Artificial Intelligence
Visteon Announces Second-Quarter 2020 Results
- Net sales of $371 million; 48% reduction Y/Y excluding currency
- Industry production down 45% Y/Y; Visteon customers down 53% Y/Y
- Visteon sales outperformed customer production by five percentage points
- $1.7 billion in new business and 21 new product launches YTD
- Cash of $759 million; no significant near-term debt maturities
VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich., July 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Visteon Corporation (NASDAQ: VC) today announced that despite a drastic market downturn in the second quarter, the company’s sales outperformed production volumes at Visteon’s top customers by five percentage points. The company’s sales outperformed industry production volumes in Europe and China, driven by new product launches and improved take rates.
Second-quarter 2020 sales were $371 million, gross margin during the same period was $4 million, and net loss attributable to Visteon was $45 million. Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure as defined below, was a loss of $3 million for the second quarter of 2020. Adjusted EBITDA was impacted by lower sales volume, primarily due to COVID-19 and partially offset by strong cost-reduction actions, resulting in adjusted EBITDA decremental margin1 of 15%.
The company actively managed cash and liquidity, reduced operational costs, strengthened commercial discipline and aligned supply chain and manufacturing to lower demand. These actions are positioning the company to not only weather the storm but emerge stronger as industry volumes recover.
“Visteon took decisive actions in the second quarter to reduce its cost base in response to decreased automotive industry activity,” said President and CEO Sachin Lawande. “Despite the challenging environment, we launched 21 new products during the first half of the year, including all-digital clusters, a new Android-based infotainment system and large displays. We also won $1.7 billion in new business in the first half, which will position us for continued market outperformance in the future.”
The company continued to execute on its growth strategy in the second quarter by launching 8 new products, including its infotainment solution in the VW Nivus, a new coupe-style SUV for the Brazil market. The new model debuts VW Play – a pioneering infotainment system for enhanced in-car connectivity, streaming and other services supported by Visteon. Other key launches include a 12-inch digital cluster with Toyota, the company’s first with this OEM, and a 12-inch digital cluster for the Nissan Rogue compact SUV.
The company won more than $900 million of new business during the quarter. Key wins include a multi-display module with a 12-inch and 27-inch display for a Chinese OEM, a SmartCore™-based cockpit domain controller for a different Chinese OEM, and a 10-inch touch screen center display for a Japanese OEM.
As of June 30, 2020, Visteon had cash of $759 million and debt of $770 million with no significant near-term debt maturities.
For the first half of 2020, cash used by operations was $13 million and capital expenditures were $65 million. Adjusted free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure, for the first half of 2020 was a use of cash of $66 million, compared to a use of cash of $2 million for the same period in the prior year.
The company had 27.8 million diluted shares of common stock outstanding as of June 30, 2020.
About Visteon
Visteon is a global technology company that designs, engineers and manufactures innovative cockpit electronics and connected car solutions for the world’s major vehicle manufacturers. Visteon is driving the smart, learning, digital cockpit of the future, to improve safety and the user experience. Visteon is a global leader in cockpit electronic products including digital instrument clusters, information displays, infotainment, head-up displays, telematics, SmartCore™ cockpit domain controllers, and the DriveCore™ autonomous driving platform. Visteon also delivers artificial intelligence-based technologies, connected car, cybersecurity, interior sensing, and embedded multimedia and smartphone connectivity software solutions. Headquartered in Van Buren Township, Michigan, Visteon has approximately 10,000 employees at more than 40 facilities in 18 countries. Visteon had sales of approximately $3 billion in 2019. Learn more at www.visteon.com.
Conference Call and Presentation
Today, Thursday, July 30, at 9 a.m. ET, the company will host a conference call for the investment community to discuss the quarter’s results and other related items. The conference call is available to the general public via a live audio webcast.
The dial-in numbers to participate in the call are:
U.S./Canada: 866-411-5196
Outside U.S./Canada: 970-297-2404
Conference ID: 2369176
(Call approximately 15 minutes before the start of the conference.)
The conference call and live audio webcast, related presentation materials and other supplemental information will be accessible in the Investors section of Visteon’s website. A news release on Visteon’s second-quarter results will be available in the news section of the website.
A replay of the conference call will be available through the company’s website or by dialing
855-859-2056 (toll-free from the U.S. and Canada) or 404-537-3406 (international). The conference ID for the phone replay is 2369176. The phone replay will be available for one week following the conference call.
__
1 Adjusted EBITDA decremental margin, a non-GAAP measure, is defined as the year-over-year change in adjusted EBITDA divided by the year-over-year change in net sales, and excludes $5 million of operational challenges that impacted second-quarter 2019 adjusted EBITDA.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information
Because not all companies use identical calculations, adjusted gross margin, adjusted SG&A, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBTIDA decremental margin, adjusted net income, adjusted EPS, free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow used throughout this press release may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.
The company has withdrawn its financial guidance and, due to the continued uncertainty of market conditions, will not be providing revised guidance until there is better clarity regarding the COVID-19 impact.
In order to provide the forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures for full-year 2020, the company is providing reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures on the subsequent slides. The provision of these comparable GAAP financial measures is not intended to indicate that the company is explicitly or implicitly providing projections on those GAAP financial measures, and actual results for such measures are likely to vary from those presented. The reconciliations include all information reasonably available to the company at the date of this press release and the adjustments that management can reasonably predict.
Forward-looking Information
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words “will,” “may,” “designed to,” “outlook,” “believes,” “should,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “intends,” “estimates,” “forecasts” and similar expressions identify certain of these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and conditions but rather are subject to various factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to:
- continued and future impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on our financial condition and business operations including global supply chain disruptions, market downturns, reduced consumer demand and new government actions or restrictions;
- conditions within the automotive industry, including (i) the automotive vehicle production volumes and schedules of our customers, (ii) the financial condition of our customers and the effects of any restructuring or reorganization plans that may be undertaken by our customers, including work stoppages at our customers, and (iii) possible disruptions in the supply of commodities to us or our customers due to financial distress, work stoppages, natural disasters or civil unrest;
- our ability to execute on our transformational plans and cost-reduction initiatives in the amounts and on the timing contemplated;
- our ability to satisfy future capital and liquidity requirements; including our ability to access the credit and capital markets at the times and in the amounts needed and on terms acceptable to us; our ability to comply with financial and other covenants in our credit agreements; and the continuation of acceptable supplier payment terms;
- our ability to satisfy pension and other post-employment benefit obligations;
- our ability to access funds generated by foreign subsidiaries and joint ventures on a timely and cost-effective basis;
- general economic conditions, including changes in interest rates and fuel prices; the timing and expenses related to internal restructurings, employee reductions, acquisitions or dispositions and the effect of pension and other post-employment benefit obligations;
- increases in raw material and energy costs and our ability to offset or recover these costs; increases in our warranty, product liability and recall costs or the outcome of legal or regulatory proceedings to which we are or may become a party; and
- those factors identified in our filings with the SEC (including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, as updated by our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission).
Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which represent our view only as of the date of this press release, and which we assume no obligation to update. The financial results presented herein are preliminary and unaudited; final financial results will be included in the company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2020. New business wins, re-wins and backlog do not represent firm orders or firm commitments from customers, but are based on various assumptions, including the timing and duration of product launches, vehicle production levels, customer cancellations, installation rates, customer price reductions and currency exchange rates.
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Contacts:
Media:
Dave Barthmuss
805-660-1914
[email protected]
Investors:
Kris Doyle
201-247-3050
[email protected]
VISTEON CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)
(In millions, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended | Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
June 30 | June 30 | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
Net sales | $ | 371 | $ | 733 | $ | 1,014 | $ | 1,470 | |||||||
Cost of sales | (367 | ) | (663 | ) | (957 | ) | (1,334 | ) | |||||||
Gross margin | 4 | 70 | 57 | 136 | |||||||||||
Selling, general and administrative expenses | (41 | ) | (58 | ) | (95 | ) | (115 | ) | |||||||
Restructuring expense, net | (4 | ) | — | (37 | ) | (1 | ) | ||||||||
Interest expense, net | (3 | ) | (2 | ) | (5 | ) | (4 | ) | |||||||
Equity in net income of non-consolidated affiliates | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | |||||||||||
Other income, net | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | |||||||||||
Income (loss) before income taxes | (40 | ) | 16 | (71 | ) | 27 | |||||||||
Provision for income taxes | (2 | ) | (8 | ) | (7 | ) | (3 | ) | |||||||
Net income (loss) | (42 | ) | 8 | (78 | ) | 24 | |||||||||
Net income attributable to non-controlling interests | (3 | ) | (1 | ) | (2 | ) | (3 | ) | |||||||
Net income (loss) attributable to Visteon Corporation | $ | (45 | ) | $ | 7 | $ | (80 | ) | $ | 21 | |||||
Comprehensive income (loss) | $ | (37 | ) | $ | 4 | $ | (110 | ) | $ | 25 | |||||
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Visteon Corporation | $ | (40 | ) | $ | 4 | $ | (112 | ) | $ | 22 | |||||
Basic earnings (loss) per share attributable to Visteon Corporation | $ | (1.62 | ) | $ | 0.25 | $ | (2.87 | ) | $ | 0.75 | |||||
Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to Visteon Corporation | $ | (1.62 | ) | $ | 0.25 | $ | (2.87 | ) | $ | 0.74 | |||||
Average shares outstanding (in millions) | |||||||||||||||
Basic | 27.8 | 28.1 | 27.9 | 28.1 | |||||||||||
Diluted | 27.8 | 28.2 | 27.9 | 28.2 |
VISTEON CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In millions)
(Unaudited) | |||||||
June 30 | December 31 | ||||||
2020 | 2019 | ||||||
ASSETS | |||||||
Cash and equivalents | $ | 755 | $ | 466 | |||
Restricted cash | 4 | 3 | |||||
Accounts receivable, net | 334 | 514 | |||||
Inventories, net | 170 | 169 | |||||
Other current assets | 163 | 193 | |||||
Total current assets | 1,426 | 1,345 | |||||
Property and equipment, net | 416 | 436 | |||||
Intangible assets, net | 125 | 127 | |||||
Right-of-use assets | 157 | 165 | |||||
Investments in non-consolidated affiliates | 50 | 48 | |||||
Other non-current assets | 146 | 150 | |||||
Total assets | $ | 2,320 | $ | 2,271 | |||
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY | |||||||
Short-term debt | $ | 22 | $ | 37 | |||
Accounts payable | 332 | 511 | |||||
Accrued employee liabilities | 59 | 73 | |||||
Current lease liability | 29 | 30 | |||||
Other current liabilities | 156 | 147 | |||||
Total current liabilities | 598 | 798 | |||||
Long-term debt, net | 748 | 348 | |||||
Employee benefits | 281 | 292 | |||||
Non-current lease liability | 135 | 139 | |||||
Deferred tax liabilities | 28 | 27 | |||||
Other non-current liabilities | 62 | 72 | |||||
Stockholders’ equity: | |||||||
Common stock | 1 | 1 | |||||
Additional paid-in capital | 1,341 | 1,342 | |||||
Retained earnings | 1,599 | 1,679 | |||||
Accumulated other comprehensive loss | (299 | ) | (267 | ) | |||
Treasury stock | (2,284 | ) | (2,275 | ) | |||
Total Visteon Corporation stockholders’ equity | 358 | 480 | |||||
Non-controlling interests | 110 | 115 | |||||
Total equity | 468 | 595 | |||||
Total liabilities and equity | $ | 2,320 | $ | 2,271 |
VISTEON CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In millions)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended | Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
June 30 | June 30 | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
OPERATING | |||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) | $ | (42 | ) | $ | 8 | $ | (78 | ) | $ | 24 | |||||
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided from (used by) operating activities: | |||||||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 25 | 24 | 50 | 49 | |||||||||||
Non-cash stock-based compensation | 4 | 6 | 9 | 11 | |||||||||||
Equity in net income (loss) of non-consolidated affiliates, net of dividends remitted | (1 | ) | (3 | ) | (2 | ) | (6 | ) | |||||||
Other non-cash items | (4 | ) | 2 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||||
Changes in assets and liabilities: | |||||||||||||||
Accounts receivable | 68 | 15 | 170 | 18 | |||||||||||
Inventories | 11 | 8 | (5 | ) | (3 | ) | |||||||||
Accounts payable | (107 | ) | 11 | (149 | ) | 20 | |||||||||
Other assets and other liabilities | 8 | (14 | ) | (10 | ) | (57 | ) | ||||||||
Net cash provided from (used by) operating activities | (38 | ) | 57 | (13 | ) | 61 | |||||||||
INVESTING | |||||||||||||||
Capital expenditures, including intangibles | (21 | ) | (34 | ) | (65 | ) | (71 | ) | |||||||
Loan repayments from non-consolidated affiliates | — | — | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
Other | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | |||||||||||
Net cash used by investing activities | (16 | ) | (33 | ) | (57 | ) | (67 | ) | |||||||
FINANCING | |||||||||||||||
Borrowings on revolving credit facility | — | — | 400 | — | |||||||||||
Repurchase of common stock | — | (20 | ) | (16 | ) | (20 | ) | ||||||||
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests | — | — | (7 | ) | — | ||||||||||
Short-term debt repayments, net | (14 | ) | (1 | ) | (14 | ) | (3 | ) | |||||||
Net cash provided from (used by) financing activities | (14 | ) | (21 | ) | 363 | (23 | ) | ||||||||
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash | 2 | — | (3 | ) | — | ||||||||||
Net increase (decrease) in cash | (66 | ) | 3 | 290 | (29 | ) | |||||||||
Cash and restricted cash at beginning of the period | 825 | 435 | 469 | 467 | |||||||||||
Cash and restricted cash at end of the period | $ | 759 | $ | 438 | $ | 759 | $ | 438 |
VISTEON CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
(Unaudited, in millions)
Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA is presented as a supplemental measure of the Company’s performance that management believes is useful to investors because the excluded items may vary significantly in timing or amounts and/or may obscure trends useful in evaluating and comparing the Company’s operating activities across reporting periods. The Company defines Adjusted EBITDA as net income attributable to the Company adjusted to eliminate the impact of depreciation and amortization, restructuring expense, net interest expense, loss on divestiture, equity in net income of non-consolidated affiliates, gain on non-consolidated affiliate transactions, provision for income taxes, discontinued operations, net income attributable to non-controlling interests, non-cash stock-based compensation expense, and other gains and losses not reflective of the Company’s ongoing operations. Because not all companies use identical calculations, this presentation of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.
Three Months Ended | Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
June 30 | June 30 | ||||||||||||||
Visteon: | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||
Net income (loss) attributable to Visteon Corporation | $ | (45 | ) | $ | 7 | $ | (80 | ) | $ | 21 | |||||
Depreciation and amortization | 25 | 24 | 50 | 49 | |||||||||||
Provision for income taxes | 2 | 8 | 7 | 3 | |||||||||||
Non-cash, stock-based compensation expense | 4 | 6 | 9 | 11 | |||||||||||
Interest expense, net | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | |||||||||||
Net income attributable to non-controlling interests | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||||
Restructuring expense, net | 4 | — | 37 | 1 | |||||||||||
Equity in net income of non-consolidated affiliates | (1 | ) | (3 | ) | (2 | ) | (6 | ) | |||||||
Other | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||
Adjusted EBITDA | $ | (3 | ) | $ | 46 | $ | 30 | $ | 87 |
Adjusted EBITDA is not a recognized term under U.S. GAAP and does not purport to be a substitute for net income as an indicator of operating performance or cash flows from operating activities as a measure of liquidity. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool and is not intended to be a measure of cash flow available for management’s discretionary use, as it does not consider certain cash requirements such as interest payments, tax payments and debt service requirements. In addition, the Company uses Adjusted EBITDA (i) as a factor in incentive compensation decisions, (ii) to evaluate the effectiveness of the Company’s business strategies, and (iii) because the Company’s credit agreements use similar measures for compliance with certain covenants.
Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cash Flow: Free cash flow and Adjusted free cash flow are presented as supplemental measures of the Company’s liquidity that management believes are useful to investors in analyzing the Company’s ability to service and repay its debt. The Company defines Free cash flow as cash flow provided from operating activities less capital expenditures, including intangibles. The Company defines Adjusted free cash flow as cash flow provided from operating activities less capital expenditures, including intangibles as further adjusted for restructuring related payments. Free cash flow and Adjusted free cash flow include amounts associated with discontinued operations. Because not all companies use identical calculations, this presentation of Free cash flow and Adjusted free cash flow may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.
Three Months Ended | Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
June 30 | June 30 | ||||||||||||||
Total Visteon: | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||
Cash provided from (used by) operating activities | $ | (38 | ) | $ | 57 | $ | (13 | ) | $ | 61 | |||||
Capital expenditures, including intangibles | (21 | ) | (34 | ) | (65 | ) | (71 | ) | |||||||
Free cash flow | $ | (59 | ) | $ | 23 | $ | (78 | ) | $ | (10 | ) | ||||
Restructuring related payments | 7 | 5 | 12 | 8 | |||||||||||
Adjusted free cash flow | $ | (52 | ) | $ | 28 | $ | (66 | ) | $ | (2 | ) |
Free cash flow and Adjusted free cash flow are not recognized terms under U.S. GAAP and do not purport to be a substitute for cash flows from operating activities as a measure of liquidity. Free cash flow and Adjusted free cash flow have limitations as analytical tools as they do not reflect cash used to service debt and do not reflect funds available for investment or other discretionary uses. In addition, the Company uses Free cash flow and Adjusted free cash flow (i) as factors in incentive compensation decisions and (ii) for planning and forecasting future periods.
Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings Per Share: Adjusted net income and Adjusted earnings per share are presented as supplemental measures that management believes are useful to investors in analyzing the Company’s profitability, providing comparability between periods by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of recurring business operating results. The Company believes management and investors benefit from referring to these supplemental measures in assessing company performance and when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods. The Company defines Adjusted net income as net income attributable to Visteon adjusted to eliminate the impact of restructuring expense, loss on divestiture, gain on non-consolidated affiliate transactions, discontinued operations, other gains and losses not reflective of the Company’s ongoing operations and related tax effects. The Company defines Adjusted earnings per share as Adjusted net income divided by diluted shares. Because not all companies use identical calculations, this presentation of Adjusted net income and Adjusted earnings per share may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.
Three Months Ended | Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
June 30 | June 30 | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
Net income (loss) attributable to Visteon | $ | (45 | ) | $ | 7 | $ | (80 | ) | $ | 21 |
Three Months Ended | Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
June 30 | June 30 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Diluted earnings per share: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) attributable to Visteon | $ | (45 | ) | $ | 7 | $ | (80 | ) | $ | 21 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Average shares outstanding, diluted (in millions) | 27.8 | 28.2 | 27.9 | 28.2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Diluted earnings (loss) per share | $ | (1.62 | ) | $ | 0.25 | $ | (2.87 | ) | $ | 0.74 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Adjusted earnings per share: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) attributable to Visteon | $ | (45 | ) | $ | 7 | $ | (80 | ) | $ | 21 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Restructuring, net | 4 | — | 37 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adjusted net income (loss) | $ | (40 | ) | $ | 8 | $ | (42 | ) | $ | 23 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Average shares outstanding, diluted (in millions) | 27.8 | 28.2 | 27.9 | 28.2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adjusted earnings (loss) per share | $ | (1.44 | ) | $ | 0.28 | $ | (1.51 | ) | $ | 0.82 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Adjusted net income and Adjusted earnings per share are not recognized terms under U.S. GAAP and do not purport to be a substitute for profitability. Adjusted net income and Adjusted earnings per share have limitations as analytical tools as they do not consider certain restructuring and transaction-related payments and/or expenses. In addition, the Company uses Adjusted net income and Adjusted earnings per share for internal planning and forecasting purposes.
Artificial Intelligence
Titans of Tech: GP Bullhound releases its annual report on the European tech ecosystem
LONDON, May 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Titans of Tech: Unrivalled era of A.I. led innovation for European Tech – No more excuses. GP Bullhound is proud to announce the release of its Titans of Tech 2024 report. For the tenth year in a row, GP Bullhound has released its annual Titans of Tech report, highlighting and analysing the growth trends in Europe’s tech ecosystem. This comprehensive analysis underscores the resilience and growth of Europe’s tech sector, setting the stage for a new era of innovation and investment.
Key takeaways from our report include:
The funding frenzy is over, but the new normal is very healthy: Funding levels have normalised, averaging €15Bn per quarter over the last year, which is ~50% higher than 2019.The value of the ecosystem is growing despite the failures: 14 new unicorns were created in the last 12 months. Europe and Israel now have 323 unicorns, up from 311 a year ago and 283 the year before. The ecosystem’s total valuation has grown to $1.2Tr, an ~11x increase in billion-dollar companies and a ~14x increase in aggregate valuation since our first report in 2014.Megarounds are fewer but larger and still accessible: Access to capital rounds exceeding $50 million has tightened, but investors remain interested in supporting innovators. The deal count dropped 68% over the last two years due to a focus on profitability and conservative planning. Only 17% of European unicorns raised capital in 2023, as 93% had already raised funds during the 2021-2022 bull market.Software innovation continues, shaping the way we live and work: Despite funding challenges, technological developments, especially in artificial intelligence, continue to drive automation and cost savings. European AI companies received over €11Bn in funding in the last year, with 36% of new unicorns being AI/ML businesses.Category leaders and geographies: This year, the UK and France lead the startup arena with three unicorns each. The UK’s unicorns are valued at $3.4Bn, with significant contributions from AI leaders Synthesia and Builder.ai. France’s trio reaches a collective valuation of $7Bn, highlighted by innovators like Mistral AI. Germany, Israel, and the Netherlands each added two unicorns, while Sweden and Italy added one unicorn each.Europe’s most promising startups: GP Bullhound has analysed more than 100 European startups for scale, velocity, and sentiment, and ranked the top 50 companies with the most potential to become one-billion-dollar companies. The top 10 include Agicap, Brevo, Typeform, Homa, AMBOSS, Akeneo, Form3, Flo Health, Aidoc, and ConnexOne.Manish Madhvani, Managing Partner at GP Bullhound, said: “After ten years of issuing our Titans of Tech report, we have witnessed the highs and lows of the European tech ecosystem. A year ago, the situation was less encouraging for the fundraising environment, with macro uncertainty and with businesses more focused on layoffs than on growth and innovation.
Today, against the backdrop of negative headlines, we have cemented the building blocks for the next wave of innovation. Funding levels have stabilised, and are amazingly 50% higher than pre bull market levels. With Europe’s maturing base of engineering talent and the world’s fascination in its potential productivity gains, artificial intelligence offers a unique opportunity to create global leaders in record time. There is no shortage of funding for the best entrepreneurs and companies, as evidenced by the record $220m seed round for Paris based H announced this week. What was noticeable about the round was the range of the investor syndicate : from strategics such as Amazon, Samsung and UI Path, household names such as Bernard Arnault, Eric Schmidt and Xavier Niel, and leading VC’s.Looking ahead, we expect the next few years to represent an era of unprecedented innovation in the European ecosystem. Innovation is flowing, vast amounts of capital are available for the strong and the talent pool is expanding. No more excuses Europe!”
Expert interviewsWhat does it take to build a billion-dollar company? What are the critical success factors for European tech? How to remain resilient in a challenging market and benefit from economic downturns? This year’s report features expert views from leading founders and CEOs, including Synthesia, Quantexa, SEON, Flo Health, Zappi and CoverManager.
Download full report: www.gpbullhound.com/articles/titans-of-tech-2024
EnquiriesFor enquiries, please contact: [email protected]
About GP BullhoundGP Bullhound is a leading technology advisory and investment firm, providing transaction advice and capital to the world’s best entrepreneurs and founders. Founded in 1999 in London and Menlo Park, the firm today has 12 offices spanning Europe, the US and Asia. For more information, please visit www.gpbullhound.com.
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Artificial Intelligence
Bybit Web3 Announces Upcoming IDO for Aperture Finance, Simplifying Web3 Finance
DUBAI, UAE, May 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Bybit Web3, the Web3 division of Bybit – one of the top three global crypto exchanges by trading volume, today announced an upcoming Initial DEX Offering (IDO) for Aperture Finance ($APTR) on its Web3 platform.
“Bybit Web3 is thrilled to be partnering with Aperture Finance to bring their innovative IDO to our platform,” said Emily Bao, Bybit Web3 Evangelist. “Aperture Finance’s AI-powered solutions have the potential to revolutionize DeFi by simplifying complex transactions and making Web3 finance more accessible to a wider audience. We believe this IDO will be a great opportunity for our users to get involved in this groundbreaking project early on.”
Aperture Finance: Simplifying the complexities of Web3 finance
Aperture Finance is a pioneer in AI-powered intents. Featuring an IntentsGPT interface and an AI-driven smart solver simulation, Aperture’s solver network significantly reduces barriers for DeFi users and enhances transaction efficiency.
IDO Details
IDO Subscription Period: May 24, 2024, 10AM UTC to May 28, 2024, 10AM UTCSnap Period: May 28, 2024, 10AM UTC to May 31, 2024, 10AM UTCReveal and Purchase Period: May 31, 2024, 10:15AM UTC to June 1, 2024, 10AM UTCListing Date: May 31, 2024, 10AM UTCToken Details
Token: APTRTotal Supply: 1,000,000,000Total Allocated to Bybit IDO: 6,666,667 APTREligibility Requirements
Users must hold a Bybit Wallet with a minimum balance of 300 USDT (Arbitrum Chain) throughout the Snapshot Period to participate in the IDO.Three (3) snapshots will be taken daily during the Snapshot Period.Maximum number of winners: 3,000For detailed information on the IDO process and eligibility requirements, please visit the Bybit Web3 page: https://www.bybit.com/en/web3/ido
#Bybit / #TheCryptoArk / #BybitWeb3
About Bybit Web3
Bybit Web3 is redefining openness in the decentralized world, creating a simpler, open, and equal ecosystem for everyone. We are committed to welcoming builders, creators, and partners in the blockchain space, extending an invitation to both crypto enthusiasts and the curious, with a community of over 1 million wallet users, over 10 major ecosystem partners, and counting.
Bybit Web3 provides a comprehensive suite of Web3 products designed to make accessing, swapping, collecting and growing Web3 assets as open and simple as possible. Our wallets, marketplaces and platforms are all backed by the security and expertise that define Bybit as a top 3 global crypto exchange, trusted by 30 million users globally.
Join the revolution now and open the door to your Web3 future with Bybit.
For more details about Bybit, please visit Bybit Web3.
About Bybit
Bybit is one of the world’s top three crypto exchanges by trading volume with 30 million users. Established in 2018, it offers a professional platform where crypto investors and traders can find an ultra-fast matching engine, 24/7 customer service, and multilingual community support. Bybit is a proud partner of Formula One’s reigning Constructors’ and Drivers’ champions: the Oracle Red Bull Racing team.
For more details about Bybit, please visit Bybit Press.For media inquiries, please contact: [email protected] more information, please visit: https://www.bybit.comFor updates, please follow: Bybit’s Communities and Social Media
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Artificial Intelligence
Northern Data Group’s Peak Mining, announces purchase of a second 300MW data center location in Corpus Christi, Texas
The location expands on an adjacent 300MW site, purchased in December 2023 The site comes with an ERCOT-approved interconnect of 300MWConstruction already underway, with long-lead time items secured and energization scheduled for early 2025FRANKFURT, May 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Peak Mining, part of the Northern Data Group, announces the purchase of a second 300MW ERCOT-approved site in Corpus Christi, Texas. The location is adjacent to the 300MW mining facility that is already under construction. The site also provides energy in the attractive low-cost power zone of Load Zone South of the ERCOT grid, known for its abundance of renewable (wind) energy.
The investment represents a significant step forward in Northern Data Group’s investment strategy, cementing expansion plans well beyond the current 2024 financial year.
The new site enables Peak Mining to accelerate its expansion plans to become one of the largest bitcoin miners globally. The company will be deploying indoor, custom-designed, fully-integrated and liquid-cooled HPC data center systems to drastically improve deployment time and infrastructure cost, bringing Peak Mining to a leading position in the industry and preparing it for the future of HPC compute.
Saxet Infrastructure Group (“Saxet”) will act as construction manager for the design, build and energization of the substation. The Saxet team brings a strong track record of project management and deep expertise with the construction of HPC infrastructure.
Niek Beudeker, Managing Director, Peak Mining, commented: “The purchase of this second large site will significantly shorten our time to hashing and kick off one of the fastest mining expansions globally. We now have almost 700MW of sites in active development, that when fully fitted with our latest-generation hardware, could potentially provide up to 40EH of hash rate.”
Aroosh Thillainathan, Northern Data Group’s Chief Executive Officer, commented:”This second data center location demonstrates how Northern Data Group is able to harness the power and opportunity of HPC. Sustainability has been at the core of this further expansion into the US and thanks to the center’s ERCOT approved status, we will be able to scale our operations at speed, as the demand for digital assets continues to grow.”
Steven Quisenberry, Chief Executive Officer at Saxet Infrastructure Group, commented: We are excited to support Northern Data Group’s expansion in the ERCOT market and specifically to welcome them to the Corpus Christi area. The combination of base load industrial demand and significant renewable resources creates a unique opportunity for their portfolio. This is a terrific example of one of the largest, most advanced liquid cooled data centers in North America and we are proud to partner with Northern Data Group to bring their data center online.
Northern Data Group was advised on the transaction by Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP (Legal Counsel) and BitOoda Technologies LLC.
About Peak MiningPeak Mining, part of the Northern Data Group, is powering the future of the blockchain network. We deliver industry-leading operating and energy efficiency in bitcoin mining through the latest hardware alongside innovative technology and infrastructure. With our mining heritage dating back to 2013, we’ve been innovating for over a decade and have been at the forefront of the industry ever since. Our high-quality infrastructure is purpose-built to power the mining network, and we’re driven to continuously find new efficiencies driving value for our investors. We’re delivering long term value in more responsible ways.
About Northern Data GroupNorthern Data Group (ETR: NB2) is a leading provider of High Performance Computing (HPC) solutions to businesses and research institutions, utilizing GPU- and ASIC-based solutions. Our flexible compute power fuels innovation in our three core business divisons: Taiga Cloud, Ardent Data Centers, and Peak Mining. Through our HPC solutions, we pioneer ambitious computing innovation that drives progress in the AI, ML and Generative AI industries. Our close collaboration with industry-leading manufacturers including Gigabyte, AMD, and NVIDIA is fundamental to the acceleration of innovation across sectors including life sciences, financial services, and energy.
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