Day: July 15, 2021

Autonomous heavy equipment pioneer continues global expansion into key markets, bolsters executive team

MILPITAS, Calif., July 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SafeAI, a global leader in autonomous heavy equipment, today announced continued global expansion with its entry into Canada. To accelerate growth internationally, including in Canada, today SafeAI also announced that David Prusinski has joined the company as Chief Revenue Officer.

With booming construction and mining industries, Canada is a natural next step for SafeAI’s growing business. Canada’s mining industry is one of the largest in the world, accounting for 7.8% of the country’s GDP in 2020. The country’s construction sector is also a leading contributor to the nation’s GDP, with continued opportunities for growth due to government-funded infrastructure projects. With its connected autonomous technology, SafeAI is poised to accelerate productivity in the nation’s heavy industry.

“At SafeAI, we believe autonomy has the power to create smarter, safer, more productive heavy industry. With flourishing construction and mining sectors, Canada is a natural fit for our business,” said Bibhrajit Halder, Founder & CEO at SafeAI. “As we continue to grow our business to meet rising demand for autonomy, we’re proud to also expand our executive team. With years of leadership experience, a proven track record of spearheading growth, and knowledge of the Canadian market, David brings an invaluable perspective to our team as we continue to scale our organization and transform off-road autonomous projects globally.”

Prusinski brings 25 years of experience driving growth at prominent technology companies across Canada to the CRO role. Prior to joining SafeAI, he worked for nine years at Fleet Complete, one of the fastest-growing providers of connected commercial vehicle solutions. Before that, he also held leadership roles at BlackBerry and InSystems.

“Heavy industry is on the brink of a period of mass adoption for autonomous technology,” said Prusinski. “Now that we’ve seen the value and impact of automation for safer, more efficient construction and mining sites, there is no going back. Today, I’m excited to join the team at SafeAI to drive continued expansion and help companies worldwide unlock the value of connected autonomy to improve safety, reimagine workflows, and power results.”

Expansion into Canada comes on the heels of a year of significant growth for SafeAI as the company accelerated off-road deployment of autonomous technology. In late 2020, the company announced partnerships with industry leaders—including Obayashi and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company—to expand its ecosystem and more effectively deliver autonomy at scale. Earlier this year, SafeAI announced its expansion into Australia, the world’s largest mining market, and the addition of several new executives to lead the charge. Most recently, the company announced $21 million in Series A funding to accelerate research and development and global growth.

To learn more about SafeAI’s technology, or to get the latest updates, please visit safeai.ai.

About SafeAI
SafeAI is a global autonomous heavy equipment leader focused on advancing modern industry. SafeAI retrofits heavy equipment for autonomous applications in mining and construction to serve a massive ecosystem of industry players with complex needs. By building a software platform with the most advanced, industry-specific AI, SafeAI enables equipment owners to transform existing machines into self-operating robotic assets. The company currently is running an autonomous CAT 725 at a quarry in California. SafeAI is based in Milpitas, CA.

Contact
LaunchSquad for SafeAI
safeai@launchsquad.com

Forging the future with better sugar reduction solutions for food and beverages in the region.

Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., July 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sweegen’s footprint in Europe became stronger after the European Union Commission published its approval of Sweegen’s non-GMO Signature Bestevia Rebaudioside M (Reb M) for use in food and beverages.

The approval of Sweegen’s Signature Bestevia Reb M leads the future of wellness in food and drink in Europe. Brands in Europe now have access to the best-tasting highly sought-after stevia sweetener. The availability broadens the toolkit for sugar alternatives to reimagine food and drink, opening new doors for creating healthy products for consumers.

“Sweegen’s Signature Bestevia Reb M approval is a celebration of good health and wellness for product developers and consumers alike,” said Luca Giannone, SVP of Sales. “This is just one of our many milestones in Europe to transform products for having a positive and lasting impact on our ever-evolving health.”

Consumers are increasingly aware of the need to reduce sugar in their diets for better health. Yet, when they are making decisions for purchasing food and beverages, consumers will ultimately select the brand with the best taste. Therefore, tackling the toughest sugar reduction challenges is a priority for brands as taste is the reason for repeat purchases.

The soft drinks industry in Europe is making a pledge to cut added sugars in Europe. The Union of European Soft Drinks Associations (UNESDA) announced on June 29 this year to reduce average added sugars in its beverages by another 10% across Europe by 2025.

In its further commitment to Europe, Sweegen has aligned the availability of its Reb M with commercializing the high-purity sweetener at its manufacturing facility in Europe. The facility is open in Europe for helping food and beverage manufacturers with rapid production and low cost-in-use sugar reduction solutions.

To compliment the approval of Reb M, Sweegen invested in designing and building its Innovation Studio in Reading, England, near London. The studio opened its doors in January 2021 with a full applications team to collaborate with food and beverage manufacturers on exploring the entire consumer landscape to understand what trends are driving consumer behavior, and then provide inspirational ingredients to represent those trend drivers.

“Our rapid innovation in application development enables our customer-focused solutions to help manufacturers create great-tasting, clean, natural, plant-based, sustainable products that meet today’s end-consumer needs and desires,” said Giannone.

Around the world, Sweegen’s Innovation Studios are open globally: Southern California, Mexico City, Reading (London) and very soon in Singapore. These studios will leverage local tastes and knowledge while serving as creative centers to explore and discover product innovations motivated by consumer trends and regional tastes.

“Sweegen’s global regulatory mission is the hallmark of opening new sugar reduction opportunities to manufacturers and brands for replacing sugar in foods and beverages, nutritional products, and many other market products world-wide,” said Hadi Omrani, director of regulatory affairs. “Europe is an important region in our global regulatory vision as we continually forge the future of wellness in food and drink around the world.”

Sweegen offers brands cost-effective and rapid innovation for sugar reduction solutions for beverage, dairy, savory and bakery with its Bestevia Taste Solutions for Europe.

Sweegen is the first company to receive the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) panel’s safety status for any steviol glycoside produced by alternative and sustainable technologies. To achieve high purity clean-tasting stevia leaf sweeteners, Sweegen uses a bioconversion process starting with the stevia leaf. This process enabled Sweegen to obtain the Non-GMO Project verification for its Signature Bestevia stevia sweeteners in the U.S. market.

Bestevia Reb M was commercialized in 2017 and has already been approved in many regions around the world.

About Sweegen

Sweegen provides sweet taste solutions for food and beverage manufacturers around the world.

We are on a mission to reduce the sugar and artificial sweeteners in our global diet.  Partnering with customers, we create delicious zero-sugar products that consumers love.  With the best Signature Stevia sweeteners in our portfolio such as Bestevia® Rebs B, D, E, I, M, and N, along with our deep knowledge of flavor modulators and texturants, Sweegen delivers market-leading solutions that customers want and consumers prefer.

For more information, please contact info@sweegen.com and visit Sweegen’s website, www.sweegen.com.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, among other statements, statements regarding the future prospects for Reb M stevia leaf sweetener. These statements are based on current expectations, but are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are beyond the control of Sweegen, Inc.

Relevant risks and uncertainties include those referenced in the historic filings of Sweegen, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements, and therefore should be carefully considered. Sweegen, Inc. assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments.

Attachment

• Europe Reb M approval

Ana Arakelian
Sweegen
+1.949.709.0583
ana.arakelian@sweegen.com

 

LOWELL, Mass., July 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Rapid Micro Biosystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: RPID) (“Rapid Micro”), an innovative life sciences technology company providing mission critical automation solutions to facilitate the efficient manufacturing and fast, safe release of healthcare products, today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 7,920,000 shares of its Class A common stock at a price to the public of $20.00 per share. All of the shares of Class A common stock are being offered by Rapid Micro. The gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by Rapid Micro, are expected to be $158.4 million, excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares. Rapid Micro’s Class A common stock is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “RPID” on July 15, 2021. The offering is expected to close on July 19, 2021, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. In addition, Rapid Micro has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,188,000 shares of Rapid Micro’s Class A common stock at the initial public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Cowen and Company, LLC and Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated are acting as joint book-running managers of the offering.

A registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-257431) relating to the offering has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and became effective on July 14, 2021. The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from: J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, telephone: (866) 803-9204 or email at prospectus-eq_fi@jpmchase.com; Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014, or by email at prospectus@morganstanley.com; Cowen and Company, LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, Attention: Prospectus Department, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY, 11717, by telephone at (833) 297-2926, or by email at PostSaleManualRequests@broadridge.com; or Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, Attention: Syndicate, One Montgomery Street, Suite 3700, San Francisco, CA 94104, telephone: (415) 364-2720 or email at syndprospectus@stifel.com.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Contacts

Media:
media@rapidmicrobio.com

Investors:
investors@rapidmicrobio.com

Presenting Ambassador Brownback with Two Books

Action Alliance to Redress 1219 is a partner of International Religious Freedom Summit 2021

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit is being held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington D.C. on July 13–15, and over 1,000 representatives from government agencies and civil society organizations are attending the event in person while over ten thousand people are participating virtually, being the largest and most important religious freedom event of the year. As a Summit partner, the Action Alliance to Redress 1219 hosted a workshop titled “A Question of Justice: The Tai Ji Men Case” and launched two new books about safeguarding human rights, justice, and religious freedom, documenting the Tai Ji Men case, a case of violation of religious freedom and human rights in Taiwan, and over 1,200 advocates participated in the event for religious liberty either in person or online.

The IRF Summit 2021 is co-chaired by former U.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback and Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights while Honorary Senate Co-Chairs are Senator Chris Coons and Senator James Lankford while Honorary House Co-Chairs are Congressmen Henry Cuellar and Chris Smith.

As a partner of the Summit, the Action Alliance to Redress 1219 (ACT1219) is dedicated to rectifying the Tai Ji Men case, said Jeff Kuo, a representative of ACT1219. Tai Ji Men is a spiritual group with various chapters in Taiwan and the U.S. It has self-funded trips to 101 nations to promote love, peace, and conscience. A video presentation showed that Tai Ji Men has been highly praised by President Tsai Ing-wen, three former presidents of Taiwan, and other leaders in Taiwan and around the world for its peace endeavors.

However, such an avid promoter of love and peace has been persecuted for 24 years by a few unscrupulous bureaucrats in Taiwan as shown in a movie titled “A Question of Justice: The Tai Ji Men Tax Case in Taiwan,” presented in the workshop. The movie was directed by Prof. Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist and the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR).

Although Taiwan is hailed as a beacon of democracy in Asia, it has a complicated past. After the martial law period ended in Taiwan in 1987, there was a transition period during which the government targeted groups of self-cultivation. One such instance was in 1996, when the first direct presidential election took place in Taiwan and the government went after religious movements and organizations of self-cultivation that did not show support for the President during the election. Even though Tai Ji Men took no political stance, it was caught in the crossfire.

“Since the late 1970s, the Association of World Citizens has worked closely with the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief with the UN Human Rights Council,” said Michael Selfridge, representative of the Association of World Citizens, adding, “Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy, led by Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, has been our devoted ally. We are deeply saddened to see such an ally, who has been consistently helping us to resolve global conflicts, human rights, peace, and sustainable living, but was persecuted and attacked by some rogue officials in the Taiwanese government who abused public power.”

Pamela Chen, on behalf of thousands of worldwide Tai Ji Men dizi (disciples), noted that at the time, Tai Ji Men was wrongfully accused of fraud and tax evasion, and on July 13, 2007 Taiwan’s Supreme Court found Tai Ji Men not guilty of tax evasion, violation of the Tax Collection Act, or any other charges, and Tai Ji Men did not owe any tax. A few rogue bureaucrats in Taiwan have been violating Tai Ji Men members’ religious freedom for over two decades, ignoring the court decision and imposing unjustified and heavy taxes on Tai Ji Men, said Chen.

Last year, Tai Ji Men’s sacred land for self-cultivation was even confiscated, which has generated large street protests and considerable international attention, lamented Chen, adding that today marks the 14th anniversary of the acquittal of Tai Ji Men, but the injustice against this organization remains.

Kenneth Jacobsen, professor of law at Temple University, Philadelphia, the U.S. and former advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton, has studied the Tai Ji Men case for years and written a paper on this case. In response to the wrongdoings committed by the unscrupulous bureaucrats, he said at the workshop, “I call upon the president of Taiwan. I call upon the leaders of Taiwan to fix the mistakes of the past as I have said before to allow errors to continue, to perpetuate mistakes that were made in the past is as bad if not worse than committing those mistakes in the first place. This is an atrocity. It’s a tragedy too. It is unjust. As someone who respects and has lived his life and career respecting the rule of law. This is offensive, and it should end now.”

Prof. Massimo Introvigne, through a video message, regretted that he could not attend the event in person and highlighted why it is significant: “The first reason is that it continues the extraordinary work done by Ambassador Brownback for several years on behalf of religious liberty. The second reason is, this side event is about Taiwan, a country whose culture very much I admire and love. And the third is the side event is about Tai Ji Men and its quest for justice.”

“Why are thousands of people in the street?” asked Prof. Introvigne and then he said, “Not for a domestic Taiwan tax law issue. Not for a private problem of Dr. Hong. But for a question of principle and of justice, and of religious liberty. And I believe it’s for this reason that reconstructing this case, which is a tax case but it’s mostly a freedom of religion or belief case, is important within the context of this magnificent event.”

Brenda Chen, one of the tens of thousands of victims in the Tai Ji Men case, with tears in her eyes, recollected the Tai Ji Men incident: “Even though no one accused my dad of any crime, he was detained and held incommunicado for four months by the prosecutor! By means of hunger, fatigue and threat, the prosecutor just wanted my dad to testify against my shifu (master),” lamented Branda.

At the time, because of the prosecutor’s illegal investigation and smear campaign against Tai Ji Men, her family was discriminated against; her sister even received a threatening note at school. Her father and mother, Chief Financial Officer of a famous tech company and an editor at Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice, respectively, were forced to retire early. Their careers and reputations were ruined, and they suffered tremendous emotional and financial losses. Seven years ago, her dad passed away with regret, unable to see the redress of the Tai Ji Men case, lamented Brenda.

Ann Chen, a dual-licensed attorney in both Taiwan and California and co-author of the book Who Stole Their Youth, pointed out the importance of the book: “This book is officially released today at the IRF Summit, which is of great significance! We’ve also prepared hundreds of books to distribute to attendees of the Summit. Through today’s book launch, we hope the world will learn more about the Tai Ji Men case, pay more attention to human rights protection, the rule of law, and the importance of religious freedom for all spiritual movements!”

In addition to Who Stole Their Youth, another book, The Tai Ji Men Case in Taiwan: A Bitter Winter Anthology was released, which includes scholarly studies by non-members of Tai Ji Men as well as articles about the Tai Ji Men case published in Bitter Winter, a daily magazine dedicated to religious freedom. The two books insist on the global relevance of the Tai Ji Men case because taxation is the most convenient and common tool that the government of a democratic society can use to deny the religious freedom of minority groups.

During the Summit, representatives of the Action Alliance to Redress 1219 presented former U.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback and Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights, two books each: Who Stole Their Youth and The Tai Ji Men Case in Taiwan: A Bitter Winter Anthology, and shared with them the 24-year Tai Ji Men case, a landmark case of human rights violations in Taiwan.

At the 47th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2021, CAP-LC, an NGO with special consultative status at the ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council), filed a written report concerning the Tai Ji Men case and other incidents of tax law misuse targeting spiritual movements (CAP-LC 2021).

Gill Wang, another representative of Tai Ji Men, said that “Resolving the Tai Ji Men case, a landmark case of human rights violations, is the best way to help the Taiwanese government. Only then can it stand with its most important ally, the United States, to positively contribute to global stability and harmony. We sincerely hope that you can help Tai Ji Men rectify this 24-year-long case of injustice so our sacred land for self-cultivation can be returned to us and human rights and religious liberty will be protected in Taiwan!”

The event concluded with a positive note when the song “Love” was presented, conveying the organizer’s hope to bring together righteous people who care about human rights, love, and peace while urging all governments to implement human rights protection, in the hopes that no other individual or group around the globe will be denied their human rights or religious liberty, and the world will be filled with love and peace!

About Action Alliance to Redress 1219: Action Alliance to Redress 1219 is a group of international and Taiwanese legal, religious, and human rights specialists working to restore the truth about the ongoing persecution of Tai Ji Men in Taiwan by a small group of bureaucrats that has lasted for 24 years, as well as their misuse of authority and violations of the law. In addition to rectifying the Tai Ji Men case and revealing the truth, it is also committed to defending religious freedom and calling on those in power not to infringe on people’s human rights.

Media Contact:

Lily Chen

Representative

admin@act1219.org

626-202-5268

https://act1219.org/eng/

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0f6c7d7c-46d6-4a37-b947-9444c89876fa