Bloom&Co. announces release of new feature ‘NFT Gallery’ from ‘aboutme’

aboutme-NFT Gallery

KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 (Bernama) -- Bloom&Co. Corporation has announced the release of a new feature, ‘NFT Gallery’, from ‘aboutme’, a link in bio product for influencers and creators.

According to a statement, ‘aboutme’ was recently developed and launched to celebrate creative talent and expand the possibilities for individuals to express themselves in the new era of individuality.

The new feature will give creators a further way to display their work and communicate authentically with their audience.

Showcasing NFT collections in the NFT Gallery is now possible through a seamless integration with the world's largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea.

NFTs have received a lot of attention in recent years, and with many influencers and creators rapidly expanding into the space, but they are still exploring the best way to leverage their NFTs.

‘aboutme’ enables users to leverage this NFT Gallery to showcase their NFT activities by blending with and keeping consistency with brand equity, character and personality on social media.

By linking with OpenSea via API, the world's largest NFT marketplace, users can display NFT collections from OpenSea on their 'aboutme' page and make them available for all of their followers to see at a glance.

More details at https://aboutme.style/

-- BERNAMA

Umit Ciftci chosen Turkey Regional Business Development Manager

KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 (Bernama) -- Nikkiso Cryogenic Industries’ Clean Energy & Industrial Gases Group (Group), a part of the Nikkiso Co Ltd (Japan) group of companies, announced that Umit Ciftci has been named Regional Business Development Manager for Turkey and the surrounding areas.

According to a statement, based in Istanbul, Turkey, he will be responsible for the Group’s full product line, and will report to Ole Jensen, NCE&IG GmbH Germany.

“Umit’s experience, as well as market and industry knowledge will be of great benefit to NCEIG GmbH, as we work to develop the potential opportunities in this market. We look forward to his positive contributions,” said Vice President NCEIG Europe, Ole Jensen.

Ciftci obtained a degree in Management Engineering, which provided a solid background in engineering as well as business and finance.

He has over 25 years of experience in Compressed Air working at various positions including sales engineer, marketing and business line manager in Turkey and Business Development Manager in UAE for Atlas Copco.

With this addition, Nikkiso continues their commitment to be both a global and local presence for their customers.

Cryogenic Industries Inc (now a member of Nikkiso Co Ltd) member companies manufacture engineered cryogenic gas processing equipment and small-scale process plants for the liquefied natural gas (LNG), well services and industrial gas industries.

More details at www.nikkisoCEIG.com.

-- BERNAMA

Kioxia presents UFS Ver. 3.1 embedded flash memory devices for automotive applications

 

Kioxia Corporation: UFS Ver. 3.1 Embedded Flash Memory Devices for Automotive Applications (Photo: Business Wire)

KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 (Bernama) -- Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, announced it has started sampling new Automotive Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Ver. 3.1 embedded flash memory devices.

The new line-up utilises the company’s BiCS FLASH™ 3D flash memory and is available in capacities from 64 gigabytes (GB) to 512GB to support the various requirements of evolving automotive applications that elevate driver experiences.

The storage requirement for automotive applications continue to increase as infotainment systems and ADAS in cars become more sophisticated. UFS is well-suited to support the high-performance and density needs of these applications.

According to a statement, the new devices support a wide temperature range (-40°C to +105°C), meet AEC-Q100 Grade2 requirements and offer enhanced reliability capabilities that increasingly complex automotive applications require.

The sequential read and write performance of the Automotive UFS Ver. 3.1 device is significantly improved by approximately 2.2x and 6x, respectively, over previous generation devices. These performance gains contribute to faster system startup and OTA (Over-the-Air) updates.

-- BERNAMA

TransPod unveils next stage of development of ultra-high-speed tube transportation in Alberta, Canada

KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 -- TransPod, the startup building the TransPod Line – a new ultra-high-speed transportation system, to disrupt and redefine commercial transportation – has announced the next phase of the multibillion-dollar infrastructure project in Alberta, Canada.

Broughton Capital Group (BCG), in cooperation with China-East Resources Import & Export Co. (CERIECO), have agreed in principle to provide a combined US$550 million finance and Master EPC arrangement respectively to accelerate development of a TransPod Line between Edmonton and Calgary and drive economic growth in the region. (US$1 = RM4.206)

“As the first and only company to confirm such finance for a multibillion-dollar tube-transportation infrastructure project, TransPod is proud of its commitment to driving growth in Alberta through true innovation and partnership,” said co-founder and CEO, TransPod, Sebastien Gendron.

“The construction and operation of a TransPod Line will help Albertans move around easily, create new jobs, and facilitate investment into the region. With the confidence of our investors and the Government of Alberta, we will deliver on a joint vision of a progressive, sustainable, and growing economy.” 

Key highlights from the Alberta TransPod feasibility study include substantial economic growth; significant employment growth; improved affordability for travellers; and, reduction in carbon footprint.

The Alberta TransPod infrastructure project will create 15,600 jobs per year, totaling 140,000 jobs over nine years. Over the course of a year, the expected ridership between Calgary and Edmonton will reduce CO2 emissions by 636,000 tonnes per year, or the equivalent of planting a forest four times bigger than Calgary, according to a statement.

To support regional job development and provide employee training for the TransPod Line in Alberta, TransPod has partnered with Building Trades of Alberta to leverage its regional expertise and partner network. 

Colliers Capital Markets, a subsidiary of Colliers International, acted as financial advisor to TransPod.

More details at www.transpod.com.

-- BERNAMA

GCP ANNOUNCES ASIA PACIFIC PRICE INCREASE ON ALL CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS

 SINGAPORE, March 31 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GCP Applied Technologies Inc. (NYSE: GCP) (GCP or the Company), a leading global provider of construction products, today announced it is implementing price increases for Concrete Admixtures, Cement Additives and Specialty Building Materials in Asia Pacific.

To continue providing the exceptional solutions GCP’s customers rely on, at the levels of service they require, it is necessary to increase prices for all construction products effective April 1, 2022.

“The global supply chain impacts on raw material and freight costs have been unprecedented over the past nine months and costs are not expected to subside in the near future. We have continued to increase our inventory levels to service our customers’ needs, and added freight capacity to ensure timely delivery. We are committed to provide customers with the highest-performing products and industry-leading technical service. GCP’s regional sales team will contact our customers individually to discuss the details of the price increase,” commented Jimmy Ho, GCP’s President of Asia Pacific Region.

About GCP Applied Technologies

GCP Applied Technologies (NYSE: GCP) is a leading global provider of construction products that include high-performance specialty construction chemicals and building materials. GCP partners with producers, contractors, designers and engineers to achieve performance and sustainability goals. The company has a legacy of first to market and award-winning solutions that have been used to build some of the world’s most renowned structures. GCP is focused on continuous improvement for its customers, end-users and the environment.

For more information, visit GCP's website at www.gcpat.com.

Media Relations
Catherine Meihofer
+1 678-575-1927
mediainfo@gcpat.com

Investor Relations
William I. Kent, IRC
+1 617-498-4344
investors@gcpat.com 

SOURCE : GCP Applied Technologies Inc.

PRESTIGE BIOPHARMA ENTERS MOU WITH VAXINE FOR SUPPLY OF COVID-19 VACCINE AND CO-DEVELOPMENT OF COVID-19/INFLUENZA COMBO VACCINE

SINGAPORE, March 30 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Prestige Biopharma Limited and Vaxine Pty Ltd announced that the two organizations have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on the supply of Vaxine’s COVID-19 Vaccine, Covax-19^® (also known as Spikogen^®) and on the co-development of COVID-19/influenza combo vaccine.

Vaxine has developed a state-of-the-art recombinant protein vaccine against COVID-19 that is manufactured using insect cells and includes Vaxine’s proprietary Advax polysaccharide adjuvant. This vaccine showed efficacy against infection by the Delta variant in Phase 3 clinical trials and already is in use in the Middle East. In December 2021, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) granted a provisional determination allowing an application to be lodged for a provisional approval for this COVID-19 vaccine. Regulatory submissions are similarly underway in many other countries in parallel.

Industry experts remain concerned that the next pandemic might be even worse than Covid-19, creating an urgent need to develop strong and affordable pandemic vaccine platforms like the one Vaxine created for its Covid-19 and influenza pandemic vaccine production. 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=42780

FASTLY ACQUIRES FANOUT TO UNLOCK REAL-TIME APP DEVELOPMENT AT THE EDGE

 

The Fanout acquisition adds best-of-the-web technology to Fastly’s portfolio in its pursuit to provide fast, safe and engaging experiences


SAN FRANCISCO, March 31 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Fastly, Inc. (NYSE: FSLY), the world’s fastest edge cloud network provider, today announced its acquisition of Fanout, a platform that makes it easy to build and scale real-time and streaming APIs such as live chat support, ecommerce, video streaming, gaming, collaborative editing, and more. The acquisition is part of Fastly’s broader growth strategy to identify and deploy technologies and talent that increase performance, security and innovation for customers.

Today, a digital experience’s speed and performance are key to customer engagement and conversion. The integration of Fanout technology into Fastly’s powerful network will help enable real-time app development at the edge with increased time-to-market, reduced friction, and unprecedented scale.

“With the addition of the Fanout technology into Fastly’s portfolio, it positions Fastly well to support customers that want to migrate away from existing, complicated in-house WebSocket stacks, as well as customers who don't have engineering resources to build a push architecture for real-time data and communications to any device, anywhere,” said IDC Research Vice President Ghassan Abdo. “To add this functionality into the same stack where applications are already being built should help resource-constrained developers at SMBs and enterprises alike.”

Fanout’s value to the Fastly platform is its revolutionary ability to:

• Deliver real-time development that is transport agnostic. Fanout makes this happen without constraints on the number of connected clients and with true 1-to-many message fan-out.
• Allow customers to use their existing HTTP origin instead of maintaining a complicated and expensive WebSocket or other push protocol messaging infrastructure dedicated solely to real-time app development
• Streamline workflows efficiently and free developers to build the best possible experience for their users without having to waste time worrying about the intricacies of real-time protocols.

Fastly plans to integrate the Fanout proxy into its Compute@Edge serverless offering, enabling developers to build fully interactive real-time applications securely and at-scale within Fastly's massive edge network.

“We’ve always been driven to create the tools our customers need for building and delivering exceptional digital experiences behind the best of the web,” said Joshua Bixby, CEO of Fastly. “Integrating Fanout’s real-time application technology into ours gives developers a consistent development experience, empowering them to effortlessly upgrade their end-user experiences in a fraction of the time and with fewer resources. The integration will also allow customers to leverage Fastly’s global scale to support the needs of the largest enterprises.”

For more information, check out Fastly’s latest blog post, “Fastly + Fanout: why real-time messaging and edge computing are an amazing combination.”

About Fastly

Fastly is upgrading the internet experience to give people and organizations more control, faster content, and more dynamic applications. By combining the world’s fastest global edge cloud network with powerful software, Fastly helps customers develop, deliver, and secure modern distributed applications and compelling digital experiences. Fastly’s customers include many of the world’s most prominent companies, including Pinterest, The New York Times, and GitHub. For more information on our mission and products, visit https://www.fastly.com.

Source: Fastly, Inc.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220330005295/en/ 


Contact

Media Contact:
press@fastly.com

IR Contact:
Vernon Essi, Jr.
ir@fastly.com

Source : Fastly, Inc.

21K SCHOOL AIMS TO BECOME THE LARGEST ONLINE SCHOOL IN SOUTH ASIA BY 2023

 MUMBAI, India, March 30 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- 21K School—India’s first online-only school—is well on its way to becoming the largest online-only K12 school in South Asia. It will be registering over 15,000 students for the upcoming academic year by July 2022, and by 2023 the school plans to have over 30,000 students. Presently, 21K School has students from over 35 countries who have been the strong promoters helping the community grow.

21K School is a leading online-only school that offers accessible, world-class education to children between the age of 3 to 18 years, residing in any geographical location and time zone. With over 200 highly trained and best-in-class teachers, 21K School has an enviable teaching quality which is rated at an industry beating 96% approval. While students enrolling at 21K School can choose to study from three curriculums—Indian, American, and British—its disruptive education model is helping create a new category with personalised, affordable, and flexible schooling for them. The online-only school has recently partnered with Cambridge UK to offer career pathway programs from schooling to admission in universities across the UK for higher education. The team has taken their deep understanding of technology and pedagogy to create a school of the future.

21K School helps students significantly cut down their commute time to and from school, thus giving them more time at hand to pursue language studies, performing arts, sports, etc. Furthermore, students from 21K School have gone on to publish books, develop games, compete in state and national level sporting events, and yet have never had to miss a day of school. Santosh Kumar, CEO & Co-founder, 21K School, said, “21K School continuously aims to provide world-class education from nursery to Grade 12, with an ease of access to everyone, anywhere, anytime. Outside our regular target audience, we have seen a high level of inbound interest from parents who have to frequently move cities due to jobs, or parents from Tier 2 & 3 cities who yearn for high quality education or those in metros but cannot afford the sky-rocketing price of schooling. With online schooling making a breakthrough in the education ecosystem, 21K School focuses on broadening its reach to help students fulfil their quest for holistic education and be ready for future.”

About 21K School:

Founded in 2020, 21k School is the first online-only school in India. Co-founded by Santosh Kumar, Joshi Kumar, Dinesh Kumar and Yeshwanth Raj Parasmal, the school’s objective is to make world-class education accessible to all children irrespective of their geographical location and fluid lives. The school is known for its intellectual rigor, application-based learning, flexible options, trained faculty, and an environment of collective learning in a community that grows together instead of competing with each other. The school has 3,500 plus happy students going to 30,000 over the next 18 months - across 35 countries and is well poised for global expansion.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220329005489/en/

Contact

Vasudha Rao, Adfactors PR, +91-9820347118

Source : 21K School

AM BEST AFFIRMS CREDIT RATINGS OF CHINA TAIPING INSURANCE (MACAU) CO., LTD.

 HONG KONG, March 30 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a” (Excellent) of China Taiping Insurance (Macau) Co., Ltd. (CTIM) (Macau). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings reflect CTIM’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

CTIM risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), remained stable and is at the strongest level. The company’s capital continues to grow in 2021 through partial profit retention and is supported by positive operating results. The company’s investment strategy remained conservative and stable, with the majority of its investment assets in cash and investment grade bonds. The company’s reinsurance program remained comprehensive with reinsurer panels of good credit quality, notwithstanding, the reinsurance dependency of the company is moderate.

CTIM continues to be profit generating in 2021, supported by positive underwriting and investment results. While the company’s net loss ratio remained stable, its net expense ratio is showing an increasing trend, attributed to growing management expenses. The company’s investment portfolio continues to generate profits through interest and dividend income to support its overall strong operating results. Notwithstanding, the investment yield remained moderate but stable, attributed to the company’s conservative investment strategy.

CTIM maintains a long track record as the leader in Macau’s non-life insurance segment and has a market share of close to 35% in 2021 based on gross premium written. The company’s underwriting portfolio and distribution channel were stable and diversified, while the company continues to develop its online channel and explore cross-selling opportunities in its affiliated life insurance company in Macau, China Taiping Life Insurance (Macau) Company Limited.

CTIM is well-positioned at its current rating level. Negative rating actions could occur if there is a material decline in the company’s risk-adjusted capitalisation or a significant and sustained deteriorating trend in its operating performance. A weakening credit profile of the parent company, China Taiping Insurance Holdings Company Limited, also may have a negative impact on CTIM’s ratings.

Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2022 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
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Contact

Paul Lam
Financial Analyst
+852 2827 3402
paul.lam@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Christie Lee
Senior Director
+852 2827 3413
christie.lee@ambest.com

Jim Peavy
Director, Communications
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644
james.peavy@ambest.com

Source : AM Best

LeddarTech participates at Automotive Tech.AD Berlin (Germany) April 3-5

KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 -- LeddarTech®, a global leader in providing the most flexible, robust and accurate ADAS and AD sensing technology, announced its participation at Automotive Tech.AD Berlin on April 3-5, 2022, at the Titanic Chaussee Hotel Berlin as an exhibitor and keynote speaker.

April 4-5, 2022: LeddarTech’s LeddarVision™ Demonstrator Space (live and virtual) visitors can join the LeddarTech team for real-world demonstrations of LeddarVision.

LeddarVision is the only sensor fusion and perception software using raw data fusion that simplifies complex sensor sets eliminating dependency on hardware and provides customers flexibility to quickly scale solutions across vehicle models, delivering greater ADAS and AD performance.

According to a statement, CTO of LeddarTech, Pierre Olivier, a pioneer in sensing with over 30 years of experience will present at these events during the conference.

On April 3, 2022, for Icebreaker Session, the Topic is The Road to Full Automation - Progress and Challenges while on April 4, for Presentation, the Topic involves Sensing and Perception Technology - Solutions That Solve Critical Sensing Challenges.

Founded in 2007, LeddarTech is a comprehensive end-to-end environmental sensing company that enables customers to solve critical sensing, fusion and perception challenges across the entire value chain.

More details at www.leddartech.com.

-- BERNAMA

UPGRAD'S STUDY ABROAD SET TO BECOME THE LARGEST PLAYER IN THE GOING-ABROAD SPACE IN SOUTH ASIA; SETS REVENUE TARGET OF $130MN FOR 2023

 ATLANTA, March 29 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- upGrad Abroad, the ‘Study Abroad’ vertical of Asia’s leading higher EdTech company upGrad, launched a high decibel campaign last week with the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, announcing the future for undergraduates and postgraduates studying abroad with the right blend of online learning for the first year, followed by the on-campus thereafter. Just in the last 8 months, upGrad Abroad has enrolled 1,500 learners and onboarded 18 partner universities.

The Study Abroad vertical has set a target to become the largest player in the segment by 2023 — to enroll over 25,000 learners and cross an annual revenue run rate of $130Mn by then. India as a market for students going abroad to study is in the top 2 countries in the world and that number has soared from 440,000 in 2016 to 770,000 in 2019 and will cross 1.8Mn students annually by 2024. The core geographies from which upGrad learners can choose include the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, and Germany.

Commenting on the same, Ankur Dhawan, President - upGrad Abroad said, “The only way to democratize transnational education is by offering learners the chance to study from any global university of their choice and yet make it much more affordable and accessible than it's ever been before. With upGrad’s ability to offer online to start with and then move to on-campus learning, we are uniquely placed to open up this market exponentially.”

“The world has changed a lot in the last half-decade and most Indians want to be in their own country or come back to their own country to work and build their future. India is a prime example as it is a land of myriad opportunities as it’s slated to be the 3rd largest economy in the world. The market for traveling overseas to pursue higher education and specialization, along with global exposure before settling, is where we believe upGrad has created the right blend of an offering with the right partnerships, to change the lives of many learners with unbridled ambition,” added Mayank Kumar, MD & Co-Founder, upGrad.

About upGrad

upGrad — started in 2015 — is a pioneer in the online education revolution, focused on powering career success for a global workforce of over 1.3 billion. It is one of the few Integrated LifeLongLearning Tech Companies in the world — spanning the college learner to the working professional from the age group of 18-50 years and across Undergrad courses, Campus & Job Linked Programs, Studying Abroad, short form to executive programs to Degrees, Masters and Doctoral — with a learner base of over 2 million across 100+ countries and over 300 University partners and a robust enterprise business with a client base of 1,000 companies worldwide.

upGrad’s Global Learning Engine rests on four pillars — (a) its large repository of original & owned content and IP, (b) its own best-in-class proprietary tech platform, (c) its high touch human-led delivery service backed by coaches & mentors, and (d) an 85% course completion track record, backed by a further 80% career outcomes guaranteed performance.

Already termed Asia’s higher EdTech leader, it has offices in the UK, U.S., Middle East, India, Singapore & Vietnam, and with a presence in many more countries.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220324006068/en/ 

Contact

UpGrad | Neha Prasad |neha.prasad@upgrad.com 

Source : upGrad

EIG-Fluxys partnership in key LNG infrastructure supporting Chile decarbonisation

KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 -- Washington-headquartered EIG, a leading institutional investor to the global energy and infrastructure sectors, and Fluxys, a leading energy infrastructure company, have announced joint acquisition of an 80 per cent equity stake in GNL Quintero S.A. (Quintero), the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal in Chile, from Enagas Chile SpA and affiliates of OMERS Infrastructure. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

According to a statement, Quintero is a key energy infrastructure business supporting Chile’s decarbonisation strategy with a bridging fuel that allows for the reconciliation of economic growth with the uptake of renewables and the phasing out of coal.

Operational since 2009, Quintero is the largest terminal for receiving and unloading LNG in Chile, as well as for its storage and regasification capacities. The terminal benefits from its strategic location in Quintero Bay, supplying a diversified base of customers in central Chile across residential, commercial, industrial, transportation and power generation sectors.

The terminal owns 75 per cent of the country´s LNG regasification capacity and in 2021, 67 per cent of the total natural gas imports (both LNG and pipeline imports) arrived in Chile through this strategic asset.

The acquisition builds on EIG’s presence in the Chilean market, where the firm owns Cerro Dominador, a groundbreaking solar complex that combines a 100MW photovoltaic (PV) plant with a 110MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant.

The PV plant has been operational since 2017 and the CSP plant was successfully synchronised with Chile’s electricity grid in April 2021. EIG also is a partner in AME S.p.A, a Chile-based project developer and independent power producer.

EIG Chairman and CEO, R. Blair Thomas said: “We are pleased to be partnering again with Fluxys, a world-class operational partner, to help Quintero support Chile’s energy needs and transition goals with reliable energy.

“Quintero’s strong presence in natural gas infrastructure serves as an attractive launching point to expand its presence in related and adjacent sectors, including storage, truck loading and regasification, as well as to develop production capacity for green hydrogen, where Quintero has significant potential to be a domestic leader in the nascent industry.”

Fluxys Managing Director and CEO, Pascal De Buck said: “With 3 LNG terminals in Europe, our ambition to invest outside Europe and to become the transporter of new energy carriers, Quintero is a perfect fit with our strategy for growth in view of the low carbon future.”

Citigroup Global Markets Inc acted as financial adviser to EIG and Fluxys in connection with the transaction. White & Case LLP served as EIG’s legal adviser and Linklaters LLP served as Fluxys’ legal adviser.

For more information, visit www.eigpartners.com.

-- BERNAMA

SANJAY GODHWANI AND DAVID BRESNAHAN APPOINTED TO NEW EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP ROLES AT BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY SPECIALTY INSURANCE

BOSTON & NEW YORK, March 24 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) today announced Sanjay Godhwani has been named President, North America Region, and David Bresnahan will take on the role of Global Chief Operating Officer.

“Sanjay and Dave have been pivotal in the building of BHSI since our launch in 2013, helping to build our product lines, our talented team and our positive culture,” said Peter Eastwood, President and CEO, BHSI. “In their new roles, they will have a continued positive impact on our team and our ability to bring certainty and service excellence to our customers and distribution partners around the globe.”

Sanjay will be responsible for all North America Region underwriting and underwriting support groups, customer & broker engagement, and BHSI’s Global Catastrophe Engineering & Analytics group. Sanjay has more than 25 years of industry experience and is a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society. He continues to be based in Boston and can be reached at sanjay.godhwani@bhspecialty.com and 617.936.2904.

Dave has more than three decades of insurance industry experience. In his new role he will oversee real estate and administration, finance, audit, information technology and operations throughout BHSI’s global platform. He continues to be based in Boston and can be reached at david.bresnahan@bhspecialty.com and 617.936.2903. 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=42750

Conagen's 2 thaumatin protein natural sweeteners put table sugar in cold storage

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 -- Food and beverages brands get two more tools for their sugar reduction toolkits as Conagen announced the successful scale-up production of two new high-intensity sweeteners, thaumatin I and thaumatin II.

According to a statement, the development will expand commercial partner Sweegen’s robust sugar reduction solutions of zero-sugar natural sweeteners.

“Conagen constantly improves its protein and peptide production platforms to generate more exciting new products,” said vice president of innovation at Conagen, Casey Lippmeier.

“In this case, the platform has been leveraged to make thaumatin by several innovative approaches, but under a significantly shorter R&D timeline.” 

Thaumatin is a group of proteins found in the fruits of the tropical plant Thaumatococcus danielli. Each protein, thaumatin I and thaumatin II, varies slightly in sweetness profiles.

Both proteins have been evaluated as 100,000 times sweeter than sugar on a molar basis and 3,000 times sweeter on a weight basis. 

The thaumatin proteins were developed from Conagen’s peptide production platform, which had previously been used for the scaled production of another peptide sweetener, brazzein.

The desire for natural sweeteners will drive the demand for fruit and plant-based sweeteners, such as thaumatin and stevia, respectively.

The main advantages to sweetening food and beverages with thaumatin are its familiarity and acceptance by consumers and the fact that it is approved for use in products by the majority of the countries.

Conagen is a product-focused, synthetic biology R&D company with large-scale manufacturing service capabilities. More details at www.conagen.com.

-- BERNAMA