Category: Startups

Wikisoft Corp – Pioneering Startup Funding with Blockchain Acquisition

Wikisoft Corp. (the “Company,” “we,” and “our”) (OTCQB: WSFT) recently announced that it has acquired 51% of Etheralabs LLC a New York City based venture lab and ecosystem that invests in, builds, and deploys disruptive technologies across the Blockchain space.

Wikisoft’s vision is to combine the company’s massive amount of data on start-ups, funds and investors with Etheralabs’ disruptive Blockchain technology to accelerate finance partnerships between startups and investors – Wikisoft providing the relevant data intelligence and direct investment opportunities and Etheralabs providing the Blockchain expertise and technology on contract execution.

Carsten Kjems Falk, Chief Executive Officer of Wikisoft Corp. said, “Our upcoming Wikifunding platform enriched with Etheralabs’ disruptive Blockchain technology will enable startups to connect to venture capital, funds and investors for funding in an automated, secure and transparent way. Investors, funds and venture capital will likewise have an efficient way of finding prospects and making the right investments.”

Bryan Feinberg, CEO and Founder of Etheralabs commented: “Wikisoft’s data capabilities coupled with our background in transforming large data ecosystems into vibrant venture communities creates a way to accelerate and disrupt the funding process.”

Extending far beyond bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, Blockchain technology is cutting out the middleman in most business sectors. A survey from the World Economic Forum underlines the transformation this technology will bring to the financial services sector with expectations of at least 10% of the global GDP being stored on Blockchain platforms by 2025. Deloitte recently wrote that 23% of the fund order process is still being handled manually, mainly though fax orders which have a significant impact on distribution costs and time. The fund sector that is seeking levers for processing optimization and that relies a lot on financial service intermediaries such as transfer agents, fund registries, and fund administrations will be particularly impacted. Blockchain could disintermediate the fund value chain and Escrow accounts, Transfer agents and fund administration would not be needed anymore reducing a lot of time to execute the transfer of value in a secure, transparent and automated way. The Blockchain has the power of an earthquake that would shake to the ground the whole funding industry.

The upcoming Wikifunding platform has an ambition to be at the frontier of startup funding and investment, bringing decentralization, security, immutability, and transparency to the fund distribution and administration market causing the first tremors in the funding industry.

This press release does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale.

ABOUT ETHERALABS LLC

Etheralabs is New York City based venture lab and ecosystem that invests in, builds, and deploys disruptive technologies across the Blockchain landscape. Etheralabs fast-tracks ideas into solutions that help high-growth companies with a focus on capital appreciation and scale via early-stage identification and accelerated resource deployment. The acceleration model lays the foundation for taking promising IP from both concept to company and from revenue to profitability, culminating in a fully functioning portfolio venture that is ready to attract follow-on funding, an acquisition partner, or to operate as a standalone company.
More information can be found at: https://etheralabs.io

ABOUT WIKISOFT CORPORATION

In today’s fast-moving business world of increasing globalization, Wikisoft leverages big data and associated insights from business datasets to improve performance.

In line with this new phase of globalization, Wikisoft believes that there is a growing demand for access to credible and reliable business data. Data is essential to creating the complete view of customers, prospects, investors, suppliers, and partners necessary to power the right decisions.
Our vision is to create opportunity globally by collecting precise data, curating it, verifying it and putting it in the hands of professionals and businesses as consumable business intelligence. We believe in the power of Wikisoft to collect massive amounts of data and deliver it to businesses curated, credible and reliable.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains statements of a forward-looking nature about the Company. You can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “is/are likely to,” “future” or other similar expressions. The Company has based these forward-looking statements primarily on the Company’s current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that the Company believes may affect Company’s financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, and financial needs. There is no assurance that the Company’s current expectations and projections are accurate. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on the Company’s information on the date hereof. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements. The Company operates in a rapidly evolving environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law. This press release does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to purchase, otherwise acquire, issue, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of any securities, nor any solicitation of any offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, issue, subscribe for, sell, or otherwise dispose of any securities of the Company. The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions into which this announcement is released, published or distributed should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions.

CONTACT:
WikiSoft Corp.
315 Montgomery Street, San Francisco,
CA 94104, USA
Phone: +1-800-706-0806
Email: investor@wikisoft.com
Investor site: www.wikisoft.com

SOURCE: WikiSoft Corp.

BayWa r.e. Reaffirms Continued Commitment to the Community of Lang Son Province with Improved Sanitation Facilities for Elementary Schools

Global renewable energy developer, service provider and distributor BayWa r.e. announced the successful completion and handover of new sanitary facilities for Khuoi Lay Elementary School and Suoi Long Elementary School in Lang Son Province, Vietnam. This forms part of BayWa r.e.’s longstanding commitment to meaningfully contribute to communities in which it operates, and reaffirms the company’s continued dedication to drive sustainable growth for the people of Lang Son province.

(L-R) Mr Vi Van Tho, Education Department of Loc Binh District, Lang Son Province; Mr Vi Hong Troi, Principal, Khuoi Lay Elementary School; Mr Loi Dang Van, Project Developer, Wind, BayWa r.e. Vietnam Co., Ltd; Mr Nguyen Hong Quynh, Director, Hung Dung LS Ltd, Mr Nguyen Van Uyen, Vice Chairman of Huu Lan Commune People Committee, Loc Binh District, Lang Son Province; Mr Nam Le, Senior Project Developer, Wind, BayWa r.e. Vietnam Co., Ltd
Khuoi Lay Elementary School

Gender-segregated washroom facilities were built for both elementary schools, benefiting more than 40 students and staff members. These washrooms come equipped with water tanks and electrical wiring systems, and utilise a standalone septic tank that is easier to maintain while also being environmentally friendly. The recipient schools were identified in close collaboration with provincial authorities, as well as the Education Department of Lang Son province and Loc Binh district. Both schools were selected as priority targets due to a lack of modern sanitation facilities as well as their proximity to BayWa r.e.’s wind farms.

Brian Barry, Head of Wind Asia, BayWa r.e. said “At BayWa r.e., we believe strongly in giving back to the community in which we operate. It is our privilege to be able to contribute meaningfully to the population of Lang Son Province, a region that has been instrumental to our growth in Vietnam.”

“We became aware of the sanitary challenges experienced by the Khuoi Lay and Suoi Long elementary schools during our greenfield development of the wind farms. With the support provided by provincial and district authorities, we were able to swiftly secure the necessary approvals, delivering the completed facilities in as little as three months from construction. Moving ahead, we hope to be able to extend this initiative to other schools across the province, facilitating the symbiotic growth of local communities alongside the expansion of our renewable energy footprint in Vietnam,” he added.

The official handover of the completed facilities took place physically in November 2021 for Suoi Long Elementary School, and virtually in December 2021 for Khuoi Lay Elementary School.

Mr Pham Hung Truong, Chief of Staff, Lang Son People Committee shared “BayWa r.e. is one of the first foreign investors explored and allowed to deploy survey for potential development and investment of wind farms in Lang Son. To date, more than 10 local and foreign investors have proposed to the provincial People Committee to invest in about 30 wind farms projects. Develop wind power, use renewable energy in the province is in line with the national strategy on power development towards 2030, with vision towards 2045, which encourages and prioritizes complete and effective usage of new, clean, and renewable energy resources. Lang Son province always supports and creates the best conditions for investors, at the meantime highly appreciates their contributions to the communities. BayWa r.e. contribution to the Khuoi Lay and Suoi Long elementary schools is very meaningful, helping pupils in remote areas improve their health and hygiene conditions. Hopefully, BayWa r.e. will continue partnering with local authorities, not only in its development and investment in wind business, but also helping the local community improve conditions in education, transportation and promote socio-economic development of Lang Son province.”

BayWa r.e. has been active in developing large scale wind energy developments in Vietnam, viewing the technology as a key enabler in the country’s renewable energy push. The company currently has a 300MW pipeline of wind energy across sites in northern Vietnam, and is fully committed to facilitating Vietnam’s ambition of becoming net-zero by 2050.

BayWa r.e. AG (BayWa r.e.):
At BayWa r.e. we r.e.think energy – how it is produced, stored and can be best used to enable the global renewable energy transition that is essential to the future of our planet.

We are a leading global developer, service supplier, distributor and solutions provider and have brought over 4GW of energy online and manage over 10GW of assets. We are also an Independent Power Producer with an expanding energy trading business.

BayWa r.e. works with businesses worldwide to provide tailored renewable solutions. Operating 100% carbon neutral, we are also committed to our own sustainability journey.

Every day, we are working hard to actively shape the future of energy in a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace.

Our shareholders are BayWa AG, a EUR 17.2 billion global business, and Energy Infrastructure Partners, a leader in energy infrastructure investment.

Contact information:
BayWa r.e. AG
Salim Pathan
Marketing Manager, APAC
Tel: +66 62 698 7162
Email: salim.pathan@baywa-re.com

Mark Cooper
Corporate Communications
Tel: +49 89 383932 3611
E-mail: mark.cooper@baywa-re.com

PRecious Communications for BayWa r.e. AG
Tan Yanchang / Foo En Jing
Tel: +65 6303 0567
E-mail: baywa-re@preciouscomms.com

Wikisoft Corp. Acquires Blockchain Tech Company – Etheralabs LLC

Wikisoft Corp. (the “Company,” “we,” and “our”) (OTCQB: WSFT) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 51% of Etheralabs LLC a New York City based venture lab and ecosystem that invests in, builds, and deploys disruptive technologies across the Blockchain space. Wikisoft is using equity to fund the acquisition, thus providing the Company the optimum financial flexibility in the future.

The transaction includes a global access to Etheralabs’ full stack of technologies across the Blockchain and global funding landscape. Etheralabs ecosystem allows development and finance partnerships throughout the blockchain world and beyond, and connects the blockchain community, investors and venture capital to relevant data intelligence and direct investment opportunities. With the majority stake, Wikisoft intends to ensure that Etheralabs future product and technology roadmap supports Wikisoft’s platform strategy including the upcoming Wikifunding site aiming to accelerate matching investors to startups.

Carsten Kjems Falk, Chief Executive Officer of Wikisoft Corp. said, “Etheralabs LLC’s disruptive Blockchain technology and products provide an outstanding opportunity to expand Wikisoft’s global reach with superior technology and venture accelerators. Our upcoming Wikifunding platform enabling startups to connect to the Blockchain community, investors and venture capital will have resources for ventures that are ready to attract follow-on funding and investors will have an efficient way of finding prospects and making the right investments. Short term the off-the-shelf products like a full press release distribution service will be accessible to the 90 million businesses now held in our database. We anticipate that Wikisoft’s global reach and data resources will accelerate our growth and provide greater earnings diversity.” The Company expects the proposed transaction to be accretive to earnings realized over the two years following the acquisition.

Bryan Feinberg, CEO and Founder of Etheralabs commented, “Wikisoft’s capabilities coupled with our background in transforming large data ecosystems into vibrant communities creates a definitive way to leverage our background to accelerate Wikisoft’s entry into the global blockchain market and we look forward to accelerating Wikisoft’s unique architecture and data environment into an active and vibrant venture community.”

This press release does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale.

About Etheralabs LLC

Etheralabs is New York City based venture lab and ecosystem that invests in, builds, and deploys disruptive technologies across the Blockchain landscape. Etheralabs fast-tracks ideas into solutions that help high-growth companies with a focus on capital appreciation and scale via early-stage identification and accelerated resource deployment. The acceleration model lays the foundation for taking promising IP from both concept to company and from revenue to profitability, culminating in a fully functioning portfolio venture that is ready to attract follow-on funding, an acquisition partner, or to operate as a standalone company.

More information can be found at: https://etheralabs.io

About Wikisoft Corporation

In today’s fast-moving business world of increasing globalization, Wikisoft leverages big data and associated insights from business datasets to improve performance.

In line with this new phase of globalization, Wikisoft believes that there is a growing demand for access to credible and reliable business data. Data is essential to creating the complete view of customers, prospects, investors, suppliers, and partners necessary to power the right decisions.
Our vision is to create opportunity globally by collecting precise data, curating it, verifying it and putting it in the hands of professionals and businesses as consumable business intelligence. We believe in the power of Wikisoft to collect massive amounts of data and deliver it to businesses curated, credible and reliable.

Contact:ONTACT
WikiSoft Corp.
315 Montgomery Street, San Francisco,
CA 94104, USA
Phone: +1-800-706-0806
Email: investor@wikisoft.com
Investor site: www.wikisoft.com
SOURCE: WikiSoft Corp.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains statements of a forward-looking nature about the Company. You can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “is/are likely to,” “future” or other similar expressions. The Company has based these forward-looking statements primarily on the Company’s current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that the Company believes may affect Company’s financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, and financial needs. There is no assurance that the Company’s current expectations and projections are accurate. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on the Company’s information on the date hereof. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements. The Company operates in a rapidly evolving environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law. This press release does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to purchase, otherwise acquire, issue, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of any securities, nor any solicitation of any offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, issue, subscribe for, sell, or otherwise dispose of any securities of the Company. The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions into which this announcement is released, published or distributed should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions.

Winklevoss twins and global decacorn invest in US$29M Series A of Singapore-based fintech Volopay as it prepares APAC and MENA expansion

  • The enterprise FinOps platform has taken on a strategic investment from global blue-chip investors to drive continued expansion and technology innovation
  • The Series A funding round comprised participation from JAM Fund, Winklevoss Capital Management, Accial Capital, Rapyd Ventures, Jeffrey Cruttenden – CEO of Acorns along with Access Ventures, Antler Global, and VentureSouq
  • Volopay plans to strengthen its footprint in APAC and MENA with a multi-market expansion alongside further investment in product development

Volopay, a Y Combinator-backed Singapore-based corporate cards, and payable management startup has successfully raised US$29 million in its Series A round through a mix of equity and debt. The investment round included participation from JAM Fund, Winklevoss Capital Management, Rapyd Ventures, Accial Capital, fintech veteran and angel investor Jeffrey Cruttenden – CEO of Acorns along with Access Ventures, Antler Global, and VentureSouq.

The strategic investment from leading blue-chip investors will fuel Volopay’s foray into the APAC and MENA markets to tackle two of the most pressing problems that SMEs and startups face – high Forex (FX) charges incurred for international payments and the lack of a uniform platform to access all spend data. Volopay provides companies with multi-currency wallets to hold money in their base currency and any major currency – USD, SGD, EUR, GBP – and subsequently use it for payouts, eliminating exorbitant amounts of FX charges levied on international payments.

Since its seed funding, Volopay has grown exponentially to better alleviate its clients’ pain points. With a 150+ member team spread all over major business centres in the Asia Pacific region, such as Singapore, Australia, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, Volopay has amassed an impressive clientele with the likes of Funding Societies, Zipmex, Moneysmart, Smartkarma, and Austrionova among others.

Volopay is disrupting traditional business banking and aims to be adopted as the single and only solution growing, global businesses need for their cards, invoice automation, and bill payments along with the added bonus of a multi-currency business account without the hassle and limitations of a traditional bank. To achieve this, Volopay has embarked on the ambitious objective of building its own infrastructure and applying for financial licences in its markets, something no other company has done regionally. Through constructing their own infrastructure, Volopay will enable their global clients to eliminate the need for integration with multiple third-party financial services platforms, delivering a consistent and delightful customer experience regardless of the region they are operating in.

Rajith Shaji, cofounder and CEO of Volopay shared, “Volopay is an ambitious project. To build an alternative to Volopay, you would have to launch five different startups. We are building the control centre for modern companies for all their financial management needs. Our platform is as easy and seamless to use for a five-person company, as it is for a 500-person company. We want to take our vision of a unified spend management platform to all companies across the world after our initial markets of APAC and MENA.”

“With APAC & MENA making a big wave on the global stage by churning out several unicorn level enterprises every year, accelerating their growth requires an efficient expense management tool that is simple yet scalable, something that Volopay has always aimed for,” said Rajesh Raikwar, cofounder and CTO of Volopay.

Justin Mateen, founder of Tinder and JAM Fund who led the round, said in a statement, “I’ve worked closely with Volopay’s amazing team since my original investment at the pre-seed stage. Given the accelerating growth of the business, and the team’s ability to innovate quickly on the product side with a single-stack and scalable platform across multiple jurisdictions, it was only natural to triple down and lead the Series A round. I am proud to partner with a leader in this space and to help support Volopay to scale to greater heights.”

Michael Shum, Chief Investment Officer at Accial Capital said, “Accial Capital views the B2B corporate spend vertical as a way to support entrepreneurs and SMEs with liquidity and close the credit gap. Volopay has a great ambitious team focused on redlining the finance workflows with its robust technology. We are proud to partner with a leader in this space to help scale.”

Part of Volopay’s Series A funds will be put towards their forthcoming market launches, building and innovating new technologies to complement their existing product, in addition to enhancing integrations with leading enterprise software and project management applications. The company is also hiring aggressively for key positions in each of its markets.

About Volopay
Volopay is a Singapore-based company on a mission to build a financial control centre for modern businesses. Volopay combines business accounts, corporate cards, bill payments, expense reimbursements, credit, cashback, and accounting automation into one single platform. Since launching in Singapore and Australia the startup has been on a strong growth trajectory and is now stepping into India, Indonesia, and the Philippines with MENA expansion on the horizon. https://www.volopay.com/sg/

For media enquiries, please contact:
PRecious Communications for Volopay
volopay@preciouscomms.com

GWI Drives APAC Expansion with Hire of Aditi Kohli

Following its successful US$180 million in Series B funding in February 2022, valuing the company at US$850M, GWI, the leading audience insights company, is well on its way to ambitious growth plans in the APAC region, spearheaded by the hiring of Aditi Kohli as APAC Senior Vice President. Aditi will be based in Singapore.

Aditi will drive the company’s growth, working with enterprise partners to help them gain a deeper understanding of local consumers. The investments are being utilized to further advance GWI’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, as well as hiring new talent to support global expansion.

GWI has already seen strong growth in APAC, with over 20% of its clients based in the region. As the company continues to expand, it will offer much-needed alternatives to traditional market research, which is often not fit-for-purpose, too slow, expensive, and difficult to scale. Through GWI’s intuitive and easy-to-use platform, as well as its extensive data collection in APAC, organisations can access an instantaneous view of harmonised data-sets representing 2.7 billion digital consumers across 48 geographies, including 14 markets in APAC, gaining faster and deeper insights to make data-backed decisions.

Many of the world’s most influential brands, media organisations and agencies already leverage GWI to deliver global insights at scale. With Asia home to 60% of the world’s population, and over 2,300 languages, there is a clear need for brands and businesses to fully understand the demands of each individual segment and have clear, unique and localised insights that allow them to make real business decisions.

“We are deeply committed to Asia-Pacific,” said GWI CEO and Founder Tom Smith, “The size and breadth of the region means it can be hard for companies to navigate and be able to make proper data-driven decisions. GWI is able to provide them with deep insights and allow them to create the right strategy. When we launched our new office in Singapore we knew that we would need to find the right person to lead this exciting growth opportunity and Aditi is the perfect person for this. Her breadth of experience will be instrumental in growing our presence, talent and customer base. We’re very excited for the future of GWI in APAC.”

Aditi has a proven track record in scaling businesses from scratch. She joins GWI after two decades of experience working in APAC leadership roles with Foursquare, Near, The Walt Disney Company and MTV Asia.

“I am honoured to join GWI as we continue to revolutionise insights on digital consumers worldwide through technology,” Aditi said. “We’re seeking to bolster the APAC team, and looking to hire talented professionals (commercial sales and customer success) with a passion for market intelligence and innovation who can support the rapid expansion of our business.”

GWI has emerged strongly from the COVID-19 global pandemic, promoting a positive hybrid working culture and placing great emphasis on training and developing its staff. With five offices globally, GWI plans to strengthen its hiring to over 600 employees by 2023. See here for the latest open roles.

About GWI

GWI is the leading audience insights company. Its SaaS platform and custom data products are trusted by the world’s biggest brands, media organizations, and agencies on a daily basis to gain a deep understanding of their audiences at speed.

The company’s flagship survey represents 2.7 billion people globally. Through a combination of survey data and analytics, clients can gather in-depth insights into behaviours, attitudes, and interests from rich data sets including GWI Core, GWI Kids, GWI Sports, GWI USA, GWI.

Media Contact:
The Hoffman Agency
GWISG@hoffman.com

Arkon Energy Sets New Australian Pre-seed Funding Record

Bitcoin mining startup Arkon Energy has raised an AUD$2.6M pre-seed round, setting a new Australian record, just one month after the record was set by one-click checkout startup “Instant” at AUD$2.2M.

The company will use the funds to rapidly scale its capabilities and deploy more bitcoin mining operations through a two year, 44 megawatt (MW) renewable energy project pipeline.

Utilising low-cost renewable energy and immersion cooling, Arkon Energy has built this 44MW future pipeline across four project partnerships to be deployed over 18-24 months. Arkon intends to scale its operations at a similar pace to its much larger Australian competitors, Mawson Infrastructure and Iris Energy.

The record-breaking round was led by blockchain investment firm Kestrel0x1. It also attracted a number of strategic investors, including leading provider of trade services and renewable energy products, Linked Group Services, and a suite of other angel investors.

The company was co-founded by Sydney-based Joshua Payne and Gold Coast-based Nathan Townsend. Payne is the COO and co-founder of NYSE-listed special purpose acquisition company, Battery Future Acquisition Corp, which raised USD$345M at an IPO in December. Mr Townsend is a former partner at boutique project finance advisory firm PT Capital.

The pitch

Payne and Townsend’s pitch to renewable power generation asset companies is to utilise low-cost, renewable energy (that often runs on a cost-negative basis during the day and is only profitable during peak grid pricing), to mine Bitcoin. This would result in five-fold greater profit margins, 24-hours a day, every day of the year.

“Due to the grid oversupply issues causing the cost of power to run negative during the day, renewable energy generation asset owners must consider alternative sources of electricity monetisation to remain profitable and competitive,” says Payne.

“Most large renewable companies are already exploring the use of battery storage to store energy and deliver it to the grid on-peak for additional profit. But this only provides a small window of opportunity during the day to benefit from high power prices.”

“There are benefits we provide for our clients are built on two fundamentals. The first is that fundamentally, Bitcoin is money,” explains Payne.

“The second is that the processes of converting energy to battery storage and converting energy to bitcoin, are essentially the same.

“The advantage of mining Bitcoin is that you are storing energy in money, which can either be immediately converted back to Australian Dollars at a five-times greater profit margin or held for long-term price appreciation.”

The outlook for Arkon Energy appears to be all upside, with competitors Mawson Infrastructure and Iris Energy both going public on the Nasdaq in Q3 and Q4 last year with enterprise valuations of USD $800M and USD $1.5B respectively.

With new cash reserves, Arkon Energy aims to achieve similar results within 24-months.

About Arkon Energy

Arkon Energy is a bitcoin mining startup founded by Sydney-based Joshua Payne and Gold Coast-based Nathan Townsend.

Web: ArkonEnergy.com
Contact: info@arkonenergy.com
Location: Sydney, Australia

SOURCE: Arkon Energy

ITE signs MOU with VIZZIO to Launch New Centre of Excellence, Harnessing the Power of 3D Virtualization

Universal Omniverse Experience Centre to leverage Geo-Spatial, 3D Virtualization and Digital Twin technologies to enhance training, accelerate SME digitalization in Singapore

VIZZIO Technologies, a Singapore-based technology company specialized in creating and virtualizing digital realities, today announced a three-year partnership with the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) to launch a new Centre of Excellence – the Universal Omniverse Experience Centre – at ITE College Central. The Centre, which will leverage next-generation technologies including AI-powered Geo-Spatial, 3D virtualization and Digital Twin solutions, will deliver training programs to students and adult learners.

(Left) Mr Suresh Natarajan, Principal of ITE College Central, and Dr Jon Li, CEO and Founder of Vizzio Technologies Pte Ltd.

“As Singapore continues to advance its Smart Nation agenda, we need to prepare our students, adult learners and wider business community with the deep tech skills they need for future employability and decision-making. Together with VIZZIO, we are delivering a holistic curriculum, integrating education and real-world applications of 3D technologies to demonstrate the power of spatial data for industrial and smart city projects. Leveraging these emerging technologies, we are excited for what the future holds as we continue to foster Singapore’s deep-tech talent and unlock new opportunities to spur innovation and digitalization,” said Mr. Suresh Natarajan, Principal, ITE College Central.

As part of the MOU, VIZZIO will focus on training ITE students, ITE lecturers and adult learners in 3D modelling and visualisation including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Building Information Modelling (BIM), Unreal Game Engine and Mixed and Virtual Reality (MR/VR). The courses are targeted at addressing three key pillars: Manpower Capability, SME Digitalization and Go-Green:

1. Boost Manpower Capability by Enhancing Teaching and Learning
VIZZIO will provide ITE with advisory services to support the development of a new multi-disciplinary curriculum for students as part of a revamped Game & Immersive Applications course. The curriculum will cover areas including built environment visualization and immersive geospatial applications to further enhance employability resilience and future readiness of ITE students.

VIZZIO will also support ITE’s ambitions to drive digital education with the creation of an Avatar Teacher, with a humanized face and text-based technology support. The Avatars will be embedded into PowerPoint presentations and learning applications to provide ITE staff with support in delivering a more immersive and interactive learning experience.

Under the partnership, VIZZIO is also a sponsor for the ITE Work-Study Diploma (WSDip) that aims to develop and nurture the next generation of Singapore thinkers with real life work experience. Students can also apply for internship placements at Vizzio and have the opportunity to work and learn from the best in developing their professional skills for the future.

For adult learners looking at sharpening their deep tech knowledge and skills, VIZZO will co-develop and co-deliver training courses under ITE’s Continuing Education and Training (CET) framework. ITE staff will also benefit from industry attachments to upgrade their skills. These opportunities will afford students, adult learners and staff exposure to latest industry trends and practices.

2. Drive SME digitalization in Singapore
VIZZIO and ITE will also jointly design and curate short courses on geo-spatial technologies for adult learners and the industry. By creating an edu-industry community platform, this will provide opportunities for lifelong learning, workforce adaptability by co-creating with industry and help SMEs digitalize their operations.

3. Foster Smart Learning, Smart Working

Integrating live video streaming and BIM (Building Information Modelling) technologies, VIZZIO and ITE will explore a Smart Building GIS (geographic information system) solution. This will help promote a digital ecosystem within the industry as students and SMEs can better visualize data, taking the theoretical to practical and measuring predictions or impacts more accurately and efficiently.

“3D technology is on course to become part of our everyday lives, from mapping the world around us to enabling us to experience entertainment in a whole new way. However, while 3D virtualization and Digital Twin technologies have been around for a while, they are typically complex, clunky, and expensive. At VIZZIO, we want to empower all users – from novices to digital experts – with easy and seamless access to these technologies,” said Jon Li, CEO and Founder of VIZZIO. “We are thrilled to be partnering with forward-looking institutions like ITE who share our vision in bringing these technologies closer to students and the wider business community in Singapore and look forward to welcoming a new generation of talent to the world of 3D.”

About VIZZIO Technologies
VIZZIO Technologies is a Singapore based, AI Modelling & Visualisation company that is on a mission to democratize and simplify 3D. Harnessing the power of 3D visualisation technologies, AI, machine learning processes, and EDGE-COMPUTING scanning hardware, VIZZIO offers an advanced yet easy-to-use platform, empowering users – from novices to digital experts across all industries – to access best-in-class 3D-as-a-Service offerings on demand, enabling anyone to co-create, virtualize and interact with digital realities. Vizzio has been spearheading the adoption of dimensionally accurate and immersive 3D capture & visualisations for Singapore’s leading government agencies and companies including Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF), Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), National University of Singapore (NUS) and SMRT Corporation (SMRT) as well as Singapore based companies such as CapitaLand, SATS, StarHub, DP Architects among others. For more information, please visit https://vizzio.ai/

About Institute of Technical Education
The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) was established as a post-secondary institution in 1992, under the Ministry of Education. ITE is a principal provider of career and technical education and a key developer of national skills certification and standards skilling Singapore for the future economy. It offers three key programmes – (1) Pre-Employment Training for youths after secondary education (2) Continuing Education and Training for adult learners and (3) Industry-Based and Work-Study Programmes with employers. Under its ‘One ITE System, Three Colleges’ Governance Model, ITE has three Colleges – ITE College Central, ITE College East and ITE College West. For more information, please visit https://www.ite.edu.sg

Media Contacts:
The Hoffman Agency on behalf of VIZZIO Technologies
Email: VizzioSG@hoffman.com

ITE
Jailani Nathan, Manager, Corporate & Media Relations
Email: Jailani_Nathan@ite.edu.sg

Wikisoft Corp. Signs Letter of Intent to Acquire Disruptive Blockchain Tech Company — Etheralabs LLC

Wikisoft Corp. (the “Company,” “we,” and “our”) (OTCQB: WSFT) today announced that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire a majority stake in Etheralabs LLC, a New York City based venture lab and ecosystem that invests in, builds, and deploys disruptive technologies across the Blockchain space.

The proposed transaction would include full global access to Etheralabs LLC’s disruptive technologies across the Blockchain and global funding landscape. With the majority stake, Wikisoft plans to ensure that Etheralabs future product and technology roadmap supports Wikisoft’s platform strategy. The parties intend to enter into a binding agreement after consultation with their respective legal counsel. Wikisoft Corp. plan to fund the acquisition with equity, thus providing the Company the optimum financial flexibility in the future. Wikisoft’s Board of Directors has given a commitment to approve the transaction.

Carsten Kjems Falk, Chief Executive Officer of Wikisoft Corp. said, “Etheralabs LLC’s disruptive technology and products are expected to provide an outstanding opportunity to expand Wikisoft’s global reach with superior technology and high value-add products. This includes but is not limited to the blockchain technology for the upcoming wikifunding platform enabling startups to connect to the blockchain community, investors and venture capital. Furthermore, the AmpliFi press release distribution service is expected to be accessible to the 90 million businesses now held in the Wikisoft database, providing global reach to any of those companies. Our greater scale, broader product offering and geographic exposure should accelerate our growth and provide greater earnings diversity.” The Company expects the proposed transaction to be accretive to earnings realized over the two years following the acquisition.

Bryan Feinberg, CEO and Founder of Etheralabs said, “Wikisoft’s capabilities coupled with our background in transforming large data ecosystems into vibrant communities creates a definitive way to leverage our background to accelerate Wikisoft’s entry into the global blockchain market and look forward to our ability to leverage Wikisoft’s unique architecture and data environment into an active and vibrant venture community.”

About Etheralabs LLC

Etheralabs is New York City based venture lab and ecosystem that invests in, builds, and deploys disruptive technologies across the Blockchain landscape. Etheralabs fast-tracks ideas into solutions that help high-growth companies with a focus on capital appreciation and scale via early-stage identification and accelerated resource deployment. The acceleration model lays the foundation for taking promising IP from both concept to company and from revenue to profitability, culminating in a fully functioning portfolio venture that is ready to attract follow-on funding, an acquisition partner, or to operate as a standalone company.
More information can be found at: https://etheralabs.io

About Wikisoft Corporation

In today’s fast-moving business world of increasing globalization, Wikisoft leverages big data and associated insights from business datasets to improve performance.

In line with this new phase of globalization, Wikisoft believes that there is a growing demand for access to credible and reliable business data. Data is essential to creating the complete view of customers, prospects, investors, suppliers, and partners necessary to power the right decisions.
Our vision is to create opportunity globally by collecting precise data, curating it, verifying it and putting it in the hands of professionals and businesses as consumable business intelligence. We believe in the power of Wikisoft to collect massive amounts of data and deliver it to businesses curated, credible and reliable.

CONTACT:
WikiSoft Corp.
315 Montgomery Street, San Francisco,
CA 94104, USA
Phone: +1-800-706-0806
Email: investor@wikisoft.com
Investor site: www.wikisoft.com

SOURCE: WikiSoft Corp.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains statements of a forward-looking nature about the Company. You can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “is/are likely to,” “future” or other similar expressions. The Company has based these forward-looking statements primarily on the Company’s current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that the Company believes may affect Company’s financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, and financial needs. There is no assurance that the Company’s current expectations and projections are accurate. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on the Company’s information on the date hereof. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements. The Company operates in a rapidly evolving environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law. This press release does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to purchase, otherwise acquire, issue, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of any securities, nor any solicitation of any offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, issue, subscribe for, sell, or otherwise dispose of any securities of the Company. The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions into which this announcement is released, published or distributed should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions.

Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited’s offshore arm appoints Sarath Sathkumara to head investments for its international business

Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited’s(ABSLAMC) offshore subsidiary has appointed Mr. Sarath Sathkumara to lead investments for its international business.

Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited is the fourth largest asset manager in India with total assets under management of close to $42 billion. The publicly listed company has its presence in over 280 locations pan-India and present in international markets such as Dubai, Singapore, and Mauritius. It also operates via UCIT to cater to European markets. The company recently received approval from International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to carry out Portfolio Management Services from GIFT City in India that will help to expand its reach and service to global clients. Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited’s offshore subsidiaries manage money to the extent of USD 1.32 billion. ABSLAMC is a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (a non-bank financial services conglomerate), and investment manager to Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (ABSLMF).

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. A. Balasubramanian, MD & CEO, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited said, “We are delighted to have Sarath Sathkumara come on board. He is a seasoned global emerging markets investor with over 30 years of experience in international capital markets and investing. His rich experience, illustrious background and in-depth knowledge of global markets will be an instrument in capitalizing overseas opportunities and launching investment solutions that cater to the needs of international investors. This further strengthens our overseas presence and aligns with our strategy of expanding our offshore business. Sarath will initially focus on launching ESG centered products, along with relevant solutions to cater to GIFT City and overseas clients”.

In his current role with ABSLAMC’s offshore arm, Sarath has joined as CIO International. Most recently, Sarath was the Managing Director/Portfolio Manager for Taiyo Pacific Partner’s India engagement investing business, starting the business 10 years ago and building it ground up. Prior to that, he has worked as a Chief Investment Officer of SBI Venture Capital in Singapore. From 2002 to 2008, Sarath was a Senior Portfolio Manager with the State Street Global Advisors’ Active Emerging Markets Group (AUM $12bn), focusing on Asia and MENA regions. Before that Sarath spent 7 years with Capital International in Singapore as part of Capital International’s Emerging Markets team (AUM $24bn). He was instrumental in building and running Capital’s India business from 1993, the year India opened for foreign investment and witnessed India’s capital market transformation. Before that he was with HSBC Group for 10 years in investment and corporate banking in Dubai, San Francisco and New York.

About Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited
Established in 1994, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited (ABSLAMC) is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Capital Limited and Sun Life (India) AMC Investments Inc. ABSLAMC is primarily the investment manager of Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, a registered trust under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. ABSLAMC also operates multiple alternate strategies including Portfolio Management Services, Real Estate Investments and Alternative Investment Funds. ABSLAMC is one of the leading asset managers in India, with a pan India presence across 280 plus locations and a total AUM of over Rs. 3,109 billion under its suite of mutual fund (excluding our domestic FoFs), portfolio management services, offshore and real estate offerings and 7.6 million investor folios for the quarter ending December 31, 2021.

For any media queries, please contact:
Amrita Panja
Email: Amrita.Panja@adityabirlacapital.com

Hong Kong’s First Virtual Investment Forum: From SPAC To Metaverse held Jan 20

Co-organized by LBS Communications, New Vision Asset Management and Mileage Singapore

Hong Kong’s 2022 Virtual Investment Forum Invest For A Better World With Innovation: From SPAC To Metaverse was held on January 20, the first regional event aligning investors in the Metaverse with startups seeking funding. The Forum was co-organized by LBS Communications with New Vision Asset Management and Mileage Communications (Singapore), with the support of media platform partners Futu and Hong Kong Economic Digest.

Distinguished speakers were invited to tap the hottest topics in the capital markets: SPACs and Metaverse. The morning session featured SPAC best practice. Mr Claudius Tsang, CEO at A SPAC (Holdings) considered SPAC listings; Mr Robson Lee, Partner at Gibson Dunn and Mr Gordon Tsang, Partner at Stevenson Wong & Co, hit SPAC listings, de-SPAC transactions and risk factors from US, Hong Kong and Singapore perspectives. Mr. Yiu Ting Tsoi, President and CFO, Sieger Acquisition, spoke on IR strategy in the positioning of SPACs.

The afternoon session focused on Metaverse investment. Mr James Lei, a Director at Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), spoke on effective real strategies to ride the Metaverse wave; Mr Gilbert Ng, Co-Founder of P.Mari, described compliance trends and regulatory directions in the virtual asset industry; Mr Robert Luo, Co-founder of NVC Media, introduced GameFi, the most advanced virtual development trend; and Mr Evan Auyang, Group President at Animoca Brands, introduced Animoca’s unique investment strategies, limited not only to the hottest metaverse, Sandbox.

Panel discussions covered SPAC and de-SPAC, strategies for maximizing returns by investors, strategies for start-ups, and strategies for investing in the Metaverse. Panelists shared personal experiences and unique insights from the forum’s warm, comfortable atmosphere. More than 300 institutional investors, listed company executives and start-up representatives attended the 2022 Virtual Investment Forum, with many gathering in the virtual lounge area afterwards for further discussions around the Metaverse.

Ms Joanne Chan, Managing Director at LBS Communications, said, “Metaverse has become an inevitable topic in the investment community – it’s a new field which Big Tech and gaming companies are competing to develop. Even the most renowned companies have acquired virtual brands to tap this market. At the same time, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has formally implemented a SPAC listing mechanism. This means that many innovative, emerging companies will become M&A targets, providing an additional financing channel for those that are interested in entering the Metaverse.

“LBS proposed the virtual SPAC To Metaverse Forum in Hong Kong, inviting experts and investors to share knowledge and insights from a forward-looking perspective, creating an effective communications platform for the capital markets, disseminating investment information in sync with the times, and winning community recognition for the first event of its kind. In the era of diversified development in capital markets, we are happy that start-ups in emerging industries can gain sustainable momentum and happy to see greater opportunity for investors and for enterprises, achieving a win-win situation,” said Ms Chan.

“After 11 years, LBS continues in its service mission to ‘Leverage Big Strategy’: improving traditional communications and IR services by expanding its investor networks around the world, staying on top of latest developments and apprising of market trends, continuing to expand our business and service coverage so that we are able to follow our clients’ strategies and maximize them to effect. ESG, for example, helps companies explore advantages in fields of sustainable development, and creates new opportunities for our clients to communicate with investors. LBS hopes the Forum series will continue to uncover opportunities, and develop diverse information exchange channels,” Ms Chan said.

Distinguished speakers, SPAC morning session

  • Mr Claudius Tsang, CEO, A SPAC (Holdings) Group Corp
  • Mr Robson Lee, Partner, Gibson Dunn (Leading law firm in Singapore)
  • Mr Gordon Tsang, Partner, Stevenson, Wong & Co. (Leading law firm in Hong Kong)
  • Mr Yiu Ting Tsoi, CEO of HB Ventures
  • Mr Gary Chan, CEO, Greater China, The CFO Centre

Distinguished speakers, Metaverse afternoon session

  • Mr Evan Auyang, Group President, Animoca Brands
  • Mr Ben Caselin, Head of Research & Strategy, Atom Asset Exchange (AAX)
  • Mr Wuszt Wu, Head of Huobi Key Accounts, Asia Pacific, Huobi Global
  • Mr Fred Wong, Founder and CIO, eFusion Capital
  • Dr James Lei, Chief Technical Adviser of Joint Labs in Asia, Ether Data
  • Mr Kenneth Wang, CPO and Investment Manager, New Vision
  • Mr Gilbert Ng, Founder, Mura Capital and crypto legal consultant
  • Mr Robert Luo, Co-Founder, NVC Media

Featured HK Startups, Unicorns

  • Avalon Biomedical Management – Public health and infection control
  • RV Auto Tech – Automation robotics technologies and global SaaS platform
  • Prenetics – A major genetic testing company with a team of 700+ employees and operations across 9 regions; to list on Nasdaq following merger with Artisan Acquisition, a SPAC founded by Adrian Cheng
  • iRecycle – AI and big data analysis to maximize coverage and efficiency in recycling business
  • ESG Growth – First of its kind in HK, SaaS platform for in-house ESG data management
  • Neufast – Multi-lingual AI video and cloud solution provider with 50 years in data science & I/O Psychology
  • Digit Sense – Digitial transformation and total solutions provider with global presence

Featured Digital Assets Investments

  • New Vision – One-stop brokerage, fund management, and fintech trading solutions; a VC opportunity
  • NVC – GameFi Investment
  • Animoca Brands – Known as Sandbox’ parent company, broad portfolio of blockchain games; prolific investor, 150+ investments in NFT-related blockchain companies
  • Huobi Global – World-leading cryptocurrency exchanges, digital asset management services; millions of users, 170 countries and regions
  • Huobi Tech – Leading provider of virtual asset services for professional and institutional investors around the world
  • AAX – Borderless exchange catering to global audience, powered by LSEG technology; offers high-yield savings packages, liquid futures markets, discounts on major tokens, range of on-ramps.
  • Ether Data – A decentralized computing ecosystem based on Ethereum Smart Contract technology, DSB (Disk Storage Banking)

‘2022 Virtual Investment Forum – From SPAC To Metaverse’ is online at: www.lbs-forum.com or http://forum.lbs-comm.com/home/index/en or Email: event@lbs-comm.com.

About LBS Communications Consulting Ltd / ‘Leverage Big Strategies’
LBS Communications, governed by a mission to ‘Leverage Big Strategies’, is a strategic IR consultancy based in Hong Kong, with offices in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing. Our talent is driving change for our clients. With two decades of experiences in investor and financial communications, we endeavor to service ‘Sustainability Investor Relations’, to join hands with our clients in making a better world. Our strategies and services are built to foster and bridge relationships between our clients and their multiple stakeholders. Our clientele spans power and utilities, medical, telecommunications and IT, retail and consumer, metals and resources, education and training, medical, hospitality and travel. We care for the value and manage the brands of our clients. Please read more at https://lbs-comm.com/. LBS is an exclusive PRGN agency (prgn.com) for Hong Kong and Greater China.