Ho Chi Minh City, May 17, 2022, Touchstone Partners today announced that it participated in Eureka Robotics’ recently closed pre-Series A round of funding, which raised US$4.25 million from a handful of investors. In this fundraising round, Touchstone joins lead investor The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC) and existing investor ATEQ. Eureka Robotics is a Singapore-based start-up which develops software and systems to automate tasks that require simultaneously High Accuracy and High Agility (HA-HA) across a range of industries, including optics, electronics, and automotive. The company has deployed robots and systems in factories in Singapore, China and Japan. Eureka Robotics was founded in 2018. The company plans to use the new capital raised to expand its operations beyond Singapore where it is headquartered and Paris, France, where it maintains an R&D office, including establishing an office in Vietnam in Hanoi in July 2022. It initially plans to … [Read more...] about Touchstone Partners invests in Eureka Robotics
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Startup sales mushroom as they adapt to ensure survival
Vegetarian food Smiling Mushroom's customers are urban, high-income consumers, 85 percent of them women. The company has launched distinctive products, such as plant-based meat and food made from mushroom protein, targeting 20-55 vegetarians and dieters concerned about their health and the environment. Emmay’s distribution strategy is both B2B and B2C, via both online and offline channels. So far, the company has established 230 retail points, seven distributors and compiled 800 end-consumers data. A product of the Emmay and Colleagues JSC Its products are currently distributed at big supermarkets, such as Aeon Mall, Saigon Coop or BigC, and at about 200 clean food outlets. Eighty percent of the company’s revenue is derived from wholesale distributors and supermarkets. According to Smiling Mushroom CEO, the brand is still in the early stages of food substitutes for animal meat, making it 50 to 70 percent more expensive than animal meat. For example, a 200-gram bag … [Read more...] about Startup sales mushroom as they adapt to ensure survival
Technology applications in agricultural production introduced
Freeze-drying food preservation technology of Vietnam Green Industrial Joint Stock Company. (Photo: SGGP) The event aims to support putting products from research institutes, universities, technology enterprises, and start-up groups in HCMC to the market to serve the needs of technology applications in production and business activities. The exhibition attracted nearly 200 technology applications from 87 enterprises and institutions participating in advertising and promoting trade. The exhibition introduces new technology trends suitable to the production situation in Vietnam, especially in the field of preservation and processing of agricultural products and food, hybridization technologies of plants and livestock, including automation technology in the agricultural production process, food sterilization by high-pressure processing technology, controlled atmosphere technology, freeze-drying to prolong the preservation time of agricultural products or the reuse of wastewater from … [Read more...] about Technology applications in agricultural production introduced
Techcombank eyes seat at top Southeast Asian banking table
"Even in the very tough environment we are seeing, our employees have maintained a high quality and reliable service for our customers and this is helping us deliver stellar performance year after year," said Jens Lottner, CEO of Techcombank. Last year, the bank continued to reduce costs while focusing on building deposits in its current accounts and savings accounts (CASA), which Lottner described as a "stable and cheap" source of funding. Techcombank’s CASA ratio, which reflects the percentage of the bank’s total deposits that are CASA, jumped from 46.1 percent in 2020 to 50.5 percent last year, on its way to the bank’s target of 55 percent by 2025. Techcombank’s net interest margin (NIM), a measure of the difference between the interest received by the bank and the amount paid out to lenders, also increased 69 basis points to 5.6 percent during the year. "Together, these improving metrics, along with our effective cost management, translated into an excellent profit before tax … [Read more...] about Techcombank eyes seat at top Southeast Asian banking table
Former deputy health minister jailed in fake cancer drug scandal
Cuong was sentenced by the Hanoi’s People Court after being charged with "negligence that results in serious consequences". He is also forbidden from holding positions in the field of medicine for three years after finishing his sentence. Nguyen Minh Hung, former chairman of the management board of pharmaceutical firm Vietnam Pharma JSC, received 18 years in jail for "manufacturing and trading of counterfeit medicines for treatment or prevention of diseases". Hung had been sentenced to 17 years under the same charge at another trial over the case in 2019. His cumulative years to spend in prison will be 30 years, the maximum number of jail time for combined timed sentences in accordance with Vietnamese law. 12 others convicts related to the cases were also sentenced to between 2-20 years in jail. The sentences were the latest development in a counterfeit drug case involving Vietnam Pharma and the fake drug branded Health 2000 Canada. Cuong stands accused of violations that allowed … [Read more...] about Former deputy health minister jailed in fake cancer drug scandal
Central bank limits foreign loans for trading stock, real estate
The bank is collecting feedback on its draft circular to replace the current version with stricter conditions for receiving short-term foreign loans to ensure a national debt limit. The draft will allow Vietnamese businesses to access short-term foreign loans for paying debt, but not for potentially risky purposes like trading stock and real estate. This is because once the stock and real estate market grows way above its intrinsic value, there would be a high chance of creating an asset bubble, causing economic instability. The central bank plans to ban the use of short-term foreign loans to buy projects or stakes in them, since mergers and acquisitions involve long-term investment and commitment. It also plans to ban companies using short-term foreign loans to acquire projects or stakes in projects, as mergers and acquisitions are long-term activities. Short-term loans could result in liquidity risks if used for medium- and long-term purposes, it explained. Companies may … [Read more...] about Central bank limits foreign loans for trading stock, real estate