• MODIFI will use the funds to expand into the US.
• MODIFI’s digital trade finance platform provides SMEs with buyer and seller financing in a matter of days.
• MODIFI tripled its business in 2020 and launched in four new markets during the pandemic – China, Hong Kong, UAE and Spain. The trend has continued in 2021 with the launch in the Netherlands.

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS – Media OutReach – 17 March 2021 – Global fintech MODIFI announces a new 60m USD debt facility with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), bringing its total raised capital to 111m USD. The facility from SVB’s German Branch will be used to address increasing demand in existing markets, as well as fuel MODIFI’s continuing growth and finance buyers and sellers in new geographies, particularly the US.

Expansion into the US, paired with the existing coverage, will establish MODIFI as the only digital trade finance platform focused on SMEs that spans the three major trading regions of Europe, Asia and North America – a cluster which encompasses approximately 80% of global imports and exports respectively.

Small and medium-sized businesses are turned down in 50% of cases when requesting trade finance, which has resulted in a 1.5 trillion USD annual funding gap. The pandemic has only exacerbated the situation as risk appetite decreased globally. MODIFI is empowering SMEs to trade internationally and grow, thus benefiting local economies.

“We are excited to partner with Silicon Valley Bank on our journey to digitize the global trade industry, which has traditionally been extremely paper-heavy” says CEO and Co-Founder Nelson Holzner. “The pandemic has forced many analogue processes to move online, and we are seeing more and more SMEs appreciating the value of a platform that provides them with trade finance from their own homes, whenever they need it”.

“We’re pleased to become a new funding partner to MODIFI to support its geographical expansion to the US, further investment in its digital platform and continued growth. Our partnership builds on the momentum of SVB’s warehouse financing platform in EMEA as it showcases our ability to be a key partner in financing global innovators like MODIFI”, says Folake Shasanya, Managing Director of Fintech Warehousing at SVB EMEA.

“Supporting innovation is in our DNA and we are delighted to provide this significant facility to MODIFI through our EMEA warehouse financing team from our SVB German Branch”, adds Christian Hoppe, Managing Director, SVB Germany.

MODIFI tripled their business in 2020 as a result of a strong performance during the pandemic. The increase in demand for digital cash management solutions allowed the company to expand to four new markets in 2020, launching in China, Hong Kong, the UAE and Spain. The trend has continued in 2021 with MODIFI’s launch in the Netherlands. The company currently operates out of 7 offices in Berlin, Amsterdam, Delhi, Mumbai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Dubai.

“Despite the unprecedented disruption to the world’s economies, 2020 proved a strong year for MODIFI. As global supply chains were destabilized, SMEs found it harder to trade on favourable credit terms. We were well positioned to step in and address the needs of the market” says Holzner. “Our simple tech solutions allow us to digitally underwrite our customers and provide them with import and export financing in a matter of days”.

About MODIFI:

MODIFI is solving global Trade Finance for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs). Founded in 2018, MODIFI is tackling a $20 trillion industry in which 50% of requests for Trade Finance by SMEs are rejected by banks, resulting in a funding gap of $1.5 trillion annually. Through its paperless online platform, the company empowers businesses to grow, fostering strong international partnerships and benefitting local economies. To see how small and medium sized businesses can benefit from MODIFI’s digital Trade Finance, visit www.modifi.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Silicon Valley Bank:

For more than 36 years, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has helped innovative businesses and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides a range of financial services and targeted expertise to companies of all sizes in innovation centres around the world, including the UK. With commercial and international banking services, SVB helps address the unique needs of innovators. Learn more at svb.com

Silicon Valley Bank Germany Branch is a branch of Silicon Valley Bank. Silicon Valley Bank, a public corporation with limited liability (Aktiengesellschaft) under the laws of the U.S. federal state of California, with registered office in Santa Clara, California, U.S.A. is registered with the California Secretary of State under No. C1175907, Chief Executive Officer (Vorstand): Gregory W Becker, Chairman of the Board of Directors (Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender): Roger F Dunbar. Silicon Valley Bank Germany Branch with registered office in Frankfurt am Main is registered with the local court of Frankfurt am Main under No. HRB 112038, Branch Directors (Geschäftsleiter): Oscar C Jazdowski, Joan Parsons. © 2021 SVB Financial Group. All rights reserved. SVB, SVB FINANCIAL GROUP, SILICON VALLEY BANK, MAKE NEXT HAPPEN NOW and the chevron device are trademarks of SVB Financial Group, used under license.

Threat actors weaponizing cloud storage, advanced cloud-based tools to create record ransomware attack effectiveness, volume

• Ransomware soars with 62% increase since 2019
• Office files preferred by cybercriminals, surpass PDFs, roughly 1 in 4 malicious
• Never-before-seen’ malware variants up 74% year-over-year
• Cryptojacking shows three-year high with 28% year-over-year increase
• IoT malware rises 66% as criminals continue to leverage COVID-19 pandemic
• Retail, healthcare and government face mounting ransomware volume

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 17 March 2021 – The pandemic’s work-from-home reality resulted in an unprecedented change for organisations as they fought to defend exponentially greater attack surfaces from cybercriminals armed with powerful cloud-based tools, cloud storage and endless targets. As working environments evolved, so did the methods of threat actors and other motivated perpetrators, as detailed in the latest 2021 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report.

“2020 offered a perfect storm for cybercriminals and a critical tipping point for the cyber arms race,” said SonicWall President and CEO Bill Conner. “The pandemic — along with remote work, a charged political climate, record prices of cryptocurrency, and threat actors weaponizing cloud storage and tools — drove the effectiveness and volume of cyberattacks to new highs. This latest threat intelligence offers a look at how cybercriminals shifted and refined their tactics, painting a picture of what they are doing amid the uncertain future that lies ahead.”

The 2021 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report highlights how COVID-19 provided threat actors with ample opportunity for more powerful, aggressive and numerous attacks, thriving on the fear and uncertainty of remote and mobile workforces navigating corporate networks from home.

“There is no code of conduct when it comes to cybercriminals, their methods of attacks and the selection of their targets,” said Conner. “Technology is moving at an unprecedented rate. Threats that were once thought to be two or three years away are now a reality, with do-it-yourself, cloud-based tools creating an army of cybercriminals armed with the same devastating force and impact of a nation-state or larger criminal enterprise. Organisations must remain vigilant and proactive in hardening their cybersecurity posture.”

Debasish Mukherjee, Vice President, Regional Sales adds “As more organisations are adopting to digital transformation, it is imperative to have strategies in place to plan mitigation, build resilience and respond to anomalies. With the increase in data breach and leaked information, organisations are now more susceptible to threats and need to be more prepared than ever in combating cyber attacks.” He continues “The findings in the 2021 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report reveals great insights into the latest threats, including those in Asia Pacific and how organisations can better prepare for security optimisation.”

The 2021 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report goes inside the stories that headlined 2020, and takes a closer look at new and disruptive cyber threats to provide insight into the evolving cyber threat landscape. Major findings of the new in-depth SonicWall report include:

• Ransomware reaches new heights with increasingly targeted attacks: A 62% increase in ransomware globally, and 158% spike in North America, points to cybercriminals using more sophisticated tactics and more dangerous variants, like Ryuk, to earn an easy payday.
• Ryuk ransomware rises from obscurity, sees astronomical increase: First identified in August 2018, Ryuk did not appear outside of North America, Europe or Asia as late as January 2020. The following month, Ryuk began climbing the charts, eventually overtaking top-ranking Cerber ransomware. With 109.9 million cases detected worldwide, Ryuk was logged nearly every eight seconds in September alone.
• More ‘never-before-seen’ malware variants identified: SonicWall’s newly patented Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection™ (RTDMI), a component of the company’s Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) sandbox service, discovered 268,362 ‘never-before-seen’ malware variants in 2020, a 74% year-over-year increase. RTDMI™ is proven to proactively detect and block unknown mass-market malware, including malicious Office, and PDF file types.
• Malicious Office files surpass last year’s preferred PDFs: SonicWall research shows the shift to employees working from home full-time could be directly linked to the increased utilization of Office files and PDFs as malicious vehicles armed with phishing URLs, embedded malicious files and other dangerous exploits. New SonicWall data indicates a 67% increase in malicious Office files in 2020, while malicious PDFs dropped 22%.
• Cryptojacking returns as cryptocurrency breaks records: Once thought to be a dying attack vector after the industry’s major mining operation boarded its online service, cryptojacking is back thanks to rising cryptocurrency values and its appeal of concealed payouts. Total cryptojacking for 2020 set records with 81.9 million hits, a 28% increase from last year’s 64.1 million total.
• IoT malware increases as pandemic creates potential network of disruption: In March 2020, masses of employees packed their personal office belongings and equipment to work from home for months on end, simultaneously creating an explosion of new attack vectors. In 2020, SonicWall Capture Labs threat researchers recorded 56.9 million IoT malware attempts, a 66% increase that showed shifting tactics for lurking cybercriminals.
• Intrusion attempts up as attack patterns change: The distribution of intrusion attacks took on an entirely new character as a result of the changes brought on by the pandemic. In 2020, Directory Traversal tactics (34%) took over the top spot after a tie with remote code execution (21% for both) in 2019.
• Retail, healthcare and government face mounting ransomware volume: Industry-specific ransomware data reflects the impact cybercriminals had on retail (365%), healthcare (123%) and government (21%) sectors over the course of the pandemic.

The annual 2021 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report arms enterprises, small- and medium-sized business, government agencies and other organisations with actionable threat intelligence collected by the SonicWall Capture Labs threat research team. In-house researchers work collectively with other industry experts, over 50 industry collaboration groups, research teams and freelance security researchers.

Data for the report is gathered from over 1.1 million sensors strategically placed in over 215 countries and territories around the world as well as cross-vector, threat related information shared among SonicWall security systems, including firewalls, email security devices, endpoint security solutions, honeypots, content filtering systems and the SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) multi-engine sandbox.

To download the complete 2021 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, please visit www.sonicwall.com/ThreatReport.

About SonicWall

SonicWall delivers Boundless Cybersecurity for the hyper-distributed era in a work reality where everyone is remote, mobile and unsecure. SonicWall safeguards organisations mobilizing for their new business normal with seamless protection that stops the most evasive cyberattacks across boundless exposure points and increasingly remote, mobile and cloud-enabled workforces. By knowing the unknown, providing real-time visibility and enabling breakthrough economics, SonicWall closes the cybersecurity business gap for enterprises, governments and SMBs worldwide. For more information, visit www.sonicwall.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Weekly scheduled Shenzhen / Shanghai to US West Coast direct expedited services bring average dwell time down from 14-25 days to 3-7 days

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 17 March 2021 – In response to the current ports congestions in the US West Coast resulting long dwell times and unreliable shipping schedules, Dachser launches LCL expedited service connecting China to the US with sharp cut on dwell time.

Logistics service provider Dachser offers LCL expedited service connecting China and the US West coast amidst port congestion.

The new service is answering customers who are looking for a reliable solution upon the congestion issue at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which has been happening since early February and is not expected to alleviate in short future. Capacity problems, labor challenges, long dwell times and unpredictable shipping schedules were creating record delays that straightly impacted customers’ businesses. Dachser, therefore, introduced LCL expedited service, which offers much-needed reliability with fixed weekly schedules as well as faster end-to-end transit times.

Dachser’s expedited LCL service is offering two routes: The Port of Yantian/Shenzhen to the Port of Los Angeles and the Ports of Xiamen, Ningbo and Shanghai to Port of Long Beach. Both routes offer fixed schedules, expeditious transit times and reduced dwell times. The route from Shenzhen to Los Angeles offers a 12-day transit time and the Port of Shanghai to Long Beach offers a 10-day transit time, compared to the standard LCL transit time of 14 days and 13 days respectively. The Port of Shenzhen offers late cut off and the Shanghai to Long Beach route offers a dedicated terminal facility and a right-sized vessel approach for faster loading and unloading.

“Not only does the LCL service shorten the transit time, but the dwell time is cut down by two-thirds. For example, the average dwell time from China to the Port of LA is typically around 14 to 25 days, but with our LCL expedited service, the dwell is 3 to 7 days. When we save our customers time, we save them money,” said Sebastian Wulff, Head of Ocean Freight at Dachser USA.

Wide array of outstanding capabilities and benefits that deliver speed and value

With dedicated LCL teams located both at the port of origin and destination, shipments are managed expeditiously, efficiently and transparently. Further, Dachser’s new LCL expedited service offers exceptional advantages such as priority pick-up, drayage and loading at port of origin as well as priority unloading at the destination port with general cargo only in order to limit customs holds.

“Our LCL service has been specifically designed to support the urgent requirements of our customers with smaller quantity shipments from China to the U.S. This service not only optimizes efficiency and reduces costs, but with a fixed weekly schedule, it also provides peace-of-mind,” added Wulff.

Dachser LCL services

With its constantly expanding network around the world, Dachser creates the ideal conditions to keep goods moving throughout the supply chain with its proven logistics capabilities. Customers benefit from a seamless connection of manufacturing locations to customer markets throughout the world. Further, Dachser offers its customers greater flexibility and choices as it continues to expand the number of destinations in which it offers its services.

Shippers interested in booking Dachser´s LCL expedited service can contact their local Dachser representative or via email at dachser.apac-asl@dachser.com for further information.

About Dachser

Headquartered in Germany, Dachser is one of the world’s leading logistics providers. Using its own in-house developed IT-systems, Dachser incorporates transport, warehousing, and value-added services to provide comprehensive supply chain solutions. Thanks to some 31,000 employees based in 393 locations all over the globe, Dachser generated a consolidated net revenue of approximately EUR 5.7 billion in 2019. The same year, the logistics provider handled a total of 80.6 million shipments weighing 41.0 million metric tons. Country organizations represent Dachser in 44 countries. In Asia, Dachser employs more than 1,696 people in 48 locations in 12 Business Areas. Its Asia Pacific Regional Head Office is located in Hong Kong.

For more information about Dachser, please visit www.dachser.hk

The New “Hybrid” Edition to Usher in Global Business Opportunities

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Media OutReach – 16 March 2021 – The “Medical Taiwan 2021” will be held from July 1^st to 3^rd of 2021 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 2. There are 3 main themes this year: ‘health’, ‘medical devices’ and ‘care’. The event showcases a comprehensive medical ecosystem from the upstream to the downstream of medical industrial chain, as well as smart technology and innovative medical solutions.

This year, the whole new “Medical Taiwan Hybrid” will come across as both physical and virtual forms, breaking through limits in time and space, and reaching out to more audiences in the hope to bring in business opportunities to the medical industry from all over the world.

“Medical Taiwan Hybrid” provides a wide range of networking services for all the exhibitors and buyers to experience borderless exchanges in the medical industry. We’ve got three packages for exhibitors to choose – basic, premium, or exclusive. Each goes with different value-added promotion services, so that exhibitors can go for the one that suits their needs the most.

The ‘basic’ program provides products catalog demonstration, messaging, live chat and video conferencing. The buyers and exhibitors can also schedule meetings online. Medical Taiwan 2021 virtual edition will include online forum and networking opportunities for insiders in healthcare sector. It will be the most cost-effective program exhibiting around the world.

The ‘premium’ program includes an immersive digital catalog and a 3D virtual pavilion that has a tailor-made display mode and atmosphere according to what the specific product is or how you want it to be presented, while the ‘exclusive’ program sets the stage for virtual cocktail parties where venture capitalists in the healthcare field, investors, employees, senior executives and distributors in the medical industry are gathered. This is an opportunity to increase your connections in a very short time.

On top of its strength in information and communication technologies (ICTs) and great potential in innovation, Taiwan has managed to ward off the pandemic thanks to its strict and comprehensive pandemic responses, anti-COVID-19 technologies and products, and the collective efforts of healthcare professionals and the medical industry. It even took it one step further to export the PPE and products to different places in the world, not only contributing to this global fight against the pandemic, but also showing the efficiency and capacity of its medical services.

TAITRA, the organizer of “Medical Taiwan”, will continue to invite members in the industry to join in through its 63 overseas offices. It is hoped that more industrial insiders will take part in this grand event to create more drives for the global market to keep moving forward. Visit the official website for more information https://www.medicaltaiwan.com.tw/en/index.html

Live Show: July 1 – 3

Virtual Show: June 24 – July 8

About TAITRA

Founded in 1970 to help promote foreign trade, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) is the foremost non-profit trade promotion organization in Taiwan. Jointly sponsored by the government, industry associations, and several commercial organizations, TAITRA assists Taiwan businesses and manufacturers with reinforcing their international competitiveness and in coping with the challenges they face in foreign markets.