Washington DC, Boston and Philadelphia will combine for a major promotion in New Zealand and Australia early August. The East Coast USA roadshow will begin in Auckland on 8 August with a morning media marketplace, followed by a VIP lunch session for trade, tour operators, media and airline representatives. The day will culminate with a full travel agent evening event. All of the functions will be at Four Points by Sheraton Auckland, with Marriott confirmed as one of the key partners in the activity.
Event director for East Coast USA, Corey Marshall of Canuckiwi, says that CEOs from the destinations’ tourism bodies will lead the delegation – Elliott Ferguson (Washington DC), Martha Sheridan (Boston) and Gregg Caren (Philadelphia) – along with members of their teams, operators and other partners. While an East Coast roadshow to ANZ is not new, this is the first time the three cities have collaborated in such a way here.
Theresa Belpulsi, senior VP of tourism for Destination DC says Australia and New Zealand are among the city’s top markets and important as they have a longer length of stay than any other international market. ‘It’s an ideal time to welcome them back, especially with the new direct services to New York. Those open up the entire East Coast so that is a big driver for us to come over. ‘All three cities have a lot of new product and content to share. They are well connected so it is easy to visit them all in one trip.’
Philadelphia is also keen to take a piece of the Big Apple’s antipodean pie as direct capacity increases. ‘Philadelphia is the most important historical city in the US,’ says Robin Bloom, director of content at Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau. ‘It’s where the US Declaration of Independence was signed and where the constitution was written.’ Stacy Thornton, director of leisure sales with Meet Boston, says it is appropriate that the three historic and iconic capital cities join forces for the roadshow. ‘We will also be joined by Discover Newport, Rhode Island, which is about an hour to 90 minutes drive from Boston.’ Marshall says the roadshow is about supporting the trade and ensuring agents are educated about what is on offer. ‘The end goal is to fill the planes.’
Source: https://www.travelinc.co.nz/
A very proud day for Ohmio as our first three autonomous electric shuttles arrive at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. Over the next two weeks, we will work with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to demonstrate the capabilities of these future mobility vehicles.
It’s been more than seven years since I joined the Pushpay team, and I am just as inspired by the passion, dedication, and resilience of the churches we serve as I was on the day I started. We’ve grown to serve more than 14,000 customers, and it’s incredible to see the work they do to serve their communities by spreading a message of faith and hope, and bringing people closer together in community—whether in-person or online. They truly make the world a better place, and it’s been an honor to be a part of their journey over the years.
Just like many churches we serve, our organization has evolved over the years in order to grow and serve our community best. Today, I’m privileged to share news about that journey and the next chapter of our growth, which will propel us forward as we continue to support the great work of churches for years to come.
I am pleased to announce that Pushpay was recently acquired, and we are excited to welcome BGH Capital and Sixth Street as our new owners.
Both investors have supported our success for many years, and fully believe in Pushpay’s vision and mission. With a single source of funding and investment from owners that share our values, and who are committed to supporting our long-term growth, our team’s focus has never been more clear—to further empower our current customers, engage future customers, and accelerate product innovation.
This next chapter in Pushpay’s story opens a world of possibilities for our team and the churches we serve—and continues our history of nimble, intentional, dynamic growth as a company. This is an occasion worth celebrating.
Molly Matthews, CEO https://pushpay.com/
Sale price $1.6b approx.
May 4th 2023 saw Groundline Engineering formalise its entry into the US market in a ceremony presided over by New Zealand Trade Commissioner Vicky Whitlock in Washington DC. The move is a natural progression for the global powerline engineering consultancy and with successful operations already in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, the ceremony saw the symbolic presentation of a pounamu Mere to Mr Christian Nolden who has been appointed President of Groundline Engineering (USA). Co-founder and Director Ian Flatley described the presentation as a gift from the founders and owners and recognition of Mr Nolden’s Mana and Authority in this growing market. The consultancy aims to increasingly support USA power networks with specialist powerline expertise and design services. The consultancy adds strength also to existing US partners and distributors in making global HV and LV innovation more accessible in the US. Developed within the Groundline Engineering Group, transformative NDT and timber pole data PHI™ www.thorpoletest.com and specialist wildfire prevention conductor www.coveredconductor.com is to be represented.
The Sofi Awards are presented by the not-for-profit Specialty Food Association (SFA), the leading membership trade association in the $175 billion specialty food industry.
Lewis Road Creamery’s 10 Star Grass Fed butter was blind-tasted alongside other premium and specialty butters to take gold in the dairy category, which covered all domestic and imported butters available in the United States.
The grass-fed, traditionally churned butter is made from cream exclusively off Lewis Road’s parent Southern Pastures’ own farms, which meets stringent and independently-audited 10 Star Certified Values that cover grass-fed, free-range, animal welfare, environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation criteria.
The 10 Star butter is exported and sold in high-end grocery stores including Whole Foods, Erewhon, Bristol Farms, and Central Markets across the USA where it is usually the most expensive butter. Lewis Road’s 10 Star Export butter is also available in Aotearoa New Zealand supermarkets, where it’s sold at a discount to domestic shoppers to reflect and promote its home provenance.
The Sofi winners were selected by a panel of food experts from nearly 2,000 entries across 53 product categories. The butters were judged on taste – including flavor, appearance, texture and aroma – ingredient quality, and innovation. All tastings were anonymous and held at the Rutgers Food Innovation Center at Rutgers University.
“The quality of our grass-fed butter is obvious from its colour,” says Lewis Road Creamery’s Lynette Maan. “It’s a rich golden yellow compared to other paler butter from cows fed on palm-kernel expeller, grains and supplementary feed. But we’re equally proud of the things you can’t see – the climate change mitigation practices we’re committed to on our farms to sequester carbon in soil and contribute to a healthier planet as well as a healthier butter.”
The 10 Star butter is also a finalist in the Sofi awards Product of the Year which will be announced in June.
LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today announced it has signed a deal to launch NASA’s Starling mission, a multi-CubeSat mission to test and demonstrate autonomous swarm technologies, as well as automated space traffic management for groups of spacecraft in low-Earth orbit.
“Electron has been delivering rapid and reliable access to orbit for NASA since 2018 and we’re delighted to continue that strong heritage with the Starling mission”
The four Starling small satellites have been manifested on an Electron commercial rideshare mission scheduled for lift-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand in Q3 this year. Rocket Lab will deliver the satellites to space within three months of the contract signing.
The Starling mission is designed to test technologies to enable future “swarm” missions. Spacecraft swarms refer to multiple spacecraft autonomously coordinating their activities to achieve certain goals. Starling will explore technologies for in-space network communications, onboard relative navigation between spacecraft, autonomous maneuver planning and execution, and distributed science autonomy.
“Electron has been delivering rapid and reliable access to orbit for NASA since 2018 and we’re delighted to continue that strong heritage with the Starling mission,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck. “Starling has the potential to revolutionize the way science is done in orbit and we’re immensely proud to make that possible.”
NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate manages the Starling project. The program is based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. Starling joins a growing list of NASA missions launched by Rocket Lab since 2018, including the ELaNa-19 educational CubeSat program, the CAPSTONE mission to the Moon, and two dedicated Electron launches for the NASA TROPICS mission.
Gallagher Group Limited and Gasbot Pty Ltd Sign Exclusive Distribution Agreement for North America.
Gallagher Group Limited is excited to announce its exclusive distribution agreement with Gasbot Pty Ltd to introduce a satellite-based liquid monitoring system to the North American market.
The Gallagher Satellite Liquid Monitoring system uses Gasbot’s cutting-edge wireless sensor technology to provide timely information on tank liquid levels, enabling farmers to make informed decisions about liquid usage and management. The system uses satellite communications to transmit data from the tanks to the farmer’s cell phone, providing easy access to tank information even in remote or hard-to-reach locations.
The system is not limited to water tanks but can also be used for diesel and fuel tanks, liquid fertilizer, dams, and troughs. It also minimizes the need for manual tank readings, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors, by updating the app with the level data up to 4 times daily.
The Gallagher Satellite Liquid Monitoring system will be available for purchase through Gallagher’s rural retailer network in North America. The first 12 months of the software service are included with the initial purchase, followed by an annual satellite connectivity subscription fee.
Chris van der Loo, Gallagher Global GM Product & Technology, said, “Assurance of water availability is becoming increasingly important for farmers in North America as climate conditions become more unpredictable. Monitoring the resources available on farms needed to care for animals and crops will become more important as we experience the impacts of moving between flood and drought situations very quickly. We are very pleased to be working with Gasbot to offer a satellite liquid monitoring solution to provide peace of mind for farmers across North America regardless of how remote they are”.
Phil Livingston, Managing Director from Gasbot added, “Gasbot is committed to helping farmers understand and optimize water use, as well as monitor fuel and liquid fertilizer levels across their farms, efficiently and cost-effectively. These are values that align perfectly with Gallagher’s strategy. We are excited to partner with Gallagher to bring our innovative product to North America. We believe this product will make a real difference to farmers, providing them with the information they need to manage their liquids and sending alerts when resources are low”.
Gallagher and Gasbot are excited to work together and support the agriculture industry globally.
Stock availability starting June 1, 2023.
About Gallagher
Gallagher pioneered New Zealand’s first electric fencing system in 1938 and has constantly led the way in innovative animal management systems. We offer fencing, weighing, data collection and watering system solutions for specific animals and applications so you can be sure you’re using the right system solution to meet your unique needs. Gallagher’s success can be credited to a customer centric approach to research and development with a strong focus on end-user needs. This philosophy is endorsed with 8% of the group’s total revenue invested in R&D annually.
www.gallagher.com
Warsaw, Ind. — Formus Labs today announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Formus Hip as the first “automated radiological image processing software” for hip replacement pre-op planning. The New Zealand-founded company previously announced its intent to expand to the US and today’s announcement signifies Formus has cleared the last major hurdle before it can start making its solution widely available to surgeons and healthcare providers.
Nearly two million joints are replaced every year worldwide and that number is set to double by the end of the decade. Pre-op planning allows surgeons to create a custom surgical plan in advance. However, surgeons are often time constrained due to large caseloads and busy practices. This leaves little time for proactive preoperatively planning, consistently for every case. Additionally, planning individual surgeries can be very time-consuming, sometimes taking days or weeks to complete, which is simply not sustainable or scalable for surgeons with multiple procedures a day.
Formus expedites the joint replacement planning process by combining AI and computational biomechanics to calculate a patient’s implant fit and deliver digestible, actionable and fully-interactive 3D surgical plans. This innovative pre-operative planning technology provides a surgeon with a personalized curated patient surgical plan before the patient enters the operating room. This technology provides highly accurate outputs from scan to plan in under an hour.
“Today is a huge milestone in our journey to bring cutting-edge, pre-op surgery planning tools to surgeons, not only to make their work easier and more efficient, but also has the potential to improve the outcomes for their patients,” said Dr. Ju Zhang, founder and CEO of Formus Labs. “FDA clearance serves as significant validation of the accuracy and rigor of our AI models. The surgeons who have used the Formus platform in Australia and New Zealand tell us they like having pre-op plans that make facing any unforeseen challenges on the day of the surgery easier to overcome because of the thorough understanding of each patient's physiology. It also has huge potential to save costs, time spent on logistics, and inventory. We’re excited to bring those same potential savings to providers in the US now too.”
“The technology underlying the Formus solution helps drive potential improvement in orthopedic patient outcomes. We’re thrilled the 510(k) approval now allows us to fully unlock our US commercialization strategy to achieve positive outcomes for more patients,” Vignesh Kumar, co-managing partner at GD1 and Formus board member.” Formus is a great example of a digital health solution that balances the delicate ‘iron triangle’ of cost, access, and quality while addressing those core pain points in an elegant manner.”
Formus Labs is the creator of an AI-powered 3D planner for joint replacement surgeries. Formus Labs has core capabilities in computational biomechanics, artificial intelligence and software engineering, bringing together these key elements to deliver cutting-edge orthopedic solutions. Founded from within the world-renowned Auckland Bioengineering Institute, Formus empowers surgeons to improve the lives of patients worldwide. For more information, visit formuslabs.com.
IKE Delivers Strong FY23 Growth With $30.8M Revenue (+93% vs pcp) Multi-year Growth Rates and Momentum Demonstrate Operating Leverage
IKE performance update for Q4 and FY23 ikeGPS Group Limited (IKE) (NZX: IKE / ASX: IKE) is pleased to release an update for the 12-month period to 31 March 2023 (all figures in NZD).
IKE will host a webinar 4 May 2023 at 10.30am AEDT/ 12.30pm NZT to discuss the results. To register, please click https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZPTqOEvYQJ-pU_l4qWRFdA .
Highlights: FY24 revenue of ~$30.8m (+93% vs pcp). This result is ~$6m ahead of internal budgets set at the beginning of the financial year and above upgraded analyst consensus. FY23 gross margin approximately of ~$16.4m (+67% vs pcp), with a gross margin percentage of ~53%. Total cash and receivables as at 31 March 2023 of $23.2m, comprised of $18m cash and $5.2m receivables, with payables of $2.3m and no debt.
Commentary and outlook
IKE CEO Glenn Milnes commented, "The FY23 period saw continued strong momentum across IKE. We have achieved very significant revenue and gross margin growth and have closed the period materially ahead of all internal stretch targets.
Our balance sheet remains extremely strong, noting that the USD and AUD fx rates impact our reported NZD position each quarter. Operating leverage is evident via the scalability of our software products and our disciplined approach to managing operating expenses.
Our pipeline is strong, and Q4 sales highlights included winning about one new enterprise customer per week, including another of the largest tier-1 electric utilities operating on the East Coast of the US, who selected IKE’s next-gen structural analysis product, called Next-Gen PoleForeman. This customer win means an initial 100 subscription licenses for distribution network design, for three-years, displacing the incumbent competitor who had served this account for more than 20 years.
Another business development milestone in Q4 included advancing an pole-specific integration and AI automation project at scale via IKE Insight with one of the largest digital data collection businesses for global infrastructure.
We expect growth to continue in FY24, noting the potential for Q1 FY24 transaction revenue to be below the Q4 FY23 run rate because of the engineering practices of utilities in certain territories where one or two larger IKE customers are building fiber networks.
Macro-market tailwinds across North America remain highly supportive, driven by the multi-year investment being made into building overhead fiber networks, and additively, the forecasted $300B investment by electric utilities into building & maintaining distribution network capacity and associated network hardening. To meet carbon-zero targets in the U.S. by 2050, analysts forecast that the approximately 50% of the energy in the U.S. needs to be on the electrical grid, from a position of just 20% today. IKE’s product suite drives productivity in support of these network engineering and capacity activities.
We are executing on sizable sales opportunities and expect healthy growth in the FY24 period and beyond.”
Full commentary, table and charts are set out in the announcement and presentation attached.
ENDS About IKE
We’re IKE, the PoleOS™ Company. IKE seeks to be the standard for collecting, analysing and managing pole and overhead asset information for electric utilities, communications companies, and their engineering service providers.
The IKE platform allows electric utilities, communications companies, and their engineering service providers to increase speed, quality, and safety for the construction and maintenance of distribution assets.
The core revenue engine for IKE is driven by the number of enterprise customers subscribing to the IKE platform and the volume of assets (called Transactions) being processed through IKE’s software.
SINGAPORE, May 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE and SIX: ZBH), a global medical technology leader, today announced it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire OSSIS, a privately-held medical device company that specializes in personalized 3D printed implants, as well as complex hip replacements, including second-time hip replacements and replacements involving bone tumors and trauma.
OSSIS provides rapid design and production of personalized implants that align with Zimmer Biomet's commitment to providing personalized experiences, with the goal of improving patient outcomes. This acquisition demonstrates Zimmer Biomet's commitment to advancing innovation in the medical technology industry and strengthens the Company's position as a global medical technology leader.
Zimmer Biomet announced in July 2021 an agreement with OSSIS as the Company's Asia Pacific partner for patient-specific 3D-printed titanium hip joint replacements and other pelvic bone replacement surgery. The partnership was expanded to Europe, Middle East, and Africa in December 2022. The acquisition marks the continuation of a successful partnership and will allow Zimmer Biomet to enhance the Company's hip reconstruction product portfolio.
"Combining OSSIS's more than 16 years of clinical experience and engineering expertise with Zimmer Biomet's extensive network across Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa demonstrates our commitment to bring transformative med tech advancements to patients in need," said Sang Yi, Zimmer Biomet Asia Pacific Group President. "We are very pleased to partner with these patients and their physicians as we work toward our mission to alleviate pain and improve the quality of life for people around the world."
"Zimmer Biomet shares our ethos of innovative technology with a strong patient focus, and OSSIS is thrilled to join Zimmer Biomet's established portfolio with cutting-edge solutions and expert capabilities," said Kelvin Hyland, OSSIS Managing Director.
About Zimmer Biomet
Zimmer Biomet is a global medical technology leader with a comprehensive portfolio designed to maximize mobility and improve health. We seamlessly transform the patient experience through our innovative products and suite of integrated digital and robotic technologies that leverage data, data analytics and artificial intelligence.
With 90+ years of trusted leadership and proven expertise, Zimmer Biomet is positioned to deliver the highest quality solutions to patients and providers. Our legacy continues to come to life today through our progressive culture of evolution and innovation.
For more information about our product portfolio, our operations in 25+ countries and sales in 100+ countries or about joining our team, visit http://www.zimmerbiomet.com or follow Zimmer Biomet on Twitter at https://twitter.com/zimmerbiomet.
SOURCE Zimmer Biomet
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