Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced seven winners of the KidneyX Sustainability Prize, designed to incentivize development of solutions to reduce water or power usage during dialysis care.

Today’s life-sustaining dialysis technology is facing growing concerns due to its substantial consumption of water and energy, putting patients at risk in areas experiencing resource shortages. Globally, hemodialysis requires billions of liters of water and kilowatt hours of power each year. Up to 70% of the water is rejected during filtration, further straining limited resources.

“Now through the KidneyX Sustainability Prize, we’re seizing the opportunity to transform outcomes for patients—by identifying and supporting solutions to reduce the resource demands of dialysis,” said Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel L. Levine, MD.

The KidneyX Sustainability Prize aims to seize opportunities for sustainability by identifying and supporting solutions to reduce the resource demands of maintenance dialysis. Sustainability challenges resulting from the treatment of kidney diseases present opportunities for innovation and collaboration across the dialysis ecosystem.

This prize is the latest initiative from the KidneyX Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX), a public-private partnership between HHS and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN).

While long-term therapies like artificial kidneys and regenerative cell therapies hold promise for the future, hundreds of thousands of Americans living with kidney failure today urgently need solutions that address the kidney care system’s vulnerability in the short term. Current dialysis technology, both in care facilities and at home, consumes large amounts of water and power. As water and power resources become scarcer—due to more persistent water and power shortages and acute disasters—patients’ lives will be at risk.

HHS congratulates the winners of the KidneyX Sustainability Prize, who will each receive an equal share of the $7.25 million prize purse:  

• Kuleana Technology Inc. Advancing Hemodialysis Sustainability: Dialysate Regeneration via Uremic Toxin Photo-Oxidation. “Kuleana Technology’s Dialysate Regeneration Module enables hemodialysis with just 2 liters of water per treatment, making dialysis portable and accessible while saving 300 billion liters of water per year worldwide.”
• Micro Nano Technologies Inc. Handheld Water-Free and Battery-Powered Renal Replacement System. “The proposed technology mimics kidney filtration, eliminating the need for water and operating on a laptop-sized battery for 8 hours, ensuring dialysis access during disasters without traditional infrastructure.”
• Particle4X. SMART-PD: Sustainable Home Dialysis Revolution. “SMART-PD is an advanced home dialysis system that produces sterile PD fluid from tap water, reclaims effluent, and employs AI-powered monitoring to enhance sustainability and patient safety.”
• Qidni Labs Inc. Qidni/D: A Novel Sorbent Platform for Dialysis. “The Qidni/D is a portable and nearly waterless hemodialysis system that can offer accessible and sustainable access to care anywhere.”
• Stephen Ash. Sorbent Regeneration of Dialysate with Improved Ammonium Capacity. “We have developed a sorbent with high capacity for NH4+ (from urea) and minimal binding of Ca++ and Mg++, which should make regeneration of dialysate simpler, smaller and more practical.”
• University of Minnesota. Decentralized Dialysis Fluid Production: Enhancing the Sustainability of Dialysis Care. “Our innovation enables decentralized production of peritoneal dialysis fluids, reducing dialysis energy and water consumption by 48% and 66%, respectively, increasing supply chain resilience, and improving patient outcomes worldwide.”
• Wearable Artificial Organs Inc. Green dialysis on batteries using only 300ml of water. “A 2 lb. miniaturized Wearable Artificial Kidney (WAK) powered by rechargeable batteries, continuously regenerates dialysate water and delivers continuous dialysis 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

The prize invited proposals from a diverse community of innovators—including patients, health care providers, engineers, and entrepreneurs. Solutions involved technological or process approaches, and HHS invited members of all disciplines and sectors to develop solutions that reduce water or power usage during dialysis and promote equitable access to care.

To learn more and receive future updates, please visit KidneyXSustainabilityprize.com , KidneyX.org , and hhs.gov/ash/osm/innovationx/kidneyx.

About KidneyX
The Kidney Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX) is a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) to accelerate innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases. For more information, visit kidneyx.org .

About the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
HHS enhances and protects the health and well-being of all Americans. HHS fulfills that mission by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) focused the priority of this KidneyX challenge on the sustainability of kidney care in alignment with parallel efforts to enhance the sustainability of health care that the HHS/OASH Office of Climate Change and Health Equity is leading. For more information, visit hhs.gov.

About the American Society of Nephrology
Since 1966, ASN has been leading the fight to prevent, treat, and cure kidney diseases throughout the world by educating health professionals and scientists, advancing research and innovation, communicating new knowledge and advocating for the highest quality care for patients. ASN has nearly 22,000 members representing 141 countries. For more information, visit asn-online.org 

Conavi Medical Corp. (TSXV: CNVI; OTC: CNVIF) (“Conavi Medical” or the “Company”), a commercial stage medical device company focused on designing, manufacturing, and marketing imaging technologies to guide common minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures, is pleased to announce the publication of a detailed review of its collaboration with U.S.-based Minnetronix, a world leader in high-precision medical device manufacturing. Published in the industry journal, Medical Design & Development, the article was co-authored by Tom Looby, Conavi Medical’s CEO and Darcy Hart, Minnetronix Medical’s Director of Optical Products.

“We’re leveraging our next-generation technology with Minnetronix’s deep product engineering experience,” commented Tom Looby. “Their expert team helped us improve every dimension of performance while optimizing for manufacturability and cost. With the new European interventional cardiology guidelines strongly recommending intravascular imaging and the expectation that U.S. guidelines will follow suit, we have an extraordinary opportunity in a market where 80% of procedures still rely on old technology. Conavi’s unique, no-compromise dual imaging solution is the right product in the right place at the right time.”

The article is available at: medicaldesigndevelopment.com/topics/imaging/article/22928873/how-conavi-and-minnetronix-combined-ivus-and-oct-into-one-dualbeam-imaging-system

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws, which reflect the current expectations of management of Conavi’s future growth, results of operations, performance and business prospects and opportunities. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “plan”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “potential for” and similar expressions, although these words may not be present in all forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements that appear in this release may include, without limitation, references to Conavi’s plans for the commercialization of its Novasight Hybrid™ System.

These forward-looking statements reflect management’s current beliefs with respect to future events, and are based on information currently available to management that, while considered reasonable by management as of the date on which the statements are made, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies which could result in actions, events, conditions, results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions and many factors could cause Conavi’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors and assumptions include, but are not limited to, Conavi’s ability to retain key personnel; its ability to execute on its business plans and strategies; and other factors listed in the “Risk Factors” sections of the joint information circular of Conavi dated August 30, 2024 (which may be viewed at sedarplus.com). Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results, performance, or achievements may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. These factors should be considered carefully, and prospective investors should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in the news release are based upon what management currently believes to be reasonable assumptions and Conavi has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events, conditions, results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, Conavi cannot assure prospective investors that actual results, performance or achievements will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Conavi expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All the forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Contacts

Stephen Kilmer
Investor Relations
(647) 872-4849
stephen.kilmer@conavi.com

Stefano Picone
Chief Financial Officer
(416) 483-0100

TORONTO, Dec. 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Conavi Medical Corp. (TSXV: CNVI) (“Conavi Medical” or the “Company”), a commercial stage company focused on designing, manufacturing, and marketing imaging technologies to guide common minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures, is pleased to announce that its exclusive licensing partner in China, East Ocean Medical (Hong Kong) Company Limited (“EOM”), has received approval by the China National Medical Products Administration (“NMPA”) for its coronary imaging system, which is based on Novasight Hybrid™ System intellectual property licensed to it by the Company via a June 2021 technology transfer and licensing agreement (“TTLA“). EOM is an affiliate of Grand Pharmaceutical Group Ltd., which is a Hong Kong-based company principally engaged in the manufacturing and sales of pharmaceutical preparations and medical devices.

Pursuant to the TTLA, the NMPA approval of EOM’s coronary imaging system triggers a fourth and final milestone payment of US$5.9 million by EOM to Conavi Medical. While Conavi Medical expects to recognize the milestone payment as licensing income in the current fiscal quarter, it will use the total proceeds to fund the repurchase of the outstanding principal plus accrued interest balance in respect of a promissory note owing to EOM. The balance of this promissory note is also US$5.9 million, thereby extinguishing all of the Company’s debt owed to EOM. Upon future commercialization in China, EOM will pay to Conavi Medical certain tiered royalty payments, ranging from 5.0%-10.0% of 75.0% of amounts invoiced to EOM coronary imaging system customers, provided that EOM shall pay a minimum nonrefundable annual royalty of US $250,000, which shall be creditable against the royalties otherwise due pursuant to the TTLA.

“We congratulate our China licensing partner, EOM, on receiving NMPA approval of its Novasight Hybrid-based coronary imaging system,” said Tom Looby, Conavi Medical’s CEO. “The NMPA approval marks a major milestone for both companies and provides important additional validation of our hybrid imaging technology, which is the first to combine two major intravascular imaging modalities – IVUS and OCT – to help guide common minimally invasive coronary procedures. China is an important market for emerging medical technologies, and we look forward to EOM’s commercial launch of the technology early next year.”

About Conavi Medical

Conavi Medical is focused on designing, manufacturing, and marketing imaging technologies to guide common minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures. Its patented Novasight Hybrid™ System is the first system to combine both intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) to enable simultaneous and co-registered imaging of coronary arteries. The Novasight Hybrid System has 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and regulatory approval for clinical use from Health Canada, China’s National Medical Products Administration, and Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. For more information, visit http://www.conavi.com/.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information 

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws, which reflect the current expectations of management of Conavi’s future growth, results of operations, performance and business prospects and opportunities. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “plan”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “potential for” and similar expressions, although these words may not be present in all forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements that appear in this release may include, without limitation, references to Conavi’s plans for the commercialization of its Novasight Hybrid™ System, and EOM’s plans for the commercialization of its coronary imaging system and potential royalties payable to Conavi in connection therewith.

These forward-looking statements reflect management’s current beliefs with respect to future events, and are based on information currently available to management that, while considered reasonable by management as of the date on which the statements are made, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies which could result in actions, events, conditions, results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions and many factors could cause Conavi’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors and assumptions include, but are not limited to, Conavi’s ability to retain key personnel; its ability to execute on its business plans and strategies; and other factors listed in the “Risk Factors” sections of the joint information circular of Conavi dated August 30, 2024 (which may be viewed at www.sedarplus.com). Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results, performance, or achievements may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. These factors should be considered carefully, and prospective investors should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in the news release are based upon what management currently believes to be reasonable assumptions and Conavi has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events, conditions, results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, Conavi cannot assure prospective investors that actual results, performance or achievements will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Conavi expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All the forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Contacts

Stephen Kilmer
Investor Relations
(647) 872-4849
stephen.kilmer@conavi.com                                 

Stefano Picone
Chief Financial Officer
(416) 483-0100

The second day of the ventureLAB HardTech Summit 2024 was nothing short of extraordinary, bringing together some of the brightest minds in the startup ecosystem for an evening filled with exciting pitches, keynotes and networking opportunities. 

The night kicked off with opening remarks from ventureLAB CEO Hugh Chow and Minister Victor Fedelli, highlighting the critical role that Canada plays in driving technological innovation across the country, with a focus on the semiconductor sector. Their remarks highlighted the  significance of Canada’s startup ecosystem, top-tier talent, and world-class institutions in advancing Canada’s role in the global tech industry.

Followed by a keynote session from Mark Miller, CEO of Volaris Group, who shared his entrepreneurial journey. Since joining ventureLAB  as a member of the board  in 2020, Mark has significantly grown and impacted our ecosystem, proving that continuous growth and diverse talent are key to success in the tech industry.

The main event of the evening was the HardTech Pitch Competition, where 8 finalists took the stage to pitch their groundbreaking technologies. Cattle Scan, a startup dedicated to identifying cows with illness early, took home the $30,000 Tech Bridge award, while Kimia Analytics, a company manufacturing ICP Mass Spectrometers for wide range applications, earned the $20,000 Sterling award – showcasing the incredible innovations from our tech ecosystem.

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A major highlight of the evening was a special address by Mayor of Markham Frank Scarpitti, who took the main stage to speak about Markham’s growing influence in the global semiconductor industry – as Markham’s strategic positioning within this network positions the city as a key player in the future of technology and innovation.

Following Mayor Scarpitti’s speech, MP Melissa Lantsman, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and Member of Parliament for Thornhill, took the stage to share her perspective on the importance of collaboration and innovation for Canada’s future, reminding everyone that when we work together, the country as a whole can achieve remarkable success. The gala was joined by Councillor Amanda Collucci, and Regional Councillor Alan Ho, demonstrating their support for creating an ecosystem where tech startups can grow and succeed.

A standout moment of the evening was the announcement of a new MOU between ventureLAB and Hudson Valley FastFab (HVFF), a disruptive semiconductor manufacturing company dedicated to pioneering advanced solutions in the semiconductor sector. The MOU, signed by ventureLAB CEO Hugh Chow and Dick Thurston, CEO of HVFF, marks a significant step forward in advancing semiconductors across the border, opening new doors for collaboration and innovation.

Marine Thinking is proud to announce that our CEO, Wenwen Pei, has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious 2024 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards. This recognition highlights Wenwen’s leadership and dedication to driving innovation in the marine technology industry.

The RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards, hosted by Women of Influence+, celebrate women leaders who have made significant contributions to their fields. Being recognized among such accomplished entrepreneurs is a testament to Wenwen’s vision and the impactful work being done at Marine Thinking.

Under Wenwen’s guidance, Marine Thinking has pioneered advancements in autonomous marine technology, including the development of our cutting-edge Marine Acadia™ platform and Marine Tensor™ system. This achievement reflects the company’s mission to push the boundaries of what’s possible in the marine sector.

A heartfelt thank you to Women of Influence+ for recognizing Wenwen’s contributions and to the broader community for supporting our journey.

To learn more about Wenwen’s inspiring path, watch the following video: https://lnkd.in/eNrr8hun

We look forward to cheering Wenwen on as the awards unfold and celebrating the achievements of all the incredible women being honored this year.

Sesame, the embedded finance credit intelligence platform, empowers businesses to unlock new growth while delighting and engaging their customers

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 24, 2024 — Credit Sesame, a pioneer in consumer-focused financial technology, today announced the launch of its groundbreaking credit intelligence platform, Sesame for businesses. With a focus on delivering innovative credit solutions, Sesame redefines the credit management category and empowers businesses to offer unprecedented credit intelligence and experience for customers. Building on over a decade of credit expertise with a proven track record of serving 18 million customers and AI models trained with over 7 trillion data points, the platform provides a full stack, end-to-end solution with personalized credit analysis, real-time financial insights, and access to an offer engine to tailor credit offers. These features are integrated seamlessly into the platform’s award-winning experience, the first of its kind in the market.

With six patents in credit technology, this transformative platform sets a new standard in credit management, and enables enterprises to deliver credit in context for a superior credit experience that meets the evolving demands of consumers and today’s market.

Focus on Driving Consumer Success

The Sesame platform enables consumers to improve their credit health by providing personalized, actionable recommendations that help raise credit scores, lower borrowing costs, and enhance financial stability. With better credit, consumers gain access to more favorable loan terms, lower interest rates, and a wider range of financial products, which can significantly reduce the cost of borrowing and open new financial opportunities.

Sesame Platform Key Features: Unlocking New Opportunities for Businesses

Sesame empowers businesses to offer personalized credit and financial wellness solutions “out-of-the-box” with full customization capabilities. With the ability to integrate seamlessly into existing systems, businesses can launch customized credit management solutions quickly and efficiently, driving growth while deepening customer relationships.

• Instant, Personalized Credit Insights: Advanced AI technology delivers actionable credit analysis – praised by customers and reflected in industry-leading ratings – and recommendations, empowering consumers to improve their credit scores and make informed credit decisions in the context of their credit well-being.
• Customizable Offers Engine: Provides credit offers in context by connecting their financial products with the consumers’ credit profiles or sourcing from a broad marketplace of products
• Scalable, White-Label Integration: Businesses can seamlessly integrate the Sesame platform’s features into their existing systems, allowing for complete customization and branding and making it easy to launch personalized credit solutions quickly and efficiently.

“Consumers deserve a smooth and personalized experience when managing their credit,” said Adrian Nazari, CEO of Credit Sesame. “The Sesame platform leverages our years of experience combining the power of data, analytics, and AI to deliver credit in context, exactly when and where customers need it. This is the kind of tailored, intelligent experience that consumers expect from their financial partners in the modern era. This is a game-changer for financial institutions, unlocking new growth opportunities while enhancing customer satisfaction, retention, and engagement.”

A Defining Moment for the Industry

The launch comes at a pivotal moment, as the financial services industry anticipates a new cycle of declining interest rates following historic rate hikes. This shift is expected to trigger a surge in refinancing and credit transactions over the next few years. With the Sesame platform, financial institutions can position themselves to capitalize on this trend by offering innovative credit solutions that meet the rising demand for consumer-friendly credit management.

The Shift is Already Underway

A significant financial enterprise customer, serving tens of millions of customers, has already adopted the Sesame platform, with interest among other leading enterprises growing. The upcoming public announcement of this major partnership underscores the platform’s robustness and growing demand in the market.

About Credit Sesame

Credit Sesame is a leading financial wellness platform dedicated to helping consumers achieve better financial health through cutting-edge technology and data-driven solutions. With a decade of credit expertise and a proven track record of serving over 18 million users, Credit Sesame leverages AI and advanced analytics to empower individuals to improve their credit scores, enhance approval odds, and reduce credit costs.

The recently launched Sesame Platform extends this mission by providing financial institutions with a turnkey AI-powered credit intelligence solution. It enables businesses to offer personalized credit and financial wellness experiences, driving deeper customer engagement and growth.

Backed by leading institutional and strategic investors, Credit Sesame operates across the U.S. For more information, visit www.creditsesame.com and follow on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

NEW YORK and TORONTO, Oct. 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Leading biotech company, Genecis Bioindustries, announces today the launch of its first consumer brand, Mad Tea, offering the first 100% compostable tea pods. Designed to bring masterful tea experiences to the home, Mad Tea pods are made from sustainable PHA-based bioplastics and are fully compatible with Nespresso machines, allowing tea lovers to brew convenient, barista-quality teas in under 30 seconds.

Mad Tea’s innovative pods draw inspiration from popular specialty teas found in boba shops and cafes, plus the convenience of portable coffee capsules – ensuring that each is filled with high-quality and expertly-chosen tea leaves that can delight a tea drinker at any time of day. Each pod includes a mix of premium teas and sweeteners, offered in a range of flavors, including: Matcha, Chai, Jasmine Milk Tea, Earl Grey, Chamomile Lavender, Thai Milk, Brown Sugar Milk, and Peach Oolong. Through the high-pressure brewing technique of a Nespresso machine, these blends quickly brew into strong, flavorful teas that can easily become tea lattes by adding any type of milk. Additionally, all Mad Tea pods are vegan and lactose-free.

Engineered to be industrially compostable, the revolutionary tea pods are made from a proprietary strain of bacteria that creates bioplastics, including PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates), which are natural and non-toxic to humans and wildlife. Able to be broken down completely, without leaving microplastics behind, Mad Tea pods also offer durability during the brewing process – resulting in less waste compared to traditional plastic or aluminum coffee and tea pods.

“At Mad Tea, we believe that convenience and accessibility shouldn’t come at the expense of taste, quality, or the ritual of tea making,” said Luna Yu, CEO and Founder of Mad Tea. “Our tea pods allow consumers to indulge in premium teas and tea lattes in their everyday lives, while simultaneously reducing our reliance on traditional plastics that harm the environment and our bodies.”

“We’ve crafted a new way to experience tea with our pods, which are strongly influenced by boba teas and the efficiency of espresso brewing,” shared Junwei Lv, Head of Flavor Development at Mad Tea. “In making the pods, we selected specialty teas that often take a lot of time to prepare at home – or might be costly to buy at the store or a cafe – and found a solution that bridges the need for affordable and fast solutions with enjoyable and bold flavors.”

According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, an estimated 10 million metric tons of plastic waste and microplastics enter the oceans each year and researchers project that the total amount of plastic waste circulating the world’s oceans will be 150 million tons by 2025. Data also suggests that the average person can eat, drink or breathe between 78,000 and 211,000 microplastic particles every year, which has the potential to increase the likelihood of heart attack, stroke, or death.

Founded in 2017 by Luna Yu, Genecis Bioindustries is at the forefront of sustainable biotechnology, creating PHA bioplastics from engineered bacteria and organic biomass. Its mission is to accelerate the transition away from synthetic to all-natural, sustainable materials, focusing on industries where PHAs can excel.

The company has provided innovative bioplastic solutions to major partners such as Amazon, Novo Nordisk, and Sodexo. To date, Genecis has raised $30 million in funding from investors and grants, including Khosla Ventures, BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice, Amazon, and Y Combinator. Additionally, Yu was recently recognized to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for her groundbreaking work in biotechnology.

Starting today, Mad Tea’s tea pods are available to purchase directly from their website. The brand’s tea pods are also featured as an in-room amenity at the W Hotels locations in New York City (Union Square) and Los Angeles (Hollywood and West Beverly Hills), as well as the popular Palisociety hotel group’s locations in Los Angeles. For more information, follow Mad Tea on Instagram or visit www.madtea.com.

About Mad Tea
Mad Tea is a pioneering consumer brand dedicated to transforming the tea-drinking experience with its 100% compostable tea pods that are designed for one-touch coffee machines. Founded in 2024, Mad Tea is a division of Genecis Bioindustries, a leader in sustainable materials innovation and backed by investors including Amazon, Khosla Ventures, and Y Combinator. Its unique tea pods, made from PHA-based bioplastics, offer a convenient and sustainable way to enjoy delicious, café-quality teas at home.

Mosaic Manufacturing Ltd. announced Wednesday it received $28 million CAD in growth financing to help it produce more of its 3D printers that are built in Canada. 

Montréal’s Idealist Capital led the all-equity round, which closed in June, with follow-on investment from previous investor Freycinet Ventures based in Toronto. As part of the funding, Idealist’s François Boudreault will join the board alongside Mosaic co-founders Mitch Debora, Derek Vogt, Chris Labelle, and Freycinet’s James Appleyard. The round also included undisclosed investors that were private family offices, Debora said. 

“We were seeing strong traction with manufacturers adopting our technology to onshore their supply chains.”Mosaic CEO Mitch Debora

Since its founding in 2014, Mosaic has secured $10 million USD of dilutive funding over several rounds from investors including Techstars, Real Ventures, and SOAN. That capital also includes financial support from  DDQIC, NGen, IRAP, MaRS, OCE, Venture Lab, CTA, and Canada Makes.

“We raised this round of funding because we were seeing strong traction with manufacturers adopting our technology to onshore their supply chains, and we saw all the right signals to suggest that it was time to scale, but capital became the biggest constraint,” Debora, Mosaic’s CEO, told BetaKit in an interview. 

“Having had the money for a few months, we’re already in the scaling phase and working to bring our technology to more factories,” he said. 

The Toronto-based startup sells automated 3D printers, plus accompanying software and materials, that manufacturers use in their factories to produce custom plastic parts on demand. Mosaic has a selection of printers ranging from $10,000 USD to $100,000 USD.

The company’s most recent innovation, named Array, launched in the beginning of 2023 and resembles a vending machine with four printing compartments. Inside the Array is a storage area that catches all the 3D printed parts. If a factory operations manager tells the system to create 30,000 parts, the machine can continuously produce the pieces and store them inside the Array over a 72-hour period, Debora gave as an example. 

“It can go through the weekend before any type of manual intervention is required,” he said, adding that its customers will have “10, 20, however many [machines] they need” that fits their capacity requirements.

Debora said the company has benefited from Western countries’ recent push to shorten supply chains, known as nearshoring or onshoring. The pandemic, which disrupted manufacturing and led to shortages and jammed ports, along with growing geopolitical tensions with China bolstered the need for Mosaic’s technology, he added. 

Mosaic currently has clients in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Germany and Hong Kong. Its customers are mostly contract manufacturers that make products for other companies, particularly in the medical device and machinery equipment and automation verticals. The new funding will help it acquire customers in other verticals and focus on growth in North America and Europe. In the next few quarters, the company plans to make an announcement around its technology producing consumer textiles, Debora said. 

The funding will also be used to double Mosaic’s 60 person team, which is located in the Greater Toronto Area, over the next 12 to 18 months. Debora said he plans to build out the senior leadership ranks and grow the commercial division. As well, the $28 million CAD will go towards building out the Canadian-based infrastructure that makes the 3D printers. 

“We’re really capitalizing on being first to market here, working with some of the biggest companies in the world,” Debora said, though he wouldn’t divulge who his customers are. “We’ve built this robot operated, mass 3D printing powered system that’s really in a category of its own.”

Feature image courtesy Mosaic Manufacturing Ltd.

Mosaic to scale homegrown 3D printing infrastructure with $28 million CAD of equity growth funding

Kitchener-Waterloo startup ApplyBoard has secured a $100-million CAD credit facility to “triple down on growth,” CEO Meti Basiri told BetaKit in an exclusive interview. To do that, the educational technology company will place less emphasis on English-speaking countries.

RBCx, the tech banking and innovation arm of Canada’s largest bank, issued the credit facility to the EdTech startup in the second quarter of 2024, but the company held off the announcement until Sept. 17, Basiri said. Terms of the loan were not disclosed. 

“English-speaking countries will continue their fair share [of international recruitment], but the pie itself is getting bigger.”—ApplyBoard CEO Meti Basiri

“We’re thinking about student mobility and how it’s going to change over the next decade. So how can we set ourselves up for more expansion?” Basiri said of the financing. 

Two days after the company announced the financing, media reports indicated the company laid off four percent of its global workforce, which are located in Ontario. On Wednesday, the federal government announced it would implement further reductions and restrictions on international students and post-graduation work permits.

ApplyBoard, which reached Unicorn status during the pandemic, was founded in 2015 by Basiri and his brothers Martin and Massi. Inspired by their experience emigrating from Iran to study in Canada, the trio launched an artificial intelligence-enabled software platform that helps international students apply to more than 1,500 post-secondary institutions across Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia. 

Tony Barkett, head of banking and capital at RBCx, said when he partners with tech companies, he looks for disruptive technologies that are “defensible,” a growth story and revenue trajectory, and a strong management team. If the company is backed by venture capital he looks at the investor group.

“If I take that idea and put it on the lens of ApplyBoard, they’re positioned very well,” Barkett said in an interview. “They’re at a size and scale in Canada that is only matched by a handful of other companies. There’s not a lot of Unicorns in Canada.”

Since its $375 million CAD Series D round in 2021, ApplyBoard has expanded its product offerings to cater to the needs of international students. In May, it partnered with TD Bank to allow users to open guaranteed investment certificates through its platform and accrue interest before landing in Canada (ApplyBoard also has a deal with RBC to offer GICs). A month later, it launched a GPT-based AI chatbot agent called Abbie that provides support and guidance about any step of the post-secondary application process in any language.

Basiri said the company will use the $100 million CAD to expand beyond English-speaking countries to 20 new destinations, with a particular eye on bringing European and Asian schools to the platform by 2030. Currently, ApplyBoard has beta launched in Germany with plans to bring it fully online by early next year. Within two years, the company plans to add another 10 countries to the platform. 

The debt facility could also be used for future mergers and acquisitions, Basiri mentioned briefly, but he said the focus is on research and development and growth. 

ApplyBoard is targeting non-English-speaking markets because those countries are realizing the advantages international students bring to their economy, the CEO said. What’s more, countries in Europe are facing population declines and one possible solution to solving the crisis is by bringing in international students, he said.  

“You bring someone into your country, they get a degree from your school and you embed them into your workforce. They become far more successful than immigrants with foreign credentials,” Basiri said, adding that countries like Japan, Korea, Italy, and France are increasingly warming up to bringing in more international students. 

“English-speaking countries will continue their fair share [of international recruitment], but the pie itself is getting bigger, so new players will have bigger portions of [it],” he said. 

The focus abroad comes as the need for ApplyBoard’s services lessens at home. At the beginning of the year, the Canadian government announced a cap on student visas, citing increased pressure on housing, healthcare and other services. Basiri said the move negatively impacted ApplyBoard’s Canadian business, but the company is focused on its international expansion. 

According to an ApplyBoard report, the number of new study permit applications processed by the federal government dropped 54 percent in Q2 this year compared to the same period in 2023. The report projects that the number of applications will drop 47 percent from 436,600 approved last year to just over 231,000 in 2024.

“What we would have maybe achieved in 10 years, now we’re going to achieve it in six years. So there is always upside and opportunities in any of these challenges,” he said. 

Currently, ApplyBoard generates revenue from the schools on its platform and test providers, such as ones that offer language proficiency certifications. Long-term, Basiri said he wants the company to evolve into a platform that helps international students beyond their post-secondary applications, such as helping them decide where they will bank or find accommodations. He also mentioned the possibility of one day helping students get their mortgages through the ApplyBoard platform. 

Whether ApplyBoard gets there by raising another equity funding round or going public, Basiri didn’t say. For now, he’s satisfied with where the company is at and its trajectory. 

“We have a huge run rate and we don’t have challenges,” he said. “We’re focusing on the next phase of our work.” 

Feature image courtesy ApplyBoard.

Exclusive: ApplyBoard secures $100-million CAD credit facility to fuel global expansion

news source:https://www.agri-neo.com/2023/10/06/agri-neo-and-henan-sunny-foodstuff-announce-partnership-to-strengthen-food-safety-and-improve-food-quality/

Neo-Pure Organic Pasteurization will ensure the food safety and quality of Henan Sunny’s spices and dehydrated vegetable products, starting with dehydrated garlic.

TORONTO, Oct. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Agri-Neo, a leader in food safety for low-moisture foods, is pleased to announce its partnership with Henan Sunny Foodstuff, a globally recognized manufacturer and exporter of spices and dehydrated vegetables in China. Henan Sunny will implement the Neo-Pure Organic Pasteurization technology in its Henan facility in China to deliver the highest food safety and quality standards to its customers worldwide, starting with dehydrated garlic products.

“At Henan Sunny, our mission is to produce top-quality products to meet the growing needs of our customers,” said Johnny Li, CEO of Henan Sunny Foodstuff. “We never stop improving production processes and quality control systems. Neo-Pure demonstrates our commitment to food safety by using the most advanced technology to satisfy our customers in more than 70 countries. We will start offering Neo-Pure Pasteurized (NPP) dehydrated garlic products in Q1 of 2024 and expand its use into other dehydrated vegetables throughout the year.”

The Neo-Pure Organic Pasteurization process enables Henan Sunny to achieve a 99.999% (5-log) reduction of pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli without compromising food quality. It works by misting a patented blend of organic actives onto food in a continuous flow to inactivate pathogens and reduce total plate count. Since Neo-Pure does not rely on heat, steam, chemical fumigation, or irradiation, Neo-Pure Pasteurized (NPP) foods maintain food integrity, meaning the natural sensory quality, nutrition, and shelf life remain unchanged, just as nature intended.

“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Henan Sunny,” said Robert Wong, President of Agri-Neo. “Just like dehydrated onions, dehydrated garlic is a sensitive ingredient that does not work well with heat-based methods such as steam and infrared. The Neo-Pure Organic Pasteurization process maintains the vital organoleptic properties of garlic such as color and flavor, while delivering a validated kill step to meet industry requirements. Furthermore, products that go through the Neo-Pure process can be sold anywhere in the world, unlike methods like irradiation that are commercially restricted for sale in many countries. We believe this collaboration with Henan Sunny will provide them with a significant advantage in the market by strengthening the food safety and quality of their product portfolio.”

Henan Sunny will exhibit at the Anuga Trade Fair in Germany in October (Hall 1.2, Stand K030).