NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Shoplazza recently announced the winners of the 2025 Shoplazza Awards at Times Square in New York City, marking the program’s fourth year. In partnership with PR Newswire, the campaign communication partner, the annual recognition honors merchants and ecosystem partners for building distinctive brands and resilient operations that support long-term growth across markets.

Beyond performance outcomes, the awards also recognize a shift in how leading merchants operate. As online stores become central to day-to-day business activity, this year’s recipients stand out for investing earlier in site optimization, localization, and customer relationships, moving from isolated improvements to integrated infrastructure.

Merchant Award Winners Demonstrate Scalable Online Store Growth

Supported by Shoplazza’s global commerce platform capabilities, including flexible page building, multi-site management, localized payments, global logistics integrations, and data-driven operations, the 2025 merchant award recipients show how coordinated commerce capabilities are applied in real-world, multi-market environments.

This year’s recipients span consumer electronics, smart mobility, fashion and lifestyle, baby and home, and premium materials. While operating at different stages of global expansion, they share a common approach: using a unified commerce system to scale bold products and reinforce clear brand positioning without increasing operational complexity.

In technology and hardware categories, this year’s winners demonstrated how global expansion is shifting from supply-driven exports to brand-led execution.

• GMKtec operates in the Mini PC and AI supercomputing segment. Founded in 2019, the company has expanded into more than 70 countries, establishing a scalable global footprint supported by consistent direct-to-consumer operations.
• SAFNIX focuses on modular portable power solutions. Evolving from a manufacturing-led business, the brand has successfully entered the North American market by pairing product engineering with localized commerce execution.

In fashion, lifestyle, and mobility categories, recognized merchants highlighted how brand differentiation increasingly depends on direct customer relationships and execution depth.

• ICOICE is a global colored contact lens brand and a two-time Shoplazza Awards recipient. By aligning fast-fashion responsiveness with a direct-to-consumer operating model, ICOICE continues to expand internationally while maintaining strong repeat purchase performance.
• KuKirin competes in the high-ticket e-bike category. Built on a highly responsive supply chain, the brand uses direct commerce supported by integrated payments and logistics to operate effectively in a fulfillment-intensive market.

In specialized, emotionally driven segments, long-term product investment and trust-building proved central to scalability.

• Babeside operates in the reborn doll category, a niche segment with high barriers to entry. Through proprietary product development and disciplined brand execution, the company has built a trusted customer base across international markets.
• Real Silk Life focuses on premium lifestyle products made from high-quality natural materials. Emphasizing material integrity, craftsmanship, and long-term comfort, the brand has developed a recognizable positioning while expanding its presence in global markets.

Partner Awards Spotlight the Systems Behind Reliable Growth

The Shoplazza Awards also recognize ecosystem partners whose capabilities support execution across marketing, payments, and logistics, functions that increasingly determine conversion, retention, and operational stability in global commerce.

In marketing and user growth, partners are helping brands move beyond traffic acquisition toward sustainable customer relationships. MambaSMS focuses on lifecycle communication through high-deliverability messaging and automated engagement. TidalFlow connects content-driven platforms such as TikTok with commerce operations, translating attention into repeatable growth. TuopuTech brings a data-led approach, helping merchants optimize site experience, user behavior, and advertising efficiency.

In payments, partners address one of the most critical points in eCommerce: transaction reliability and trust. Checkout.com supports high-volume, multi-market operations with enterprise-grade acquiring capabilities. PayPal contributes global consumer trust and broad market coverage, reducing friction at checkout. WINTOPAY complements this layer with multi-channel acquiring and tiered risk management, helping merchants balance growth with security.

In logistics and fulfillment, partners are working to make global delivery more predictable and scalable. Cainiao provides end-to-end global logistics infrastructure, integrating international transport with last-mile delivery. ShipSaving emphasizes automation and cost efficiency, simplifying shipping workflows for merchants. YunExpress adds deep global delivery expertise, supporting merchants at different stages of international expansion.

AI Innovator Awards Highlight Commercialized AI Adoption

As artificial intelligence moves from exploratory use cases into core business operations, the 2025 Shoplazza Awards introduced the AI Innovator category to recognize organizations embedding AI into revenue-critical workflows with measurable outcomes.

• Sandwich Lab operates in AI-driven content and marketing. By combining generative capabilities with clear commercialization paths, the company has translated AI technology into scalable global revenue.
• Stripe develops global payment infrastructure and API platforms. Its continued integration of AI across payments, billing, and risk management supports high-volume commerce operations and platform-scale business models.
• Subotiz focuses on AI-driven subscription and payment infrastructure for AI SaaS and digital businesses. Through its Merchant of Record model systems, Subotiz supports more predictable revenue operations across global markets.

A Four-Year Record of Execution-First Growth

Over four years, the Shoplazza Awards have documented an evolution in global commerce priorities, from growth experimentation to execution certainty, from isolated tools to integrated systems, and from short-term scale to durable operating capability.

“Across four years, the Shoplazza Awards have become less about recognition and more about record,” said Jeff Li, Founder and CEO of Shoplazza. “They capture how merchants are adapting to structural change and building systems that can support long-term, AI-enabled growth.”

By continuing to invest in platform reliability, AI-enabled workflows, and ecosystem collaboration, Shoplazza aims to lower the operational barriers to global commerce and support merchants building resilient, long-term businesses.

About Shoplazza

Shoplazza is a leading Canadian AI commerce platform that enables global businesses to build, launch, and scale their online stores. Built on an agentic commerce framework, Shoplazza applies AI agents across end-to-end commerce workflows to streamline execution and support sustainable growth across online, in-store, and social channels. Learn more at https://www.shoplazza.com/.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — This Ramadan, Swiss Bear is recognising food operators and delivery riders across Kuala Lumpur for their essential role in ensuring Iftar meals reach families and communities each evening. Swiss Bear is a food solutions brand under Kerry Group that provides sauces and dressings.

As Muslims observe the holy month of prayer, fasting, and reflection, many food operators continue preparing dishes through sunset while delivery riders often break fast on the move to ensure timely deliveries.

In appreciation of their dedication, Swiss Bear, in partnership with selected food operators, will distribute complimentary meals to food riders at participating locations. These locations will also serve as designated spaces where delivery riders can break fast comfortably while collecting orders.

The public is encouraged to support the initiative through the following activities:

• Purchase meals from partner operators prepared using Swiss Bear sauces.
• Follow Swiss Bear’s Facebook and Instagram to track the donation counter and the growing number of dishes contributed.
• Visit Swiss Bear’s participating locations and leave messages to encourage community involvement.
• Engage with campaign content across Swiss Bear’s social media platforms, which will include videos, recipe features, and live streams.
• Participate in the Shopee Raya Bundle promotion, where every purchase made from now until 15 March contributes to the final number of dishes donated.

For more than 25 years, Swiss Bear has provided convenient, high-quality food solutions that support chefs and food businesses in delivering consistent, flavourful dishes. This Ramadan initiative reflects Swiss Bear’s ongoing commitment to community appreciation and shared responsibility, recognising the people who help make every Iftar possible.

Leveraging Multimodal Foundation Models to Unlock AI Productivity in Digital and Physical Worlds

SINGAPORE, Feb. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ShengShu Technology has completed a Series A+ funding round of over RMB 600 million. The round was co-led by Zhongguancun Science City and LINK-X CAPITAL, with strategic investments from Wondershare, Visual China Group Co., Ltd., and TRS. Existing investors, including Qiming Venture Partners, Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, G&O, C&D Emerging Industry Equity Investment, and Guowen Hechuang further increased their investment in the round.

Original Model Innovation with Global Leadership

ShengShu Technology was one of the earliest teams globally to conduct research on multimodal generative algorithms. In September 2022, the team introduced the U-ViT architecture. In July 2024, Vidu launched globally, introducing the industry’s first Reference-to-Video capability. Moving beyond conventional text-to-video and image-to-video models, this innovation addresses one of the core challenges in commercial video generation: maintaining multi-entity consistency. Since its launch, ShengShu has continuously released Vidu Q1, Vidu Q2, and Vidu Q3, with each iteration further improving performance across key benchmarks, including consistency, semantic understanding, motion dynamics, stability, and inference speed.

The recently released Vidu Q3 is the world’s first video model built for storytelling. It supports 16-second synchronized audio-video generation, native 1080p output, advanced cinematic language, precise shot transitions, multilingual text rendering, and multi-language output.

According to the latest rankings from AI benchmarking authority Artificial Analysis, Vidu Q3 ranked No.1 in China and No.2 globally. The model placed ahead of several leading international video generation platforms, positioning Vidu among the world’s top-tier solutions. Artificial Analysis data also indicates that Vidu Q2 maintains the fastest generation speed globally among commercial-grade content generation models.

In December 2025, ShengShu Technology open-sourced its TurboDiffusion framework, enabling a 5-second video to be generated in just 1.9 seconds on a single RTX 5090 GPU, improving video generation efficiency by 100 to 200 times.

Expanding Commercial Adoption

ShengShu Technology has established a comprehensive product ecosystem built around Vidu, including Vidu MaaS, Vidu SaaS, Vidu App and Vidu Agent, serving content creators and industry clients globally. In 2025, the company achieved more than 10× growth in both users and revenue. Vidu is now widely used by creators, studios, and enterprises in over 200 countries and regions worldwide for content production.

In film and entertainment, including animation, short drama, and feature production, Vidu works with over 90% of industry stakeholders across content owners, tool providers, and production studios. Clients and partners include Tencent Animation & Comics, China Literature, CCTV Animation, iQIYI, Jiangxi Film Group, Mango TV, Soy Sauce Animation, and JuriLu.

Vidu continues to expand across leading companies in internet and smart hardware sectors. Customers include ByteDance, SAMSUNG, Wondershare, TAL Education Group, Alipay, and HONOR, with applications spanning content production, marketing asset creation, and interactive product innovation.

In advertising, Vidu has become a preferred solution for leading brands, agencies, and platform operators, working with JD.com, Alibaba 1688, Amazon, Meituan, Focus Media, BlueFocus, L’Oréal, and Anta. The platform supports large-scale and reliable AI video production for commercial campaigns.

In gaming, Vidu has been deployed in core scenarios such as game advertising and scene generation, serving companies including Lilith Games, 37 Interactive Entertainment, SeaArt, and Tanwan Games, enhancing content production efficiency and interactive experiences.

Internationally, Vidu continues to gain traction among global creators and enterprise clients, including Pollo AI, PhotoGrid, OpenArt, Hubx, Fal.ai, Eachlabs, Freepik and GensPark. Its applications span creative tools, commercial production, and platform-level services, with additional adoption across education, broadcasting, and cultural tourism sectors.

Looking Ahead

“ShengShu Technology began with a strong foundation in algorithm research and continues to push the boundaries of core model innovation. Among leading international multimodal foundation models, Vidu has established clear differentiation and strong competitive advantages. From research breakthroughs to large-scale commercialization, we believe multimodal foundation models will become a next-generation production paradigm and a transformative force in productivity, reshaping global content workflows and industry structures. ShengShu will remain technology-driven and value-oriented, advancing product and commercial strategies to unlock the full potential of multimodal AI for the global content ecosystem,” said Yihang Luo, CEO of ShengShu Technology.

“The ceiling for multimodal video models is exceptionally high. Beyond powering digital content creation and interaction, they have the potential to evolve into true world models that understand the underlying structures of reality and support end-to-end machine decision-making. As AI continues to mature in the digital world, ShengShu aims to push its boundaries further, expanding from digital deployment toward deeper integration with the physical world,” said Jun Zhu, Founder and Chief Scientist of ShengShu Technology.

BEIJING, Feb. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A research team led by Prof. Hesheng Liu, founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Galaxy Brain Scientific Inc., has published a study in Nature that pinpoints the core functional circuit underlying Parkinson’s disease (PD). The findings redefine the biological mechanism of PD and provide a scientific basis for developing precision neural circuit stimulation strategies for treating the condition.

PD currently affects over 13 million people worldwide and continues to pose a major clinical challenge, as existing treatments ranging from long-term medication to invasive deep brain stimulation (DBS) are often limited by diminishing efficacy or surgical risks. For decades, the disease was conceptualized as a movement disorder arising from dysfunction of the basal ganglia. We are tackling this big challenge head-on: clinical ready solutions that solve brain disorder. This study— an international collaboration between Galaxy Brain Scientific Inc., Washington University in St. Louis, Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Harvard University—analyzed precision functional neuroimaging data from over 800 participants to reveal a different story.

The researchers identified severe dysfunction in the somato-cognitive action network (SCAN)—a brain network essential for planning, coordinating, and executing actions—as the core feature of PD. In patients, this network shows abnormally high functional connectivity with deep brain regions, a signature not observed in other movement disorders such as essential tremor. “Our work shows that the disease is rooted in a much broader network dysfunction,” noted Prof. Hesheng Liu. “The SCAN is hyperconnected to key subcortical regions in PD, and this abnormal hyperconnectivity disrupts not only movement but also related cognitive and automatic functions.”

A critical finding of the research is that all existing effective therapies for PD share a common mechanism: they reduce this abnormally high connectivity between the SCAN and deep brain regions, essentially normalizing the circuit. “Our findings establish Parkinson’s as a SCAN disorder. By targeting this network with personalized precision, we can now treat the disease more effectively than ever—potentially slowing or reversing its progression, rather than just suppressing symptoms,” said co-author Nico U. Dosenbach, MD, PhD, the David M. & Tracy S. Holtzman Professor of Neurology at WashU Medicine.

This pioneering study was enabled by Galaxy Brain Scientific’s proprietary personalized Brain Functional Sectors (pBFS) technology and its precision circuit stimulation system. The company’s China NMPA -approved software and hardware system offers individualized precision targeting and non-invasive TMS stimulation with millimeter accuracy.

Galaxy Brain Scientific is already moving to bring these insights to the clinical frontline, having begun a pivotal registration trial for Class III devices dedicated to treating PD. Beyond Parkinson’s, the company is also pioneering the application of this technology to treat other complex brain disorders, including Autism and Alzheimer’s Disease.