with Swiss direct air-capture company Climeworks as part of its carbon dioxide removal portfolio.
Over the course of the next decade, Climeworks will remove 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere on behalf of the technology giant. It’s the most significant and long-term agreement Microsoft has made with a CDR supplier.
“Long-term commitments like this multi-year agreement are crucial for scaling the [direct air capture] industry because the guaranteed demand catalyzes financing of our infrastructure and consequently accelerates the development of the required ecosystem for scaling DAC," Climeworks co-founder and co-CEO Christoph Gebald said in a press release announcing the deal.
The companies did not disclose how much Microsoft — which is an investor in Climeworks — spent on the deal. In January 2021, Microsoft made a smaller purchase of Climeworks carbon removal services as a part of its broader portfolio to pull carbon out of the air.
In 2020, Microsoft committed to reaching carbon negativity by 2030 as part of its climate plan. To do that, it aims to cut its emissions each year this decade while also ramping up CDR purchases. It aims to remove millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year this decade. By 2050, the company plans to remove all carbon emitted since its founding in the 1970s. While the Climeworks deal is significant, it still only represents a fraction of what Microsoft's ultimate vision is for pulling carbon from the sky. (The company also saw emissions rise in 2021, reflecting the challenges it faces in not putting carbon in the atmosphere in the first place.)
Tech companies have increasingly been investing in CDR and trying to create a market for the nascent industry. The Microsoft deal comes just a few months after the company joined Alphabet and Salesforce in committing $500 million to carbon removal purchases by 2030. Earlier this year, Alphabet, McKinsey, Meta, Shopify and Stripe created a $925 million advance market commitment to accelerate the development of carbon removal technologies. That commitment, dubbed Frontier, recently made its first purchase.
These technologies are a “necessary element” for reducing the risks of climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent report. Ultimately, the world could need to remove billions of tons of carbon each year to limit global warming to relatively safe levels. How many billions will depend on how fast we cut emissions in the first place, though.
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>>> Microphyt Opens US Subsidiary
Happi.com
3-12-21
https://www.happi.com/contents/view_breaking-news/2021-03-12/microphyt-opens-us-subsidiary/
Focuses on growing the company’s customer base in North America.
Ilya Zhivkovich, chief business officer of Microphyt, will assume responsibilities for managing Microphyt Inc. in the US.
Microphyt France, a leader in microalgae-based natural bio-actives for nutrition and personal care industries, has announced a new US subsidiary, Microphyt Inc. With sales and marketing offices located in Massachusetts and in Pennsylvania, Microphyt Inc. will focus on growing the company’s customer base in North America.
Ilya Zhivkovich, chief business officer of Microphyt, will assume responsibilities for managing Microphyt Inc. Zhivkovich has more than 25 years’ experience in global sales, marketing and general management positions across food and nutrition. He also has an extensive track record of developing and executing Go-To-Market strategies for innovative high value, scientifically-backed products.
First Partnership
To accelerate the launch of its cosmetic ingredients portfolio in the US, Microphyt Inc has reached an agreement with Premier Specialties for promotion and distribution.
“Microphyt is excited to partner with Premier Specialties. We are confident that Premier’s vast and long-standing relationships within the personal care industry combined with Microphyt’s robust innovation pipeline will yield new solutions for brands and consumers passionate about science-based, natural, sustainably-produced bio-actives from micro-algae,” Zhivkovich commented.
"Partnering with Microphyt expands Premier's natural cosmetic offer to include unique microalgae bioactives; creating advances in skincare science using green technology," Francesca Muia, VP Natural Cosmetics Division, Premier Specialties, added.
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Dr. Gundry interviews CEO of Microphyt -
Apnimed - >>> Sleep apnea biotech breathes easy with $62.5M financing ahead of PhIII trials for lead oral drug
Endpoints News
by Lei Lei Wu
https://endpts.com/sleep-apnea-biotech-breathes-easy-with-62-5m-financing-ahead-of-phiii-trials-for-lead-oral-drug/
Traditional care for obstructive sleep apnea involves CPAP, a cumbersome countermeasure in which patients have air continuously pushed through a mask they have to wear through the night. While there have been improvements to CPAP technology, it has remained the standard of care for obstructive sleep apnea since its invention just over 40 years ago.
However, Cambridge-based biotech Apnimed is now touting that it may have an oral drug that could change that standard, and it has won $62.5 million in Series C funding to fuel an upcoming Phase III trial for said candidate to test that claim.
The biotech initially set out to raise $50 million, but overshot their goal. “That’s always a good sign,” CEO Lawrence Miller said to Endpoints News.”
https://endpts.com/sleep-apnea-biotech-breathes-easy-with-62-5m-financing-ahead-of-phiii-trials-for-lead-oral-drug/
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>>> Meati secures $50 million to scale mycelium-based meats
Meati Foods fungi-based steak alternative
Food Business News
07.08.2021
By Sam Danley
https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/19047-meati-secures-50-million-to-scale-mycelium-based-meats
BOULDER, COLO. — Meati Foods, a maker of fungi-based meat alternatives, raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by BOND and Acre Venture Partners, with participation from Prelude Ventures, Congruent Ventures and Tao Capital.
Co-founded by Justin Whiteley and Tyler Huggins, Meati creates nutrient dense meats using mycelium, the muscular root structure of fungi, as its single main ingredient. The startup grows its own unique strain of fast-growing mycelium and forms its fibrous texture into whole-cut products without chemicals or processing. At scale, the patented process can produce the meat equivalent to 4,500 cows every 24 hours and requires less than 1% of the water and land compared to conventional industrial meat production.
The company currently is in the final stages of developing whole cut takes on chicken breast, steak and jerky and plans to explore other products, including pork tenderloin and deli meats, in the future.
Funds from the Series B round will help build out Meati’s newest “urban ranch” production facility, which will have the capacity to produce millions of pounds of whole-cut alternative meat at scale by 2022. The company also plans to double the size of its team, bringing experts from a diverse range of technical, scientific and other fields.
“Our team has been working diligently to build and optimize our ability to grow products in ways that have never been done before,” Mr. Whiteley said. “Meati is on a faster trajectory than we ever expected. We're thrilled to be quickly moving closer to our goal of making Meati accessible to everyone.”
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Meati Foods - >>> Why one startup says fungi-based meat is the next wave of alternative proteins
Yahoo Finance
by Alexandra Canal
May 23, 2022
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-one-startup-says-fungi-based-meat-is-the-next-wave-of-alternative-proteins-143814149.html
A new startup is looking to disrupt the plant-based meat market.
Meati, founded in 2019, creates alternative meat made from mushroom root, a superfood protein similar to the root structure of mushrooms.
"We think we're the third and final wave of alternative proteins," said Tyler Huggins, Meati co-founder and CEO. The executive, who earned his doctorate in environmental engineering in 2016, emphasized that the taste and experience of Meati is "unmatched," adding that he would describe the brand as neither "plant-based" nor "lab grown."
"We're whole-food protein," he stated. "That's the key — producing foods with a simple ingredient list that's highly nutritious."
The brand's whole-cut "chicken" cutlets, sold through both retail and direct-to-consumer channels, contain 17 grams of protein per serving (2 cutlets), as well as other key vitamins found in traditional animal-based items — like Vitamin B, Zinc, and Iron.
The company will drop a limited number of its brand new "steak" protein through its website beginning Monday. Its last product drop (April) sold out in just 20 minutes.
In order to create the alternative meat, the company described the process "like a brewery on the front-end" and "cheese processing" on the back-end. The entire process takes four days from start to finish, and creates a comparable level of meat to what a full cow would produce.
"It's not high tech — it's nature," Huggins said, emphasizing that each product contains only four to six ingredients. To compare, a Beyond Meat (BYND) burger has 18 total ingredients.
"We cultivate the mushroom roots in nutrient-rich water where it grows freely. We then harvest it, gently form the different cuts and flavor, then it's done," he explained, adding "It's alive during the whole process. This is true whole food from nature that's flavored and ready to go."
The company, which currently operates out of a pilot ranch in Boulder, Colorado, is preparing to commission its first mega ranch this summer.
The mega ranch is expected to produce more than 45 million pounds of products annually.
"We're a supply chain solution," said Scott Tassani, Meati president. He credits the brand's "super clean" production operation, in addition to the limited number of ingredients, for allowing it to deliver a "vertically integrated manufacturing process" that helps alleviate supply chain concerns.
The company plans to run a pilot retail program this summer with the goal of achieving a national retail footprint by early 2023. In addition to retail, the company aims to lock in several key food service partners and be in 10,000 locations by year-end.
As for pricing, Meati says its products (which retail at $7.99 for two chicken cutlets and $9.99 for two steak filets) are consistent with the premiums consumers see with other alternative protein brands like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, although its pricing is still more expensive compared to traditional meat.
Yet, "with all of the inflationary pressures, that gap is getting smaller, so it's less of a premium over time," Tassani noted.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest CPI print, traditional chicken prices soared more than 18% in April compared to the same period last year. Ground chuck saw an increase of 15.3% year-over-year.
So far in 2022, grocery store prices have risen at least 1.0% month-over-month.
'Democratizing protein'
U.S. plant-based food sales grew two times as fast as animal-based food sales in 2020
U.S. plant-based food sales grew two times as fast as animal-based food sales in 2020, totaling $7 billion, according to the latest Good Food Institute industry report. Within that category, plant-based meat crossed the billion-dollar mark, expanding by 45% in dollar sales from 2019.
Today, the traditional U.S. meat market sits at $170-plus billion with alternative protein sales coming in at roughly $1.6 billion.
Meati's Tassani doubled down that alternative protein "will easily represent 5% of the category in the next five to six years," underscoring the company's goal of securing $1 billion in run-rate sales by the year 2025.
Overall, Meati says its mission is to deliver "sustainable food production" and "democratize protein" for all.
"It's crazy that we live in the most industrialized, wealthiest country in the world; yet, access to high-quality, good nutrition is still not fully accessible," Huggins lamented.
"What we want to do here is diversify the differences," the executive continued, explaining the company is not-anti animal-based products.
Instead, Meati aims to "elevate animal-based protein to a level that it's celebrated, provide ethical treatments to animals, pay farmers and ranchers equitably, and help supplement the market."
According to a recent study by the international journal, Nature, eliminating animal meat consumption and embracing more plant-based alternatives can help prevent deforestation, in addition to curbing greenhouse gas emissions and alleviating excessive water use.
The study projected that substituting just 20% of traditional meat consumption with alternative options will cut "annual deforestation and related CO2 emissions roughly in half, while also lowering methane emissions."
"We would argue this is the the most efficient and healthiest way to feed the planet," Meati's Huggins said.
He explained that the brand's identity "is based off of first principles, essentially taking the sun's energy and producing protein."
"How do you work with nature? How do you guide biological processes in such a way that can be beneficial, working with nature versus against it, in order to make a more sustainable future?"
As for the critics who might not be super jazzed when it comes to eating fungi-based meat?
Huggins chuckled, "Trying is believing."
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Forever Oceans - >>> Venture Capitalists Are Aiming to Disrupt Fish Farming
Bloomberg
By Priya Anand
May 13, 2022
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-13/fish-farm-startup-hopes-deep-ocean-technology-can-fuel-growth?srnd=premium
Off the western coast of Panama, near a town called Puerto Armuelles where Chiquita Banana once had a major presence, Forever Oceans is preparing to harvest and sell almost 3 million pounds of yellowtail to sell in filets or for sushi. While the eight-year-old startup’s product is seafood, its executives spend a lot of time talking about the innovation that goes into the floating cages where its fish spend their lives. The company will succeed, they say, because it has improved the core technologies, from specialized enclosures to sensors and robotics, needed to raise large amounts of seafood farther out in the ocean than traditional fish farms.
Investors’ hunger is increasing for startups with big plans for food. Venture capitalists plowed more than $39 billion into food-related tech companies in 2021, double the amount they put into the sector the year before, according to Pitchbook Data Inc., a research company. More than half that funding went to digital grocers and online marketplaces, natural targets for investors accustomed to assessing software companies that build consumer products. But there’s also growing interest in sustainable food production. Fish farming, which grew 527% from 1990 to 2018, according to the United Nations, is poised to become an even larger part of the supply chain. The UN said in a 2020 report that about 34% of fish stocks were overfished. According to the World Bank, the figure is much higher, at 90%.
To venture investors, this looks like a strategy for innovative businesses that can be both lucrative and environmentally useful. “Two-thirds of the world is covered by the ocean,” says Bruce Leak, co-founder and general partner at the venture capital firm Playground Global, who hasn’t invested in Forever Oceans but sees deep-ocean aquaculture as a potentially valuable area. “That’s where mother nature raises the fish we eat, which we can no longer sustainably catch.”
But there are serious questions about whether fish farming is itself sustainable. Aquaculture operations can dump waste and pesticides into ecologically important waters. And they run the risk of infecting local populations with sea lice or viruses and damaging local ecosystems if farmed fish escape. Aquaculture operations taking place entirely on land reduce some of these concerns, being more insulated from natural ecosystems. Forever Oceans says its plan to locate facilities in deeper water farther from shore is also a more sustainable alternative to siting the farms in coastal waters.
The company, based in Gainesville, Va., has raised almost $120 million—one of the highest totals among venture-backed fish-farming companies—from Bessemer Venture Partners and other investors. In addition to its operations in Panama, the company has government approval to begin working off the coast of Brazil and runs a research facility in Hawaii.
Forever Oceans has only produced about 110,000 fish so far and already seems to be tempering expectations for its inaugural harvest. In an interview in April, Chief Executive Officer Bill Bien said the company would have a fall harvest this year of at least 1 million fish. A company spokesperson later walked that back to 450,000, saying Bien may have included next year’s harvest estimates in his projection.
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>>> Forever Oceans revolutionizes mariculture, using advanced engineering, biology, and husbandry. The company provides integrated, automated, and eco-friendly solutions on scalably producing high-quality fish. They seeking to transform the aquaculture and seafood industry through its innovative farming techniques, novel biological processes, and comprehensive licensing business model.
Forever Oceans' technology-enabled solution allows them to grow fish in a healthier way. A way that is aligned with the natural environment. A way that produces high-quality fish. A way that scales to make production as affordable as possible. The company deploys its solutions far offshore in deep waters where they enable the cultivation of high-quality fish in a clean, healthy, and natural environment.
Forever Oceans production is focused on high-value, sustainable species in warm water regions.
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Nowadays - >>> The plant-based meat startup that raised $10 million for its alternative chicken nuggets
Fortune
Rachel King
May 1, 2022
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/plant-based-meat-startup-raised-120000267.html
Over the last few years, plant-based meat alternatives seemingly went from obscure to arguably mainstream with the Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat now being incorporated in fast food chain staples at the likes of Burger King and Dunkin.
While much of the motivation for both producing and eating meat alternatives is rooted in sustainability, the end results aren't always healthy (maybe just healthier).
Plant-based meat company Nowadays is putting health at the forefront of its creative process, touting to have the most nutritious offering on the market. The brand's first product—faux crispy chicken nuggets—does have that classic fried chicken taste. And they are made with only seven ingredients, including non-GMO yellow pea protein, and boast 13 grams of protein, no saturated fat, and 250 milligrams sodium per serving.
Founded in 2020, the San Francisco-based company recently closed a seed round at $7 million, raising just shy of $10 million to-date. The round was led by Stray Dog Capital, with additional support from Standard Meat Company, a privately-owned meat processing and packaging company suppling major national restaurant and supermarket chains.
Nowadays cofounder and CEO Max Elder recently shared more with Fortune about what it's like fundraising right now and the rapid expansion of the plant-based meat market.
Nowadays cofounder and CEO Max Elder.
The following interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
Fortune: Can you share a bit about your professional backgrounds prior to launching Nowadays?
Dominik and I came from very different professional backgrounds, though share a similar passion for good food.
I have been on the periphery of the emerging alternative protein sector for almost a decade now. When I was 21, I became the youngest fellow at a think tank in Oxford, where I was researching the nexus of animal agriculture, food ethics, and sustainability. I then became a long-term strategy and innovation consultant across the global food value chain at the Institute for the Future, the world’s leading strategic foresight organization and a spinoff of the RAND Corporation in the late 1960s. I’ve consulted for ingredient companies, [consumer packaged goods] companies, foundations with a nutrition or [agriculture] focus, industry groups, and more. While working around the world with large companies across the value chain was edifying and rewarding, I knew I needed to spend 100% of my time working on scaling alternative meats.
Then I met Dominik Grabinski. Dominik is an agricultural engineer and father of two. He has three decades of experience working in senior positions at some of the largest agricultural food ingredient companies, including Cargill and DSM. Dominik has expertise in product development, ingredient innovation, and go-to-market strategy for food & beverages. He has been granted six patents related to food manufacturing and has managed product launches all over the world. Dominik and I have complementary backgrounds and share a passion for good food, so starting Nowadays together was a natural fit.
What inspired you to launch Nowadays?
We’re convinced that plant-based meat has a massive potential to positively impact human and planetary health, however alternative meats account for less than 2% of the meat market in the U.S. today. There are many opinions on why plant-based meats haven’t captured more market share, but we believe it comes down to three main barriers: taste, nutrition, and cost.
Taste is table stakes for a food company; you need to deliver a joyous eating experience. Taste is a barrier for the plant-based meat category as it’s incredibly complicated to take plant ingredients and create an eating experience that mimics animals. While there have been some fantastic innovations over the past five years, eating experiences need to continue to improve.
The number of vegans and vegetarians in the U.S. hasn’t changed much over the past fifty years. We’ve instead witnessed a meteoric rise in flexitarianism, or those who eat meat and also occasionally eat a meat alternative. One survey from 2021 commissioned by Sprouts Farmers Market found that 47% of Americans, and over half of young Americans (aged 24-39), identify as flexitarians. Study after study demonstrates that the primary motivator for flexitarians to occasionally choose an alternative to animal-based products is health, or at least a "perceived health halo" that the plant-based category provides. However, few plant-based brands or products are focused on creating categorically more nutritious alternatives.
Finally, these products are too expensive to be able to reach mass market adoption. Novel ingredients, complex manufacturing processes, and challenges with cold chain distribution channels all drive costs up. A vast majority of the animal-based meat industry has done a fantastic job externalizing costs over the past half a century or more, resulting in consumer expectations for very cheap meat. Chicken is the most consumed protein in the U.S. (and in the world). The commodity price for a pound of chicken today is about $1.80 [as of April 28]. To compete in these markets, plant-based meat companies need to lower costs by utilizing scalable manufacturing technologies and existing finishing assets across the value chain.
Dominik and I started Nowadays to make delicious, nutritious, and affordable plant-based meats for the mainstream so that we might help the category realize its full potential. We’ve developed a proprietary process for creating whole cuts of plant-based meats that we finish into delicious products with unparalleled ingredient labels and nutritional profiles. Our process, at a relatively small scale, can undercut commodity prices of poultry (our first focus is chicken products) so that we can become cost-competitive quickly.
What was the recipe testing process like for achieving the taste and texture of your plant-based chicken nuggets?
The recipe testing process never ends at a food company. The Nowadays recipe testing process began in a small kitchen in San Francisco. Dominik was working on a plant-based nugget in his kitchen using his island countertop and stove top. Our early taste testers were friends, family, industry peers, and anyone who was willing. Once we got enough feedback from personal connections, Dominik and I felt confident our version one nuggets could help us raise enough money to start the company. (And get out of Dominik’s kitchen!)
The first capital we raised enabled us to transition from tinkering in a kitchen to having true R&D and innovation capabilities, both internally (in a much fancier kitchen) and externally (with strategic partners). We’ve since conducted tastings with much larger groups; executed blind sensory panels with trained professionals; shared new product iterations with select groups of loyal customers; and collaborated with major food companies to test, learn, optimize, and further develop that V1 nugget as well as work on additional plant-based chicken products. Much of our "secret sauce" is in how we achieve taste (a blend of yeast and mushroom extracts) and texture (a similar process to how some pasta shapes are made).
Nowadays plant based vegan chicken nuggets
The market seemingly exploded with new plant-based meat alternatives over the last few years. Why do you think that this space is now resonating with consumers?
I know that consumers are always looking for delicious and nutritious foods, and that plant-based meats are a relatively new and fun category to explore in the search for a delightful eating experience. Nowadays first and foremost is focused on deliciousness.
I hope that consumers are increasingly concerned about the link between their plates and our planet. Americans farm 9 billion broiler chickens a year; nine out of 10 farmed animals are broiler chickens; the biomass of all chickens on the planet right now is three times the biomass of all other birds on earth combined; and some geologists and archeologists are arguing that broiler chickens are a marker species of the anthropocene.
I worry that the plant-based meat alternative market isn’t exploding because of consumer demand, but instead because of the increased supply of venture capital. Global venture capital doubled between 2020 and 2021, and over half of all food tech investing last year went to alternative proteins.
We started Nowadays to create a differentiated solution to meet the real consumer demand for healthier meats so that this space truly can resonate with mainstream consumers from coast to coast.
Nowadays recently raised $7 million in its seed round; what has your experience been like in fundraising? What were some obstacles you didn't expect? What advice would you offer for other entrepreneurs?
I think fundraising is always hard, and anyone who says otherwise is lying. (I haven’t been able to validate this theory; some tell me it’s easy!)
It should be hard. These are long-term partnerships you’re establishing with strangers who become owners of your company, a company that will inevitably need to weather challenging storms at some point on the horizon. Here are three obstacles and pieces of advice for others on this journey:
Meeting matters: Nowadays is a pandemic baby. We were born as a public benefit corporation on August 25, 2020. One major challenge was not being able to meet investors in person or host tastings, which has recently changed. Meeting—and eating together—goes a long way in building relationships with strangers. If you can ever get in-person time with someone you want to work with, take it!
Find believers: There’s a lot of capital, but not all of it is aligned with your mission, vision, or business. Instead of spending a little time with lots of funds, try to only target those who really align and then minimize your funnel quickly so that you can go deep with a few. The thesis-driven funds, in my experience, tend to be the most high-conviction and supportive investors.
Always improve: After you close a round, do a short post-mortem with your internal team and your lead investor to discuss what worked well and what needs improvement for next time. Velocity of learning is one of the most important variables to focus on at an early-stage.
One more piece of advice: don’t listen to trite advice like this from founders. There’s no one way of doing any of this, and you’re probably not thinking creatively enough if you’re doing things the way we’ve done them in the past. Do what you think you should do, and figure that out however best you think you should figure that out. You’re building something.
Looking forward, how do you want to grow Nowadays as a company? Do you plan to expand your product offerings to other meat alternatives? Go beyond direct-to-consumer and partner with restaurants?
By the end of this year, Nowadays will be sold in retail stores, restaurants from coast to coast, online marketplaces, and our own direct-to-consumer channel. Starting this July, Nowadays original nuggets will be available in Whole Foods Markets across Arizona, Hawaii, Southern California, and southern Nevada. We’re getting on restaurant menus across the country in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. We’re soon to release a gluten-free nugget direct-to-consumer. We also have other plant-based chicken products in R&D that we can’t wait to share soon.
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Brain.Space - >>> Israeli startup to test brain-activity gear on space mission to ISS
Reuters
By Steven Scheer
3-28-22
https://www.reuters.com/technology/israeli-startup-test-brain-activity-gear-space-mission-iss-2022-03-28/
An electroencephalogram (EEG) enabled helmet, due to be used in an experiment on the impact of a microgravity environment on the brain activity of astronauts is displayed at Israeli startup Brain.Space in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 22, 2022.
TEL AVIV, March 28 (Reuters) - Israel's Brain.Space, a four-year-old startup that studies data on brain activity, is set to put its gear to test on astronauts in space next week during a SpaceX shuttle flight to the International Space Station (ISS).
Three astronauts on the planned private space-flight firm Axiom Space's mission to the ISS will use a special electroencephalogram (EEG)-enabled helmet made by Brain.Space, the company said on Monday.
The 10-day mission, the first-ever private trip to the space station, will set off on April 3 with four astronauts.
"We actually know that the microgravity environment impacts the physiological indicators in the body. So, it will probably impact the brain and we would like to monitor that," Brain.Space Chief Executive Yair Levy told Reuters.
Data has continuously been collected on heart rate, skin resistance, muscle mass and others in space but not yet on brain activity, he said.
Brain.Space joins 30 experiments that will take part in the so-called Rakia Mission to the ISS.
Three of the four astronauts -- including Israeli Eytan Stibbe -- will wear the helmet, which has 460 airbrushes that connect to the scalp, and perform a number of tasks for 20 minutes a day, during which data will be uploaded to a laptop on the space station. The tasks include a "visual oddball" one that the company says has been effective in detecting abnormal brain dynamics.
Similar studies using these tasks have been completed on Earth and after the mission, Brain.Space will compare the EEG data to see the differences in brain activity between Earth and space.
It noted that such experiments are needed since long-term space exploration and "off-world living are within grasp."
Brain.Space, which also said it raised $8.5 million in a seed funding round, bills itself as a brain infrastructure company and is working with the cognitive and brain sciences department at Israel's Ben Gurion University to transform terabytes of data into usable insights.
Levy said he hoped the space mission would be a springboard for other institutions, researchers and software developers to use its brain data platform.
"Space is an accelerator. The idea is to revolutionise and make possible brain activity apps, products and services that's as easy as pulling data from an Apple Watch," Levy said, pointing to measuring ADHD as an example.
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Source Global - >>> Bill Gates and Blackrock are backing the start-up behind hydropanels that make water out of thin air
CNBC
MAR 28 2022
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/28/bill-gates-and-blackrock-backing-source-global-maker-of-hydropanels.html
KEY POINTS
Cody Friesen founded Source Global in 2015 to get clean water where it’s most needed.
Source’s hydropanels are now installed in 52 countries in 450 separate projects.
Investors include Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Blackrock and Duke Energy.
Source Global creates water using sun-powered hydropanels in new bet on sustainability
They’re like solar panels, except instead of electricity, they produce water.
Source Global’s hydropanels create water out of thin air and bring it where it’s most needed. CEO Cody Friesen invented the panels in 2014 at Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, where he’s on the faculty.
A year later, he turned the science into Source Global. The start-up’s panels cost about $2,000 a piece.
“We take sunlight and air and we can produce perfect drinking water essentially anywhere on the planet,” Friesen said. “And so we take water that has historically been probably humanity’s greatest challenge and turn it into a renewable resource that is perfect essentially everywhere.”
Source’s hydropanels take in water vapor from the air and pack it into a form that’s about 10,000 times more concentrated than in the atmosphere. Using the warmth of the sun, the system converts the molecules into liquid water, which is collected in a reservoir inside the panel and then released as pure water.
By 2018, Friesen had installed an array of 40 hydropanels in Kenya, where members of the Samburu Girls Foundation faced daily danger on their journeys to find water. They now have their own water source.
“We can now make perfect water, at your home, at your school, in your community in a way that is really bringing it into the 21st century,” said Friesen.
Source’s hydropanels are installed in 52 countries in 450 separate projects. The company has raised $150 million from investors including Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, BlackRock, Duke Energy and the Lightsmith Group.
This type of technology is desperately needed in places like India, where an estimated 800,000 villages don’t have clean drinking water. Friesen cited World Health Organization, showing that by 2025 “half the world’s population will be in water stressed areas.”
There’s a domestic need as well. In the U.S, there are 1.5 million miles of lead pipes still in the ground, and about 750 water main breaks a day, according to Friesen. The business opportunity, he said, is enormous.
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>>> Acceligen is a precision breeding company that addresses long-standing challenges in animal health and wellbeing. It combines the best knowledge of genetics with the capability to precisely deliver these natural traits and dramatically speed-up the genetic improvement of plants and animals used for food. The company's ability to precisely deliver traits based on gene editing technology provides animal breeders new opportunities to accelerate genetic improvement. By introducing unique and valuable genetics, they can dramatically shorten the development cycles typical with conventional selective breeding.
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https://i3connect.com/company/acceligen
>>> Cybersecurity Stocks To Buy And Watch: Demand Grows For Next-Gen Security
Investor's Business Daily
by REINHARDT KRAUSE
12/28/2021
https://www.investors.com/news/technology/cybersecurity-stocks/?src=A00220
You may think the time is right to move into cybersecurity stocks, if you're reading this IBD investing primer. The IBD Computer-Software Security group ranks No. 20 out of 197 industry groups tracked
The recently disclosed Log4j computer server software vulnerability has spurred a new wave of hacker attacks.
Some cybersecurity stocks, such as CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD), have pulled back after strong runs.
Ransomware remains a big threat, though fewer highly publicized incidents occurred in the back half of 2021.
The rise of cryptocurrency Bitcoin has been linked to a spike in ransomware attacks. In ransomware attacks, hackers take over computer systems, encrypt files and demand digital payment to restore access to critical data.
Cybersecurity spending worldwide will pop an estimated 13% in 2021 to $172 billion, says market research firm Gartner, accelerating from 8% growth in 2020. In both 2022 and 2023, Gartner forecasts 11% growth in cybersecurity spending.
The financial services industry is a big spender, said Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo in a recent report.
"The biggest banks spend as much as $1 billion, or an estimated 10% to 20% of their IT budgets on cyber," said Mayo. He added: "Cyber spending should increase 10% (compound annual growth rate) over the next four years. As banks increasingly rely on digital interactions with customers, the importance of cybersecurity grows."
Cybersecurity Stocks With High Composite Ratings
Fortinet (FTNT) stock, Mimecast (MIME), Zscaler (ZS), Qualys (QLYS) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) are among cybersecurity stocks with Composite Ratings above 90. FTNT stock was featured in the New America section.
The Composite Rating is a blend of the other five IBD stock ratings: the earnings per share or EPS Rating, Relative Price Strength Rating, Accumulation/Distribution Rating, Industry Group Relative Strength Rating and the SMR Rating.
The latter measures sales growth, profit margins and return on equity. The all-encompassing Composite Rating helps investors easily measure the quality of a stock's fundamental and technical metrics.
No cybersecurity stocks currently are members of the IBD Leaderboard. It's IBD's curated list of leading stocks that stand out on technical and fundamental metrics.
Both CrowdStrike and Zscaler stock have dropped off the IBD 50 roster of growth companies.
Congress has finally passed legislation funding infrastructure projects. The legislation is expected to include funding for federal, state and local cybersecurity infrastructure.
Hot Cybersecurity Startups Eye IPOs
Private equity firms continue to eye cybersecurity stocks. Permira in December agreed to buy Mimecast (MIME) for $5.8 billion. Thoma Bravo in April agreed to buy Proofpoint in an all-cash $12.3 billion deal.
SentinelOne (S)'s initial public offering raised $1.2 billion. SentinelOne is a rival of CrowdStrike in an emerging market.
Meanwhile, analysts say Netskope, Illumio and Menlo Security are among cloud security startups that could launch IPOs. Netskope in early July raised $300 million at a valuation of $7.5 billion.
Analysts say a new wave of startups seems to be taking share from industry incumbents. They include Cybereason, Exabeam, Vectra AI and iBoss.
"Illumio just completed a Series F round for $225 million of 100% primary capital led by Thoma Bravo, where Illumio now sports a $2.75 billion post-round valuation," said Needham analyst Alex Henderson in a report.
Darktrace (DARK) launched its IPO on the London stock exchange in April. Darktrace utilizes self-learning artificial intelligence tools in security automation.
Consolidation may be coming in the cybersecurity industry. Okta in early March acquired privately held Auth0 in a $6.5 billion, all-stock deal. Also, Okta (OKTA) is expanding into new security markets to take on CyberArk Software (CYBR) and SailPoint Technologies (SAIL).
Microsoft Stock A Big Player In Cybersecurity
Also, Microsoft (MSFT) disclosed that its cybersecurity revenues top $10 billion annually. With 400,000 customers, Microsoft's computer security franchise is growing at more than 40%, the company said.
Microsoft in July acquired RiskIQ, a security threat management company. Bloomberg reported that Microsoft paid around $500 million. Microsoft also bought CloudKnox Security in July.
In addition, Microsoft is integrating more security tools into its cloud-based Office 365 software. As it expands cloud-based security services, Microsoft could pressure more industry incumbents, such as Okta, CrowdStrike, and Splunk (SPLK).
"Microsoft is clearly pitching itself as offering a full security suite, a competitive advantage as customers increasingly want a unified view of threats," UBS analyst Karl Keirstead said in a recent note to clients.
Also, one key IBD technical measure for cybersecurity stocks are Relative Strength Ratings. Further, it behooves an investor to know which cybersecurity stocks address ransomware, phishing or other kinds of cyberattacks.
Palo Alto Networks has spent over $3 billion making 10 acquisitions over the past three years. With roots in the "firewall" network security market, Palo Alto aims to build a broad cloud-based security platform.
Further, CrowdStrike uses machine learning and a specialized database to detect malware on laptops, mobile phones and other devices that access corporate networks. In addition, many software companies are using artificial intelligence to get a competitive edge.
In addition, Zscaler is the biggest provider of cloud-based web security gateways that inspect customers' data traffic for malware.
SailPoint, an identity management software maker, is among companies that garner more than 10% of revenue from government agencies.
Coronavirus Outbreak Boosted Demand For Cloud Security
Other cybersecurity firms with a sizable government business include Tenable Holdings (TENB), Rapid7 (RPD) and CyberArk. Tenable in February acquired France-based Alsid, which focuses on identity access management.
Rapid7 and Qualys specialize in vulnerability management services.
Amid the rapid global spread of the coronavirus called Covid-19, many companies instructed employees to work from home. That has increased demand for computer security products that support remote work.
The coronavirus emergency and shift to remote work has accelerated the growth of cloud-based network security. So the industry now has a new term for the infrastructure that supports distributed workers and branch offices.
It's spelled SASE — pronounced "sassy" — and it stands for Secure Access Service Edge.
Cybersecurity Stocks: Remote Work Increases Amid Pandemic
As remote workers access company data via the internet, many businesses are setting up virtual private networks, or VPNs. Some are buying laptops with preinstalled security software.
"We believe corporations are facing challenges in terms of VPN capacity, and protecting workers adequately with next-generation network and endpoint security offerings," William Blair analyst Jonathan Ho said in a report to clients.
He added that "intensifying email and phishing campaigns, identity access management, and control over software applications" are other security issues.
However, industries hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic will spend less on security software. They include airlines, hotels, retail and restaurants.
Meanwhile, one view is that mergers and acquisitions will pick up.
"The cloud has disrupted everything, which presents both threat and opportunity," Jefferies analyst Brent Thill said in a recent note. "The cyber market is riper than ever for ongoing consolidation. Many smaller vendors are attempting to solve the same problems, larger vendors are looking to create security suites, and financing rates are at all-time lows."
Zscaler, Qualys and Ping Identity Holdings (PING) were each featured recently as the IBD Stock of the Day.
In addition, while cybersecurity stocks often get a boost from well-publicized cyberattacks, the impact can be short-lived.
SD-WAN Technology Changes Security Needs
Corporate America has hiked tech spending on security aiming to protect intellectual property as well as consumer privacy. Hackers continue to steal credit card data and intellectual property.
Spending on security technologies has evolved as companies shift business workloads to cloud computing service providers. Amazon Web Services, part of Amazon.com (AMZN), is the biggest cloud services firm. Amazon looms as a potential rival as it builds more security tools into its cloud services.
Also, Fortinet competes with Palo Alto Networks and others in the firewall security market. Firewalls reside between private networks and the internet. They block unauthorized traffic and check web applications for malware.
As large companies shift to off-premise cloud computing services, one view is that firewall technology will play a lesser role. Fortinet has targeted software-defined wide area networks, or SD-WANs, an emerging computer networking technology.
Aiming to catch-up in SD-WAN technology, Palo Alto Networks acquired startup CloudGenix.
Cybersecurity Products Battle Ransomware, Phishing
Cybersecurity stocks span a wide-range of products and services. In addition, some security vendors are shifting to software-based subscription business models from selling hardware appliances.
Proofpoint specializes in email and data-loss protection.
Hackers often aim to compromise networks by targeting employees or management who have administrative access. CyberArk manages privileged accounts. In addition, Okta provides identity management services.
To slow down hackers, more companies are focusing on internal security threats though a strategy known as Zero Trust.
In addition, traditional security measures aim to keep the bad guys out of corporate networks. Further, network firewalls focus on intruders from the public internet.
Zero Trust cybersecurity models focus on internal threats, such as hackers stealing someone's security credentials. Security firms verify the identity of network users and limit access to applications.
CrowdStrike, Okta, Netskope and Proofpoint recently formed a Zero Trust alliance.
Targeting Zero Trust security, Cisco Systems (CSCO) in 2018 acquired Duo Security for $2.35 billion.
Artificial Intelligence Changing Cybersecurity Market
Also, many fast-growing cybersecurity firms are in the endpoint market. Their tools detect malware on laptops, mobile phones and other devices that access corporate networks.
Further, CrowdStrike's initial public offering in June, 2019 raised $612 million, one of the largest cybersecurity offerings. CrowdStrike's rivals include VMware's (VMW) Carbon Black, Palo Alto, FireEye (FEYE) and startup Cybereason. Private equity firms Blackstone and ClearSky recently invested $400 million in FireEye.
In addition, state-sponsored hackers and cybersecurity firms are both using artificial intelligence to get an edge.
Artificial intelligence should improve computer security tools by speeding up incident responses. It could help thwart email-delivered ransomware or swarming botnets that knock out access to websites.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on 5G wireless, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
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>>> Koch Charges Up with Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Company
Koch Newsroom
SEPTEMBER 29, 2021
https://news.kochind.com/news/2021/koch-invests-koch-charges-up-with-lithium-ion-batt
Koch Strategic Platforms has announced a $100 million investment in Toronto-based Li-Cycle – the leading lithium-ion battery recycler in North America – to help meet the rapidly growing global demand to source and recycle critical and scarce battery-grade materials.
“KSP’s strategic investment in Li-Cycle will further fund and accelerate our growth as we scale our efficient and proven commercial lithium-ion recycling technology globally to grow in lockstep with our customers,” said Li-Cycle co-founder and CEO Ajay Kochhar. “KSP has made significant investments in the energy transformation and the electrification of transportation, and we’re proud to partner with their team to leverage their expertise and this capital to continue to execute our global growth plan.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Improving the scale of lithium-ion battery recycling and recovery is critical to the transformation of the electric vehicle (EV) value chain, said KSP President David Park.
“Li-Cycle is a true leader in the space with proven innovative technology and a robust portfolio of customers and strategic partners,” Park added. “We’re confident in Li-Cycle’s cutting edge technology ability to deliver growth and long-term value to shareholders and their stakeholders throughout battery supply chain.”
KOCH AS A LAB: KSP’s investment will enable Li-Cycle to tap into expertise across the enterprise, including Koch Engineered Solutions, which specializes in design, engineering, equipment, project management, service and analytics to help industrial customers improve operations through improved efficiency and safety and reduced waste and emissions.
KES and their Optimized Process Designs group are exploring opportunities to support the incremental global deployment of Li-Cycle’s Spokes – part of the company’s Spoke & Hub system to recycle lithium-ion batteries. The Spoke facilities process lithium-ion batteries into battery materials (a.k.a. black mass) and mixed copper/aluminum before they are processed at Hub facilities into battery-grade end products for reuse in lithium-ion production or other applications.
Li-Cycle will also benefit from Koch’s support for execution, operational readiness and supply procurement, as it gears up for the 2023 launch of its North American Hub facility in Rochester, New York.
THE BIG PICTURE: From cellphones to energy storage systems to electric vehicles, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are seemingly everywhere these days.
But once they reach the end of life, they often end up in landfills with valuable, non-renewable materials still inside, like nickel, cobalt and manganese.
KSP’s investment in Li-Cycle will support the company’s ability to address a growing addressable market in North America, Europe and Asia.
GO DEEPER: Li-Cycle is only the latest investment in the EV value chain for Koch companies, including deals with next-gen battery cell developer FREYR, thermal aerogel producer Aspen Aerogels, zinc-powered energy storage system producer Eos Energy and e-mobility company REE Automotive.
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Liminex - >>> Big Teacher Is Watching: How AI Spyware Took Over Schools
The pandemic caused schools to embrace laptops, tablets, Zoom, and an app called GoGuardian that tracks everything students (and, sometimes, parents) do online.
Bloomberg
October 28, 2021
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-10-28/how-goguardian-ai-spyware-took-over-schools-student-devices-during-covid
At Pekin Community High School, the teachers are something close to omniscient. Education, even in-person education, is digital in the Covid-19 era, and staff members use a piece of software to watch everything students do on school-issued laptops and to keep them off banned websites. The kids are aware. “They pretty much know that they’re being monitored 24/7,” says Cynthia Hinderliter, head of technology at the school outside Peoria, Ill.
Still, class clowns persist. Hinderliter pulls up a detailed dashboard of student online activity, which reveals the identities of rule breakers. A yellow “EXPLICIT” label appears beside the name of a youngster who had typed “sexy girls” and “sugar daddy dating” into Google. Other students were searching YouTube for videos of a farming simulation game, guitar tutorials, and, for some reason, nursery rhymes about trucks. Another popular search: “How you bypass GoGuardian,” which is the name of the tracking software Pekin High uses. GoGuardian has been around since 2014, but the pandemic gave educators new reasons to adopt it. The software is quickly becoming almost as commonplace inside American classrooms as standardized tests.
Even as schools throughout the U.S. have opened back up for full in-person instruction, they’ve generally kept the technologies they picked up during the unending months of Zoom lessons. This includes laptops and tablets, which some schools were already using before Covid, as well as apps that allow students to attend classes while they are quarantining after an illness or a potential exposure and software to allow educators to keep tabs on them.
For kids that means their every keystroke, click, and search is recorded and analyzed by companies such as GoGuardian, which is based in Los Angeles. Its competitors include Gaggle.Net, Securly, and Bark Technologies. In addition to monitoring and website filtering, GoGuardian sells software tools for classroom management, video calling, and network security. Its most futuristic offering, Beacon, is an artificial intelligence feature the company claims can identify students who, based on their online behavior, are at risk of hurting themselves or others. Advait Shinde, GoGuardian’s chief executive officer, says his company plans to offer software for “classwork, homework, exams”—every aspect of primary and secondary school. “We haven’t fully realized what technology can do.” He imagines computer systems that recommend assignments and offer personalized curricula based on data GoGuardian collects. This summer he raised $200 million, valuing Liminex Inc. (the company’s official name) at more than $1 billion.
Earlier this year, GoGuardian struck deals with state education departments in Delaware and West Virginia, which will give every school in both states access to the software. New York City, the nation’s largest district, recently signed a similar contract with the company, bringing GoGuardian’s potential reach to more than 23 million students. Some parents and privacy groups find the use of tracking software inside classrooms to be disturbing, but many school administrators (and many parents, for that matter) seem to regard those concerns as overblown. Schoolkids already turn over personal data to big companies when they mindlessly scroll through TikTok and Instagram, and surveillance in schools has been around for as long as there have been hall monitors. “I’ve always felt that they’re already being tracked,” says Pekin High’s principal, Joel Schmieg. Administrators at another GoGuardian customer—Success Academy, the large New York charter school network renowned (or infamous) for harsh discipline—say they hear demands from parents for more internet filtering, not less.
Even if most educators believe that students should be monitored when they’re using computers, there’s far less clarity about what computers mean for the future of learning. For years, Silicon Valley has tried to leave its distinctive mark on education, but most attempts have failed. Massive open online courses, or MOOCs, haven’t been the game changer for higher education that futurists and TED talkers once described. Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million effort to remake the school system in Newark, N.J., led to allegations of corruption along with limited evidence of improvement. AltSchool, an education company backed by Zuckerberg and top venture capital firms and founded by former Google executives, started closing its 3D-printer-equipped classrooms in 2017 and got out of the business of operating schools entirely in 2019.
Will this latest Silicon Valley foray into education end any differently? GoGuardian and similar apps were rushed into schools during the pandemic. Teachers like the apps, students accept them, and they even play in Peoria—or just outside it, anyway. But no one actually knows how well, or even if, these technologies work.
In 2013, President Barack Obama unveiled ConnectEd, an initiative calling on schools to embrace the internet era and to give students cheap computers. Soon, iPads and Chromebooks started pouring into classrooms, and Shinde, then a programmer at Google, sensed an opportunity. He quit his job and, working with two acquaintances, created a browser widget called Laptop Lookout. It was supposed to help schools hunt down kids’ lost devices. Their pitch didn’t take, but it gave him a new idea.
“This stuff is great and all,” Shinde recalls hearing when he talked to teachers. “But I’m having trouble keeping my kids from watching Netflix in class.” After unleashing the internet in classrooms, schools were desperate for ways to control it. The trio reworked their spiel into one for a web-censoring widget called GoGuardian. Rather than blocking entire websites—an approach that many corporate IT departments take to control what employees do on their work computers—the system they developed claimed to analyze text and pixels on each website to filter out only those deemed inappropriate or unwanted. So, in theory, teachers could send kids to Reddit and YouTube without worrying they might wander down distracting or darker paths. “You end up blocking much less,” Shinde says. Schools would pay a per-student fee (now around $5) for each GoGuardian product they used. GoGuardian raised $5 million in seed funding in 2015 and saw encouraging if unspectacular growth in its early years. In 2018 private equity firm Sumeru Equity Partners LP bought most of the company for an undisclosed price, and Shinde’s co-founders left, leaving him in charge.
Shinde has no background in education, nor, at age 31, is he a parent—“not yet,” he says. But he’s won fans in the field simply by being more agreeable than the average tech bro. Many Silicon Valley executives selling products to schools “model themselves after Steve Jobs: ‘I know best,’?” says Tony Miller, a deputy secretary of education under Obama. Shinde met Miller in 2018 and recruited him to GoGuardian’s board. Shinde “had a real vision for improving education that was less about technology and more about its benefit,” Miller says.
The pandemic gave Shinde’s pitch urgency. He sweetened the deal by offering GoGuardian software for free on a trial basis to any school that wanted it. Teachers can see students browsing the web in real time. “It’s like the teacher is there with them,” says Marshall Beyer, education technology coordinator for the Turlock Unified School District in California’s Central Valley, where GoGuardian tracks roughly 14,000 students. If a kid is playing a video game instead of working, the teacher can commandeer the screen and force-quit the game. There are Reddit threads from teachers cataloging student Googling, ranging from the banal (photos of potatoes) to the discomfiting (“cat poop” and “how much does horse semen cost”).
More than 1,000 schools signed up for free trials in the spring of 2020, and some of those paid for accounts at the end of the school year. In some cases new customers used federal Covid relief funds for the purchase. That fueled whiplash growth for GoGuardian: Since March 2020 the company has added 253 employees, bringing its total to about 480, and Shinde acquired two other ed-tech startups.
The schools—not GoGuardian—decide what to block on kids’ computers, though this isn’t always clear to pupils. Precocious seventh graders once emailed Shinde to complain that their district in New Jersey had blocked the New York Times but let right-wing outlets such as Breitbart News slide. The seventh graders blamed Shinde. He set up a video call to explain to the students that GoGuardian didn’t make filtering decisions and suggested they lobby their administrators. He hasn’t heard from them since. “From our perspective,” he says, “we’re not in a position to say what’s right or wrong.”
Pekin High was flooded with alerts and “kids searching for problematic stuff,” Hinderliter says. “Problematic would be porn”
Pekin is a blue-collar town. Its public high school sits next to a strip mall with a Pizza Hut and a nail salon and is 1 mile from a park that claims to have the “world’s greatest sundial.” (It isn’t the tallest sundial in the world, or even in the country, but it does have informative plaques about the solar system, and there’s a lagoon nearby.)
Pekin High signed up for GoGuardian three years ago, after doling out bare-bones Acer Chromebooks to its 1,800 students. Every summer the school gives graduates a chance to keep their computers (for $25 each) and orders a fresh batch of 500. With the help of a few members of the school staff, Hinderliter sets up each laptop, which comes equipped with only a web browser, adding some library and math programs, and a software widget for recording online lessons.
On the computer at her desk, nestled in a corner of the school library, Hinderliter is already logged in to GoGuardian. She opens a dashboard labeled “Fleet” and pulls up a digital map, revealing the location of each laptop. “This one says that it’s 6 miles away,” she says, pointing to the screen. It’s summer vacation, so the student is online at home. “That’s very useful when we have a stolen Chromebook.”
It’s taken a while for Hinderliter and her team to figure out what to do with all the intel pouring in. After first introducing GoGuardian, Pekin High was flooded with alerts and “kids searching for problematic stuff,” she says. “Problematic would be porn.” Her philosophy is fairly liberal. A few questionable Google queries won’t result in any discipline, though she calls students to her desk to warn them not to cross lines on a school laptop. “We don’t have the time or the staff to monitor every little thing they do,” she says.
Repeat offenders are put in what she calls “the penalty box”—a virtual form of detention that locks them out of anything unrelated to schoolwork. Hinderliter clicks on the search history of the sophomore recently busted for Googling “sexy girls,” unfurling a string of time stamps and other naughty terms. Hinderliter is letting it go for now but is keeping an eye on him in case he continues to look for adult content. “For an entire semester, we might have a kid in the penalty box,” she says. Hinderliter says she also has to remind at least one student each year not to send love letters through school email accounts.
For teachers, GoGuardian’s classroom tools are the major attraction. Riley Faille, a Pekin math teacher, says she logs in to GoGuardian from the laptop on her desk when she’s teaching so she can limit what students have open on their screens to only what she wants—a calculator or exam, for instance. During study halls she uses the software to watch what the students are doing. If someone strays from homework, she’ll open a tab on their screen and type GoDoYourWork.com. “I like stuff like that,” she says. She considers it a gentle way to remind them “Oh, I shouldn’t be doing this right now.”
At the end of each class, Faille gets a report with pie charts summarizing what students were doing on their laptops, which helps her see if they missed something while she was teaching. But on days when students are home because they’re sick or quarantining, she finds GoGuardian less useful. Last year, Pekin split kids into two cohorts, with each coming in every other day. On work-from-home days, students were free to set their own schedules. When kids were in class in person, Faille blocked sites such as YouTube, but she couldn’t limit YouTube usage for students at home because they might need access to online videos for their Spanish or French assignments.
No matter where kids are, Hinderliter watches GoGuardian closely every day. Almost half of Pekin’s high schoolers receive free or reduced lunch, and many take after-school jobs. During the pandemic, Hinderliter watched bills get paid and unemployment forms get filled out on student laptops, knowing that her kids’ Chromebooks were often the only computers at home.
Sometimes she saw more troubling indicators. Around dinnertime on a Thursday earlier this year, Hinderliter received a panicked alert. A student had Googled “How to tell your girlfriend if you’re suicidal.” Hinderliter and three other administrators sprang to action in a text thread, so that a school official could call the student’s home and alert a guidance counselor. Hinderliter declines to share details, other than to say that the student was ultimately all right.
Schmieg, the principal, says GoGuardian can help catch a slip in a student’s mental health well before teachers, counselors, or loved ones might notice. He says he has called parents, finding them entirely unaware that their child is in distress. “That’s happened multiple times in the past year,” he recalls.
This school year, Pekin began using Beacon, which automates the process of alerting administrators about students the software deems most at risk. Schmieg says he received more than 40 alerts in the first week on the service. With each alert, the software created a report of the student’s online activity, so he and school staff wouldn’t have to dig through their search history to try to figure out what was going on. “I already love it,” he says.
GoGuardian began testing Beacon back in 2018, but, like most of what the company offers, the service exploded in popularity after schools closed in March 2020. Last year, Clark County, an enormous district that includes Las Vegas, started using Beacon and saw more than 7,300 alerts, acting on almost a third of those. GoGuardian has promoted the new service as a way to combat the psychological strain students have faced during the pandemic. Shinde says the company “could be in a position to shine a flashlight on this issue.”
But some parents and privacy groups consider Beacon to be emblematic of larger problems with GoGuardian’s approach, which they characterize as unnecessary snooping that might actually be contributing to the psychological strain it’s supposed to mitigate. “We were teenagers, right?” says Geoff Shandler, a parent in Montclair, N.J., whose school system tested out GoGuardian. “You shut your door when you’re in your room. I don’t think anyone liked the idea of being watched and tracked.”
Shandler is a book editor, with three children in public schools (ages 8, 14, and 16). In February, in a weekly note to families, his district’s superintendent said Montclair was using GoGuardian in several classrooms. Parents in the left-leaning suburb freaked, which prompted local news coverage and an online petition. Part of the concern came because the district said GoGuardian’s filtering would be active whenever kids were logged in to their school accounts—whether that’s on school laptops or computers at home. (GoGuardian says schools choose whether to turn on the function that allows filtering on home computers and declined to share how many have opted to do so.) In Berkeley the public school district paused its rollout of GoGuardian last year after a similar outcry. Students “feel like they don’t have any space to themselves,” a sophomore complained to the school paper.
In October a trio of Democratic senators sent letters to GoGuardian and three of its competitors chiding them for surveilling students and “compounding racial disparities” that already exist in school discipline. “We need to protect our students from the long-lasting and harmful effects these invasions of privacy may have,” Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote in a statement to Bloomberg Businessweek. GoGuardian said in a statement that the company cares “deeply about keeping students safe and protecting their privacy.”
The company gives schools handouts that purport to explain how the technology works. Montclair’s schools tried addressing parents’ concerns, but Shandler found the information confusing. He felt that GoGuardian’s claims, particularly those about identifying students in danger, lacked supporting evidence. In a message to parents, Montclair Superintendent Jonathan Ponds wrote, “It may be helpful to know that 10,000 other schools, including our neighbors?…?use GoGuardian.”
Critics describe GoGuardian’s technology as a black box. Jonathan Singer, the former president of the American Association of Suicidology, says he worries that schools are deploying tools such as GoGuardian’s without empirical evidence of their impact on mental health or an understanding of the algorithms at play. “There has to be some public involvement in what the software is doing,” he says. While developing Beacon, a GoGuardian spokesman said the company had spoken with several experts, including Singer. Although Singer acknowledges he walked the company’s staff through his research, he says that was the extent of his involvement with Beacon. “I don’t really even know how it works.”
Schools, swamped by debates about reopening and testing and mask mandates, haven’t had much time to address these questions. As Delaware prepares to introduce GoGuardian into its schools, Alyssa Moore, the state official coordinating the rollout, says the education department hasn’t rigorously tested Beacon’s effectiveness and may not have a chance to prior to offering it to schools. “I need to get this system up and running before I do anything else,” she says.
When a school sets up Beacon, GoGuardian’s machine-learning models crunch everything students type and visit. According to Shinde, these systems can detect whether a post has “general suicide ideation” or is a true “high-stakes alert.” GoGuardian has a support team available around-the-clock to sift through machine alerts on behalf of schools that don’t have the staff or the inclination to do it themselves, giving the company more responsibility over how incidents are handled. When staffers review an alert and deem it serious, they call the school. Shinde says GoGuardian’s goal is to make sure a school is aware of the issue, but “ultimately that’s it. We want them to take the next action.” GoGuardian declined to say how many people are on the team, calling that figure proprietary. The company says it changes the number of its round-the-clock staff based on demand.
GoGuardian, like many other tech companies, declines to disclose the specifics of how its algorithms make determinations. Shinde says GoGuardian complies with all federal laws on student data and privacy. If police are brought in to investigate an alert, GoGuardian allows schools to decide what data to share. And the company contends that Beacon is effective. “We have customers who literally say, ‘There’s kids alive today that wouldn’t be alive without a tool like Beacon,’?” Shinde says. “So from an evidence perspective, that’s what we truly hang our hat on.”
Some of GoGuardian’s competitors are going further, selling services that scrape student searches, keystrokes, and social media posts in an attempt to read their minds and ferret out feelings of anger or harm. GoGuardian so far has steered clear of this type of so-called sentiment analysis. Having a computer play child psychologist isn’t realistic, Shinde says. Technology just doesn’t work well enough to do that reliably. But, he adds, “we’re certainly open to expanding to it one day.”
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Simplot and Plant Sciences - Gene-edited strawberries -
>>> U.S. companies announce plans for gene-edited strawberries that will stay fresh longer
10-28-21
Associated Press
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/us-companies-announce-plans-for-gene-edited-strawberries-that-will-stay-fresh-longer/ar-AAQ4n9b?ocid=uxbndlbing
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho company that successfully brought genetically modified potatoes to the market announced an agreement Thursday to help a California-based plant breeding company grow strawberries they say will stay fresh longer and have a longer growing season.
J.R. Simplot Company and Plant Sciences Inc., both privately-held companies, said they expect to launch the first commercially available, gene-edited strawberries within a few years.
U.S. growers produced $2.2 billion in strawberries in 2020, mostly in California, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But consumers discarded an estimated 35% of the crop due to spoilage. Simplot and Plant Sciences officials said genetically modified strawberries will help reduce waste, and make them available to consumers much of the year.
The strawberries will contain genes from only strawberries, selecting desirable traits that have been cultivated over decades.
“It’s the same technology we’re working on with potatoes,” said Doug Cole, director of Marketing and Biotech Affairs at Simplot. “We have the opportunity to do that with this technology.”
There is no evidence that genetically modified organisms, known as GMOs, are unsafe to eat, but changing the genetic code of foods presents an ethical issue for some. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a previous gene-modifying technique on Simplot potatoes. Now, more than 1.1 billion pounds of the potatoes are sold in some 40 states and 4,000 supermarkets and 9,000 restaurants.
Cole said the company submitted information to the Agriculture Department that determined the gene-editing being used on strawberries replicates a natural process and doesn’t need regulatory approval before the strawberries are brought to the market. The company is also using that gene-editing technique on potatoes.
Steve Nelson, president and chief executive officer of Plant Sciences Inc., said the company over the last 35 years has developed five distinct breeding populations of strawberries that do best in various growing areas and climate types.
“They possess complex genomes that contribute to long and complex breeding cycles,” Nelson said. “You’ve got to look at large populations of seedlings on an annual basis to make progress with traditional plant breeding.”
Gene editing could speed that up. Nelson said the goal of the partnership with Simplot is to improve the horticultural performance of strawberries, enhance pest and disease tolerance and resistance.
He said for growers, who can spend $35,000 an acre to plant strawberries and another $35,000 per acre to harvest them, gene-edited strawberries could reduce the risk of a crop failure.
Simplot, a multinational agribusiness company with headquarters in Boise, Idaho, in 2018 acquired gene editing licensing rights in an agreement with Corteva Agriscience and the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, developers of a gene-editing technology called CRISPR-Cas9. Simplot was the first agricultural company to receive such a license.
The technology allows scientists to make precise changes to the genome of living organisms and has wide-ranging applications for improving plant food production and quality. It’s been likened to using a search-and-replace function while editing a written document.
The gene-editing technology is called CRISPR-Cas9, the first part an acronym for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.” The technology speeds up the traditional process of breeding generation after generation of plants to get a certain desirable trait, saving years in developing new varieties that are as safe as traditionally developed varieties, scientists say.
Craig Richael, director of research and development at Simplot, said the strawberry genetic code has been mapped, but it’s not clear what traits are associated with all the various parts of the code. He said the company is working with parts of the code that are known, raising genetically modified strawberries at a Simplot greenhouse.
Plant Sciences Inc., headquartered in Watsonville, California, and its affiliates have proprietary rights for more than 50 strawberry and raspberry varieties. The company supplies plants to growers in more than 50 countries.
Simplot and Plant Sciences will make money by selling the genetically modified strawberry plants to growers, who pay a royalty for the rights to grow and sell the strawberries. Terms of the deal weren’t released.
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>>> eCurrency Mint Limited develops and provides technology that enables central banks to issue digital fiat currency, called eCurrency.Developer of technologies designed to offer secure digital flat currencies. The company's technologies provide e-currencies which are central bank governed and has inherent trust and transperiency of digitaltransactions, enabling users to get benefit of using safe and secured e-currencies. <<< Based in Ireland
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ecurrency-mint-ecm?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=profile_cta&utm_campaign=yahoo_finance
Groundwork BioAg - >>> GrowGeneration Signs Distribution Agreement with Groundwork BioAg
Yahoo Finance
October 7, 2021
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/growgeneration-signs-distribution-agreement-groundwork-123000368.html
Expands nutrient and additive portfolio to include leading mycorrhizal inoculant DYNOMYCO via online superstore and retail locations.
DENVER, Colo. and MAZOR, Israel, Oct. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - GrowGeneration Corp. (NASDAQ: GRWG) ("GrowGen") the nation's largest chain of specialty hydroponic and organic garden centers, and Groundwork BioAg, a global bio-agriculture company, today announced that they have entered into a distribution agreement to offer DYNOMYCO®, a unique brand of highly-concentrated mycorrhizal inoculants specifically formulated for cannabis, to hydroponic and organic growers across the U.S. Representing two of the fastest growing segments in agriculture – cannabis and biologicals – the distribution agreement brings together GrowGen's commercial reach and marketing prowess with Groundwork BioAg's innovative and highly-effective mycorrhizal inoculants.
DYNOMYCO has exhibited strong efficacy in cannabis, with yield increases of 10%-45%, as well as increased cannabinoid content. DYNOMYCO also reduces dependency on phosphorus fertilizer, improves nutrient uptake, and reduces transplantation shock. Mycorrhizae are a cornerstone of regenerative agriculture best practices, and a key to maintaining plant root health in horticulture.
"Product portfolio expansion has become a strategic priority for GrowGen, and a key component of our long-term revenue generation plan," said Paul Rutenis, GrowGen's Chief Merchant Officer. "We are proud to bring Groundwork BioAg's unique technologies and proprietary mycorrhizal products to GrowGen and our family of growers who are on the leading edge of farm management practices to produce the highest quality plants."
Following 30 years of research and product development, DYNOMYCO is highly-concentrated and formulated for convenient application and efficacy on cannabis plants and is suitable for individual growers and large commercial farms alike. The product is suitable for organic cultivation and is certified by Clean Green, Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), and California Department of Food and Agriculture Organic Input Material Program (CDFA-OIM).
"Through our partnership with GrowGen, one of the most respected names in hydroponic and organic gardening, we are able to ensure growers have access to our unique formulation of mycorrhizal inoculants for maximum performance," said Dan Grotsky, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Groundwork BioAg, and DYNOMYCO's General Manager. "DYNOMYCO continues to gain tremendous momentum among cannabis growers. Through this strategic partnership, we can ensure growers across the nation have easy access to a product they love from a retailer they trust."
Starting in October 2021, growers will be able to purchase DYNOMYCO directly from GrowGen's 62 retail hydroponic and organic garden centers or on GrowGeneration's online superstore: www.growgeneration.com.
About GrowGeneration Corp.:
GrowGen owns and operates specialty retail hydroponic and organic gardening stores. Currently, GrowGen has 62 stores, which include 24 locations in California, 8 locations in Colorado, 7 locations in Michigan, 5 locations in Maine, 5 locations in Oklahoma, 4 locations in Oregon, 3 locations in Washington, 2 locations in Nevada, 1 location in Arizona, 1 location in Rhode Island,1 location in Florida, and 1 location in Massachusetts.
GrowGen also operates an online superstore for cultivators at growgeneration.com and B2B e-commerce platform, agron.io. GrowGen carries and sells thousands of products, including organic nutrients and soils, advanced lighting technology and state of the art hydroponic equipment to be used indoors and outdoors by commercial and home growers.
About Groundwork BioAg:
Groundwork BioAg, a global bioagriculture company, leverages the natural power of mycorrhizal fungi to improve the productivity, sustainability and profitability of commercial agriculture and expand regenerative agriculture practices. Groundwork BioAg is the first to use innovative techniques to solve challenges inherent in high-volume mycorrhizal inoculant production. We will not rest until every hectare of arable land is protected by mycorrhizae and every farmer benefits from higher crop yields while preserving our soils. For more information, visit www.dynomyco.com, or follow: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube.
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>>> Carbon, Inc brings together innovations in software, hardware, and molecular science to deliver industry-leading digital manufacturing solutions. With proprietary Carbon Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology and family of programmable liquid resins, manufacturers can unlock new business opportunities such as mass customization, on-demand inventory, and previously impossible product designs. The Carbon Platform allows customers to build uniquely differentiated products while reducing waste and speeding time to market.
Carbon was founded by Dr. Joseph DeSimone and Philip DeSimone in 2013.
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>>> FarmTogether team brings a unique combination of farmland investing and technology expertise. Collectively, they bring over 70 years of food and agriculture investment experience in the US and globally. They meticulously review all investment opportunities and only pursue the properties they find attractive. They then partner with top quality local farmland operators to manage the land.
The idea of FarmTogether was born out of their personal and professional frustration with the complexities and hurdles associated with investing in farmland. Firmly believing that farmland is a safe, stable, and attractive long-term investment for everyone, their mission is to radically democratize farmland investing.
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https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/farmtogether?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=profile_cta&utm_campaign=yahoo_finance
>>> Tritium offers energy freedom through flexible, scalable technology solutions that enable electric vehicle charging for everyone, everywhere it is needed.it is Veefil electric vehicle charging stations support the adoption and growth of low-emission e-mobility in over 20 countries around the world. <<<
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/tritium?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=profile_cta&utm_campaign=yahoo_finance
>>> the world’s second-largest producer of fast charging units and a supplier to networks being rolled out by Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Co. <<<
Based in Australia
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-materials-silver-to-lithium-worth-big-money-in-clean-energy/?srnd=premium
>>> RSA, the security division of EMC, is the premier provider of security solutions for business acceleration.
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/rsa-security?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=profile_cta&utm_campaign=yahoo_finance
As the chosen security partner of more than 90% of the Fortune 500, they help the world's leading organizations succeed by solving their most complex and sensitive security challenges.
RSA's information-centric approach to security protects the integrity and confidentiality of information throughout its lifecycle no matter where it moves, who accesses it or how it is used. RSA offers industry-leading solutions in identity assurance & access control, encryption & key management, compliance & security information management, and fraud protection. These solutions bring trust to millions of user identities, the transactions they perform, and the data that is generated.
With RSA, customers are confident their information assets are protected, and free to realize new business possibilities.
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>>> Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. develops and produces military and commercial aerospace and defense systems.
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/israel-aerospace-industries?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=profile_cta&utm_campaign=yahoo_finance
The company provides space systems including communication and observation satellites, launchers, ground stations and systems, and subsystems and components; and unmanned air systems comprising of electro-optical payloads, inertial systems, maritime solutions, ground control and airborne systems, and data terminals. The company also offers defense systems; military aircraft and helicopters maintenance and upgrade services including services for special mission aircraft, aero structures and wiring, training solutions and systems, operational support products and services, airborne systems, tactical mid-air collision avoidance systems, defense self-protection communications, A/C and engine parts, telemetry and airborne instrumentation equipment, toolkits, and helicopter military seats.
In addition, the company provides naval systems such as surveillance systems, patrol and attack crafts, training and simulation products, ship combat suites, combat management systems, naval attack missiles, naval LAHAT and Barak systems, sea-to-sea missiles, weapon systems modernization and integration services, radar systems, and skimmers. The company also offers maintenance, repair, overhaul, and conversion services for civil aircrafts; integrated intelligence systems, air command control communication systems, radars, and defense and self-protection products; land systems comprising of land-based Barak systems, armored dozers, airborne systems for aerostats, mine blast resistant seats, land navigation systems, precision strike systems and guided munitions, loitering weapons, ground vehicles, field porters, and ground SIGINT systems.
Israel Aerospace Industries also offers cyber defense, maritime, border protection, defense surveillance systems, and crisis and emergency management systems, as well as business jets and aero assemblies.
Israel Aerospace Industries was founded in 1953 and is based in Lod, Israel.
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Astrocast - >>> Founded in 2014, Astrocast SA is the most advanced SatIoT Service for customers looking to track, monitor, manage, and communicate with assets in remote regions of the world. With the world's most innovative nanostatelliite network, Astrocast delivers a complete end-to-end, direct-to-orbit service that, state-of-the-art communication modules,and enterprise class services. In partnership with Airbus, CEA/LETI, the European Space Agency, and Thuraya, Astrocast has developed Astronode S, a cutting-edge terminal featuring low profile L-band antenna, ultra-low power consumption, and a small form factor. Astrocast enables companies like Marine Instruments and Wildlife Computers to expand their IoT strategies. For more information on how you can go further with Astrocast visit https://www.astrocast.com
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>>> FinAccel is a financial technology company creating disruptive and meaningful products in retail credit for Southeast Asia, the 7th largest economy in the world and home to nearly 10% of the world's population. With an all star team of investors, founders and employees, FinAccel is currently focused on disruption in the unsecured lendingspace.
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>>> AdTheorent is a leading provider of predictive digital advertising technology and solutions for brands and agencies. The Company leverages Big Data and its proprietary machine learning technology, as well as cross-environment mapping to predictively connect advertisers with their optimal audiences, at scale. Barometric®, AdTheorent’s cross-channelattribution SaaS solution, maps disparate user IDs across numerous devices and environments to a single user, allowing brands to accurately track user engagement and path to purchase. For more information, visit: www.adtheorent.com.
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>>> Tritium offers energy freedom through flexible, scalable technology solutions that enable electric vehicle charging for everyone, everywhere it is needed.it is Veefil electric vehicle charging stations support the adoption and growth of low-emission e-mobility in over 20 countries around the world.
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>>> Fast Radius is a provider of additive manufacturing solutions from application discovery, to product design and testing, to production-grade manufacturing and global fulfillment. With cutting edge 3D plastic and metal printing technologies, CNC machining and rapid injection molding capabilities, and external production capacity from select globalproviders, Fast Radius On-Demand Production Platform delivers fast quotes, fast production and ensures reliable and superior quality.
It brings the future of manufacturing and supply chains to the clients. From entirely new products uniquely enabled by additive manufacturing to global supply chain solutions leveraging our virtual warehouse, Fast Radius can help.
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