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New Research Shows Surging Consumer Demand for AI-Banking Services, According to Personetics Global Survey

A survey of 2,000 bank customers reveals that 84% are likely to switch banks to access services that help them reach their financial goals

NEW YORK, Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Personetics, the company that transforms how banks build and monetize customer relationships, today announced the release of its global survey report: Understanding Consumer Demand in the AI-Banking Era.  The report reveals that individuals rank financial wellness as their top life concern, surpassing health and family relationships. A majority of survey participants (84%) indicated that they would likely switch to a bank that provides timely, relevant advice to improve their financial health. Such comprehensive personal banking insights and timely product recommendations necessitate AI-driven features to achieve this level of service.

Personetics Global Banking Survey
Personetics Global Banking Survey

Personetics surveyed 2,000 banking customers across North America, EMEA, and APAC, finding that 74% would likely display greater loyalty to a bank that helps them achieve their financial goals through timely insights and autonomous spending and saving actions.

Key findings from the global report include:

  • Seventy percent of customers strongly want their bank to proactively analyze and understand their financial situation and needs according to their daily spending and saving habits. About three-quarters express a preference for AI-driven financial insights, such as alerts for double billing, overdraft warnings, and savings nudges.
  • Seventy-four percent of customers would be more loyal to their bank if it offered personalized tips and insights tailored to their daily spending and saving habits. This is significant because, with most banking services now being digital, switching providers has become easier, and the rise of open banking will further simplify the process.
  • Although there was a strong demand for these services worldwide, customers in the EMEA region exhibited the highest interest, with 79% compared to the global average of 70%. This is not surprising, given that banks and government regulators in EMEA have endorsed financial wellness services.
  • Gen Z customers (ages 17-27) show significantly higher interest in these services compared to other age groups. Eighty-six percent of Gen Z respondents report their interest, compared to a 70% average across all age groups. Interestingly, the second-highest level of interest comes from those over 60, with 76% expressing enthusiasm.

“Today’s consumers are digitally savvy and expect advanced, personalized banking experiences,” said Udi Ziv, CEO of Personetics. “Banks must meet this demand by providing comprehensive, needs-based services that leverage AI-driven insights and advice to assist their customers in making smarter financial decisions. Banks are discovering that these services enhance customer loyalty and, consequently, drive product sales, demonstrating that financial wellness benefits everyone involved. These services are not merely optional for banks; they are essential.”

This global survey underscores the urgent need to address the soaring customer demand for AI-driven banking services. By leveraging its AI-driven platform, Personetics is transforming everyday banking into a highly personalized, data-driven experience that enables banks to deepen customer relationships, drive meaningful financial actions, and ultimately enhance financial well-being.

To access the full results, download the “Understanding Consumer Demand in the AI-Banking Era” survey report here.

About Personetics

Personetics is the global leader in transforming how banks build and monetize customer relationships by enabling them to dynamically respond to consumers’ evolving financial needs with contextual and highly relevant insights, making them smarter about their money and eager to act. The AI-powered platform allows financial institutions to boost customer engagement and satisfaction, resulting in increased digital adoption and sales conversions. Personetics supports 150 million customers across 35 global markets and serves leading financial institutions. The company has offices in New York, London, Singapore, São Paulo, and Tel Aviv. For more information, visit https://personetics.com/.

Media contact:
Ellery Smith
personetics@fullyvested.com 

 

Kangpu Biopharmaceuticals Received IND Approval from NMPA for KPG-818 to Treat Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma

HEFEI, China, Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Kangpu Biopharmaceuticals, Ltd. (“Kangpu”) today announced that the Company has received IND approval from the CDE (Center for Drug Evaluation) of China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for KPG-818 for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM).

IND approval record on CDE official website
IND approval record on CDE official website

KPG-818 is a novel oral molecular glue modulator of the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex CRL4-CRBN. It demonstrated high cereblon (CRBN) binding affinity and potent degradation of Aiolos (IKZF3) and Ikaros (IKZF1), two members of the Ikaros family of zinc-finger transcription factors associated with B-cell development. KPG-818 possesses immunomodulatory, anti-angiogenic, and anti-tumor effects.

The Phase I clinical trial of KPG-818 in the United States for the treatment of various hematological tumors has been completed. Preliminary results indicate that in RRMM patients who have previously received two immunomodulatory drugs (lenalidomide and pomalidomide), at least one proteasome inhibitor (bortezomib, ixazomib, or carfilzomib), and a CD38 monoclonal antibody (daratumumab or isatuximab), KPG-818 demonstrated good safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic characteristics, and encouraging therapeutic effects.

About Kangpu Biopharmaceuticals

Kangpu Biopharmaceuticals, Ltd. is a clinical-stage company focused on the discovery and development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of solid tumors, hematologic malignancies, autoimmune diseases, and inflammatory disorders through novel solutions, including targeted protein degradation. Kangpu has developed a robust pipeline of potential first-in-class and best-in-class drug candidates based on proprietary technology platforms, including NeoMIDES®, gDACs®, and X-SYNERGY®.

For more information, please visit www.KangpuGroup.com.

 

Ascenda and Galileo Financial Technologies Collaborate to Elevate Card Loyalty Programs

Partnership combines Galileo’s technology platform and Ascenda’s loyalty expertise to simplify and power card loyalty programs

NEW YORK, Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Ascenda, the industry leader in loyalty-as-a-service, has partnered with Galileo Financial Technologies, SoFi Technologies, Inc.’s Tech Platform (NASDAQ: SOFI), to deliver seamless and engaging loyalty experiences through card loyalty programs to banks, fintechs and other brands.

This collaboration integrates Ascenda’s loyalty and customer engagement solutions with Galileo’s robust financial technology platform, offering clients an end-to-end path to launch loyalty card programs. Galileo’s advanced financial services infrastructure, combined with Ascenda’s expertise in rewards fulfillment, creates an unparalleled solution for enhancing customer acquisition, engagement, and retention.

“By aligning our expertise in crafting growth-oriented loyalty propositions with Galileo’s technology platform, we’re delivering a compelling solution for brands,” said Josh Berwitz, Chief Commercial Officer of Ascenda. “With this collaboration, our clients can launch compelling programs that seamlessly integrate with top-tier loyalty programs in travel, hospitality, and beyond.”

Together, Ascenda and Galileo are tackling key loyalty challenges for financial institutions, fintechs and other brands by delivering a comprehensive, end-to-end solution. Galileo simplifies card issuing, while Ascenda ensures seamless loyalty integration, creating frictionless reward experiences that boost customer satisfaction and ROI.

“Our collaboration with Ascenda represents an exciting offering for our clients,” said David Feuer, Chief Product Officer, Galileo. “Together, we’re empowering organizations to launch loyalty-driven card programs that engage customers on a deeper level, enable faster time-to-market, and drive meaningful results.”

This partnership continues to accelerate Ascenda’s global loyalty ecosystem, enhancing its ability to drive growth for financial brands worldwide.

About Ascenda: Ascenda delivers loyalty-as-a-service for financial institutions and merchants globally, unlocking superior ROI across customer acquisition, engagement, and retention. With over a decade of proven results, an unrivaled roster of top-tier global clients, and enterprise- grade technology, Ascenda is trusted by leading brands to deliver growth outcomes, eliminate complexity, and create extraordinary customer experiences. For more information, please visit ascenda.com

About Galileo: Galileo Financial Technologies, LLC and certain of its affiliates collectively comprise a financial technology company owned and operated independently by SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI) that enables fintechs, financial institutions, and emerging and established brands to build differentiated financial solutions that deliver exceptional, customer-centric experiences. Through modern, open APIs, Galileo’s flexible, secure, scalable and fully integrated platform drives innovation across payments and financial services. Trusted by digital banking heavyweights, early-stage innovators and enterprise clients alike, Galileo supports issuing physical and virtual payment cards, mobile push provisioning, tailored and differentiated financial products and more, across industries and geographies. For more information please visit galileo-ft.com

©2025 Galileo Financial Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved.

Galileo Financial Technologies, LLC is a technology company, not a bank. Galileo partners with many issuing banks to provide banking services in North and Latin America.

CARsgen Therapeutics Introduced Zhuhai SB Xinchuang to Accelerate Allogeneic CAR-T Cell Products Development in Mainland China

SHANGHAI, Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — CARsgen Therapeutics Holdings Limited (Stock Code: 2171.HK, “CARsgen Therapeutics“), a company focused on innovative CAR T-cell therapies for the treatment of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, announces reaching agreements with an investment fund managed by Zhuhai Hengqin SB Xinchuang Equity Investment Management Enterprise (Limited Partnership)  (“Zhuhai SB Xinchuang“) to jointly invest in UCARsgen Biotech Limited (“UCARsgen“), a China-based new drug discovery biotechnology company focused on allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies for the treatment of hematologic malignancies.

Under the agreements, UCARsgen has secured the exclusive rights in mainland China for the research, development, manufacture, and commercialization of the following allogeneic CAR-T products from CARsgen Therapeutics: the BCMA-targeted allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma and plasma cell leukemia and the CD19/CD20 dual-targeted allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy for the treatment of B-cell malignancies. An investment fund managed by Zhuhai SB Xinchuang (currently undergoing registration and filing procedures) subscribed to the newly increased registered capital of UCARsgen for a consideration of RMB 80,000,000, thus retaining an 8% equity stake in the registered capital of UCARsgen upon completion of the transaction, equity stake of CARsgen Therapeutics in UCARsgen will be diluted from 100% to 92%.

About CARsgen Therapeutics Holdings Limited

CARsgen is a biopharmaceutical company with operations in China and the U.S., focusing on innovative CAR T-cell therapies for the treatment of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. CARsgen has established a comprehensive CAR T-cell research and development platform that covers target discovery, innovative CAR T-cell development, clinical trials, and commercial-scale production. Internally, CARsgen has developed novel technologies and a product pipeline with global rights to address significant challenges faced by existing CAR T-cell therapies. Efforts include improving safety profile, enhancing the efficacy in treating solid tumors, and reducing treatment costs. CARsgen’s mission is to become a global biopharmaceutical leader that provides innovative and differentiated cell therapies for cancer patients worldwide and makes cancer curable.

Forward-looking Statements

All statements in this press release that are not historical fact or that do not relate to present facts or current conditions are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements express the Group’s current views, projections, beliefs and expectations with respect to future events as of the date of this press release. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and factors beyond the Group’s control. As a result, they are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and actual events or results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements and the forward-looking events discussed in this press release might not occur. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those detailed under the heading “Principal Risks and Uncertainties” in our most recent annual report and interim report and other announcements and reports made available on our corporate website, https://www.carsgen.com. No representation or warranty is given as to the achievement or reasonableness of, and no reliance should be placed on, any projections, targets, estimates or forecasts contained in this press release.

SK bioscience Initiates Global Clinical Trials of mRNA Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine Candidate

  • SK bioscience’s first mRNA vaccine candidate enters Phase 1/2 clinical trials in Australia and New Zealand, with interim results expected by 2026
  • Joint R&D project between SK and CEPI includes up to USD 40 million in initial funding support from CEPI
  • SK bioscience will expand its vaccine portfolio and secure global competitiveness by developing mRNA vaccines

SEONGNAM, South Korea, Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — SK bioscience, a global innovative vaccine and biotech company committed to promoting human health from prevention to cure, today announced the commencement of global Phase 1/2 clinical trials for its mRNA-based Japanese encephalitis vaccine candidate, GBP560.

SK bioscience L HOUSE manufacturing plant
SK bioscience L HOUSE manufacturing plant

SK bioscience’s development of vaccine for Japanese encephalitis could not only help to protect against Japanese Encephalitis but also pave the way to the development of an mRNA technology that could be potentially adapted in a matter of weeks to develop a vaccine against a novel as-yet-identified infectious disease ‘Disease X’.

This rapid response approach would support the ‘100 Day Mission’, a global initiative spearheaded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and embraced by the G7, G20 and pharmaceutical companies to accelerate the development of new vaccines against pandemic threats to just over three months following the identification of a Disease X.

This project is based on an R&D agreement with CEPI, which committed USD 40 million initial funding, in 2022 to support preclinical and early clinical trials of Japanese encephalitis as well as Lassa fever virus vaccines. A further USD 100 million in funding could be made available later to support late-stage trials/licensure to further validate the mRNA platform and have it ready for use in outbreak situations.

SK bioscience’s leadership in next pandemic preparedness was recognized as a key R&D partner of CEPI in the ‘100 Day Mission Implementation Report 2024’ recently published by the influential International Pandemic Preparedness Secretariat (IPPS), a global body set up to monitor global readiness for widespread disease outbreaks.

Through this project, SK bioscience aims to establish a mRNA vaccine technology capable of addressing not only pandemic threats but also various infectious diseases. By expanding its vaccine pipeline, the company seeks to enhance its competitiveness in the global vaccine industry.

The mRNA vaccine technology, which was first commercialized in the COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic, is available for rapid mass production compared to traditional technologies by utilizing genetic sequences. This capability makes mRNA technology well-suited for pandemic response. Furthermore, the mRNA vaccine technology shows significant potential to be applied to the development of therapeutic drugs, signaling rapid market expansion.

According to global market research firm ‘Nova One Advisor’, the global mRNA therapeutics market is projected to surpass around USD 58.90 billion in 2033, registering a CAGR of 17.06% by 2033.

During the Phase 1/2 trials, the company will evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of GBP560, the company’s first mRNA-based vaccine candidate, in 402 healthy adult participants in Australia and New Zealand. In stage 1, the participants will receive two shots of low, medium, high-dose vaccine, or a control vaccine administered 28 days apart. Based on the stage 1 results, the optimal dosage and regimen will be determined for further assessment of the immunogenicity and safety compared to the control group in stage 2. The company aims to secure interim results by 2026.

Previously, in preclinical studies, the vaccine candidate demonstrated superior safety and immunogenicity through repeated-dose toxicity studies, safety pharmacology tests, and preclinical protective immunity studies.

CEPI and SK bioscience are committed to enabling global equitable access to the vaccines they develop. Under the terms of the funding agreement, SK bioscience has committed to achieving equitable access to the outputs of this project including prioritization of supply for low-income and middle-income countries, production of vaccine volumes required to meet public health needs, and affordable pricing, in line with CEPI’s Equitable Access Policy.

Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said: “We don’t know when the next Disease X will strike or where – but we know that it is coming. Preparing technologies ahead of time by building on the successes of mRNA allows us to not lose time creating a new vaccine from scratch when a viral threat emerges. This puts us on track to defeating a future outbreak quickly and equitably.”

Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience, said, “Expanding our capabilities with the mRNA platform will enable rapid responses to unknown diseases while ensuring equitable access to vaccines and sufficient vaccine supply worldwide. We are committed to successfully advancing this clinical trial, contributing to public health and strengthening our position as a global leader in vaccine R&D.”

About SK bioscience

SK bioscience is an innovative vaccine and biotech company, committed to vaccine development and manufacturing to enable more equitable access to vaccines around the world. Leveraging strengths on cutting-edge technologies, SK bioscience has been dedicated to promoting human health from prevention to cure across the globe. With the cooperation of domestic and international governments, regulatory agencies, healthcare providers, doctors, and medical experts, all of the SK colleagues are passionately committed to providing high-quality vaccines to those who need them and better public healthcare solutions.
SK bioscience Website
SK bioscience Linkedin

Contact
Communications Team
Changhyun Jin (jin99@sk.com), Jeannie S. Pak (j.pak@sk.com)

Axiad Applauded by Frost & Sullivan for Providing Phishing-resistant Authentication with PKI-based Authentication

Axiad’s PKI-based authentication enables scalability and flexibility in large-scale enterprise environments, elevates user experience and streamlines user access control

SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Frost & Sullivan recently analyzed the public key infrastructure (PKI)-based authentication industry and, based on its research, recognizes Axiad with the 2025 Global Customer Value Leadership Award. The company, originally founded as an integrator of Identity and Access Management (IAM) technologies, began by developing and deploying Personal Identity Verification (PIV) and Common Access Cards (CAC) for the United States government. It has continued to innovate with the changing landscape of cybersecurity, offering flexible, scalable solutions to meet the needs of modern organizations. Now focused on managing credentials at scale across diverse hardware types and network platforms, Axiad’s offerings have evolved into a comprehensive credential management toolset providing multiple cloud-based and on-premises options. The company also supports the growing demand for machine identities and the need to manage temporary identities, allowing organizations the flexibility needed to cover all its credential use cases.

Axiad’s PKI-based authentication supports automated certificate issuance and validation, makes it easier for organizations to implement and enforce security policies, complies with various regulatory standards and industry best practices and offers unique experiences across heterogeneous environments. PKI supports digital signatures, which help verify that the information has not been tampered with during transmission, providing confidentiality and integrity to data exchanges. As the frequency and complexity of cyber threats evolve, PKI-based authentication offers a robust, future-proof solution for securing digital interactions seamlessly and efficiently. Axiad Conductor helps organizations manage credentials through a cloud-based enterprise PKI system, supporting various authentication methods like passkeys, hardware tokens or embedded device-bound certificates. The platform supports integrations with hardware devices from vendors such as Yubico, Thales, and Feitian for provisioning and credential management, as well as with PKI solutions and identity providers (IDPs) like Okta, Ping and One Identity.

Ozgun Pelit, senior industry analyst for Frost & Sullivan, observed, “Axiad serves organizations that face challenges with managing both on-premises and cloud infrastructures, which often operate in silos. Many Axiad customers are typically in the process of moving to the cloud and modernizing their infrastructure but find themselves stuck between two worlds, with some resources on the cloud and others still on-premises. Axiad’s solution helps properly bridge this gap, unifying both environments.”

Axiad’s offering focuses on integrating machine identities alongside user authentication and workflows. This means machine identities, whether used by individual users or deployed within an organization’s environment, are seamlessly managed in conjunction with user credentials. Axiad provides organizations with a consistent authentication experience across different platforms, including operating systems, on-prem and cloud applications. Axiad Conductor simplifies this process by offering a unified authentication approach for applications, users and hardware, ensuring a seamless and consistent experience regardless of the credentials. Axiad simplifies the authentication process by templatizing options and streamlining credential management to assist organizations and users with no PKI expertise. Additionally, Axiad offers self-issuance capabilities through its portal, allowing users to view, manage and issue new identities when required. While Axiad serves a variety of verticals, its core customer type includes regulated industries such as financial services, health insurance, critical infrastructure and federal agencies.  

“Axiad helps customers manage their authentication needs independently, offering professional services or assistance for new configurations or specific requirements,” added Ozgun. “Its PKI-based authentication offers truly phishing-resistant security, flexibility and scalability by providing a centralized, unified approach. Through an evaluation of Axiad’s security and authentication offerings, Axiad proves itself a reliable partner for organizations in their journey to infrastructure modernization.”

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in implementing strategies that proactively create value for its customers with a focus on improving the return on the investment that customers make in its services or products. The award recognizes the company’s unique focus on augmenting the value that its customers receive, beyond simply good customer service, leading to improved customer retention and customer base expansion.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in various regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About Frost & Sullivan
For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, megatrends, new business models and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:
Camila Tinajero
P: +54911 6713 2748
E: Camila.Tinajero@frost.com

About Axiad
Axiad is an identity security company tackling the critical threats posed by compromised credentials, which account for more than 70% of enterprise breaches. As human and non-human identities multiply across disparate systems, traditional IAM tools fall short, leaving organizations with fragmented visibility and significant security gaps. Axiad bridges this divide by uncovering hidden identity risks and credential vulnerabilities, providing actionable insights to strengthen security—without requiring a complete system overhaul. Our solutions integrate seamlessly with existing IAM infrastructures, enabling organizations to shrink their attack surface and adopt phishing-resistant, strong authentication methods. At Axiad, we make identity security simple, effective and real for a passwordless, more secure world. Discover more at axiad.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Meghan Locke
Three Rings Inc.
413-627-5335
axiad@threeringsinc.com 

RoboSense Achieves Milestone with Production and Delivery of Its 1 Millionth LiDAR

SHENZHEN, China, Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — On February 21, RoboSense (2498.HK), an AI-driven robotics technology company that supplies industry-leading incremental components and solutions for the robotics market, held a ceremony in Shenzhen to celebrate the production of its 1 millionth LiDAR unit. On February 24, the LiDAR was officially delivered to Humanoid Robot (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. This milestone marks RoboSense as the first company in the world to achieve the production of 1 million high-beam LiDAR units.

The E1R LiDAR, affixed with a custom "1,000,000ᵗʰ" commemorative plaque.
The E1R LiDAR, affixed with a custom “1,000,000ᵗʰ” commemorative plaque.

On the same day, the off-line ceremony took place at RoboSense’s Beta Manufacturing Base in Nanshan, Shenzhen. Workers affixed a custom commemorative plaque reading “1,000,000ᵗʰ” to a newly produced fully solid-state digital LiDAR E1R that had just rolled off the production line, and gathered the relevant production line staff for a group photo. After the ceremony, the E1R and commemorative plaque were immediately shipped to their next destination—Pudong, Shanghai.

The Off-line Ceremony for RoboSense's 1 Millionth LiDAR Took Place at the Beta Factory.
The Off-line Ceremony for RoboSense’s 1 Millionth LiDAR Took Place at the Beta Factory.

On February 24, RoboSense officially delivered its 1 millionth LiDAR E1R to Humanoid Robot (Shanghai) Co., Ltd for integration into the full-size general-purpose humanoid robot “Qinglong”.

The
The “Qinglong” humanoid robot is equipped with RoboSense’s 1 millionth LiDAR E1R.

At the delivery site, Xing Boyang, the R&D Director of the Humanoid Robot (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, stated, “Congratulations to RoboSense on the production of its 1 millionth LiDAR. The National and Local Co-built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center has already adopted RoboSense’s E1R for collaborative product development on the ‘Qinglong’ humanoid robot’s public version.”

“Qinglong” is the world’s first full-size open-source humanoid robot, independently developed by Humanoid Robot (Shanghai) Co., Ltd (National and Local Co-built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center). It features a highly biomimetic torso structure and humanoid motion control, supporting multimodal mobility, perception, interaction, and manipulation. The robot boasts up to 43 active degrees of freedom, with a peak joint torque of 400 N•m and computing power of 400 TOPs. It can walk at a speed of 1 m/s while carrying a 40 kg load.

Humanoid Robot (Shanghai) Co., Ltd is one of RoboSense’s solid partners in the humanoid robotics industry. Through the E1R and a series of technical supports, RoboSense will assist in accelerating the development and deployment of the “Qinglong” for various multi-scenario tasks.

Since the beginning of this year, the AI robotics industry, represented by humanoid robots, has experienced rapid growth and is expected to usher in large-scale commercial applications. Based on its hardware technology and AI algorithm capabilities accumulated over the past decade in the wave of automotive intelligence, RoboSense officially launched its robotics platform strategy at the beginning of this year, positioning itself as a “robotics technology platform company” to provide incremental components and solutions for the AI robotics industry. At the same time, RoboSense unveiled its first batch of innovative products, including LiDAR products such as the E1R and Airy for robotics, as well as new robot vision products like the Active Camera and the dexterous hand Papert 2.0, which will safeguard the AI robotics industry’s growth and commercial deployment.

Guided by its mission to create a “Safer world, Smarter life,” RoboSense remains committed to advancing the AI robotics industry alongside its partners.

 

Cedro Participações signs concession contract for the Port of Itaguaí at an event with President Lula and Minister Silvio Costa Filho

The company will be the first 100% Brazilian mining company to verticalize its operations and intends to invest R$3.6 billion in the project

MINAS GERAIS, Brazil, Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Last Friday (21), Cedro Participações signed the concession contract for the Port of Itaguaí, in Rio de Janeiro. The event was attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho.


During the ceremony, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cedro Participações, Lucas Kallas, highlighted the importance of the port in increasing the competitiveness of Brazilian mining activity.

“This new route will increase the competitiveness of Brazilian mining on the global stage and, at the same time, bring significant benefits to the environment and the country’s infrastructure. Thanks to this move, we will remove five thousand trucks per day from the roads and reduce CO2 emissions by more than 40 thousand tons”, he stated.

The company plans to invest R$3.6 billion in the area that will be used to build a storage and handling terminal for mineral bulk solids. The site known as “Porto do Meio” will have the capacity to move 20 million tons per year in an area of approximately 350 thousand square meters.

“We will invest R$3.6 billion in the new port terminal alone, which will generate 2,800 direct and indirect jobs during its construction. And another 2.8 thousand when it will start operating, generating income and boosting the social development of the surrounding communities. The railway branch and terminal will require more than 1.5 billion reais in private investments”, Lucas Kallas affirmed.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva praised Cedro and Lucas Kallas’ courage in investing in the country.

“I would like to thank the entrepreneur Lucas who decided to invest here. I learned from my mother that when we want to know if someone is honest and hard-working, we don’t have to pay attention to their mouth, we have to pay attention to their eyes. And regarding my friend Lucas, since he was brought to my office saying he wanted to invest in the country’s mining industry, I discovered right away that I was talking to a serious businessman, who loves Brazil and supports its growth”, he said.

Cedro will also use the terminal to export pellet feed, a high-quality iron ore capable of reducing carbon emissions in the steel industry by up to 50%.

For Fabiano Carvalho, Commercial Vice President, Strategy and Projects at Cedro Participações, the terminal operation suits the company’s commitments to sustainable mining.

“This port is all about sustainability, it will respect all the best environmental practices in its construction and operation and, in addition, it will allow high-quality ore to be exported and shipped from Brazil to the Middle East and Asia“, he remarked.

Construction work will begin in 2027 and operations are expected to begin in 2029. The investment makes Cedro Participações the first 100% Brazilian, privately held iron mining company to verticalize its operations and have an outlet to the sea.

The Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, emphasized the development that the construction works of the terminal will bring to the Itaguaí region.

“This is the largest auction in the history of Brazilian ports, with initial investments of R$3.6 billion, which over the years will reach almost R$10 billion in investments. This means that now during the construction phase, 2,800 direct and indirect jobs will be created, bringing opportunities to the people of the region”, he stated.

The Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho (PT), underscored the recovery of jobs in the port area during Lula’s governments. “In the last two years (2023 and 2024), we have generated more than 2 million and 100 thousand jobs with signed contracts in the country”, he declared. The Minister highlighted the country’s solidity and its growth in income and employment, and criticized the pessimism about the Brazilian economy. “We will grow once again and have a positive employment balance”, he said.

Brazil has been in a growing process of generating employment. In Brazil, presided over by President Lula, all workers will have opportunities in our country, in formal or informal economic activities. Anyone who wants to endeavour, will have the government’s support. Anyone who wants to work formally, will definitely and preferably also have the government’s support”, he stated.