Category: Top Stories

18th Hospital Management Asia to be held in Hanoi on 11-12 September

Hospital Management Asia 2019, the annual event for Asian healthcare leaders, will be held September 11-12, 2019, at the National Convention Centre of Vietnam.

Hospital management and healthcare professionals from around the Asia Pacific region will gather at HMA to exchange ideas and insights on evolving business models, innovative technologies and improvements on the management of healthcare systems.

Attendees can expect to tackle topics such as the latest technologies for healthcare, cost reduction and patient safety to increase efficiency and improve patient outcomes. The conference will also discuss Healthcare 4.0, investments in hospitals and healthcare across Asia, and winning the war for healthcare talent, among others.

This year, the conference will feature five main streams, including a new one for C-level leaders which will discuss financial sustainability through investments, the impact of public policy for hospital services and how to address the challenges in the implementation of value-based care. Other streams include Safety, Quality & Accreditation; Patient Care & Engagement; Talent Management; and Healthcare 4.0.

Running alongside the conference is the Asian Hospital Management Awards that recognise and honour hospitals in the Asia Pacific that implement best practices. All projects submitted by Vietnamese hospitals will also be eligible for the ‘Most Improved Local Hospital’ category — a special award for entries by Vietnamese hospitals only.

Madam Prof. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Minister of Health for Vietnam, said, “The government has developed an action plan to improve healthcare in Vietnam on all fronts. One of the best opportunities to further our mission towards reform lies at Hospital Management Asia, with several stellar case studies from across the region.”

“Healthcare is accelerating exponentially in Asia and there is no better place to keep up with the latest in the industry to meet the demands of their respective communities. The Ministry is pleased to host the event for the second time, and I am excited to be part of the movement to bring hospitals, investors and solution providers together to help our hospitals provide better service and the best patient outcomes possible.”

Madam Prof. Tien will also be leading the Ministers of Health Panel, alongside YB Datuk Seri Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad, Minister of Health for Malaysia, and Dr. Kidong Park, Country Representative – Vietnam, World Health Organization.

“Siemens Healthineers is proud to be associated with Hospital Management Asia as a title sponsor for the third consecutive year. This year at HMA, we are focusing on how we enable healthcare providers to deliver high-value care at low cost by means of expanding precision medicine, transforming care delivery, and improving patient experience, all enabled by digitalizing healthcare,” said Elisabeth Staudinger, President of Siemens Healthineers Asia Pacific.

“We look forward to this opportunity of interacting with the C-level community while understanding their demands and concerns in Southeast Asia.”

HMA is organized by Clarion Events and co-hosted by the Ministry of Health, Vietnam. For more information and registration details, please go to vwww.hospitalmanagementasia.com.

* 2019 Conference Agenda: https://www.hospitalmanagementasia.com/conference/agenda/

About Hospital Management Asia 2019

Hospital Management Asia (HMA) is an annual platform for Asian hospital owners, C-level executives, directors and healthcare leaders to network, collaborate and share insights on healthcare management best practices and regional solutions for shaping the future of the industry. In its 18th year, the event will gather 80+ speakers and 1,000+ hospital owners, C-level executives, directors, clinicians and healthcare leaders from the Asia Pacific on 11-12 September in Hanoi, Vietnam. Hospital Management Asia 2019 is co-hosted by the Ministry of Health, Vietnam and supported by 19 top hospitals associations in Asia. Visit www.hospitalmanagementasia.com.

About Clarion Events

Founded in 1947, Clarion Events is one of the world’s leading event organisers, producing and delivering innovative and market-leading events. Our 950 employees in 13 offices worldwide specialise in delivering first-class marketing, networking, and information solutions in high-value sectors, both in mature and emerging geographies. Clarion’s customers use our exhibitions, conferences, trade shows, and websites to target new business, demonstrate their products, build deeper relationships with clients and identify new opportunities for performance improvement. Our core markets include energy, defence and security, telecoms, payments, retail, infrastructure, and resources. Please see www.clarionevents.com.

Media Contact:
Serynn Guay
Clarion Events Singapore
E: Serynn.Guay@clarionevents.com
T: +65 6590 3968 

NPCI launches RuPay JCB Global Card

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and JCB International Co., Ltd. (JCBI), the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., together with Indian banks, announced the launch of RuPay JCB Global Cards, which can be used at RuPay card accepting points in India and JCB card accepting points outside India for both POS and ATM. This is the first ever JCB brand card issued in India.

State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, Union Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Andhra Bank, City Union Bank, TJSB Bank, and many more banks will issue RuPay JCB Global Cards.

Following the enablement of POS terminals and ATMs in India for incoming foreign JCB card members in 2017, both parties have entered into the second phase of the strategic partnership with this launch to serve the needs of increasing outbound Indian travellers.

As a launch campaign, NPCI and JCBI jointly offer a special cashback program where the card members can get cashback of 15% for POS transactions outside India and additional 15% (total 30%) in selected popular destinations for Indian travellers: Thailand, Singapore and the UAE. *Terms and conditions apply. Additionally, JCB provides international services such as in-city card member lounges, called JCB Plaza Lounge, in the USA, France, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore as well as JCB Plaza in Japan and round the year merchant promotions all over the world.

In the launch ceremony held today, Mr. Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO, NPCI said, “The NPCI-JCB collaboration is one of the most valued alliances for our home-grown card network, RuPay. Our relationship allows RuPay JCB Global Card holders to use their cards at tens of millions of locations around the world. The cardholder will enjoy facilities like JCB Lounges in the airports of China, Japan, Hawaii, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Korea. With this initiative, both companies will continue to provide high value service to our customers, especially outbound Indian travellers.”

Mr. Ichiro Hamakawa, Chairman and CEO, JCB Co., Ltd. and, JCB International Co., Ltd. said, “We very much appreciate our valuable partnership with NPCI who continues to make massive strides in moving India towards a truly digital payment state. I am sure that the RuPay JCB Global Card will enrich the customers’ payment experience immensely, with the rapid growth of Indian outbound travellers.

About NPCI 

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was incorporated in 2008 as an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. An initiative of RBI and IBA under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, NPCI was initiated for creating a robust payment and settlement infrastructure in the country. It has changed the way payments are made in India through a bouquet of retail payment products such as RuPay card, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), BHIM Aadhaar, National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) and Bharat BillPay. NPCI also launched UPI 2.0 to offer more secure and comprehensive services to consumers and merchants.

NPCI is focused on bringing innovations in the retail payment systems through the use of technology and is relentlessly working to transform India into a digital economy. It is facilitating secure payments solutions with nationwide accessibility at minimal cost in furtherance of India’s aspiration to be a fully digital society. For more information, visit: https://www.npci.org.in/

NPCI
Zeba Mirajkar / Swagata Gupta
zeba.mirajkar@npci.org.in / swagata.gupta@npci.org.in

Adfactors PR
Sumeet Chhabra / Sinoj Sadanandan
9619437559 / 9619375635
Sumeet.Chhabra@adfactorspr.com / Sinoj.sadanandan@adfactorspr.com

About JCB 

JCB is a global payment brand and a leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding worldwide in 1981. Its acceptance network includes about 30 million merchants as well as cash advance locations around the world. JCB cards are now issued in 23 countries and territories, with more than 130 million cardmembers. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB commits to providing responsive and high-quality service and products to all customers worldwide. www.jcbcorporate.com For more information, please visit: www.global.jcb/en/

Contact
JCB Co., Ltd.
Kumiko Kida
Corporate Communications Department
Tel: 81-3-5778-8353
Email: kumiko.kida@jcb.co.jp

Serbia President Met with NetDragon Chairman Joining Hands to Support Innovation and Education Reform

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or “the Company”, Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that, Mr. Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of the Board of NetDragon was recently invited to meet with Mr. Aleksandar Vucic, President of The Republic of Serbia (“Serbia”) at the Presidential Residence. The two parties explored the collaboration possibility for NetDragon to set-up an office, a R&D Centre and the National Digital Education Platform in Serbia in order to promote innovation and education reform in Serbia and stimulate industry upgrade and economic development.

During the meeting, Mr. Liu Dejian shared NetDragon’s fruitful results achieved in digital education in recent years along with the plan to set-up an office and a R&D Centre in Serbia. With the support of its technology prowess on areas including AI and VR, NetDragon will assist Serbia in local education resources production and the research and development of educational application products including AI assistants and robots. It will also carry out trainings in teaching and game production to help young people’s career development. In addition, the two parties discussed the introduction of authorized museum branches of Nikola Tesla Museum in “digital education towns” that NetDragon is involved in and the establishment of “future education exhibition centre” in Serbia’s local universities.

Mr. Liu Dejian also shared his three wishes about the future cooperation with Serbia, “We hope Serbian students can have the opportunities to use e-books and learn with fun and efficiency, and perform experiments with ‘virtual laboratory’ in a safer and more convenient environment; we hope Serbian teachers can adopt the easy-to-use teaching tools for their classes and to teach more effectively with the help of AI assistants; we also hope youngsters in Serbia can access high-quality learning resources with the help of the training platform, in order to improve their knowledge and skills, and make learning an essential part throughout their lives, and hence, enabling them to make greater contributions for Serbia’s development.”

President Vucic commented, “Serbia considers China the sincerest friend and welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in Serbia. We attach great importance to the science innovation and development of technology and we are happy to learn from China in this field. We are happy to provide our Chinese partners with full support in terms of government subsidies and concessionary initiatives. Serbia also looks forward to working with NetDragon in this project. Serbia’s education system is undergoing a digital reform and it hopes to cooperate with Chinese enterprises to cultivate AI technical talents, in order to drive technology innovation in the country.”

NetDragon has worked with Serbia for multiple times in the past. In 2018, Beijing Normal University, the University of Novi Sad in Serbia and NetDragon established a “joint virtual laboratory for future education”. And during the Digital China Summit this year and last year, NetDragon repeatedly invited Mr. Nenad Popovic, Minister without Portfolio of Serbia in charge of Innovations and Technological Development, to participate in the Digital Maritime Silk Road Sub-forum as an honorable guest. Mr. Nenad Popovic took the chance of participation to officially hire Mr. Liu Dejian as an advisor of his department to help enhance Serbia’s technology innovation capability.

As the “bridge” and intersection between Western Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Near East and the Middle East, Serbia plays an important role in the countries along the “Belt and Road”. Under the “Belt and Road Initiative” initiative, China and Serbia established a comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership in 2016, and the economic cooperation between the two countries expanded. NetDragon will use Serbia as a starting point to expand international digital education cooperation with the 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and export the “China Solution” for digital education.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China’s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China.

Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management’s vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring the “classroom of the future” to every school around the world. For more information, please visit www.netdragon.com.

For investor enquiries, please contact:
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
Ms. Maggie Zhou
Senior Director of Investor Relations
Tel.: +852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8390 2825
Email: maggie@nd.com.cn
Website: ir.netdragon.com

WiMi Hologram (WIMI) files for listing on Nasdaq Global Market

WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc, China’s largest holographic AR content producer, filed a preliminary prospectus with the SEC on June 27, 2019, to list American depositary shares (ADS) of up to $50,000,000 on the Nasdaq Global Market, under the symbol “WIMI.” Having developed leading-edge holographic AR technologies, WIMI will use the IPO revenues pursuing its mission “to be the creator of the largest holographic AR ecosystem in China.”

WIMI has developed an innovative business model with fundamental strengths that positions it for continued leadership. It is the leading holographic augmented reality (AR) application platform in China, in terms of total revenue in 2018, according to Frost & Sullivan, and has built the most comprehensive and diversified holographic AR content library among the holographic AR solution providers in China.

WIMI offers augmented reality (“AR”)-based holographic services and products, centered on providing an innovative, immersive and interactive holographic augmented reality experience to customers and end-users. ‘Customers’ have entered a contract with WIMI and use its services pursuant to such contracts. Current offerings consist primarily of (i) holographic AR advertising services and (ii) holographic AR entertainment products. 

During Q1 2019, approximately 80.3% and 19.7% of WIMI’s revenues were generated from holographic AR advertising services and holographic AR entertainment products, while during FY 2018, approximately 80.5% and 19.5% of revenues were generated from holographic AR advertising and holographic AR entertainment products. This compared to 69.3% and 30.7% of the Company’s revenues the year before.

Holographic AR Advertising Services

WIMI’s holographic AR advertising software enables users to insert real or animated three-dimensional (“3D”) objects into video footage, integrating seamlessly within the scene. WIMI’s online holographic AR advertising solution embeds holographic AR ads into films and shows that are hosted by leading online streaming platforms in China. During Q1 2019, holographic AR ads produced using WIMI software generated 2.3 billion views, as compared to 1.2 billion views during Q1 2018, an increase of 91.7%. During FY 2018, WIMI holographic AR ads tallied 6.6 billion views, as compared to 4.9 billion views a year earlier, an increase of 34.7%. 

WIMI had 65 customers during Q1 2019, as compared to 49 customers in Q1 2018. Average revenue per customer was approximately RMB 1.0 million, as compared to RMB 0.7 million the year before. During the FY 2018, WIMI had 121 customers, as compared to 97 customers during FY 2017. Average revenue per customer was approximately RMB 1.5 million, as compared to RMB 1.4 million during FY 2017. Average revenue increase was due to the improvement in technologies where we could embed more contents in the advertisements. The duration of a typical AR advertising service contract is one year.

In 2018, WIMI had 36 customers that each accounted for more than RMB 1.5 million of revenues in the AR advertising services business, and 20 such customers in 2017. Customers who contributed more than RMB 1.5 million revenues in AR advertising service was 20.6% in 2017 and increased to 29.8% in 2018. In addition, customer retention rate, which is defined as the percentage of customers who have purchased more than once during a specific period in our AR advertising business, was 19.6% and 30.6% in 2017 and 2018, respectively. WIMI believes this material increase reflects customer satisfaction with its holographic AR advertising services.

Through its proprietary image and video recognition technologies, WIMI’s software enables users to analyze the underlying video footages at a pixel level to identify ad spaces that can be augmented by 3D objects. Advertisers and their agencies purchase these ad spaces through an application programming interface, or APIs, integrated with WIMI’s systems, specifying their target audience and budgets and typically providing the 3D models to be embedded in the videos. When ad space is detected and 3D objects are generated, the objects are embedded into the underlying streaming videos automatically on a batch-processing basis as determined by our software.

Holographic AR Entertainment Products

WIMI’s holographic AR entertainment products consist primarily of payment middleware software, game distribution platform and holographic mixed reality (MR) software. Payment middleware is a software solution that connects mobile apps to payment channels, giving mobile app users convenient access to a wide range of online payment options. WIMI has cooperated with more than 55 app developers and its payment middleware has been embedded to over 1,100 marketed mobile apps of over 300 customers in 2018, most of which were featured by AR functions.

The advanced payment middleware streamlines the often time-consuming mobile payment process. Our mobile payment middleware facilitates app developers to build an in-app payment infrastructure that allows micropayments to be made or received through an efficient, secure system, without any interface redirection. Such mobile payment middleware enables app developers to store users’ payment credentials in a trusted and safe environment and eases users burden of repeatedly entering and authenticating payment information for each transaction.

WIMI’s payment middleware can be fully integrated with various types of mobile apps, especially those employing AR technologies, such as live streaming, gaming, selfie, photo editing, and video-sharing apps. Currently, WIMI’s payment middleware supports substantially all of the major online payment channels in China, and is compatible with the mainstream mobile operating systems.

Holographic AR Market Perspectives

China’s holographic AR market is fast-growing and rapidly evolving as holography and AR continue to proliferate. According to Frost & Sullivan, author of a June 18, 2019 industry report [commissioned by WIMI], total market size of China’s holographic AR industry in terms of total revenues is expected to grow from RMB 3.6 billion ($0.52 billion) in 2017 to RMB 454.8 billion ($65 billion) in 2025.

Source: U.S. SEC – FORM F-1 as filed by WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc. with the SEC on June 27, 2019.
Contact: To learn more, please visit http://www.wimiar.com/ or contact info@wimiar.com.

TNG FinTech Group to Develop HK’s FinTech Community Into a Regional Financial Powerhouse

360 Innovation, Empowering The Next Generation Enterprises

TNG FinTech Group Inc. (“TNG”, together with its affiliates, the “Group”), Asia’s leading financial technology group, is pleased to announce the Grand Launch of its new initiative – The Wall Street Factory (“WSF”), a new interactive platform for FinTech entrepreneurs, startups and financial institutions to form a community based on networking, innovation and sharing resources; and to help their businesses growth by providing 360 all-round financial services. This further fulfills TNG’s mission in developing Hong Kong’s FinTech Community into a regional financial powerhouse.

Spanning over 25,800 square feet, WSF is headquartered in the heart of Hong Kong Island and aims to create a platform that empowers global startups, particularly FinTech companies to tap to the Asian FinTech hub. It has twelve signature conference rooms and three main event spaces, namely: Arena, Wall Street Corner and Sandbox, which are able to accommodate about 150-300 persons each. Every space is specially designed and furnished to support the business development and daily operations of FinTech players.

Empowered by TNG, WSF is committed to building a comprehensive, valuable and interactive platform that helps businesses grow through providing one-stop solutions from business incorporation, office space, bank account opening, working visa application, operation support, business referral, fundraising to capital market advisory. WSF also serves as a central connector to investors, regulators, financial institutions, business partners, potential customers and media resources with its key strengths as below:

– Furnished office space
– Premium facilities and amenities
– Professional corporate services
– Broad FinTech community
– Extensive banking and investor network
– Relaxing and recreation facilities for work-life balance (Time Out Cafe, Wall Street Fitness, etc.)

With its integrated platform, WSF is striving to collaborate with global e-wallets and financial institutions in offering and promoting their Open Banking APIs (Application Programme Interface) to global FinTech, WealthTech, InsureTech, PropTech companies and more. Currently, WSF has commenced collaboration with a few FinTech pilot players, covering Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data and PropTech companies.

Mr. Alex Kong, Founder and Chairman of TNG, said, “We are really excited to witness the official grand launch of WSF, which perfectly matches TNG’s commitment to elevating lives of billions with financial empowerment and financial services. WSF is designated to help startups grow to rising-stars to unicorns, and then to public listings in major stock exchange, by providing them a host of business and fundraising solutions.”

“We believe everyone in the world deserves a better life including the ability to access basic financial services. TNG’s aim is to realize this vision as quickly as possible with carefully managed resources, effort and passion to do more and personal integrity. WSF, with its strong network in WealthTech, CreditTech, Global E-money Alliance, Innovation Labs and Associations, Blockchain, etc., is believed to play a critical role of facilitator, accelerator and supporter for the business growth of global startups.”

About TNG
Headquartered in Hong Kong, TNG FinTech Group Inc., together with affiliates, is an industry pioneer providing the next generation financial services to over 1.2 billion unbanked population in Asia through its various e-wallet and e-money platforms. The financial services it provides include electronic payments, global remittance, global cash withdrawal and settlement, wealth management and more. Its ‘Global E-Money Alliance’ platform currently covers Hong Kong and over 160 countries, including Mainland China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan, European Union countries, which provides 24×7 cash-in and cash-out services to its users through a network of over 5,000 banks and over 400,000 cash pick-up points globally. For more information, please visit www.tngfintech.com 

Source: ACN Newswire

Asia Aligns Power Infrastructure Investments to Meet Dynamic Energy Transition Needs

Governments across Asia are tapping on innovations in generation, transmission and distribution technologies to fulfil their energy transition ambitions.

At the core of the energy transition is the need to address the increasing power demand that follows rapid population and economic growth along with the continued need for conventional power sources.

“Regional governments are making good progress in supplying affordable and reliable energy for their population as they also implement emerging technologies to offer more sustainable solutions. With global and regional experience in generation, transmission and distribution technologies, Black & Veatch is helping regional leadership identify integrated power infrastructure possibilities as they re-balance their energy portfolios to meet universal electrification and carbon emission reduction goals,” says Narsingh Chaudhary, Black & Veatch’s newly-appointed Executive Vice President, Asia Power Business. Chaudhary added that while this transition occurs governments have not lost sight of the need to bring power to rural and remote areas.

An integrated power infrastructure takes advantage of different generation, transmission and distribution technologies to help utilities overcome the pitfalls of aging infrastructure assets while meeting rising customer demand for energy that is renewable and reliable. The right energy portfolio mix offers improved operation efficiencies.

Chaudhary leads Black & Veatch Power teams in Asia, including India, where the company service offerings include conventional, renewable, and distributed power generation, transmission and distribution, microgrids, and behind the meter services.

As a leader in energy transformation strategies, Black & Veatch delivers engineering possibilities for integrated power infrastructure that address local energy requirements.

China Bank Raises PhP30 Billion from Retail Bonds

China Banking Corporation (PSE: CHIB) successfully raised PhP30 billion as investors gobbled up its maiden issue of peso fixed rate bonds. The bonds were listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) on July 10, 2019.

We are very grateful for the overwhelming market response which reflects our clients’ confidence in China Bank’s fundamental strength and future prospects,‖ said China Bank President William C. Whang, noting that the issue was six times oversubscribed.

China Bank upsized the amount to PhP30 billion from the initial target of PhP5 billion to accommodate strong investor demand. This is one of the largest corporate bond issuances on a single issuance in the market to-date—a testament to the Bank’s placement capabilities, solid client support and strong distribution reach.

The success of a bond issue of this size in accessing the capital markets — following the successful two rounds of LTNCD that we issued in the previous years – is likewise a testament to the institutional strength of China Bank, as reflected in the investment grade credit rating given to China Bank in 2017 and recently affirmed by Moody’s‖, Whang added.

The China Bank bonds, due January 2021, carry an annual interest rate of 5.70%, which will be paid monthly.

This bond issue forms part of the Bank’s planned PhP75-billion fund raising program for the next three years to support its expansion and strategic initiatives. The Bank is also looking at following this with the issuance of up to PhP20 billion worth of peso-denominated Long Term Negotiable Certificates of Time Deposits (LTNCD) in the fourth quarter of the year, subject to BSP approval and favorable market conditions.

Last year, China Bank raised PhP10.25 billion via LTNCD.

WIMI Hologram Listing helps open AR market to Foreign Capital

WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc, the largest holographic AR content producer in China, filed a preliminary prospectus with the SEC last week for an initial public offering (IPO) of American depositary shares, or ADSs, of up to $50,000,000. The Company intends to list the ADSs on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “WIMI.” Having developed powerful, leading-edge holographic AR technologies, the Company aspires “to be the creator of the largest holographic AR ecosystem in China.”

WIMI offers augmented reality (AR)-based holographic products and services centered on providing an innovative, immersive and interactive holographic augmented reality experience, for ‘Customers’ who have contracted with the Company to use its products and services subject to the contracts during the relevant period, and ‘End users’, who enthral in etherial AR experiences. WIMI business offerings consist primarily of (i) Holographic AR Advertising Services, which accounted for 80.5% of revenue in fiscal 2018, and (ii) Holographic AR Entertainment Products, which accounted for 19.5% of revenue in the same period.

Holographic AR Advertising Services

The Company’s holographic AR advertising software enables real or animated 3D images and objects to be inserted in film or video footage, seamlessly interacting with the characters and scenes of such footages. The online holographic AR advertising solution embeds holographic AR ads into films and videos that are hosted by leading online streaming platforms in China. Ads produced with WIMI holographic software generated more than 6.6 billion views during fiscal 2018, compared to 4.9 billion views during fiscal 2017, representing a year on year increase of 34.7%.

The Company had 121 customers during fiscal 2018, as compared to 97 customers during fiscal 2017, and the average revenue per customer was approximately RMB 1.5 million during the year, as compared to approximately RMB 1.4 million during 2017. Average revenue per customer is calculated by dividing the total AR advertising revenue by the number of customers, while the average revenue increase was due to the improvement in technologies where we could embed more contents in the advertisements. The duration of a typical AR advertising service contract is one year.

Image 1: Holographic Application Platform (https://bit.ly/2Nq7U7Y)

Through the Company’s proprietary image and video recognition technologies, its software enables users to analyze the underlying video footages at a pixel level to identify ad spaces that can be augmented by 3D objects. Advertisers and their agencies purchase these ad spaces through application programming interface, or APIs, integrated with our systems, specifying their target audience and budgets and typically providing the 3D models to be embedded in the videos. When the ad space is detected, and 3D objects are generated, the objects are embedded into the underlying streaming videos automatically on a batch-processing basis as determined by our software.

Holographic AR Entertainment Products

WIMI’s holographic AR entertainment products consist primarily of payment middleware software, game distribution platform and holographic mixed reality (‘MR’) software. Payment middleware is a software solution that connects mobile apps to payment channels, giving mobile app users convenient access to a wide range of online payment options. WIMI has cooperated with more than 55 app developers; its payment middleware has been embedded in over 1,100 mobile apps, many featuring AR functionality, which were marketed by over 300 customers in 2018.

The Company also provides payment middleware which streamlines the often time-consuming mobile payment process with a proprietary in-app payment infrastructure that allows micropayments to be made or received through an efficient, secure system without any interface redirection. Such mobile payment middleware enables app developers to store users’ payment credentials in a trusted and safe environment and eases the user burden of repeatedly entering and authenticating payment information for each transaction.

Image 2: https://bit.ly/2KShsXc

WIMI’s payment middleware can be fully integrated with various mobile apps, including live streaming, gaming, selfie, photo editing, and video-sharing, and especially those employing AR technologies. The payment middleware supports substantially all major online payment channels in China, and it is also compatible with the mainstream mobile operating systems.

About WiMi Hologram

WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc. began commercial operations in May 2015 through Beijing WiMi Hologram Cloud Software Co., Ltd., or Beijing WiMi. WiMi Cayman was incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands as the offshore holding company in August 2018 to facilitate offshore financing. In Sept. 2018, WiMi Hologram Cloud Limited, or WiMi HK, a wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary, was established.

WiMi HK established a wholly-owned PRC subsidiary, Beijing Hologram WiMi Cloud Internet Technology Co., Ltd., or Hologram WiMi, or WiMi WFOE in the Company’s SEC prospectus. Substantially all of WIMI’s users and business operations are located in the PRC. Tthe Company does not have plans for any significant overseas expansion, as its primary focus remains the PRC hologram market, with its tremendous growth potential and attractive monetization opportunities. http://en.wimiar.com

Contact: Insight Data Talking Institute, Mr Ronald Sims, +44 20 7698 1963, morningstar.editors@gmail.com, www.insightdatatalking.com
Source: U.S. SEC – FORM F-1, WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc., as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 27, 2019.

Source: ACN Newswire

Drive Japan Looks to Make Self-Guided Tours More Popular among Visitors

Raising Money to Create a New System to Help them Plan Driving Routes in Hokkaido

 

 

 

 

 

The number of visitors to Japan is increasing year by year, leading to an increase in those that rent cars. With this increase of visitors that are renting cars, a gap has appeared in what can be done to help with these car renters. For the most part, many look to tour companies but with many tours exceedingly overpriced, the visitors try to plan their own trip.

One problem that arises when trying to do so, is that many of the maps or information given on the internet isn’t checked or is inaccurate, leading to plans going astray. This is where Drive Japan steps in. Drive Japan is currently operating out of Tokyo and helps with the planning of trips in Kyushu and Okinawa. They are now planning to expand their service to Hokkaido, a target of many visitors, mainly repeaters that have had the chance to explore Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.

Drive Japan therefore is looking at using crowdfunding to raise money to help fund costs such as accommodation and so on, as they travel around Hokkaido collecting important data that will allow them to perfect travel maps that they will then be able to disseminate to the public. By doing so they can help those that wish to tour in Japan with planning as well as collating data to make information more up to date.

The project can be found at https://en.japankurufunding.com/projects/drive-japan/

Project Information
– Period: July 8th 2019 – August 29th 2019
– Target: 1,000,000 Yen
– Returns: Returns are focused on giving information to backers that are looking to visit Hokkaido, Kyushu or Okinawa in the near future.

About Drive Japan
Drive Japan is a newly formed company, under the lead of Takujiro Oto. Mr Oto has 7 years of experience when it comes to Online Marketing, as well as 4 and a half years concerning tour operation in Japan after working in Singapore. Official website https://drivejapan.co.jp.

About JAPANKURU FUNDING
JAPANKURU FUNDING is a Japanese based crowdfunding site, that allows for the project page to be curated in 3 different languages, English, Japanese, and Traditional Chinese. This allows for funding to be collected from all over the world. Homepage https://en.japankurufunding.com.

For more information, please contact info@japankurufunding.com

Elite Partners Capital announces S$3.0m investment in TAG Sensors

Pal Kastmann, Director of Innovation Norway, Micheal Tan, CEO of Elite Partners Capital, Knut Nygard, CEO of TAG Sensors and the Ambassador of Norway to Singapore, HE Anita Nergaard (From left to right)

Singapore private equity firm Elite Partners Capital (EPC) announced an investment of S$3.0m (EUR1.95 million) in TAG Sensors, a Norway-based provider of advanced solutions to track and log the temperature of perishable and sensitive products, both in storage and during transportation.

TAG Sensors’ proprietary Temperature Logging Label is a low-cost, printable temperature sensor that can be attached to a product or package, facilitating continuous tracking of an item’s temperature from production to consumption.

EPC’s Elite InNorvate Growth LP, a Singapore-based fund dedicated to investments in Norwegian growth companies, signed the agreement for an investment of a significant minority stake in TAG Sensors.

Following the investment, TAG Sensors will set up its Asian headquarters in Singapore to leverage on the country’s skilled local talent, modern IT infrastructure, rigorous IP protection and strategic importance as a major logistics hub.

The investment represents one of the first investments by a Singaporean fund in a technology company from Norway, which is seeking to diversify from its traditional reliance on the oil and gas sector. EPC will leverage on its network and resources to help TAG Sensors expand in Asia, a region of rapid economic growth which is experiencing accelerated demand for advanced logistics solutions.

The investment agreement was signed by EPC’s Executive Chairman Mr. Micheal Tan and TAG Sensors’ CEO Mr. Knut Nygard and CFO Mr. Thomas Nilssen at the Norwegian Embassy in Singapore. The signing was witnessed by the Ambassador of Norway to Singapore, Her Excellency Anita Nergaard, and Innovation Norway’s Director and Commercial Counsellor Pal Kastmann.

Established in 2012, TAG Sensors is a recipient of a EUR1.4 million grant from Horizon 2020, the EU Research and Innovation programme. It offers solutions that include Big Data analysis, digitalization, blockchain, sensor technology, and RFID and NFC wireless technologies.

TAG Sensors aims to become the global standard in cold chain integrity measurement and analytics; identifying and ultimately reducing product waste in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

EPC’s Micheal Tan said, “TAG Sensors has a suite of technologies which can transform the entire cold chain logistics industry. Our investment decision is anchored by the firm belief that this is a game-changer which has great potential for expansion in Asia and beyond.”

“We also hope that through this inaugural investment in Norway, EPC can help facilitate Singapore as an important bridge between Asian capital and Nordic technology. This will also open up more Asian-EU economic and technological partnerships,” he added.

TAG Sensors’ Knut Nygard said, “We are delighted to have EPC as a significant investor. We intend to tap on EPC’s network to expand across Asia and add value to the cold chain sector across the region. EPC is a welcome addition to our existing investors that include London-based Breed Reply and Platform Ventures USA.”

Innovation Norway’s Pal Kastmann said, “Norway’s startup and growth companies are highly innovative and have great potential for development. EPC’s investment in TAG Sensors underpins Singapore’s receptiveness to innovation and we hope that this will be the first of many partnerships between Singapore and Norway.”

“Innovation Norway has been working with TAG Sensors for the past four to five years targeting several markets worldwide. We are very pleased that it has successfully diversified its portfolio to include food transportation technology, and believe Singapore will be a perfect point of expansion into South East Asian markets,” he added.

For further information, please contact:
WeR1 Consultants Pte Ltd (Investor Relations), www.wer1.net
Jordan Teo / Ryan del Agua, Tel: +65 6737 4844 elite@wer1.net

About Elite Partners Capital
Headquartered in Singapore, Elite Partners Capital is an alternative asset management company focused on the management of yield-accretive real estate assets with high growth potential and well-defined exit strategies. Backed by a team with proven expertise in private equity and real estate investment trusts (REITs), its threefold investment philosophy aims to protect initial capital, preserve investment value and create new growth opportunities.

Elite Partners Capital is a Registered Fund Management Company with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the Securities and Futures (Licensing and Conduct of Business) Regulations. For more information, please visit: http://elitepartnerscapital.com

About TAG Sensors
Founded in 2012, TAG Sensors is a complete cold chain logistics solution for the food and pharmaceutical industries. It has developed the first low-cost, full visibility solution that ensures and proves that temperature sensitive foods and pharmaceutical products have been stored and transported within the temperature limits.

TAG Sensors’ radio-frequency identification (RFID) Temperature Logger Label is the only one on the market that can effectively track temperature and other variables of an individual package from production to consumption, ensuring transparency, improving quality control and minimising wastage due to improper handling.

The TAG Sensors platform comprises individual Smart Tags for each good equipped with an RFID antenna and temperature sensors, a Tag Management System database that provides logs of sensor labels and alerts quality managers when the temperature is incorrect as well as mobile applications and gate readers. For more information, please visit: http://tag-sensors.com/