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Vivid Dx Raises $15M to Help Hospitals Confront One of Modern Medicine’s Most Urgent Threats: Drug-Resistant Infections

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As antimicrobial resistance accelerates, when every hour can matter, faster diagnostics can help clinicians get patients on the right antibiotics sooner
Vivid Dx’s direct-from-blood platform uses light and AI to identify dangerous pathogens, aiming to move infectious disease care from broad-spectrum empiric therapy to targeted treatment
Keith O’Neill appointed as CEO to lead Vivid Dx through clinical validation and toward commercialization, drawing on 25 years of international experience advancing healthcare innovation

OXFORD, England, July 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Vivid Dx, a precision diagnostics company transforming pathogen detection and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) testing, today announced $15 million in seed financing co-led by Oxford Science Enterprises and Cedars-Sinai Intellectual Property Co., with participation from Jameel Investment Management Company and additional strategic investors. The company also announced the appointment of scientist and diagnostics executive Keith O’Neill as chief executive officer to lead its next phase of clinical and commercial development.

When a patient may have sepsis, every hour matters. Hospitals often have to wait days to learn which pathogen is causing the infection and which antibiotics are most likely to work. During that window, clinicians are forced to treat without complete information, often relying on broad-spectrum antibiotics that may not work against drug-resistant infections. This delay is a major public health issue: researchers estimate antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could contribute to 39 million deaths globally between 2025 and 2050. As hospitals face tighter antibiotic stewardship requirements and growing pressure to protect last-line therapies, faster diagnostics are becoming essential to giving patients the right treatment sooner while helping slow the spread of resistance.

Rapid infectious disease diagnostics have long faced a difficult challenge: hospitals need faster answers, but those answers also need to be accurate, broad enough to guide treatment, and practical for clinical workflows. Vivid Dx is addressing that challenge by applying AI/ML and advanced sample preparation to Raman spectroscopy, a validated technology with the capability to read biochemical signatures from individual pathogen cells. By combining direct-from-blood pathogen isolation, proprietary Raman spectral databases, and AI-powered signal interpretation, Vivid Dx’s platform is designed to identify pathogens and support phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) directly from blood, with the goal of reducing testing timelines from days to hours.

For hospitals, those earlier insights could help clinicians move from broad-spectrum empiric therapy to targeted treatment sooner, potentially reducing ICU stays, lowering treatment costs, and improving patient outcomes. Faster, more precise treatment decisions could also reduce unnecessary antibiotic exposure, an important factor in slowing the evolution of AMR.

“For decades, clinicians treating serious infections have had to wait too long for the information needed to guide antibiotic treatment. The biggest delay in today’s workflow happens before many diagnostic systems can even begin: clinicians are waiting for culture,” said Keith O’Neill, incoming chief executive officer of Vivid Dx. “Our goal is to move those answers closer to the moment a blood sample is taken. The company has built strong technical foundations, and my focus will be advancing that work through clinical validation and toward a platform that clinicians can adopt routinely to inform patient care decisions.”

O’Neill’s appointment brings Vivid Dx experience spanning scientific research, diagnostics development, global healthcare innovation, and company building. He worked at MIT on the Human Genome Project, built a multi-institution point-of-care diagnostics program, supported early-stage life sciences companies through Enterprise Ireland, and built global innovation alliances at Abbott. Most recently, he served as CEO of Novus Diagnostics, where he advanced the development of a rapid point-of-care test for bloodstream infections.

Vivid Dx is now preparing to test its platform with patient-derived clinical samples, a key step toward showing that the technology can perform in the kinds of complex cases hospitals see every day. To date, the company has achieved proof-of-concept across core platform components, including direct-from-blood pathogen isolation, high-purity bacterial recovery, AI-powered Raman signal enhancement, and development of a proprietary spectral database containing thousands of clinical isolates. In preclinical testing, the platform demonstrated approximately 99% pathogen identification accuracy, and roughly 92% concordance for phenotypic AST testing compared with gold-standard methods.

“Vivid Dx has built strong technical proof across the core platform and is now advancing toward clinical validation,” said Tony Besse, Principal, Health Tech at Oxford Science Enterprises. “The need for faster infectious disease testing is urgent, but speed alone is not enough—hospitals need results they can trust and integrate into care pathways. We look forward to supporting Vivid Dx as it takes the next step from technical proof toward the evidence needed for adoption at scale.”

“Over the next decade, it’s crucial that physicians globally adopt technologies that can help identify pathogens and guide therapy decisions faster and more precisely for drug-resistant infections,” said Nirdesh Gupta, Managing Director, Cedars-Sinai Technology Ventures at Cedars-Sinai. “We see significant potential in Vivid Dx’s approach combining blood-based testing and AI-driven analysis, and look forward to seeing the platform progress through clinical validation as it works to support faster, more informed infectious disease treatment decisions.”

About Vivid Dx
Vivid Dx is a precision diagnostics company developing rapid infectious disease testing to help hospitals identify dangerous pathogens and guide faster antibiotic decisions. The company has developed a direct-from-blood platform designed to use Raman spectroscopy and AI to detect infections and support phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing, with the goal of reducing diagnostic timelines from days to hours. Vivid Dx’s work is focused on improving treatment decisions for life-threatening infections such as sepsis while helping address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. Vivid Dx is backed by Oxford Science Enterprises, Cedars-Sinai, Jameel Investment Management Company, and additional strategic investors. Learn more at vivid-dx.com.

Media contact:
oseht@hermespr.co

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Wenge AI launches enterprise decision AI seminar series in Shenzhen

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SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Wenge AI brought together more than 50 academics, industry experts and business leaders from the Greater Bay Area for the first session of its seminar series on putting decision AI into practice in enterprises. Participants explored how AI is being applied to management decisions, risk anticipation and business analysis.

Decision-making becomes a new frontier for AI

In his opening remarks, Professor Liu Min, a director at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School, said AI was rewriting the fundamental rules of business competition. Managers should test its effectiveness in real operating environments rather than simply observe its development, he said. He welcomed Wenge AI’s sustained investment in decision AI and expressed hope that Chinese AI companies would translate their technological capabilities into productivity gains for society.

Hang Tian, director of CUHK’s Asian Institute of Supply Chains & Logistics, outlined the institute’s latest AI research. He said the institute had long used AI to translate research into practical applications. A macro-event analysis system developed by his team is supporting the deployment of logistics agents for warehousing, transport capacity and compliance. He looked forward to working with Wenge AI to support Chinese companies expanding overseas and using AI to strengthen the real economy, turning research findings into workflows that businesses can put into operation.

Wenge AI chairman Wang Lei said general-purpose large language models still faced limitations in enterprise decisions involving multiple stakeholders, complex reasoning and rapidly changing conditions. Decision AI would move beyond answering questions to simulating future scenarios, he said. Wenge AI has built the Decitron Decision Engine, which is the world’s first general-purpose large decision model, alongside its Decision Intelligence Platform (DIP) to support decision-making in real business operations.

Enterprises move from AI exploration to implementation

Xu Huansheng, vice-president of Meinian Health Group, spoke on “AI-driven transformation in the healthcare industry: decision-making, operations and growth”. He said AI was now essential for businesses. Markets would value companies for their future capabilities rather than pay a premium for past achievements.

Meinian Health Group has pursued an AI transformation since 2021, Xu Huansheng said. The quality of AI-assisted decisions depends on the completeness and continuity of data. In healthcare, AI can deliver meaningful insights when imaging data, blood test results, genetic data and other information are connected and accumulated consistently over time. Meinian has been progressively embedding AI capabilities into its day-to-day operations.

Wenge AI vice-president Zhang Xina presented the case of a Fortune Global 500 new energy company that previously spent several days manually reconciling tens of thousands of purchase orders. After adopting Wenge AI’s DIP and large decision model, the company created a digital twin of its procurement workflow using data from its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Materials planners now use a single consolidated view to complete the work in about 10 minutes each day.

The system also identifies the causes of delivery problems. When the company’s on-time delivery rate fell by about 25 percentage points month on month, the AI identified incomplete shipments after dispatch, rather than slow dispatch, as the root cause. One supplier was delivering an average of 83 days late.

Frank, a veteran chief information officer, shared an enterprise perspective in his presentation on “Best practices for enterprise AI agents”. His team initially invested in integrated AI appliances and an internal AI platform to improve efficiency, but employees sometimes found that using them created additional work. His company has now embedded an AI ontology into the sales, planning and materials modules of its ERP system. The system directly handles demand forecasting, anomaly detection and order processing, with audit trails to ensure traceability. He said AI’s value should be demonstrated through the redesign of real business workflows.

Embedding AI into enterprise decision-making requires effective data governance, process redesign and validation in real business operations. Wenge AI develops general-purpose large decision models and enterprise platforms to help businesses turn AI capabilities into tangible value.

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/wenge-ai-launches-enterprise-decision-ai-seminar-series-in-shenzhen-302917913.html

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Superteam Wheels Launches Premium Cycling Brand MATIC, Unveils Flagship S68 Carbon Wheelset

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NEW YORK, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Superteam Wheels is proud to announce MATIC, its new premium sub‑brand, alongside the debut of MATIC S68, its flagship one‑piece carbon wheel set. Marking Superteam Wheels’ strategic expansion into high‑end road cycling gear, MATIC targets performance‑driven cycling enthusiasts, amateur racers and hardcore riders.

Inspired by the suffix “‑MATIC”, meaning precise mechanical motion, MATIC centers on craftsmanship, speed and lightweight performance. Drawing on Superteam Wheels’ long‑standing manufacturing expertise, the brand sets new benchmarks for premium cycling components.

The MATIC S68 features a 68 mm rim depth, 28 mm outer width and 21 mm inner width. The wheelset weighs 1,348 grams in total, comprising a 632-gram front wheel and a 716-gram rear wheel. Both wheels use 16 spokes.

Unlike common split‑molded one‑piece wheels on the market, MATIC S68 adopts high‑difficulty one‑piece molding and hole‑less rim technology for superior riding integration. Tuned iteratively based on real‑world testing by pro riders, it delivers consistent, powerful race‑ready performance.

Priced at US$2,999, the MATIC S68 offers strong value vs competing one‑piece wheels. A limited‑time promotion starts Oct 25 at US$2,599 (US$400 off). Buyers receive complimentary lifetime after-sales support to ease one piece wheel maintenance concerns.

Chris Zeng, Overseas Business Manager at Superteam Wheels, commented: “The MATIC S68 is the result of extensive development, iterations and rigorous testing. We want more performance-focused riders to experience premium flagship wheels, and we believe the MATIC S68 will meet their expectations.”

About Superteam Wheels

Founded in 2015, Superteam Wheels develops and manufactures high‑performance carbon wheels for road and gravel bikes. Built on race‑grade standards, its products are sold worldwide.

More info: https://superteamwheels.com/

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Tradewind Finance Provides EUR 2 Million Export Factoring Facility to Eldohm to Support International Growth

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The tailored factoring facility enables Eldohm to offer international customers payment terms of up to 120 days while maintaining the liquidity needed to pay suppliers in China earlier in the trade cycle.

MÖNCHENGLADBACH, Germany, Oct. 23, 2026 /CNW/ — Tradewind Finance has provided a EUR 2 million export factoring facility, available in both euros and US dollars, to the Hong Kong subsidiary of Eldohm, a Netherlands-based international trading company. Arranged in collaboration with CRDT, the facility supports Eldohm’s international growth by providing working capital against outstanding invoices, enabling the company to manage larger orders and pursue further expansion in the United States.

Supporting Growth Across International Trade Flows

For internationally operating trading companies, managing the time between supplier payments and customer collections is a critical working capital challenge. Customers often require extended payment terms, while suppliers need to be paid much earlier in the trade cycle.

Eldohm’s Hong Kong subsidiary manages sourcing, product development and quality control, while the group’s financial administration is handled from the Netherlands. The company offers international customers payment terms of up to 120 days and can pay its suppliers in China earlier in the trade cycle.

As trading volumes grow, so does the amount of working capital required to bridge these payment cycles. This additional financing capacity enables Eldohm to accept larger orders, support growing customer demand and continue expanding its business in the United States.

An Export Factoring Solution Tailored to Eldohm

Tradewind structured the export factoring facility around Eldohm’s international trading operations.

By financing eligible export receivables issued by the Hong Kong entity, Tradewind makes working capital available before customers settle their invoices. This allows Eldohm to meet supplier payment obligations while continuing to offer competitive payment terms to its international customers.

The transaction required experience in international factoring, particularly in financing a Hong Kong entity with concentrated receivables exposure to a US-based buyer. These characteristics had made conventional financing through Dutch providers difficult to arrange.

Tradewind’s international expertise and tailored approach enabled a factoring solution aligned with Eldohm’s actual trade flows and financing requirements.

“Through factoring, we can offer our international customers the extended payment terms they need to manage their cash flow effectively when handling large volumes. At the same time, we can pay our suppliers in China earlier in the trade cycle without our own cash flow limiting growth. This creates financial flexibility on both sides of the supply chain and enables us to grow faster together with our partners,” said Pieter van den Bosch of Eldohm.

CRDT and Tradewind Combine Expertise to Deliver the Facility

The transaction was introduced to Tradewind by CRDT, which already supported Eldohm with credit management services. As Eldohm’s financing requirements developed, CRDT helped identify a financing partner with the international experience needed to support its operations.

For trading companies operating across Europe, Asia and the United States, access to appropriate financing can be complicated by differences in legal jurisdictions, corporate structures and the requirements of domestic financing providers.

CRDT’s understanding of Eldohm’s business, combined with Tradewind’s experience in international factoring, contributed to the development of a financing structure suited to the company’s needs.

“International trade requires expertise and a strong network to tailor supply chain finance to the needs of each business,” said Frans van der Hoorn, Managing Director at CRDT.

International Factoring Expertise Supporting Further Expansion

For Tradewind, the transaction demonstrates the importance of structuring financing around the way companies conduct international business.

With decades of trade finance experience and an international network of local teams, Tradewind supports exporters and importers whose financing needs extend beyond traditional domestic banking structures.

Rather than relying solely on Eldohm’s Dutch operations, Tradewind was able to finance receivables through the company’s Hong Kong subsidiary, supporting trade with a US-based buyer.

“Eldohm’s business demonstrates why export factoring needs to reflect the way goods, invoices and payments move across borders. By financing receivables through its Hong Kong entity, we have structured a facility that supports extended customer payment terms while providing the working capital needed for larger orders and further growth in the United States. Our collaboration with CRDT was instrumental in developing a solution aligned with Eldohm’s business,” said Harry Marchal, VP Sales Europe at Tradewind Finance.

The facility provides Eldohm with additional financing capacity to manage increasing order volumes, maintain supplier payments and pursue further international growth. It illustrates how tailored export factoring can improve cash flow and support companies operating across multiple markets.

To learn how Tradewind’s tailor-made trade finance solutions support international growth, visit www.tradewindfinance.com.

About Tradewind Finance

Founded in 2000, Tradewind Finance maintains a global network of offices including Bangladesh, Bulgaria, China, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, India, Pakistan, Turkey, UAE, and the USA, alongside its headquarters in Germany. Combining financing, credit protection, and collections into one streamlined offering, Tradewind delivers flexible, best-in-class trade finance solutions to exporters and importers worldwide.

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