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AsqMe Among Elite Startups Selected to Pitch at Prestigious Newport Investor Summit on September 27, 2024

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New $600K Bridge Round Announced to Accelerate Creator Acquisition in Advance of Planned Seed Round Next Year

DANBURY, Conn., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — AsqMe, the leading customer service platform for content creators and the Creator Economy, is excited to announce its selection to present at the inaugural Newport Investor Summit. This highly anticipated event will gather top, forward thinking investors and cutting-edge startups from across the East Coast of the United States. With nearly 100 start ups considered, AsqMe is in an elite group of cutting-edge startups selected to present.

More than half our funding has come from investors and family offices in the Northeast, including Launchpad Venture Group where we’re a portfolio company. We’re excited to kick off our Bridge Round at this event.

“We’re thrilled to have AsqMe join us for the Summit. Their innovative approach truly stood out among a highly competitive group of applicants. We look forward to seeing their pitch and connecting them with investors who can help accelerate their growth,” said Pat Sabatino, Investor Summit Co-Chair, Newport Investor Summit.

Founded just 18 months ago, AsqMe has raised approximately $1M in funding between an Angel Round closed in 2023 and a PreSeed Round closed in mid-2024. Since the beginning of the year, the company’s unique, purpose built Q&A platform for content creators on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms has experienced explosive month-over-month question growth of 23% and month-over-month revenue growth of 40%. On the heels of strong, consistent traction, AsqMe is raising a $600K Bridge to accelerate creator acquisition ahead of a planned Seed Round in mid-2025.

“We are honored to be among the very few companies selected to present to the distinguished investors, accelerators and industry leaders attending the Newport Investor Summit,” said AsqMe cofounder James Alexander. “More than half our funding has come from investors and family offices in the Northeast, including Launchpad Venture Group where we’re a portfolio company. With such a deep roster of prolific investors, we’re excited to kick off our Bridge Round at this event.”

With millions of questions asked each day across major social platforms, audiences and brands are desperate to connect with their favorite creators for advice, answers, recognition and collaborations. Meanwhile creators are overwhelmed with the questions generated by their content and need a new way to manage and answer questions at scale. Most creators receive 10-50 questions each month (some get hundreds), but only 16% of creators manage to answer them all, often spending hours or hiring help. Deploying state-of-the-art AI tools in a purpose-built Q&A workflow, AsqMe offers the missing piece in the New Creator Stack.

About AsqMe

AsqMe is the first customer service platform designed for the unique needs of content creators. Creators are overwhelmed by the millions of audience questions asked daily on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms. But fans are really customers and as with any other business, failure to respond is costly. AsqMe is the Intercom for creators, providing an AI-powered, patent-pending universal inbox that helps creators aggregate, answer, and turn questions into opportunities for monetization, audience engagement, and content creation.

For more information, please visit AsqMe.com. For media inquiries or further information, please contact media@asqme.com.

About the Newport Investor Summit

The Newport Investor Summit, taking place on September 27, 2024, is a one-day event designed to foster connections between early-stage startups and investors. The event is produced by RIHub, Rhode Island’s Innovation Hub and The Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce. Newport is known for its rich maritime heritage. The city hosts world-class sailing events, including the America’s Cup, and has a vibrant maritime industry. This deep-rooted nautical culture complements its naval presence, making Newport a unique blend of military and civilian maritime interests. The Newport Investor Summit will bring together industry leaders in healthcare, the military as well as early-stage startup investors.

Sponsors of the Newport Investor Summit include: Cox Business, JP Morgan, IBM, Marcum, Brown University Innovations, Rhode Island Life Sciences, the van Beuren Foundation and SiliconXL.

For more information on the Newport Investor Summit, please visit www.newportinvestorsummit.org or contact NewportInvestor@RIHUB.org.

Copyright © 2024. AsqMe®, FirstDraft™ and ThankBank™ are trademarks of AsqMe Inc. All rights reserved. Patents pending.

Media Contact

Ethan Kunar, AsqMe Inc., 1 877.462.7763, media@asqme.com, AsqMe.com

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SOURCE AsqMe Inc.

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ASTRI Establishes Advisory Board for Smart Mobility Technology Alliance

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Bringing Together Industry, Academia and Research to Drive Mobility Innovation

HONG KONG, Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) announced the establishment of an Advisory Board for the Smart Mobility Technology Alliance (SMTA), an industry-leading initiative designed to accelerate the adoption and scaling of next-generation smart mobility technologies across the Greater Bay Area and beyond. The SMTA aims to address critical challenges and foster a commercially-driven ecosystem for innovation in the smart mobility sector.

The newly-formed Advisory Board comprises distinguished leaders from infrastructure, transport, telecommunications, and academia, offering a wide-ranging blend of industry expertise, market intelligence and policy insight. Drawing on their extensive network and experience across the public and private sectors, the Advisory Board will shape the SMTA’s strategic priorities, identify emerging opportunities, and provide guidance on the evolving mobility landscape.

“The formation of the SMTA Advisory Board underscores ASTRI’s commitment to advancing Hong Kong as a regional leader in technology-driven mobility,” said Ir Dr Ted Suen, Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI. “By uniting industry, government, academia and research around a shared vision, this strategic alliance will unlock commercial opportunities and deliver transformative solutions that redefine the future of mobility,” he added.

The Advisory Board provides strategic guidance on SMTA’s vision and research and development priorities, helping to align its initiatives with market needs and commercialisation opportunities. It supports ecosystem development by fostering partnerships across industry, academia and the public sector, while facilitating pilot projects and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. The Board also offers insights on policy and standards, and promotes engagement with key stakeholders and international partners to advance future mobility innovation.

Members of the Advisory Board for Smart Mobility Technology Alliance include:

Chairman

Dr Ying Huang, Chief Technology Officer, ASTRI

Deputy Chairman

Mr Dominic Chow, Deputy Director-General of Civil Aviation, HKSAR Government

Secretary

Dr Ivan Sham, Chief Director, Technical Solutions Business Development, ASTRI

Members (by alphabetical order in surname)

Mr Lawrence Fong, Director, Digital and IT, Cathay Pacific Airways LimitedMr William Ho, Executive Director, Corporate Development, Airport Authority Hong KongIr Dr John Hui, Deputy Executive Director, Vocational Training CouncilMr Ryan Ip, Vice President of Our Hong Kong FoundationProf Mei-po Kwan, Director, Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, The Chinese University of Hong KongDr Gabriel Leung, Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Solutions, Hong Kong Broadband Network LimitedMr Roger Ma, General Manager (Operations), Citybus LimitedMr Steve Ng, Managing Director, Commercial Group, HKT LimitedMs Sylvia Ng, Deputy Director, Corporate Development, MTR Corporation LimitedMr BY Sim, General Manager (Hong Kong SAR), Thales Solutions and Services Hong Kong LimitedMr Alex Wong, Deputy CEO, Corporate Affairs, Hong Kong Representative Office, Huawei International Co LimitedDr Rosana Wong, Deputy Chair and Executive Director, Yau Lee Holdings LimitedMs Yan Yan, General Manager, Keeta Drone Hong KongMs Theresa Yeung, Managing Principal, East Asia, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Limited

Launched by ASTRI in April 2023, the Smart Mobility Technology Alliance (formerly the Smart Mobility Technology (C-V2X) Alliance) provides a networking and knowledge sharing platform for ecosystem stakeholders. These include infrastructure manufacturers, telecommunications providers, EV and drone developers, system integrators, and end users from China, in particular the Greater Bay Area, and overseas markets, all seeking to explore collaboration and technology commercialisation in the smart mobility field.

SMTA Website: https://smta.astri.org/

Photos Download: https://bit.ly/4s0M9ex

 

About ASTRI

Founded in 2000 by the HKSAR Government, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) is the city’s largest government-funded R&D centre. Committed to transforming high-impact research into practical innovations, ASTRI drives market-driven, interdisciplinary advancements across sectors, including Smart City, FinTech, Digital Health and Life Sciences, New Industrialisation and Intelligent Manufacturing, Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) and Advanced Electronics, New Energy and Energy Storage, and Green and ESG Technologies. Following its merger with the Nano and Advanced Materials Institute, ASTRI has further strengthened its capabilities, with over 1,500 patents and 2,200 successful cases of technology transfer. Recognised with numerous international awards, ASTRI continues to nurture top I&T talent and foster collaborations among the I&T ecosystem, contributing to Hong Kong’s high-value economic development. For more information, please visit: https://www.astri.org

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SOURCE Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI)

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2026 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit Opens

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WUZHEN, China, Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from CRI Online

The 2026 World Internet Conference (WIC) Wuzhen Summit opened on November 3 in Wuzhen, Tongxiang City in Zhejiang Province, under the theme “Open Source and Openness, Joined Contribution and Shared Benefits — Jointly Building a Community With a Shared Future in Cyberspace”. Approximately 1,800 participants attended the opening ceremony, including government officials from various countries, heads of international organizations such as the United Nations, representatives of global Internet companies, and experts and scholars.

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SOURCE CRI Online

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Forum on Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations in Cyberspace held at 2026 WIC Wuzhen Summit

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WUZHEN, China, Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from CRI Online:

The Forum on Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations in Cyberspace was held in Wuzhen, east China’s Zhejiang Province, on November 4 as part of the 2026 World Internet Conference (WIC) Wuzhen Summit.

Themed “Deepening Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations, Building a Better Online Home Together,” the forum aimed to promote the Global Civilization Initiative and advance exchanges among civilizations in cyberspace, contributing to a community with a shared future in cyberspace.

Yang Jianwen, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China; Hu Wei, vice governor of Zhejiang Province; and Peng Jianming, a member of China Media Group’s editorial board, delivered opening remarks.

Keynote speakers shared achievements and practical experience in digital cultural heritage preservation and development, international youth exchanges and talent development, cross-cultural communication by mainstream media, and film and television production.

A roundtable discussion explored “Co-Creating Diverse Online Content, Unlocking New Paradigms for Dialogue among Civilizations.”

The forum also launched the “Initiative for Improvement of Minors’ Internet Literacy.” Representatives from the Cyberspace Administration of China’s Bureau of Internet Social Work, the Ministry of Education’s Department of Basic Education, the ministry’s Center for Educational Technology and Resource Development, and Tencent, together with Peking University experts, jointly launched the initiative.

The micro variety show project “Civilizations in Conversation” was also unveiled. A Chinese opera artist and a British performer of Chinese opera jointly presented “Shared Operatic Charm: Face-Changing Show Featuring a Foreign ‘Monkey King'” during an intangible cultural heritage showcase.

Hosted by China Media Group and co-organized by CRI Online, Huawei and RayNeo, the forum attracted more than 120 participants, including government officials, experts and scholars in online culture, technology company executives, and prominent online personalities.

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SOURCE CRI Online

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