BEIJING, Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — On Oct. 17, The Esports Innovation and Communication Seminar, held under the guidance of the China Media Group (CMG) National Institute for Esports Development and hosted by CCTV Animation Group Co., Ltd., concluded in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province. The event brought together leaders from the global esports sector, highlighting China’s growing influence in competitive gaming infrastructure and broader ecosystem growth while offering actionable insights for international operators.

Arthur Lang, CEO of International Business at Singtel, said, “Chinese esports firms are integrating 5G, edge computing, and artificial intelligence to deliver immersive audience experiences unlike any before.” Singtel has partnered with multiple operators across Southeast Asia, adapting Chinese esports deployment models to support cross-border tournaments for titles such as Valorant with under 40 milliseconds of latency.

A representative from Middle Eastern telecom operator Airtel noted that Chinese innovations in 8K UHD live production and AI-driven real-time data analysis are reshaping production standards for esports events. “We have implemented these technical approaches in the Middle Eastern market, raising the performance standard of local tournament broadcasts.”

Beyond technology, the cultural dimension of Chinese esports also drew recognition. According to Singtel’s research in the Asia-Pacific region, esports content featuring traditional Chinese cultural elements has resonated strongly with younger audiences in Southeast Asia. Characters inspired by Wuxia (martial arts heroes) aesthetics and stage designs drawn from Dunhuang murals have become effective touchpoints for cross-cultural dialogue.

Chinese esports also shows distinctive strength in engaging younger demographics. North American operator T-Mobile has adopted strategies from Chinese platforms—such as building esports communities and launching co-branded activities—to strengthen youth participation and belonging. The Head of T-Mobile’s Esports Program commented that Chinese platforms are successfully turning passive viewers into active participants, a model worth examining.

Singtel has outlined plans to expand cooperation with Chinese esports companies to jointly develop new models such as “Esports + Cultural Tourism” and “Esports + Music,” with the goal of delivering more diverse digital entertainment experiences to users worldwide.

Chinese esports, powered by both technological innovation and cultural resonance, is establishing a new benchmark for the global industry. With active involvement from international operators, esports is becoming a key convergence point linking technology with culture, and tradition with modernity, opening a new phase of global collaboration in the digital age. 

New companies, products and partnerships highlight Taiwan’s role in accelerating deep tech 

TAIPEI, Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Playground Global, the leading deep tech venture capital firm, today announced new companies, innovations, and partnerships across its next-gen compute portfolio — spotlighting Taiwan as the accelerator for the next era of computing. From power and photonics to interconnect and lithography, seven Playground companies shared major milestones at a press conference in Taipei — demonstrating how Taiwan’s ecosystem takes the industry’s most advanced technologies from concept to scale. Playground also co-hosted a dinner with Foxconn Chairman Young Liu as part of the visit, highlighting a shared focus on advancing deep tech in Taiwan and the longevity of Playground and Foxconn’s partnership.

“I’ve been coming to Taiwan for more than 40 years, and every time I’m reminded this is where technology breakthroughs become reality,” said Pat Gelsinger, General Partner at Playground Global. “No ecosystem moves faster from idea to scale. Taiwan’s precision, pace, and deep tech expertise make it the world’s proving ground for the industry’s most ambitious hardware companies — and a critical hub for Playground as we support founders from concept and prototype to production.”

Behind that rapid progress is a deeper transformation, said Peter Barrett, General Partner at Playground Global. “From advancing the fundamentals of how we compute, from giant leaps in EUV lithography to new ways of powering and interconnecting semiconductors, to entirely new architectures for AI and high-performance computing that break with eighty years of convention, and onward to quantum systems and technologies beyond semiconductors, Playground’s portfolio companies underscore a profound truth: we are only at the beginning of the computing revolution.”

Playground Portfolio Companies Announce New Breakthroughs and Partnerships in Taiwan
Across company launches, product unveilings, and collaborations, Playground’s portfolio showcased how deep tech innovations are being built and scaled through Taiwan’s world-class ecosystem.

PowerLattice Technologies –  Company and product launch, new funding 
PowerLattice came out of stealth today with $25 million in funding from Playground to introduce the industry’s first power-delivery chiplet. By bringing power directly into the processor package, PowerLattice delivers the performance and efficiency gains AI systems need to continue scaling — cutting energy use by over 50% and doubling performance. PowerLattice is already sampling with major U.S. customers as it moves toward full-scale deployment.

PicoJool – Company and product launch, new funding
PicoJool, a pioneer in high-performance optical connectivity, emerged from stealth today with $12 million in funding from Playground. PicoJool builds light-speed optical interconnects that replace copper in AI and high-performance computing data centers—cutting power and heat, reducing cost, and unlocking significantly more bandwidth per rack. Based in the U.S., PicoJool manufactures entirely in Taiwan, leveraging the local semiconductor ecosystem to accelerate development and scale. 

Vertical Semiconductor – Product sampling in Taiwan
Backed by $11 million in funding, Vertical Semiconductor is rewriting how power flows through AI data centers. The MIT spinout is developing vertical GaN transistors that deliver more power to AI chips all while cutting heat, shrinking power system footprints, and improving overall performance. Today, Vertical introduced early sampling of its high-efficiency transistors, unlocking smaller, cooler, and more cost-effective power systems for next-generation AI infrastructure.

Ayar Labs – New partnership in Taiwan; Gelsinger joins board
Ayar Labs is redefining AI system design with its breakthrough optical I/O chiplets for co-packaged optics. By using silicon photonics to move data with light instead of electricity, Ayar Labs solution eliminates bandwidth, latency, and power bottlenecks that limit traditional electrical interconnects. Its optical solution delivers 5–10× more bandwidth, 3–5× greater energy efficiency, and 10× lower latency — unlocking entirely new system architectures for next-generation AI and high-performance computing. Yesterday, the company announced a strategic partnership with Global Unichip Corp.(GUC), to integrate CPO into GUC’s advanced ASIC design services. Ayar Labs also announced that Pat Gelsinger has joined its board, strengthening the company’s leadership as it enters its next phase of growth and global integration.

d-Matrix – New partnerships in Taiwan
An AI inference pioneer, d-Matrix is enabling faster, more efficient, and scalable AI with its breakthrough in-memory compute architecture. Its chiplet-based platform overcomes the “memory wall” in generative AI, delivering up to 10× lower latency and 10× greater energy efficiency than GPU-based systems — powering the next generation of high-performance, low-power AI infrastructure. d-Matrix recently raised $275 million in Series C funding, valuing the company at $2 billion and bringing the total raised to date to $450 million. Today, d-Matrix announced a collaboration With Alchip, ASE, and TSMC on the World’s First 3D DRAM Solution to Supercharge AI Inference. 

NextSilicon – Technology debut in Taiwan
NextSilicon is reinventing high-performance computing with its Intelligent Compute Architecture, delivering 10× speedups over traditional GPUs while consuming half the power. Its software-optimized accelerator adapts dynamically to complex workloads, enabling unmatched performance and efficiency across industries from finance to scientific research. Backed by over $300 million in funding, the company today announced in Taiwan its flagship chip, Maverick-2, along with a custom RISC-V CPU core, expanding its reach beyond accelerators.

xLight – Company debut in Taiwan
Backed by over $50 million in funding, xLight is addressing the biggest productivity bottleneck in semiconductor manufacturing: the EUV lithography light source. In its Taiwan introduction, the company shared how it’s developing the world’s most powerful free electron lasers to help foundries boost throughput, improve yield, and reduce costs — delivering up to 5× greater energy efficiency per wafer. xLight is building the next-generation light engines that will double existing fab productivity, and power the fabs of tomorrow.

Playground’s engagement with Taiwan is more than an investment — it’s a shared bet on the future of computing. The combination of Playground’s technical depth and global perspective with Taiwan’s unmatched capabilities in semiconductors, advanced packaging, and precision manufacturing is laying the foundation for the next era of high-performance, sustainable innovation.

About Playground Global
Playground Global is a deep tech venture capital firm with over $1.2 billion under management, backing early-stage startups tackling foundational challenges in next-generation compute, automation, energy transition, and engineered biology. Founded in 2015 and based in Palo Alto, Playground partners closely with technical and scientific founders to turn breakthrough ideas into enduring companies. The firm’s portfolio includes PsiQuantum, MosaicML (acquired by Databricks), d-Matrix, Agility Robotics, Ideon, Ultima Genomics, and Strand Therapeutics. Learn more at www.playground.vc

New Weixin/WeChat Mini Program set to enhance Chinese visitors’ tourism and mobility experience in Singapore

HONG KONG, Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of global technology company Tencent, today announced the expansion of its strategic partnership with Ryde Group Ltd (NYSE American: RYDE) (“Ryde” or the “Company”), a technology leader in mobility and quick commerce in Singapore. This new phase introduces the launch of the Weixin Mini Program in Singapore, building upon the earlier integration of Tencent Cloud Real-Time Communication (TRTC) technology that enhanced in-app communications within the Ryde platform. Weixin is China’s most popular messaging and social platform, known internationally as WeChat.

The newly launched Weixin/WeChat Mini Program aims to elevate accessibility and convenience for Chinese tourists visiting Singapore. Through this feature, users can seamlessly book Ryde rides directly within the Weixin/WeChat ecosystem — eliminating the need for additional app downloads. The interface supports Simplified Chinese, displays fares in RMB, and enables smooth payments via Weixin/WeChat Pay.

This collaboration further strengthens Ryde’s partnership with Tencent Cloud, extending beyond backend infrastructure to introduce user-centric services that harness Weixin/WeChat’s extensive reach. Together, both companies advance their shared vision of improving cross-border mobility, delivering personalized user experiences, and supporting Singapore’s vibrant inbound tourism from China.

Kenneth Siow, Regional Director for Southeast Asia and General Manager for Singapore & Malaysia at Tencent Cloud International, said, “This expanded partnership underscores our firm commitment to deepening digital integration within the Weixin/WeChat ecosystem. It exemplifies Tencent’s dedication to extending Weixin/WeChat Pay and Mini Program solutions beyond China, delivering tangible benefits to overseas markets. We are proud to support Singapore’s inbound tourism by enhancing connectivity and user experience through our Mini Programs.”

Nitin Dolli, CTO at Ryde Group, said, “Partnering with Tencent Cloud strengthens Ryde’s position as a leading local platform collaborating with global technology pioneers to deliver sustainable, scalable mobility solutions. The new Mini Program enhances accessibility for over 3 million Chinese visitors each year, offering a familiar and localized booking experience that aligns with their language and currency preferences. We are excited to build on this collaboration, exploring new opportunities that enhance our competitive edge and reinforce our dedication to creating smarter, more seamless experiences for our users.”

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About Tencent Cloud:

Tencent Cloud, one of the world’s leading cloud companies, is committed to creating innovative solutions to resolve real-world issues and enabling digital transformation for smart industries. Through our extensive global infrastructure, Tencent Cloud provides businesses across the globe with stable and secure industry-leading cloud products and services, leveraging technological advancements such as cloud computing, Big Data analytics, AI, IoT, and network security. It is our constant mission to meet the needs of industries across the board, including the fields of gaming, media and entertainment, finance, healthcare, property, retail, travel, and transportation.

About Ryde Group Ltd:

Ryde, a homegrown super mobility app founded in Singapore, is the world’s FIRST on-demand carpooling app since 2014! As a publicly listed company on the NYSE, we are reimagining the way people and goods move around. We offer a full suite of services, including carpooling, private hire, taxi, and delivery, but what truly sets us apart is our commitment to empower our private-hire and taxi partners. We take 0% commission, ensuring that more of every hard-earned dollar goes to driver-partners on our platform. For

more information, please visit https://rydesharing.com/ to learn more. 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects, as well as any other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts, may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the expected trading commencement and closing dates. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Ryde Group Ltd specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Global Energy Transition Seen as Driving Force Reshaping the Economy

BELEM, Brazil, Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — At the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Chinese Clean Energy Solution Company Gotion called for stronger global cooperation to accelerate the renewable transition and build a more interconnected clean-energy future.

Delivering a keynote speech titled “Powering a New Era: How the Renewable Revolution is Rewriting the Logic of Global Growth“, Gotion said the energy transition is “not just changing how we produce power — it is redefining what prosperity means in the 21st century. It gives us a once-in-a-century opportunity to rebuild the global economy on a foundation of sustainability and fairness.” They urged governments and industries to work together to turn technological progress into shared opportunity.

Meanwhile renewables are not fragmenting global systems, but connecting them in new and more balanced ways. Gotion noted “We are moving from an age of ‘energy geopolitics’ to an age of ‘energy symbiosis.’ From dependence to interdependence. From competition for resources to collaboration for resilience.” , describing this shift as the emergence of energy symbiosis — an interconnected model that turns energy rivalry into partnership.

As a symbol of renewable energy transformation, the establishment of the Silicon Valley Research Institute in 2014 marked the starting point for Gotion’s internationalization. Following the strategic guideline of “In local, for local”, the company has established Gotion’s global factory in the region of Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe–Africa. For the past decade, Gotion has consistently adhered to a four-in-one strategy featuring localized supply chain, localized battery recycling,localized marketing, and localized after-sales service. Today, Gotion has made a name for themselves in the global market, it will work together with customers to build a localized and diversified supply chain system characterized by a full value chain.

Slovakia Gotion Gigafactory marks a milestone in Europe–Asia industrial cooperation and the continent’s broader shift toward clean manufacturing. It shows how renewable-driven industries can strengthen supply chains while advancing Europe’s climate ambitions. And in Morocco, Gotion is helping to establish Africa’s first full battery value chain, integrating local resources with global innovation.

From China to Europe to Africa to Middle East to Americas, Gotion initiatives reflect a growing vision of global energy integration — one in which renewable abundance becomes the foundation for sustainable growth and shared prosperity.

CHENNAI, India, Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Swedish plastic injection moulding company and contract manufacturer ROSTI Group is expanding its footprint in Asia with the formal opening of its state-of-the-art production site in Chennai on 5 November 2025. The strategic expansion supports ROSTI’s global and regional customers across sectors such as industrial market, medical and premium consumer appliances. The new facility is ROSTI’s third site in Asia, and located in ESR Oragadam industrial Park, which is around 50 km on the outskirts of Chennai, Capital of the Southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu.

ROSTI’s choice of India as location of its third facility in Asia further reflects the country’s growing importance as crucial export hub for various global geographies. The strategic investment forms part of the goal toward moving closer to a growing number of key customers based in India. With the opening of the new facility in Chennai, ROSTI will be able to enhance its high-precision plastic injection moulding and contract manufacturing capability in the region.

“We are following customers here and we see great potential going forward in India with plans of future expansion. We have been discussing about setting up production facility in India for quite some time. More than a year ago, we decided to take the plunge to grow further in the region,” explained Jonas Persson, CEO, ROSTI Group during the inauguration ceremony.

Bringing high-quality solutions closer to customers

ROSTI has chosen Chennai as the ideal location of the new plant as majority of its customers are concentrated in and around the area. The ROSTI facility in Chennai aims to serve the India market and is the second largest ROSTI site in Asia – next to the ROSTI facility in China which spans about 25,000 square meters, while the Malaysian plant covers 5,000 square meters.

Jonas Persson further emphasized that ROSTI has been operating its large-scale production base in China; while another facility in Malaysia serves the dynamic Southeast Asian market. “We believe that ROSTI should strengthen its presence in the region, and India is a very interesting market,” Persson explains. 

The new plant is geared to provide plastic injection moulding services and contract manufacturing solutions for such sectors as industrial market, medical and premium consumer appliances.

ROSTI’s unique ‘box-build solution’ provides comprehensive contract manufacturing and assembly services leading to final assembly managing post-moulding activities spreading over testing, packaging and order fulfilment of finished product. The box-build capabilities involve full product assembly, handling everything from simple two-component assembly to complex integration of components and sub-systems into finished product enclosure or box. “The factory spans 8,000 square meters, with our core competence being injection moulding. But more than just injection moulding, we will be adding more value to the supply chain. We will be doing integrated assembly, where we will be taking in PCBs, harnesses, sheet metal, and making these for our customers locally,” explained Patrick Williams, Senior Vice President — Asia, ROSTI Group.

Williams further emphasized on quality: “ROSTI is a technology-led contract manufacturing company and plastics is our core competence, and our focus is on adding value and managing the supply chain. We are engaged in creating the design, R&D and product development for our customers. It is very important for the quality aspect to match and adhere to global standards. The focus is on quality of the assembly as there are a lot of components going into this first initial project, as much as about 300 components, so we have to make sure that the supply chain is in place and that each product meets stringent quality parameters before being released to our customers.”

Tapping into India’s Growth Opportunity with High-Value Solutions

India presents notable growth opportunities, and ROSTI has chosen to enter this market with a strategy consistent with its global approach. Persson commented, “While India, like many international markets, is mindful of price, we are confident in our ability to compete through our high-end injection moulding capabilities and focus on precision, quality, and customer security. We have demonstrated this in markets such as China, where ROSTI maintains a strong presence. Our competitive edge lies in delivering superior value, not in competing on price.”

The company has plans to further expand capacity in the future. “Of course, we believe very much in India. We are only filling half of the site in the first phase leaving room for future expansion,” according to Persson.

Strengthening localized production with future plant expansion 

ROSTI India targets to complete the expansion of its Chennai site in two phases. The first phase involves the installation of about 15 injection moulding machines for actual production to commence by early 2026. By the end of 2026, another 7 to 10 more injection moulding lines will be installed. “By the end of 2026 and early 2027, we are going to have between 20 and 25 injection moulding machines operational,” according to Williams.

As part of demand-driven expansion, ROSTI India will install another 20-25 injection moulding presses to reach in-between 45-50 injection moulding machines ranging from 35-500 tons. ROSTI has already built the assembly space to complement the injection moulding section, in order to take care of the requirements for another 15 -18 months of business needs.

Part of the strategy of ROSTI is to focus on localized production to serve major customers who are based in India as it expands its footprint in the country. “We want to promote localized production to cater to our international customers in India. One international customer is based near the Chennai plant, and we are well-positioned to serve them locally. While we cater to the Indian market, our customer base is mixed, as we are capable of serving both domestic market and export markets, such as Europe and the United States,” confirmed Williams.

ROSTI anticipates huge potential in the Chennai venture as some of its international customers are also looking to diversify their manufacturing footprint. “A lot of global companies are diversifying their supply chains and we see more companies coming to India, which also opens new opportunities for ROSTI,” stated Williams.

Focus on sustainable-based concept development and operations

ROSTI India will manufacture various plastic products adding value to the customer by integrating assembly, managing the whole supply chain and localizing in Chennai. The plant will produce devices for application in various industrial sectors. ROSTI focuses on sustainability-based concept development and operations that improve energy efficiency, zero waste to landfill, reduction in emission, clean energy, green material and recyclable design options.

ROSTI plans to replicate the China business model to India and aims for the Chennai operation to achieve competency level in the next couple of years. “We’re going to have to accelerate the capabilities in the full contract manufacturing services.” highlighted Williams. The company has lined-up lot of developments in terms of technical knowledge transfer, teams from both China and India are working closely on that.

Higher contribution from Asian business seen

ROSTI generates overall revenue of about €500 million annually and the Asia business contributes about 35% to overall revenue. With India plant production starting soon, the contribution from Asia is projected to increase. “In the first phase, we are expecting a jump of another 5-10% and an additional revenue of €25-30 million in the next couple of years,” stated Persson.

In terms of manpower, ROSTI has recruited about a dozen people in the Chennai plant but by the middle of 2026, this would likely to go up between 200-250 people. “So obviously we’ll be serving the local community, trying to get the technical talent on board as well. There’s an acceleration of people and development along with the growth of our injection moulding and assembly in one year,” stated Purushothaman T K, Managing Director, ROSTI Integrated Manufacturing Solution (India) Private Limited.

In the domestic market, ROSTI will compete with companies that are engaged in shoot-and-ship model, which requires merely injection moulding of components. While ROSTI’s USP would be value addition in terms of technical input. “Our team gets involved with the customer in the early product development leading to the product release, thus the value addition starts early, which is regarded as a big advantage compared to the local molders,” stated Purushothaman T K.