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Promise Bio Emerges from Stealth with $8.3M Seed Investment to Transform Precision Medicine for Immune-Mediated Diseases

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Company unveils breakthrough platform that integrates epiproteomics and AI to identify predictive biomarkers for personalized treatments and support drug development

TEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Promise Bio, a startup transforming immune-mediated disease treatment with advanced precision medicine solutions, today announced its emergence from stealth with an $8.3 million seed investment. This funding will accelerate the development of Promise Bio’s computational platform, which uses epiproteomics and artificial intelligence to predict patient treatment responses and support drug research and development.

“Current biological treatments for autoimmune diseases don’t work in all patients, with only 30-40% of patients achieving significant remission. At Promise Bio, our mission is to eliminate the trial-and-error approach by introducing tools for data-driven decisions,” said Ronel Veksler, Co-founder & CEO of Promise Bio. “The key to addressing this challenge lies in focusing on the right biological data—proteins, the building blocks of our body. It’s not just about protein levels but understanding the changes they undergo after formation. The PROMISE (Protein Modification Integrated Search Engine) platform does exactly that, enabling us to get closer to bringing precision medicine to diseases that currently lack effective tools.”

Promise Bio’s innovative platform is rooted in years of foundational research conducted by Dr. Assaf Kacen, Co-Founder & CTO of Promise Bio, in the lab of Prof. Yifat Merbl, Scientific Co-Founder of the company, at the Weizmann Institute of Science. The groundbreaking research into protein modifications and immune response, featured in Nature Biotechnology in 2023, laid the foundation for developing Promise Bio’s computational platform. Dr. Kacen built on this research to create a system that enables broad-scale profiling of dozens of post-translational modifications (PTMs) from mass-spectrometry data without needing customized chemical enrichment or additional lab procedures.

“Determining the change in the protein level or relying on just blood count caused by a complex immune response is like looking at a black-and-white TV screen with poor resolution,” said Dr. Assaf Kacen, Co-Founder & CTO of Promise Bio. “Our platform extracts modifications that occur to the proteins resulting from the disease; those specific changes inform us about aberrations in protein function or regulation. Interpreting it with machine learning approaches is like watching a colored TV with an unparalleled high-resolution view of the underlying biology.”  

The $8.3 million seed investment, led by Awz Ventures, and with funding via AION Lab’s venture seeding track from AstraZeneca and Pfizer, provides Promise Bio with crucial financial backing to accelerate the development of its platform. This funding, along a grant from the Israel Innovation Authority, strengthens the company’s ability to scale its cutting-edge technology and expand its research capabilities.

The strategic partnerships with the two leading biopharmaceutical companies offer more than just financial support—they bring invaluable industry expertise, access to global networks, and collaboration opportunities to integrate Promise Bio’s platform into drug development pipelines. Together, these resources position the company to rapidly advance precision medicine solutions for immune-mediated diseases while building the world’s largest PTM database, a vital resource for future medical breakthroughs.

“At AION Labs, we are committed to fostering innovation that can reshape healthcare,” said Mati Gill, CEO of AION Labs. “Promise Bio’s integration of epiproteomics and AI holds immense promise for transforming treatment approaches in immune-mediated diseases. This first AION seeding track investment aligns with our mission to support breakthrough computational and AI science in our field, and we’re excited to be part of this journey toward impactful change for patients worldwide.”

“Awz is honored to support Promise Bio’s transformative approach to addressing immune-mediated diseases,” said Yaron Ashkenazi, Founder & Managing Partner of Awz, a global investment firm focused on multi-use innovations across deep-tech, medtech, and more. “Awz has deep confidence in Promise Bio’s visionary leadership and distinctive strategy, which we believe are poised to set new standards in the field. Our investment reflects our commitment to backing this transformative team with the potential to advance personalized medicine and make a lasting impact on patient outcomes.”

Through the Awz X-Seed Hub in Tel Aviv, Awz’s Active Capital strategy provides Promise Bio with multi-stage investment, hands-on mentorship, strategic partnerships, and preparation for future funding rounds, including the unique joint investment from leading pharmaceutical companies via AION Labs.

About Promise Bio

Promise Bio is a pioneering precision medicine company focused on transforming the management of immune-mediated diseases through epiproteomics and artificial intelligence. Built on groundbreaking research from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Promise Bio analyzes proteins and their post-translational modifications (PTMs) with exceptional precision. This proprietary technology allows for large-scale PTM profiling, helping researchers uncover disease mechanisms, tailor therapies, and discover new drug targets. For more information, visit www.promise.bio.

For media inquiries please contact media@promise.bio

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/promise-bio-emerges-from-stealth-with-8-3m-seed-investment-to-transform-precision-medicine-for-immune-mediated-diseases-302331966.html

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Chef Robotics Physical AI Models Can Now Automate Baked Goods Packing

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chef Robotics, a leader in physical AI for the food industry, today announced that Chef robots can now automate tray assembly for baked goods packing. The application places baked products, such as burger buns, chocolate chip cookies, biscotti, butter cookies, biscuits, fortune cookies, granola bars, rusks, and shortbreads into trays and packaging containers before sealing.

Watch Chef robots in action.

Baked goods packing has historically been difficult to automate for high-mix production. Each item behaves differently on the production line—a granola bar compresses under the wrong grip, while a biscotti or rusk can crack if placed at the wrong angle. Surface textures range from glazed and smooth to crumbly and irregular, and strict presentation requirements leave little room for error. This variability has made it challenging for automation systems to reliably handle baked goods at production speeds, leaving food manufacturers dependent on manual labor and traditional bakery equipment.

To address this, Chef built its baked goods packing application on its existing piece-picking capability, which uses Chef’s AI-powered computer vision and physical AI models trained across diverse real-world production environments. This allows Chef robots to assess each item’s position, shape, and orientation in real time and determine how to pick the items from the pan and place them quickly and precisely without damaging them.

The baked goods packing application supports four distinct placement capabilities.

First, Chef’s vision system detects the angle at which each item sits in the pan and reorients it after picking, placing it on the tray at the exact angle required, regardless of its original position, enabling retail-ready presentation for SKUs that require precise angular placement.

Second, Chef robots can place multiple baked goods into the same packaging container in a single automated pass, completing full tray assembly without manual intervention.

Third, for packaging containers with multiple small compartments, Chef robots can precisely place items into each designated section, including multiple items in the same compartment, using Chef’s AI vision model to detect compartment positions and orientations in real time.

Fourth, Chef’s vision system identifies the exact center of each tray and places every item at a predefined offset from that center, ensuring a uniform, consistent arrangement across every pack regardless of how trays arrive on the conveyor.

For food manufacturers evaluating bakery systems and baked goods packaging automation, the application offers higher throughput, reduced labor dependency, and consistent presentation across shifts. The capability runs on Chef’s existing robotic hardware and software, allowing manufacturers to deploy it without requiring any changes to their production lines.

Chef’s baked goods packing application is available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK and is included as part of Chef’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) pricing model.

About Chef Robotics
Chef is the first company to have commercialized a scalable AI-driven food robotics solution. With over 104 million servings made in production, Chef leverages ChefOS, an AI platform for food manipulation, to offer a Robotics-as-a-Service solution that helps industry-leading food companies increase production volume and meet demand. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Chef aims to empower humans to do what humans do best by accelerating the advent of intelligent machines. Visit https://chefrobotics.ai to learn more.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chef-robotics-physical-ai-models-can-now-automate-baked-goods-packing-302756923.html

SOURCE Chef Robotics

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Chef Robotics Physical AI Models Can Now Automate Baked Goods Packing

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chef Robotics, a leader in physical AI for the food industry, today announced that Chef robots can now automate tray assembly for baked goods packing. The application places baked products, such as burger buns, chocolate chip cookies, biscotti, butter cookies, biscuits, fortune cookies, granola bars, rusks, and shortbreads into trays and packaging containers before sealing.

Watch Chef robots in action.

Baked goods packing has historically been difficult to automate for high-mix production. Each item behaves differently on the production line—a granola bar compresses under the wrong grip, while a biscotti or rusk can crack if placed at the wrong angle. Surface textures range from glazed and smooth to crumbly and irregular, and strict presentation requirements leave little room for error. This variability has made it challenging for automation systems to reliably handle baked goods at production speeds, leaving food manufacturers dependent on manual labor and traditional bakery equipment.

To address this, Chef built its baked goods packing application on its existing piece-picking capability, which uses Chef’s AI-powered computer vision and physical AI models trained across diverse real-world production environments. This allows Chef robots to assess each item’s position, shape, and orientation in real time and determine how to pick the items from the pan and place them quickly and precisely without damaging them.

The baked goods packing application supports four distinct placement capabilities.

First, Chef’s vision system detects the angle at which each item sits in the pan and reorients it after picking, placing it on the tray at the exact angle required, regardless of its original position, enabling retail-ready presentation for SKUs that require precise angular placement.

Second, Chef robots can place multiple baked goods into the same packaging container in a single automated pass, completing full tray assembly without manual intervention.

Third, for packaging containers with multiple small compartments, Chef robots can precisely place items into each designated section, including multiple items in the same compartment, using Chef’s AI vision model to detect compartment positions and orientations in real time.

Fourth, Chef’s vision system identifies the exact center of each tray and places every item at a predefined offset from that center, ensuring a uniform, consistent arrangement across every pack regardless of how trays arrive on the conveyor.

For food manufacturers evaluating bakery systems and baked goods packaging automation, the application offers higher throughput, reduced labor dependency, and consistent presentation across shifts. The capability runs on Chef’s existing robotic hardware and software, allowing manufacturers to deploy it without requiring any changes to their production lines.

Chef’s baked goods packing application is available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK and is included as part of Chef’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) pricing model.

About Chef Robotics
Chef is the first company to have commercialized a scalable AI-driven food robotics solution. With over 104 million servings made in production, Chef leverages ChefOS, an AI platform for food manipulation, to offer a Robotics-as-a-Service solution that helps industry-leading food companies increase production volume and meet demand. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Chef aims to empower humans to do what humans do best by accelerating the advent of intelligent machines. Visit https://chefrobotics.ai to learn more.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chef-robotics-physical-ai-models-can-now-automate-baked-goods-packing-302756923.html

SOURCE Chef Robotics

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Air Products to Expand Industrial Gas Supply for Samsung Electronics’ Next-Generation Semiconductor Fab in South Korea

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New investment underscores the company’s long-term commitment to Korea and its leading role in the global semiconductor industry 

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Air Products (NYSE:APD), a world-leading industrial gases company and serving Samsung globally, today announced it has been selected by Samsung to supply industrial gases for its new advanced semiconductor fab in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

Under the agreement, Air Products will build, own and operate multiple state-of-the-art production facilities and a bulk specialty gas supply system to supply nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and hydrogen for Samsung’s new semiconductor fab. The new facilities are expected to come onstream in multiple phases from 2028 through 2030.

Air Products has a long track record of executing multiple phase expansions in Pyeongtaek to support Samsung’s growing manufacturing needs. This latest project represents Air Products’ largest investment to date in the semiconductor industry and will establish Pyeongtaek as the company’s single largest operations site globally supporting the electronics industry. 

“Air Products is honored to be selected once again by Samsung and to have their continued confidence as a trusted partner supporting their strategic growth plans,” said SR Kim, President, Air Products Korea. “This significant investment reinforces Air Products’ role as a leading global supplier to the semiconductor industry and underscores our long-standing commitment to supporting our strategic customers with safety, reliability, efficiency and excellent service.”

Air Products has served the global electronics industry for more than 40 years, supplying industrial gases safely and reliably to many of the world’s leading technology companies. The company has operated in Korea for more than 50 years and has established a strong position in electronics and manufacturing sectors.

About Air Products

Air Products (NYSE: APD) is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for over 85 years focused on serving energy, environmental, and emerging markets and generating a cleaner future. The Company supplies essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, medical and food. As the leading global supplier of hydrogen, Air Products also develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world’s largest clean hydrogen projects, supporting the transition to low- and zero-carbon energy in the industrial and heavy-duty transportation sectors. Through its sale of equipment businesses, the Company also provides turbomachinery, membrane systems and cryogenic containers globally.

Air Products had fiscal 2025 sales of $12 billion from operations in approximately 50 countries. For more information, visit airproducts.com or follow us on LinkedInXFacebook or Instagram.

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release and are not guarantees of future performance. While forward-looking statements are made in good faith and based on assumptions, expectations and projections that management believes are reasonable based on currently available information, actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors, including the risk factors described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025 and other factors disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the assumptions, beliefs or expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances upon which any such forward-looking statements are based.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/air-products-to-expand-industrial-gas-supply-for-samsung-electronics-next-generation-semiconductor-fab-in-south-korea-302757497.html

SOURCE Air Products

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