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NJ FAST powered by Plug and Play Graduates 14 Startups in its Inaugural Program

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HOBOKEN, N.J., Dec. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Plug and Play, the world’s leading global innovation platform, has concluded its inaugural cohort, graduating 14 startups for its newest program, the New Jersey Fintech Accelerator at Stevens Institute of Technology powered by Plug and Play (NJ FAST).

Earlier this year, Plug and Play and its founding partners, New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), Prudential Financial, and the Stevens Institute of Technology, announced the establishment of NJ FAST.

“Over the past seven years, we have transformed New Jersey’s innovation economy, firmly positioning our state as a national leader in this space and cementing our reputation as the best place for entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses. Through NJ FAST and our partnerships with Plug and Play, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Prudential, we are empowering emerging leaders in the fintech industry to advance their cutting-edge ideas right here in New Jersey. I look forward to seeing what the inaugural cohort of this program accomplishes in the coming years,” said Governor Phil Murphy.

Building on this foundation, NJ FAST will leverage New Jersey’s longstanding legacy as a leader in the financial industry. With a dedicated focus on fintech, NJ FAST aims to support the growth of innovative companies and create new career opportunities, further expanding New Jersey’s influence in the national finance and fintech sectors.

“NJ FAST will have a long-term impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem of New Jersey, creating a legacy of success and innovation within the financial services industry for years to come,” said Saeed Amidi, Founder and CEO of Plug and Play. “This initiative is about embedding a culture of innovation in New Jersey, and beyond, with startups we believe can change the world.”

NJ FAST is designed to offer entrepreneurs a platform to drive innovation across the state of New Jersey. Selected startups will benefit from mentorship, funding resources, and opportunities to collaborate with industry experts. As part of the program, startups will have access to Plug and Play’s extensive network of corporate, government, investor, and university partners, providing them with invaluable insights, support, and potential strategic partnerships.

“Since taking office, Governor Murphy has prioritized growing New Jersey’s innovation economy by ensuring that companies of the future have access to first-rate resources and support,” said NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan. “Through NJEDA’s Strategic Innovation Centers initiative, centers like NJFAST are working to empower startups to develop cutting-edge technologies that create jobs, support long-term sustainable economic growth, and attract world-class talent. The graduation of NJFAST’s inaugural cohort serves as a testament to the initiative’s success fostering innovation, and solidifying New Jersey’s role as a leader in fintech and insurtech.”

Plug and Play is accepting applications for Batch 2 of NJ FAST until January 6th, 2025.

The inaugural batch of NJ FAST consists of the following startups:

DIRO is the first Original Documents capture platform to offer full global coverage.

Physis Investments leverages AI and its proprietary in-house database of over 176 million data points to generate sustainability insights through a SaaS platform and a generative AI-based chatbot.

SPIN Analytics brings digital transformation in credit risk management by leveraging predictive analytics, AI, and ML techniques on big data.

Balcony Technology Group leverages distributed ledger technology to provide the real estate ecosystem with a blockchain-based solution for improved Security, Automation, Transparency, Integration, And Interoperability.

Intergen DATA Develops proprietary AI/ML algo’s to predict when Life Events may occur, what it could be, & how much of a financial impact it would make.

Muse Tax is an A.I.-based tool that finds every tax deduction and credit for you, showing you ways to save on taxes.

Multimodal automate complex, knowledge-based workflows in banking, insurance, and healthcare using generative AI agents.

bckers is an AI and Fintech information services company that specializes in delivering data and analytical tools to assess and score the performance, integrity, and risk of organizations and teams.

Hydronos Labs transforming access to comprehensive weather and climate risk assessment, planning and mitigation capabilities in a constantly changing climate, delivering the latest science in an easy-to-digest and cost-effective manner.

LexFund is the first US marketplace for the multi-billion dollar litigation finance industry.

Synthera.ai generate realistic yield curves, stock prices, FX rates and more using cutting edge generative AI., allowing investors to  test their portfolios on thousands of unseen market scenarios and unlock novel insights previously beyond reach.

Mobysign is a mobile application that offers strong authentication for payments, logins, document signatures and any transaction.

CurraPay is building the Booking.com of the international money transfer market.

Accern NoCodeNLP Platform empowers citizen data scientists to extract fast and easy insights from unstructured data.

For more information about NJ FAST, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/plug-and-play/innovation-services/our-programs/nj-fast.

About Plug and Play

Plug and Play is the leading innovation platform, connecting startups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we’re present in 60+ locations across five continents. We offer corporate innovation programs and help our corporate partners in every stage of their innovation journey, from education to execution. We also organize startup acceleration programs and have built an in-house VC to drive innovation across multiple industries where we’ve invested in hundreds of successful companies including Dropbox, Guardant Health, Honey, Lending Club, N26, PayPal, and Rappi. For more information, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/ 

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KUKA Global Executives Visit Centron for Technical Exchange on Intelligent Assembly Manufacturing

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A KUKA global executive delegation, led by the Vice President of Midea Group, visited Centron for an on-site tour and in-depth exchange on the development of intelligent assembly manufacturing and global market trends.

WUXI, China, Sept. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Last week, a global executive delegation from the KUKA Group, led by the Vice President of Midea Group, visited Centron. The delegation comprised members of KUKA Group’s headquarters leadership team, together with business heads from multiple countries and regions.

As a leading global supplier of industrial robots and automation solutions, KUKA’s decision to visit with a delegation of this level reflects both sides’ shared interest in the development trends of intelligent assembly manufacturing. During the visit, the two sides held in-depth exchanges on industry developments, shifts in global markets, and potential areas of future synergy.

The delegation was hosted by Jed Wang, CEO of sister brand Leetx; Ouyang Su, General Manager of the Centron Product Line; Mike Wang, General Manager of the Centron Business Line; and Samuel Chen, Sales Director of Overseas Business. The KUKA executive team toured Centron’s manufacturing base and gained a first-hand understanding of Centron’s product portfolio and manufacturing capabilities in precision dispensing, potting, and trickling impregnation, and also received a briefing on Leetx’s positioning in intelligent assembly technologies, including tightening, press-fitting, and automatic screw feeding.

In the exchange session that followed, the two sides drew on their respective global business experience to share observations and exchange views on the pace of development in the Chinese market, evolving manufacturing needs overseas, the future direction of the intelligent assembly manufacturing industry, and the technology roadmaps of process equipment and robotic platforms.

Jed Wang, CEO of Leetx, commented: “We place great value on exchanges with globally leading automation companies such as KUKA. This visit by KUKA’s global executive team offered a valuable opportunity for both sides to deepen mutual understanding, share global market experience, and explore directions for potential future collaboration. As intelligent manufacturing continues to evolve, open dialogue and industry-wide synergy will open up new possibilities for innovation across the sector.”

This high-level visit also reflects a broader industry trend: the accelerating convergence of industrial robotics, precision dispensing, and intelligent assembly technologies. As vehicle electrification continues to advance, and as levels of automation continue to rise across vehicle assembly, power battery, and automotive component production, the coordination between robotic platforms and process equipment is becoming an increasingly important foundation for improving production quality, manufacturing efficiency, and process consistency. In light of this trend, Centron will continue to maintain open communication with partners across the value chain and to follow the emerging opportunities in intelligent assembly manufacturing with close attention.

About Centron
Centron is a high-tech enterprise that integrates R&D, manufacturing, sales, and customer service, dedicated to delivering advanced, reliable, and precise dispensing, potting, and trickling impregnation solutions for the automotive, e-mobility, energy storage battery, and industrial manufacturing sectors. Building on its continued investment in process automation and digital traceability, Centron supports its customers in achieving consistent quality performance and efficient operations at scale.
www.centronsys.com/en/

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ASTRI and Saudi Digital Government Authority Sign Strategic Partnership to Advance Digital Innovation and AI Development

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HONG KONG, Sept. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) and the Digital Government Authority (DGA) of Saudi Arabia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at LEAP 2026 in Riyadh, establishing a strategic partnership to advance digital government innovation and artificial intelligence research.

Witnessed by Dr Abdullah Mohammed AlFaifi, Vice Governor of Investment and Government Excellence at the DGA, the MoU was signed by Ir Dr Ted Suen, Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI, and Abdulmalik Alhoti, Deputy CEO of Innovation & Emerging Technologies Centre and Senior General Manager of Digital Innovation at the DGA.

The partnership establishes four core areas of collaboration: knowledge exchange through joint technical workshops on AI and emerging technologies; talent development via researcher secondment, PhD exchange and internship programmes; joint research opportunities in AI, digital government, and emerging technologies; and proof-of-concept validation through DGA’s sandbox environment.

Ir Dr Ted Suen, Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI, said: “This MoU represents a milestone for ASTRI’s expansion into the Middle East market, and underscores the strong synergies between Hong Kong SAR’s world-class applied research capabilities and Saudi Arabia’s visionary digital transformation agenda. Through knowledge exchange, talent development, joint research and proof-of-concept validation, we look forward to contributing to Saudi Vision 2030 while strengthening Hong Kong SAR’s position as a leading international innovation and technology hub.”

Abdulmohsen A. Almadi, Chief Executive Officer of Innovation and Emerging Technology at the DGA, said: “Our partnership with ASTRI represents an important step in shaping the future of digital government by advancing innovation and strengthening collaboration in emerging technologies, building on Saudi Arabia’s leading global position in this field. By combining expertise in applied research, talent development, and experimentation, this collaboration will support the development of innovative solutions, strengthen capabilities, and accelerate the practical application of emerging technologies.”

The MoU follows ASTRI’s participation at the inaugural LEAP EAST in Hong Kong SAR, and marks a further step in the institute’s Middle East market expansion. Ir Dr Ted Suen led an ASTRI Business Mission to Saudi Arabia from 30 August to 2 September 2026, engaging with key government agencies, large corporations and technology companies.

Photos Download: https://bit.ly/45C67ly

 

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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Hexaware Becomes Official Partner of Dublin Guardians Playing in the Inaugural European T20 Premier League Season

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Sponsorship extends Hexaware’s association with franchise cricket to Europe

MUMBAI, India, Sept. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Hexaware Technologies (NSE: HEXT), an AI-first digital and IT services company, today announced its sponsorship of Dublin Guardians as an Official Partner for the team in the inaugural season of the European T20 Premier League (ETPL).

The sponsorship comes as franchise cricket establishes a new foothold in Europe, where Hexaware has operations and continues to build local teams and capabilities across the region. The first ICC-sanctioned ETPL in mainland Europe opened on August 26 with six city-based teams from Ireland, Scotland, and the Netherlands. The league also gives European players more opportunities to compete at a professional level alongside established international cricketers.

Dublin Guardians represents the Irish capital in the competition. Rahul Dravid, former India captain and coach of the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning side, is among the franchise owners. The team is captained and mentored by Ravichandran Ashwin, India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket.

“The opportunity to support local talent is an important part of what appealed to us,” said Parameshwaran Iyer, Executive Vice President, Head – UK and Europe, Hexaware. “The ETPL can give more players across Europe the chance to compete at a higher level and help strengthen the game from the grassroots up. We’re pleased to support Dublin Guardians as part of that effort.”

“I’m delighted to welcome Hexaware as a partner of the Dublin Guardians for our inaugural season. It’s exciting to have organisations like Hexaware that share our belief in teamwork, ambition, and excellence alongside us as we begin this journey,” said Rahul Dravid, Chairman, Dublin Guardians.

“Hexaware is a strong addition to the Dublin Guardians journey. Its focus on building local capability in the markets where it operates connects well with what we’re trying to do here,” said Ajit Ravindran, CEO, Dublin Guardians. “For us, that means creating more opportunities for local players to develop and compete at a higher level.”

The sponsorship follows Hexaware’s association with the San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket in the United States, which marked the company’s first association with franchise cricket.

The ETPL is being organized with Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland, and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association. The first season runs until September 20, 2026. The tournament began in the Netherlands and moves to Malahide in Dublin on September 9.

For more information, click here: https://www.etplofficial.com/teams/dg

About Hexaware

Hexaware is a global technology and business process services company. Every day, Hexawarians wake up with a singular purpose: to create smiles through great people and technology. With offices across the world, we empower enterprises worldwide to realize digital transformation at scale and speed by partnering with them to build, transform, run, and optimize their technology and business processes. Learn more about Hexaware at https://hexaware.com.

 

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