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Victory Square Technologies Reports Full Year 2022 Financial Results & 2022 Recap

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  • A diverse portfolio of 25 innovative companies
  • Sectors include: Digital Health, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain, Virtual & Augmented Reality (VR/AR), Gaming, Climate Tech
  • 2022 unaudited Net Asset Value (NAV) of approx. $80M as at December 31, 2022*
  • Cash & liquid securities approx. $6.8M
  • Strong Insider Ownership (15%)
  • Victory Square subsidiary, Hydreight, achieved Adjusted Revenue of $8,425,719 in 2022 compared to C$2,220,424 in 2021, an annual growth rate of 279%.
  • Victory Square currently trades at an approx. 83% discount to its unaudited Net Asset Value (NAV)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Victory Square Technologies Inc. (“Victory Square” or the “Company”) (CSE:VST) (OTC:VSQTF) (FWB:6F6), a company that gives investor access to a portfolio of the best and brightest entrepreneurs and innovations from around the world in a single stock, announces it has filed its Audited Annual Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31st, 2022 along with its Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) on May 1st, 2023.

“Despite the choppy markets and gloomy headlines, 2022 was a year of continued growth and new opportunities for Victory Square,” said Shafin Diamond Tejani, CEO. “Our NAV has remained strong, and we’ve seen significant growth in our portfolio companies so far in 2023. We expect this momentum to continue for the rest of the year. We have a healthy balance sheet, significant assets and have built a pipeline of new opportunities in the digital health space,” said Tejani.

Company:

Victory Square is a Venture Builder focused on Investing in disruptive innovation.

We provide investors a liquid way to invest in early-stage technology companies without buying a venture fund that requires accredited investor status or multi-year commitments.

  • A diverse portfolio of 25 innovative companies from around the world (our founders come from: Ireland, Sri Lanka, Bulgaria, Australia, India, Brazil, the Middle East and North America)
  • Sectors include: Digital Health, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain, Virtual & Augmented Reality (VR/AR), Gaming, Climate Tech
  • Owner-operated (15% Management Ownership)

VST is a good way to diversify into early-stage venture.

Business Model:

The Victory Square business model is to buy, build and invest in early stage tech companies. We spend upwards of 48 months with those companies until they’re ready to spin-off or stand on their own. There are a couple of unique elements to our business model…

  1. We have unparalleled access to startups through our internal incubator and International network with over 250+ founders, investors, tech accelerators and venture capital firms from more than 60 countries.
  2. Second, our management team and advisors are actively involved in our investments from incubation through monetization, providing them with financial, operational, and strategic support to scale globally.
  3. We drive value by monetizing investments and reinvesting the gains in new innovations. The strategy was to build a self-sustaining business.

Financial Highlights:

The Company’s consolidated financial statements comprise the financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries: Hydreight Technologies Inc. (“HTI”), Victory Square Digital Health Inc. (“VS Digital Health”), Draft Label Technologies Inc. (“Draft Label”), XR Immersive Tech Inc. (“XRI”) and Synthesis VR Inc. (“SVR”), PDL USA Inc. (“PDL USA”), BlockX Capital Corp. (“BlockX Capital”), VS Blockchain Assembly (“VS Blockchain”), Victory Entertainment Inc. (“Victory Entertainment”).

Victory Square invests in early-stage technology companies. Increases and decreases in the value of those companies have the greatest impact on the results of operations of the Company from quarter to quarter. It is within the business cycle to see periods of net losses when first investing in a new company, spending up to 48 months incurring expenses and building the business, and then in subsequent periods realizing the gains and revenues from those early investments.

  • The net loss for the year ended December 31, 2022, is primarily due to the fair value write-down on portfolio investments due to the market environment as well as operating losses from consolidated subsidiaries.
  • Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022, was $5,929,096 compared to $1,494,450 for the corresponding prior year. The increase in revenues is primarily related to revenues from XRI subsidiary SVR and organic growth of Hydreight’s user base resulting in increasing subscription, pharmacy and net commission revenues.
  • Cost of goods sold for the year ended December 31, 2022, was $2,672,672 compared to $584,314 for the corresponding prior year period. The increase in cost of goods sold is related to the above-described changes in revenues, primarily due to the cost of pharmacy purchases associated with the increased pharmacy sales of Hydreight.
  • Gross Margin for the year ended December 31, 2022, was $3,256,424 compared to $910,136 or 61% for the corresponding prior year. The current period gross margin is driven primarily by the online pharmacy sales of Hydreight as well as the reclassification of management fee and sublease to the revenue line item.
  • Cash & liquid securities approx. $6.8M
  • Unaudited NAV of approximately $80M as at December 31, 2022 (see Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures)

“The KPIs that we track more closely for Victory Square that are a better indicator on performance are: Cash Invested, Net Asset Value (NAV), Return on Invested Cash, Share Price/Market Cap vs Index Benchmark, Operating costs as a % of NAV. Since 2017, we’ve evaluated over 1000 companies & startup ideas, of which 25 have made the cut. We’ve invested $13M, and the value of the portfolio sits at $80M. It has grown from $4M in 2017 to approximately $80M today. And, our goal is to continue to grow our NAV going forward.” Shafin Diamond Tejani, CEO of Victory Square.

This update is made based on Victory Square’s established practice of releasing NAV as part of the Company’s ongoing response to shareholder interest in receiving periodic information. NAV is calculated based on the latest audited valuations, third party pricing agency valuations as well as unaudited management review valuations (based on comparables in the market) as at December 31st, 2022.

The Company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31st, 2022 along with its Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) are available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

The company trades at an approx. 83% discount to its current estimated NAV, well below comparable companies.

Hydreight:

I want to highlight the Victory Square subsidiary, Hydreight, which recently announced that it had achieved record revenue for fiscal year 2022. Hydreight achieved Adjusted Revenue of $8,425,719 in 2022 compared to C$2,220,424 in 2021, an annual growth rate of 279%.

Victory Square owns 73.72% of Hydreight, so its success will have a huge impact on Victory Square and our shareholders.

In just a few years, Hydreight has become an industry leader in providing nurses in the United States with a turnkey key platform to participate in the practice of mobile medicine throughout all 50 States.

In order for a nurse to be able to offer services outside of a clinic or hospital, they need to have a medical director, the technology and proper licenses.

Hydreight has built an All-in-one solution for nurses, including a white-label platform, a medical director, a pharmacy and all the required licenses so they can start their own Mobile Health & Wellness Service overnight.

2022 Business Highlights:

  • Hydreight expanded its footprint to 437 cities nationwide in 2022
  • 707 new businesses signed up on the platform in 2022, a nearly 600% increase over 2021
  • A major platform update was completed to enhance scalability and feature offerings, particularly for whitelabeling strategic business-to-business (B2B) accounts
  • A major app update gave service providers on the platform greater control of their service offering as well as improved training, usability, reporting, and more
  • Major pharmaceutical partnerships were signed with Empower, McKesson, Medline, and Olympia
  • Hydreight participated as the lead sponsor of the “National Nurses March” in Washington, DC in May of 2022, which attracted tens of thousands of nurses
  • The completion of a successful merger and acquisition with Victory Square Technologies (CSE:VST) (OTC: VSQTF), significantly expanded the Company’s network and access to resources
  • The Company completed a successful listing on the TSX Venture Exchange on December 1, 2022

New Business Partner/Service Provider Signups Per Month:

  2021 2022 2023
January 4 22 65
February 5 13 57
March 9 38 63
April 10 37 76
May 9 63
June 2 68
July 13 49
August 4 73
September 6 71
October 14 103
November 14 99
December 12 71
Total 102 707

Notable Portfolio Highlights: Digital Health Focus in 2023

With respect to new investments, our main focus is the digital health sector.

The pandemic has not only accelerated tech innovation and adoption in healthcare, but it has also exposed many weaknesses and areas of improvement.

Telehealth is no longer considered a luxury, but an integral part of a healthcare strategy.

Remote healthcare is here to stay, and healthcare practitioners need to invest in the proper technology to remain relevant in an ever-evolving virtual care world — this includes ensuring that patients have the same-quality visits in a virtual setting as they would in the doctor’s office.

Customers have been seeking a more personalized healthcare experience, and now with the explosive growth and familiarity with telehealth, at-home testing and wearables, it has become increasingly simple to monitor a patient’s health in the comfort of their home.

At Victory Square, we are focused on technology that enables healthcare professionals to provide better patient support while improving the delivery, safety, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency of healthcare.

Victory Square Digital Health – Victory Square Digital Health provides a white label virtual care platform and nationwide clinician network to customers including other digital health startups, brick and mortar clinics, retailers and pharmacies as an alternative to the considerable time and money organizations might otherwise invest in creating their own virtual care service. (which can sometimes cost between $250,000 – $500,000)

A number of factors make virtual-first care a priority right now, including the pandemic, but there are other overarching reasons for why virtual care has become a necessity…ie. The shrinking pool of clinicians – many of whom are burned out or even leaving their profession – won’t be able to scale with the growing demand for patient care. Virtual-first care models allow clinicians to be more efficient with their time by leaning on technology to easily triage patients and their care needs.

The future of healthcare is hybrid, and so the future of the clinician workforce is also hybrid. Victory Square Digital Health is enabling that journey and ensuring that the clinician is supported along the way.

The focus for Victory Square Digital Health in 2023 is to ramp up sales and marketing to provide their full-suite of mobile digital health solutions and telemedicine platform to surgery centers, skilled nurses, home care agencies and hospice care.

VS Health dba Safetest Comércio de Diagnósticos – VS Health is 360-degree health care offering smart, connected devices, at-home diagnostic tests, personalized digital guidance and monitoring, 24/7/365 access to health care professionals, and prescription delivery in Brazil.

  • Safetest was selected to receive a federal grant in Brazil for a project using Artificial Intelligence in the diagnosis of neglected diseases, generating quantitative results and data processing to generate epidemiological information in real time. Safetest will receive approximately R$1,000,000 in grants for investing in R&D payroll, inventory, software development and equipment for the development of smartphone based rapid tests.
  • Safetest and Biominas partnered up on a project called Artificial Intelligence in a Point-of-Care Cervical Cancer test, which was selected for a state grant, being the second-best project among hundreds of companies that submitted for this grant. The project will receive approximately R$1,540,000 for investing in R&D payroll, inventory and lab services for the development of a smartphone based rapid test for the detection of Cervical Cancer.
  • Safetest was selected for a national open innovation program called IBMP (Molecular Biology Institute of Paraná) Hunting. The goal of the program was to find projects that can add innovative solutions to IBMP’s in vitro diagnostics and therapeutic biomolecules technological platforms. Safetest and IBMP are signing an NDA to develop a Rapid PCR Point-of-Care test, which has the potential to change the Point-of-Care Diagnostics sector.
  • Safetest signed a contract with one of the largest Vet products companies in Latin America for the development and production of an unprecedented rapid test that has the potential to be a game changer in the Vet diagnostics sector.
  • Safetest concluded the development of the HTLV 1 and 2 rapid test and is now going to perform the clinical validation for registering the test at ANVISA. There are currently no tests in the market that differentiate HTLV 1 from 2.
  • The development of the Cervical Cancer Rapid Test is moving forward quickly with good results. The next step is to expand the number of samples and the clinical validation.
  • ​​Safetest has been granted ANVISA approval for their lab facility, which can produce approx. 2 million tests per month.

Draft Label Technologies – Draft Label subsidiary inks definitive agreement to complete business combination. Draft Label will become a wholly owned subsidiary of AcquisitionCo, which is launching microsites focused on Men’s and Women’s health (ie. Hormone testing, TRT, Perimenopause, PCOS, fertility, weight loss). Draft Label is preparing for a 2023 public listing.

Notable Portfolio Highlights: Non-Digital Health

We are also excited about a number of our other portfolio companies.

GameOn (CSE:GET) – GET had a great finish to 2022. They closed 11 deals including Karate Combat, YOOM (formerly Tetavi), and Gaming Society (in collaboration with the WNBA). Partnered with Karate Combat to launch playable digital fighter NFTs and a fantasy game. The digital fighters are set to launch in Q2 2023 with GameOn keeping 80% of revenue. KC37 saw a league-record 10M total viewers. Karate Combat has global distribution in 100+ countries and is partnered with CBS, Globo, Eurosport, BeIN, & ESPN. GET is projected to exit 2022 with approx $1M in revenue and the management team is confident they will close out 2023 with approx $3M in revenue.

XR Immersive (CSE:VRAR) – XR Immersive is projected to exit 2022 with approximately $1M in revenue and is forecasted to exit 2023 with approximately $2M in revenue with a profit margin between 18% – 20%.

XRI recently announced strategic partnerships with two development studios; Mighty Coconut Studios and Better Than Life. By strategically partnering with various developers, SynthesisVR aims to bring some of the most popular amazing games, and educational and enterprise training content in a frictionless manner to VR businesses all over the world. These games include Walkabout Mini Golf VR, Kayak VR, Escape Room VR and Zephyrus

Stardust Solar – We are very bullish on the clean tech space and we feel Stardust Solar is well positioned to take advantage of the solar wave. Revenues have been doubling year over year since inception. They exited 2021 with $946k in revenue, and are expected to close out 2022 with north of $2M with a total of 15 active franchise territories. Additionally, they recently became authorized as a TESLA distribution partner which is a huge milestone for Stardust as very few solar installers are able to achieve this certification level. We anticipate Stardust revenues to double in 2023. Stardust is preparing for a 2023 public listing.

Covalent CQT – Covalent announced a partnership with Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) to launch a blockchain network. This partnership allows Coinbase to look beyond currency exchange and towards decentralized finance, gaming, and social media.

Next Decentrum – @NextDecentrum, the creative force behind @CryptoPharaohs_, has officially partnered with @flovatar @Piggos_nft @The_Goobz_NFT @Bl0xNFT to bring the best digital collectibles to PopCon ME, the largest pop culture and gaming event in the Middle East

FansUnite (TSX:FANS) – Achieved total revenue in the range of $26.0 million to $27.3 million for the full year of Fiscal 2022, an increase of at least 364% year-over-year. FansUnite continued its growth by obtaining a gaming supplier license for Ohio (U.S.) and recently submitted a Supplier License application to the Virginia Lottery Board in order to become a legal sports betting and iGaming supplier in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Turnium Technology Group Inc (TSXV:TTGI) – Turnium generated $5.2 million in revenue in 2022, a year-over-year increase of 31% compared to 2021. The year also saw substantial operating achievements and cost cutting initiatives combined with management and staffing changes, strengthening its financial foundation for Turnium and positioning the company for future growth.

CloudAdvisors – CloudAdvisors listed as 2022 New Innovators in Canadian Business and was named as a 5-Star Insurance Technology Provider in 2022 by Insurance Business Canada Magazine

Cassia dba CoPilot – CoPilot exited FY 2022 with $520K MRR and are projected to achieve 40% revenue growth in 2023. In 2022, CoPilot raised 9M in non-dilutive funding.

Shafin Diamond Tejani, CEO of Victory Square: “Thank you to our team, customers, communities, and investors as we look forward to continued progress in 2023.”

Sign up to VST’s official newsletter at www.VictorySquare.com/newsletter

On behalf of the Board of Directors

“Shafin Diamond Tejani”
Director and Chief Executive Officer
Victory Square Technologies Inc.
www.victorysquare.com

For further information about Victory Square, please contact:

Investor Relations Contact – Abbey Vogt
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 604 283-9166

Peter Smyrniotis – Director
Telephone: 604 283-9166

*Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures:

This release contains references to NAV which is a non-GAAP financial measure. NAV is calculated as the value of total assets. The term NAV does not have any standardized meaning according to GAAP and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. There is no comparable GAAP financial measure presented in Victory Square Technologies Inc. consolidated financial statements and thus no applicable quantitative reconciliation for such non-GAAP financial measure. The Company believes that the measure provides information useful to its shareholders in understanding the Company’s performance, and may assist in the evaluation of the Company’s business relative to that of its peers. This data is furnished to provide additional information and does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP. Accordingly, it should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP, and is not necessarily indicative of other metrics presented in accordance with GAAP. Existing NAV of the Company is not necessarily predictive of the Company’s future performance or the NAV of the Company as at any future date.

ABOUT VICTORY SQUARE TECHNOLOGIES INC.

Victory Square (VST) builds, acquires and invests in promising startups, then provides the senior leadership and resources needed for fast-track growth. VST’s sweet spot is cutting-edge tech that’s shaping the 4th Industrial Revolution. Our corporate portfolio consists of 25+ global companies using AI, VR/AR, and blockchain to disrupt sectors as diverse as fintech, insurance, health and gaming.

What we do differently for startups

VST isn’t your ordinary investor. With real skin in the game, we’re committed to ensuring each company in our portfolio succeeds. Our secret sauce starts with selecting startups that have real solutions, not just ideas. We pair you with senior talent in product, engineering, customer acquisition and more. Then we let you do what you do best — build, innovate and disrupt. In 24-36 months, you’ll scale and be ready to monetize.

What we do differently for investors

For investors, we offer early-stage access to the next unicorns before they’re unicorns. Our portfolio represents a uniquely liquid and secure way for investors to get access to the latest cutting-edge technologies. Because we focus on market-ready solutions that scale quickly, we’re able to provide strong and stable returns while also tapping into emerging global trends with big upsides.

Victory Square integrates a strong ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) component throughout its operations. Our portfolio highlights minority entrepreneurs, often overlooked by traditional investors, including many from developing countries. We are also dedicated to giving back to the communities in which we serve and operate. The Company’s mandate is to assist organizations through its time, talent and treasure. The Company is committed to organizations that provide services in the youth, mental health, special needs, sport, tech, education, marginalized groups, First Nations, and accessibility sectors.

VST is a publicly-traded company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, and listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (VST), Frankfurt Exchange (6F6) and the OTCQX (VSQTF).

For more information, please visit www.victorysquare.com.

ABOUT THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE (CSE)

The Canadian Securities Exchange, or CSE, is operated by CNSX Markets Inc. Recognized as a stock exchange in 2004, the CSE began operations in 2003 to provide a modern and efficient alternative for companies looking to access the Canadian public capital markets.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to the outlook of the business of Victory Square and its portfolio companies, including, without limitation, statements relating to future performance, execution of business strategy, future growth, business prospects and opportunities of Victory Square and its related subsidiaries and portfolio companies, including those items listed under the heading “Net Asset Value (“NAV”) Update”, “Notable Portfolio Highlights” and other factors beyond our control. Such forward-looking statements may, without limitation, be preceded by, followed by, or include words such as “believes”, “expects”, “to be”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “intends”, “plans”, “continues”, “project”, “potential”, “possible”, “contemplate”, “seek”, “goal”, “objectives”, “outlook” or similar expressions, or may employ such future or conditional verbs as “may”, “might”, “will”, “could”, “should” or “would”, or may otherwise be indicated as forward-looking statements by grammatical construction, phrasing or context. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this news release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of Victory Square. Although Victory Square believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because Victory Square can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Although Victory Square believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable, such forward-looking statements has been based on expectations, factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Victory Square’s control, including, but not limited to, the risk factors discussed in the continuous disclosure materials of the Victory Square which are available under the Victory Square’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and are made as of the date hereof. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. The statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Victory Square disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release and accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy hereof.

GlobeNewswire is one of the world's largest newswire distribution networks, specializing in the delivery of corporate press releases financial disclosures and multimedia content to the media, investment community, individual investors and the general public.

Artificial Intelligence

HITACHI ACQUIRES MA MICRO AUTOMATION OF GERMANY IN EFFORT TO ACCELERATE GLOBAL EXPANSION OF ROBOTIC SI BUSINESS IN THE MEDICAL AND OTHER FIELDS

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HOLLAND, Mich., April 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Hitachi Ltd. (TSE: 6501, “Hitachi”) has signed a stock purchase agreement on April 26 to acquire all shares of MA micro automation GmbH (“MA micro automation”, headquartered in St. Leon-Rot, Germany) from MAX Management GmbH (a subsidiary of MAX Automation SE). MA micro automation is a leading provider of robotic and automation technology (robotic SI) including high-speed linear handling systems, high-precision assembly lines, and high-speed vision inspection technology for Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia, for EUR 71.5M million. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2024, pending completion of the customary regulatory filings. After the acquisition is completed, MA micro automation will join JR Automation Technologies, LLC (“JR Automation”), a market leader in providing advanced automation solutions and digital technologies in the robotic system integration business for North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia as a continued effort to expand the company’s global presence.

MA micro automation is a technology leader for automation solutions within micro-assembly. Through its state-of-the-art proprietary high-speed and high-precision automation know-how, combined with unique optical image inspection capabilities, MA micro automation serves high-growth med-tech automation end-markets, covering the production, assembly, and testing medical and optical components including contact lenses, IVD and diabetes diagnostics consumables, and injection molding for medical use. The company was established in 2003 through a carve-out from Siemens*1 and since 2013 has been part of the MAX Automation group. 
JR Automation is a leading provider of intelligent automated manufacturing technology solutions, serving customers across the globe in a variety of industries including automotive, life sciences, e-mobility, consumer and industrial products. With over 20 locations between North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia, the leading integrator offers nearly 2 million square feet (185,806 sq. m) of available build and engineering floorspace. This acquisition allows JR Automation to further grow and strengthen both the company’s geographical footprint and their continued commitment on expanding support capabilities within the European region and medical market vertical.
“MA micro automation provides engineering, build and support expertise with established capabilities in complex vision applications, high-speed and high-precision automation technologies. When integrated with JR Automation’s uniform global process and digital technologies, this partnership will further enhance our ability to deliver added value and support to all of our customers worldwide and continue to grow our capabilities in the medical market,” says Dave DeGraaf, CEO of JR Automation. “As we integrate this new dimension, impressive talents and abilities of the MA micro automation team we further enhance our ability to serve our customers, creating a more robust and globally balanced offering.”
With this acquisition, Hitachi aims to further enhance its ability to provide a “Total Seamless Solution*2” to connect manufacturer’s factory floors seamlessly and digitally with their front office data, allowing them to achieve total optimization and bringing Industry 4.0 to life. This “Total Seamless Solution” strategy links organizations’ operational activities such as engineering, supply chain, and purchasing to the plant floor and allows for real time, data-driven decision-making that improves the overall business value for customers.
Kazunobu Morita, Vice President and Executive Officer, CEO of Industrial Digital Business Unit, Hitachi, Ltd. says, “We are very pleased to welcome MA micro automation to the Hitachi Group. The team is based in Europe, providing robotic SI to global medical device manufacturing customers with its high technological capabilities and will join forces with JR Automation and Hitachi Automation to strengthen our global competitiveness. Hitachi aims to enhance its ability to provide value to customers and grow alongside them by leveraging its strengths in both OT, IT, including robotic SI, and “Total Seamless Solution” through Lumada*3’s customer co-creation framework.”
Joachim Hardt, CEO MA micro automation GmbH says, “Following the successful establishment and growth of MA micro automation within the attractive automation market for medical technology products, we are now opening a new chapter. Our partnership with Hitachi will not only strengthen our global competitive position, but we will also benefit from joint technological synergies and a global market presence.  We look forward to a synergistic partnership with Hitachi and JR Automation.”
Outline of MA micro automation    
Name
MA micro automation GmbH
Head Office
St. Leon-Rot, Germany
Representative
Joachim Hardt (CEO)
Outline of Business
Automation solutions within micro-assembly
Total no. of Employees:
Approx. 200 (As of April 2024)
Founded
2003
Revenues (2023)
€ 46.5 million
Website

Home


*1
“Siemens” is a registered trademark or trademark of Siemens Trademark GmbH & Co. KG in the U.S. and other countries.
*2
“Total Seamless Solution” is a registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. in the U.S. and Japan.
*3
Lumada: A collective term for solutions, services and technologies based on Hitachi’s advanced digital technologies for creating value from customers’ data accelerating digital innovation. https://www.hitachi.com/products/it/lumada/global/en/index.html
About JR AutomationEstablished in 1980, JR Automation is a leading provider of intelligent automated manufacturing technology solutions that solve customers’ key operational and productivity challenges. JR Automation serves customers across the globe in a variety of industries, including automotive, life sciences, aerospace, and more.  
In 2019, JR Automation was acquired by Hitachi, Ltd. In a strategic effort towards offering a seamless connection between the physical and cyber space for industrial manufacturers and distributers worldwide. With this partnership, JR Automation provides customers a unique, single-source solution for complete integration of their physical assets and data information, offering greater speed, flexibility, and efficiencies towards achieving their Industry 4.0 visions. JR Automation employs over 2,000 people at 21 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia.  For more information, please visit www.jrautomation.com.   
About Hitachi, Ltd.Hitachi drives Social Innovation Business, creating a sustainable society through the use of data and technology. We solve customers’ and society’s challenges with Lumada solutions leveraging IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products. Hitachi operates under the 3 business sectors of “Digital Systems & Services” – supporting our customers’ digital transformation; “Green Energy & Mobility” – contributing to a decarbonized society through energy and railway systems, and “Connective Industries” – connecting products through digital technology to provide solutions in various industries. Driven by Digital, Green, and Innovation, we aim for growth through co-creation with our customers. The company’s revenues as 3 sectors for fiscal year 2023 (ended March 31, 2024) totaled 8,564.3 billion yen, with 573 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 270,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at https://www.hitachi.com.
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2398552/CENTAURI_IVD_Platform.jpg Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2392427/4673549/JR_Automation_and_Hitachi_Combined_Mark_full_color_Logo.jpg
 

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Artificial Intelligence

$10 million Artificial Intelligence Mathematical Olympiad Prize appoints further advisory committee members

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D. Sculley, Kevin Buzzard, Leo de Moura, Lester Mackey and Peter J. Liu appointed to the advisory committee for the Artificial Intelligence Mathematical Olympiad Prize.
LONDON, April 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — XTX Markets’ newly created Artificial Intelligence Mathematical Olympiad Prize (‘AIMO Prize’) is a $10mn challenge fund designed to spur the creation of a publicly shared AI model capable of winning a gold medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).

XTX Markets is delighted to announce the appointment of five further advisory committee members. This group brings great expertise in machine learning, including D. Sculley, the CEO of Kaggle; Lester Mackey, a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and a Macarthur Fellow; and Peter J. Liu, a research scientist at Google DeepMind.
Prolific mathematicians Kevin Buzzard, who achieved a perfect score in the International Mathematical Olympiad, and Leo De Moura who is the Chief Architect for Lean, the automated reasoning tool, also join the advisory group.
They join the existing advisory committee members Terence Tao and Timothy Gowers, both winners of the Fields Medal, as well as Dan Roberts, Geoff Smith and Po-Shen Loh.
The AIMO Advisory Committee will support the development of the AIMO Prize, including advising on appropriate protocols and technical aspects, and designing the various competitions and prizes.
Simon Coyle, Head of Philanthropy at XTX Markets, commented:
“We are thrilled to complete the AIMO Advisory Committee with the appointments of D., Kevin, Leo, Lester and Peter. Together, they have enormous experience in machine learning and automated reasoning and are already bringing expertise and wisdom to the AIMO Prize. We look forward to announcing the winners of the AIMO’s first Progress Prize soon, and then publicly sharing the AI models to support the open and collaborative development of AI.”
Further information on the AIMO Prize
There will be a grand prize of $5mn for the first publicly shared AI model to enter an AIMO approved competition and perform at a standard equivalent to a gold medal in the IMO. There will also be a series of progress prizes, totalling up to $5mn, for publicly shared AI models that achieve key milestones towards the grand prize.
The first AIMO approved competition opened to participants in April 2024 on the Kaggle competition platform. The first progress prize focuses on problems pitched at junior and high-school level maths competitions. There is a total prize pot of $1.048m for the first progress prize, of which at least $254k will be awarded in July 2024, There will be a presentation of progress held in Bath, England in July 2024, as part of the 65th IMO.
For more information on the AIMO Prize visit: https://aimoprize.com/ or the competition page on Kaggle: https://www.kaggle.com/competitions/ai-mathematical-olympiad-prize/
Advisory Committee member profiles:
D. Sculley
D. is the CEO at Kaggle. Prior to joining Kaggle, he was a director at Google Brain, leading research teams working on robust, responsible, reliable and efficient ML and AI. In his career in ML, he has worked on nearly every aspect of machine learning, and has led both product and research teams including those on some of the most challenging business problems. Some of his well-known work involves ML technical debt, ML education, ML robustness, production-critical ML, and ML for scientific applications such as protein design.
Kevin Buzzard
Kevin a professor of pure mathematics at Imperial College London, specialising in algebraic number theory. As well as his research and teaching, he has a wide range of interests, including being Deputy Head of Pure Mathematics, Co-Director of a CDT and the department’s outreach champion. He is currently focusing on formal proof verification, including being an active participant in the Lean community. From October 2024, he will be leading a project to formalise a 21st century proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. Before joining Imperial, some 20 years ago, he was a Junior Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, where he had previously been named ‘Senior Wrangler’ (the highest scoring undergraduate mathematician). He was also a participant in the International Mathematical Olympiad, winning gold with a perfect score in 1987. He has been a visitor at the IAS in Princeton, a visiting lecturer at Harvard, has won several prizes both for research and teaching, and has given lectures all over the world.
Leo de Moura
Leo is a Senior Principal Applied Scientist in the Automated Reasoning Group at AWS. In his spare time, he dedicates himself to serving as the Chief Architect of the Lean FRO, a non-profit organization that he proudly co-founded alongside Sebastian Ullrich. He is also honoured to hold a position on the Board of Directors at the Lean FRO, where he actively contributes to its growth and development. Before joining AWS in 2023, he was a Senior Principal Researcher in the RiSE group at Microsoft Research, where he worked for 17 years starting in 2006. Prior to that, he worked as a Computer Scientist at SRI International. His research areas are automated reasoning, theorem proving, decision procedures, SAT and SMT. He is the main architect of several automated reasoning tools: Lean, Z3, Yices 1.0 and SAL. Leo’s work in automated reasoning has been acknowledged with a series of prestigious awards, including the CAV, Haifa, and Herbrand awards, as well as the Programming Languages Software Award by the ACM. Leo’s work has also been reported in the New York Times and many popular science magazines such as Wired, Quanta, and Nature News.
Lester Mackey
Lester Mackey is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, where he develops machine learning methods, models, and theory for large-scale learning tasks driven by applications from climate forecasting, healthcare, and the social good. Lester moved to Microsoft from Stanford University, where he was an assistant professor of Statistics and, by courtesy, of Computer Science. He earned his PhD in Computer Science and MA in Statistics from UC Berkeley and his BSE in Computer Science from Princeton University. He co-organized the second place team in the Netflix Prize competition for collaborative filtering; won the Prize4Life ALS disease progression prediction challenge; won prizes for temperature and precipitation forecasting in the yearlong real-time Subseasonal Climate Forecast Rodeo; and received best paper, outstanding paper, and best student paper awards from the ACM Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation, the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, and the International Conference on Machine Learning. He is a 2023 MacArthur Fellow, a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, an elected member of the COPSS Leadership Academy, and the recipient of the 2023 Ethel Newbold Prize.
Peter J. Liu
Peter J. Liu is a Research Scientist at Google DeepMind in the San Francisco Bay area, doing machine learning research with a specialisation in language models since 2015 starting in the Google Brain team. He has published and served as area chair in top machine learning and NLP conferences such as ICLR, ICML, NEURIPS, ACL and EMNLP. He also has extensive production experience, including launching the first deep learning model for Gmail Anti-Spam, and using neural network models to detect financial fraud for top banks. He has degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Toronto.
About XTX Markets:
XTX Markets is a leading financial technology firm which partners with counterparties, exchanges and e-trading venues globally to provide liquidity in the Equity, FX, Fixed Income and Commodity markets. XTX has over 200 employees based in London, Paris, New York, Mumbai, Yerevan and Singapore. XTX is consistently a top 5 liquidity provider globally in FX (Euromoney 2018-present) and is also the largest European equities (systematic internaliser) liquidity provider (Rosenblatt FY: 2020-2023).
The company’s corporate philanthropy focuses on STEM education and maximum impact giving (alongside an employee matching programme). Since 2017, XTX has donated over £100mn to charities and good causes, establishing it as a major donor in the UK and globally.
In a changing world XTX Markets is at the forefront of making financial markets fairer and more efficient for all.
 

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Artificial Intelligence

Hikvision redefines urban mobility with AIoT-powered solutions at Intertraffic 2024

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hikvision-redefines-urban-mobility-with-aiot-powered-solutions-at-intertraffic-2024

HANGZHOU, China, April 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Hikvision made a significant appearance at Intertraffic Amsterdam, the leading global trade fair for mobility and traffic technology. At the trade event, Hikvision unveiled a suite of traffic, transport, and parking management solutions and products powered by Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) technology, which promised to improve urban mobility, road safety, and operational efficacy.

Elevating urban traffic intelligence with AIoT
One highlight of the Hikvision stand was its intelligent urban traffic solution, which leveraged the power of AIoT to deliver comprehensive real-time monitoring, incident detection, and traffic control. This solution intelligently reshapes traffic dynamics, offering a more responsive and data-driven approach to enhance situational awareness and traffic management. Key innovations in the solution included:
Hikvision’s radar-video fusion camerasThese combine the range perception of radar with the visual perception of video. The 4 MP Radar and Video Vehicle Detector, for example, helps to enhance road safety by providing early warning of potential hazards in challenging situations such as blind spots at intersections and obstacles outside the visual range.Hikvision’s All-In-One Traffic SpotterThis stands out with its multifaceted design incorporating video, radar, and lighting technologies for heightened traffic violation detection. Its streamlined column design facilitates effortless installation.Hikvision’s Radar-Linked PTZ Camera This ensures consistent performance in adverse weather and lightening conditions, and minimizes false alarms with advanced deep-learning algorithms.Innovating parking management
Hikvision also introduced its parking management solutions. These combine extremely precise license plate recognition and intelligent barrier controls incorporating highly accurate radar sensors. This comprehensive approach enhances security, reduces the need for manual intervention, and streamlines traffic flow across parking areas. The Global Shutter CMOS* (GMOS) ANPR camera was a new addition to the lineup. Designed to seamlessly blend in the environment, it is tailored for the task of discreetly capturing license plates at parking facilities that prioritize subtlety.
Advancing public transportation safety and efficiency
Attendees also had the opportunity to explore Hikvision’s latest public transport solutions, integrating AI-driven analytics with advanced video security, on-site voice broadcasting, and centralized management for enhanced onboard security, improved passenger experience, and operational efficiency for buses and taxis. This included the Four-way monitoring system and the Panoramic Auxiliary System, both designed to reduce blind spots and provide high-definition imaging to improve driving safety.
“As ever, we are continually expanding our suite of technologies to enhance traffic safety and efficiency,” said Nick Wu, Project Product Director at Hikvision Europe. “Our commitment lies in minimizing the need for extensive roadside installations by incorporating comprehensive perception and robust AI within unified device frameworks. These innovations automate and streamline every aspect of traffic management, from violation detection to traffic flow monitoring, driving safety, and parking management.”
To find out more about Hikvision’s urban mobility products and solutions, please explore its official website.
Note: CMOS stands for Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor.
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