Cultivated Biosciences secures US$5 million seed funding amid US market launch in 2025

(Image credit: Cultivated Biosciences)

07 Mar 2024 --- Cultivated Biosciences, a Swiss biotech start-up, has recently announced the closure of its US$5 million seed funding round. This financial milestone will boost the development of its innovative yeast cream in collaboration with the food industry, setting the stage for a US market launch slated for 2025. The latest funding round attracted a group of investors led by Navus Ventures, a Dutch venture capital firm with a focus on sustainable food and energy systems. The investors were drawn to the company’s progress following a US$1.5 million pre-seed round in September 2022. “This funding validates our innovative approach and enables us to introduce our revolutionary yeast cream to the market,” says Tomas Turner, Cultivated Biosciences’ CEO. “We aim to make alternative dairy products appealing to traditional dairy consumers, not just to reduce CO2 emissions from dairy production but also to tap into a multi-billion dollar market opportunity.” Innovative yeast cream: In the dairy-free sector, efforts to replicate the dairy experience involve utilizing plant-based proteins combined with vegetable oils and various additives such as emulsifiers and texturizers. These attempts aim to recreate both the sensory and functional characteristics of dairy products. Cultivated Biosciences is innovating on a different approach. Its yeast cream is a natural emulsion produced through yeast biomass fermentation. This method is claimed to be non-GMO, more cost-effective, and easier to scale than precision fermentation. According to the company, this ingredient is patented and improves the stability of dairy-free products, replaces additives, and doesn’t affect taste. The yeast cream has fats, proteins, and fibers, all derived from yeast, and features a microstructure that mirrors milk fat droplets, allowing it to blend into various consumer products such as coffee creamers, milk, and ice cream. Enter the market: Cultivated Biosciences was a participant in the ProVeg Incubator program, which focused specifically on emerging food technologies and novel ingredients for the alternative protein sector. In the latest interview with Food Ingredients First, Antje Räuscher, programme & innovation manager, and Albrecht Wolfmeyer, international director from ProVeg, shared about the rising global demand for plant-based diets. This growing market aligns with the increasing consumer demand for health- and environmentally-conscious products. Cultivated Biosciences plans to launch in the US market next year and the European market in 2026, pending regulatory approvals.Edited by Sichong Wang. Cultivated Biosciences secures US$5 million seed funding amid US market launch in 2025

Read More........→March 12, 2024

Gold, Diamond Companies Joined IBM to Develop Blockchain Technology

$IBM, $BRK-A, $AU

Gold and diamond companies including Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A)Richline Group Inc joined with IBM to develop blockchain technology to track the origin of jewelry and ensure it is ethically sourced, the companies said Thursday.

The joint initiative, TrustChain goal to make it easier for consumers to track diamonds and precious metals through the various steps of the supply chain as they become finished pieces jewelry, the companies said.

The technology will initially help track 6 styles of diamond and gold engagement rings and is expected to be available to consumers by the end of Y 2018, the companies said.

Other firms involved in the initiative include precious metals refiner Asahi Refining, jewelry retailer Helzberg Diamonds, precious metals supplier LeachGarner and 3rd-party verification provider UL.

Blockchain 1st emerged as the system powering cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) is a shared database that is maintained by a network of computers connected to the Internet.

Because it makes it easier for multiple parties to jointly create and update tamper-proof records, the firms involved in the project believe it is well suited to securely and efficiently track and prove the origin and ethical sourcing of jewelry.

Berkshire’s Richline Group had previously attempted to create a similar database using different technology, but the process was heavily manual and prone to inaccuracies.

The TrustChain platform was tested last week to track the provenance of a diamond ring across the supply chain.

Other companies in the industry have started to explore using blockchain technology.

Anglo American’s (NYSE:AU) diamond unit De Beers said in January that it aims to create an industry wide blockchain to track gems each time they change hands starting from the moment they are dug from the ground.

Companies in other sectors have also been seeking to adapt blockchain help simplify and reduce the costs some of their most data processes.

Supply chain management is one of the areas where businesses believe blockchain holds the most promise, as it involves numerous parties and is still very manual.

IBM is also working with large food retail companies on a blockchain platform to help track food supply chains and improve safety. Source: Live Trading News

Read More........→April 28, 2018

Spain: Government expects solar to dominate by 2030 with up to 77 GW

Spain has currently an installed PV power of around 4.8 GW. Image: Solaria Energía

In a new report, the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Digital Agenda has predicted that solar will become the country’s largest electricity source by the end of the next decade. Cumulative installed PV power could even reach 77 GW by the end of 2030, according to the most bullish scenario drafted by the Spanish government.APRIL 3, 2018 EMILIANO BELLINI

Spain’s Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Digital Agenda has published a new report, including new growth scenarios for the future of the Spanish energy market, which recognizes solar as the future cheapest source of power, and the dominance of PV above all other energy sources by 2030.

The first scenario, called the “distributed generation scenario” (DG), forecasts strong development of renewable energy distributed generation coupled with storage systems.

According to the most optimistic figures provided by the ministry, solar is expected to reach a power production capacity of 47.1 TWh by 2030, thus becoming the country’s leading power source, followed by wind (31.0 TWh), combined cycle plants (24.5 TWh), hydropower (23.0 TWh), cogeneration facilities (8.5 TWh), and nuclear power (7.1 TWh). Overall, storage is expected to account for 2.3 TWh of total demand.

Under this scenario, renewables would have a 70% share in Spain’s electricity mix, while solar PV technology would reach a cumulative installed power of around 77 GW, followed by wind with 47.5 GW.

A second, less ambitious scenario, called “sustainable transition scenario” (TS), also expects solar to become the largest and cheapest source of power by 2030, but with “only” 40 TWh of power production capacity, and no storage deployed. Under this scenario, however, renewables would still account for 67% of total power generation capacity, although part of the missing 7 TWh from solar would be partly replaced with 4 TWh of power generation from coal.

The country’s power demand is expected to increase from around 253 TWh currently, to 285 TWh (TS scenario) and 296 TWh (DG scenario), respectively. Costs of power generation, meanwhile, would range from €52/MWh in the TS scenario to €32.7/MWh in the DG scenario.

Commenting on the scenario with the highest penetration of solar and renewables, the Spanish government said that their increasing share would significantly reduce power generation costs, thus enabling savings of around €9.6 billion.

This would negatively impact the profitability of thermal back-up capacity, which will still be necessary in order to deal with fluctuations, while also making renewable energy project investment returns more problematic, the ministry said.

CO2 emissions, however, would be more than halved, and power exports to France would increase by around 236%, as a consequence of the price spread with the neighboring country, the report’s authors noted.

Spanish solar association, UNEF has welcomed the findings of the report, claiming that the Spanish government has finally acknowledged the high value of the PV technology.

“The forecast of a considerable increase in installed PV capacity by 2030, which would increase tenfold compared to current levels, is a key opportunity to allow citizens to have access to cheaper energy and to reach a more stable development model, in contrast to the dynamics of acceleration-braking-acceleration that has characterized the last years,” said association president, José Donoso.

Spain has currently an installed PV power of around 4.8 GW. Source: https://www.pv-magazine.com

Read More........→April 07, 2018

LG Uplus success in demonstrating '31Gbps' speed at 5G base stations

LG Uplus and Huawei engineers demonstrate 31Gbps transmission speed using 5G base stations

Using a frequency of 28GHz, which is considered to be a powerful 5G frequency, the 2GB high-definition movie is down in 0.5 seconds.

BY YEON CHOUL-WOONG (INFO@KOREAITTIMES.COM): LG Uplus demonstrated the downloading speed of up to 31Gbps, which is more than 100 times faster than the current 3-band LTE_A technology using the test 5G base station,

When LG Uplus's 5G base station is commercialized, a 2GB high-definition movie will be downloaded to the mobile phone in 0.5 seconds.

This technology demonstration was conducted in cooperation with Huawei, a global network equipment maker. LG Uplus demonstrated the speed of 31Gbps by supporting 'Massive MiMO', which is considered as core technology of 5G network, in ultra high frequency (mmWave) Because it was applicable to Huawei equipment.

Massive Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) increases the number of digital signal transmission antennas connected to one base station from two or three to more than 100, delivering data to a large number of users at the same time, It is a next generation network technology that can transmit data.

With the application of massive MIMO's ultra broadband support equipment, even if several people connect to one base station at the same time, it is possible to provide 5G service to all users at a high speed without any speed degradation. Therefore, Virtual Reality(VR), Augmented reality(AR), Ultra High Definition(UHD) Broadcasting and other high-speed streaming services.

LG Uplus explained that the demonstration was conducted based on the 5G test base station and test terminal, and it was meaningful because it used the 28GHz frequency, which is considered to be dominant in 5G frequency in Korea.

LG UPLUS is testing the quality of 5G networks and commercialization of 5G networks in the future.

As such, LG Uplus is actively engaged in early commercialization of 5G base stations in cooperation with global equipment manufacturers to flexibly respond to surging data traffic while securing 5G network leadership by introducing next-generation network core technologies..

Kang Jeong-ho of the Network Technology Department of LG Uplus said, "Ericsson has demonstrated speeds of up to 26Gbps through 5G test bases, but at this demonstration, LG Uplus introduced 5G technology-based base stations and equipment faster than previously developed base stations." and "We expect to contribute greatly to the activation of high-quality services such as 4K and 8K UHD and VR in the future."Source: http://www.koreaittimes.com/

Read More........→November 15, 2016

World's first 1 terabyte SD card is announced

Hard drive manufacturer Western Digital has announced the first 1 terabyte capacity SD card at Photokina 2016.

Western Digital Corporation (WDC), which acquired SanDisk for US$19 billion in May, has unveiled a 1 terabyte (TB) SDXC card prototype at the world's leading trade fair for photo and video professionals. With ever-increasing demand for high resolution content, such as 4K and 8K, the company continues to push the boundaries of technology and to demonstrate the power of exponential growth. "Showcasing the most advanced imaging technologies is truly exciting for us," said Dinesh Bahal, Vice President of Product Management. "16 years ago we introduced the first SanDisk 64MB SD card and today we are enabling capacities of 1TB. Over the years, our goal has remained the same: continue to innovate and set the pace for the imaging industry. The SanDisk 1TB SD card prototype represents another significant achievement as growth of high-resolution content and capacity-intensive applications such as virtual reality, video surveillance and 360 video, are progressing at astounding rates." Since the introduction of a record-breaking 512GB memory card at Photokina 2014, Western Digital has proven it can nearly double the capacity in the same SD card form factor using proprietary technology. Higher capacity cards expand the possibilities for professional videographers and photographers, giving them even greater ability to create more of the highest quality content, without the interruption of changing cards. "Just a few short years ago, the idea of a 1TB capacity point in an SD card seemed so futuristic," said Sam Nicholson, CEO of Stargate Studios and a member of the American Society of Cinematographers. "It's amazing that we're now at the point where it's becoming a reality. With growing demand for applications like VR, we can certainly use 1TB when we're out shooting continuous high-quality video. High-capacity cards allow us to capture more without interruption – streamlining our workflow, and eliminating the worry that we may miss a moment because we have to stop to swap out cards." Western Digital will be demonstrating the SanDisk 1TB card prototype and showcasing its newest offerings at Photokina, Hall 02.1 Stand A014. Source: http://www.futuretimeline.net

Read More........→September 28, 2016