Highlights: Invest 11 billion yuan! Midea's new strategic base for new energy auto parts was laid in Anqing. Infineon is investing EUR 2 billion to expand its production capacity. Germany's TRUMPF Group acquires fiber laser company AFS. The largest plastics recycler in the Americas uses Honeywell's advanced plastic recycling technology. Plant meat company v2food will cooperate with two factories in Shanghai, Hebei Province, to produce minced pork, beef paste and so on. AJEX, a joint venture between Agilan Brothers Holding Group and SF International, was officially put into operation. IBM unveils a new brand proposition of "Co-creation". African fintech unicorn Flutterwave raised $250 million in Series D funding.
Corporate headlines
Invest 11 billion yuan! Midea's new strategic base for new energy auto parts started construction in Anqing
The signing and groundbreaking ceremony of the new strategic base for new energy auto parts of Anqing Welling Auto Parts Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Midea Industrial Technology, was held in Anqing, Anhui Province. Anqing Welling is a new strategic base that Midea Group has invested in and established again after investing in the establishment of Anhui Welling Auto Parts Co., Ltd. The total investment of the new base project of new energy automobile parts and components is about 11 billion yuan, of which the investment in fixed assets is about 6.5 billion yuan. The first phase of the project is planned to use 458 acres of land, which is located in the Yuanmeng New District of Anqing City. The project focuses on breaking through the "four basics" bottlenecks such as core basic components, and aims to build an internationally competitive advanced manufacturing and modern service industry base, mainly producing power steering motors, new energy vehicle electric compressors, new energy vehicle drive motors and other categories of products, and creating three major system research and development centers and national laboratories for thermal management, main drive, auxiliary/intelligent driving. After the completion of the project, it can form an annual output capacity of 60 million sets and achieve an annual output value of 40 billion yuan.
Infineon is investing EUR 2 billion to expand its production capacity
Infineon Technologies AG is strengthening its market leadership in power semiconductors by adding significant production capabilities in the wideband (SiC and GaN) semiconductor sector. The company invested more than 2 billion euros to build a third module at its plant in Kulim, Malaysia. When completed, the new modules will generate an additional €2 billion in annual revenue based on silicon carbide and gallium nitride. Construction will begin in June and the first wafers will roll off the production line in the second half of 2024. In line with the company's long-term manufacturing strategy, the expansion will benefit from the good economies of scale already achieved by the Kulin 200 mm manufacturing plant. It will complement Infineon's leading position in silicon at its 300 mm production sites in Villach, Austria, and Dresden, Germany.
Germany's TRUMPF Group acquires fiber laser company AFS
Global high-tech company TRUMPF has acquired an 80% stake in Active Fiber Systems GmbH (AFS). AFS, based in Jena, Germany, is a company specializing in fiber lasers. The ultrashort pulse laser systems and fiber laser systems developed and manufactured by AFS are mainly used in the fields of science and research. In addition to basic research, applications include producing very short wavelengths of light with high coherence, biomedical imaging, and materials processing. In the 1980s, TRUMPF installed its first machine tool in China. In 2000, TRUMPF established a wholly-owned subsidiary in Taicang, Jiangsu Province. At present, its business covers high-end intelligent manufacturing industries such as automobiles, batteries, consumer electronics, medical devices, and aerospace.
The largest plastics recycler in the Americas uses Honeywell's advanced plastic recycling technology
Honeywell will form a joint venture with Avangard Innovative, a leader in plastics recycling, to build a state-of-the-art recycling plant in Texas, USA. The new plant will use Honeywell's recently introduced UpCycle process technology to convert plastic waste into recycled polymer feedstock used to produce the new plastic. UpCycle process technology aims to reduce fossil fuel consumption in the manufacturing of virgin plastics, enabling a circular economy of plastics. When combined with improvements in other chemical and mechanical recycling processes and collection and sorting processes, UpCycle process technology is expected to increase the proportion of recyclable plastic waste globally from the current 15 percent to 90 percent. The plant, which is expected to come on stream in 2023, could convert 30,000 metric tons of mixed waste plastics into Honeywell recycled polymer feedstock per year.
Plant meat company v2food will cooperate with two factories in Shanghai, Hebei Province, to produce minced pork, beef paste and so on
Plant meat company v2food announced that it will establish partnerships with two factories with rich production experience in Hebei and Shanghai to further cover the Chinese market. v2food will reduce product prices by realizing localization production, and create affordable plant-based meat products that truly meet the needs of Chinese consumers. The two joint factories will mainly produce raw material products including v2food catering and retail packaging, such as v2 pork minced pork, v2 beef minced, v2 beef hamburger cake, etc., which will be officially launched in the Chinese market in April this year.
AJEX, a joint venture between Agilan Brothers Holding Group and SF International, was officially put into operation
Saudi ArabiaNavid Ajlan Brothers Holdings Group announced that AJEX International Logistics, a joint venture with SF International in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will be officially put into operation in January 2022. As a global express logistics service enterprise, AJEX has obtained logistics-related operational qualifications and the ability to provide logistics services in Saudi Arabia and even the Middle East, and its current operational capabilities can cover three major modes of transportation: land, air and sea. Consumers and businesses in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East will be able to place orders on Chinese e-commerce platforms with one click through AJEX's dedicated logistics services app and interactive website.
Tencent Cloud joined hands with Kaixin International Group to develop smart campuses in Southeast Asia
Tencent Cloud, a cloud brand, and kinderWorld International Group, an education and training institution, announced that they will collaborate in Southeast Asia on smart campus development, digital innovation and education training. To achieve this common goal, Tencent Cloud and Kaixin International Group are committed to exploring different solutions and platforms, such as campus security, smart technology, video or live streaming, etc. for teaching, as well as implementing and implementing talent training courses, and hope to promote innovative development through the Intelligent Education Content Management System (CMS).
IBM unveils new brand proposition "Co-creation"
IBM has released a new globally integrated brand platform: "Let's create." This is IBM's most important brand proposition in more than a decade. "Co-creation" reflects IBM's vision, strategy and goals today, emphasizing the company's focus on innovation and collaboration to create long-term value for customers and partners and help them address pressing issues in the business world. IBM officially spun off its Managed Infrastructure Services business in November 2021 and made it an independent public company called Kyndryl, putting IBM at the forefront of the hybrid cloud and AI wave, one of the most significant transformations in the company's 110-year history. This global multi-platform approach to the brand's proposition is a close second, conveying IBM's commitment to "creativity" and to lead the innovation, development and application of advanced technologies with all partners and the world in mind.
Valued at over $3 billion! African fintech company Flutterwave raised $250 million in Series D funding
Leading technology company Flutterwave, which announced that it raised $250 million in a Series D funding round and valued the company at more than $3 billion, will continue to transform the way continents and globally deal. With this investment, Flutterwave has become the most valued African startup. Flutterwave's latest backers include some of the world's most respected investors, led by B Capital Group, with alta Park Capital, Whale Rock Capital, Lux Capital and others also participating. Some existing investors who have also participated in previous rounds of funding have also participated in this round, including Glynn Capital, Avenir Growth, Tiger Global, Green Visor Capital, and Salesforce Ventures.
Digital life and health underwriter Qumata announced an expansion of its Series A funding round to $23 million
Qumata, a leading global leader in technology solutions, has transformed the insurance ecosystem with disruptive machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML/AI) underwriting solutions, announcing the expansion of its Series A funding round to $23 million. The latest funding is a testament to Qumata's solid growth plan for global expansion, adding a new key investor to its latest funding round. The multiple companies involved in this round of funding are expanding their initial involvement in Qumata, including a continued investment in MMC Ventures, demonstrating confidence in the management team, the strategic direction of the business, and in line with the digital trends that are impacting the insurance industry as a whole. Prior to announcing the expansion of the financing, the company recently signed an agreement with AIA Group Limited to provide services across Asia.
College students challenge AI puzzles! The ASC22 supercomputing competition enters the preliminary stage
The 2022 ASC World Collegiate Supercomputer Competition (ASC22) has entered the preliminary stage. More than 300 teams from around the world are challenging an ARTIFICIAL intelligence puzzle - the AI language model. The organizing committee provided a 100GB high-quality Chinese dataset, requiring the participating teams to implement a large model of the "source" AI language with 4.7 billion parameters based on this dataset. The ASC World College Students Supercomputing Competition is initiated and organized by China and supported by relevant experts and institutions in Asia, Europe and the United States, aiming to promote the exchange and training of young supercomputing talents between countries and regions through the competition platform, improve the application level and research and development capabilities of supercomputing, give play to the scientific and technological driving force of supercomputing, and promote scientific and technological and industrial innovation.