"Soul House, Radi, and Jump are our answer to 2026," said Leo Liu, Cofounder & Head of Brand and Growth at INS LAND. "Each one is a new chapter in INS LAND's vision of bringing the gaming world to life — with a single ticket, guests don't just visit a venue; they enter a world where experiences are reborn every 45 days."

The openings mark a strategic evolution ahead of INS LAND's third anniversary on June 16, 2026, shifting from a "club cluster" identity into a multi-format urban playground. The brand now spans 20 fully owned and operated venues under one ticketed ecosystem.

Soul House is INS LAND's most ambitious immersive concept to date. It features multiple themed rooms, each with its own narrative universe. Guests move through distinct worlds with beverage items, scenography, and storytelling elements, blending immersive theatre and spatial design into a layered experience.

Radi returns after a complete transformation, with an expanded footprint, upgraded sound and lighting systems, and a refreshed design direction positioning it as a signature, design-forward destination within the INS LAND portfolio.

Jump introduces a new experiential format centered on movement. Built around a spring-loaded dance floor, it features high-energy programming across electronic and bounce genres, designed to create a physically kinetic nightlife experience.

About INS LAND

INS LAND is a 20-venue urban entertainment complex in central Shanghai, combining nightlife, immersive experiences, dining, and music under one unified brand. With a single-ticket model granting access across venues, it welcomed over 4 million visitors in 2025 and ranks No.12 globally in DJ Mag's Top 100 Clubs. The platform refreshes its core themes every 45 days and its mobile app supports over 1 million active users across online and offline experiences. INS LAND has collaborated with brands including Mercedes-Benz, Nike, Douyin, Doritos, and Publicis Groupe, and is preparing international expansion with INS LAND Bangkok planned for 2027.

More information: INS LAND Official Site

KIGALI, Rwanda, May 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The UN Global Compact today announced the launch of the Country Network Rwanda, marking a significant step in expanding private sector leadership on sustainability across Africa. Convened on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum, the launch brought together senior leaders from business, government and the United Nations to signal a shared commitment to responsible, inclusive growth.

The Rwandan Country Network establishes a dedicated national platform to support companies in aligning their strategies and operations with the UN Global Compact's Ten Principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, while advancing progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the country continues its rapid economic transformation, Network Rwanda is designed to help ensure that growth is matched by strong governance, transparency and long-term resilience.

The launch also marked the formal establishment of the Network Rwanda's governance structure, including its inaugural Board of Directors and Secretariat. In line with the UN Global Compact global network model, spanning more than 60 Country Networks worldwide, including a growing presence across Africa, this leadership will guide Network Rwanda's independent operations, support participating companies and catalyse collective action across Rwanda's business ecosystem.

Speaking at the launch, Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, underscored the importance of a resilient, and sustainable private sector to drive economic growth. "Rwanda's growth story is one of ambition and innovation, and the private sector has a central role to play in ensuring that this growth is aligned with the country's national priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals. The launch of Country Network Rwanda is about creating jobs, building markets and shaping economies through strong private sector engagement. Through this Country Network, we are creating a platform for companies to lead not just in setting targets, but in delivering measurable impact."

The event set out a clear roadmap for the Network's first phase of activity, with a focus on driving practical implementation, strengthening partnerships with government and development actors, and enabling companies to deliver measurable outcomes across priority SDG areas.

Representing the Government of Rwanda, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Prudence Sebahizi, welcomed the launch as a timely initiative to support the country's development priorities.

"With the private sector employing approximately 90% of our workforce, its role as the engine of Rwanda's economy is undeniable," Sebahizi said. "However, for this growth to be truly transformative, it must be rooted in responsibility. The launch of this Rwandan Network is a timely call to action, particularly for our vital industries like the mining sector, to move beyond traditional operations and embrace global standards of sustainability. Our businesses, from large corporations to SMEs, are not just protecting the environment and human rights; they are ensuring their own long-term competitiveness in a changing global market."

Private sector leaders also highlighted the importance of a platform that connects global standards with local business realities, enabling companies to scale impact while remaining competitive.

"We are at a point where we can no longer wait for sustainability to become convenient or easy. Real leadership in the private sector requires the courage to make difficult decisions today that will secure our collective future tomorrow. We believe that integrating these principles isn't just about compliance; it's about having the bravery to innovate and lead. The UN Global Compact provides the framework we need to turn that courage into measurable progress for every Rwandan," said Monzer Ali, CEO, MTN Rwandacell PLC.

With its launch, the Country Network Rwanda joins a growing cohort of eleven African networks demonstrating that responsible business practices are not only essential to managing risk but central to unlocking long-term economic opportunity across the continent.

About the UN Global Compact

As a special initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN Global Compact is a call to companies worldwide to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our vision is clear: to mobilize business to transform sustainability ambition into action at the scale the world demands. With more than 25,000 participants and a presence in over 100 countries through 5 Regional Hubs and more than 70 Country Networks and expansion territories, the UN Global Compact is the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative.

For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our website at unglobalcompact.org

KIGALI, Rwanda, May 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Africa Business Leaders Coalition (ABLC), a CEO-led platform convened by the UN Global Compact to bring together leading African CEOs and companies to advance sustainable growth, climate action, gender equality and economic transformation across the continent, has launched a major new position paper, Five Mindset Shifts to Unlock Intra-African Trade: A Perspective from African CEOs, at the Africa CEO Forum. The paper presents a CEO-driven, private sector-led roadmap for accelerating regional integration, strengthening African value chains and unlocking sustainable economic growth through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The launch of the trade paper at the Africa CEO Forum aligns closely with this year's Forum theme of shared ownership. It reflects growing recognition that Africa's long-term competitiveness will depend on stronger regional integration, coordinated industrial development and greater private sector leadership on intra-African trade.

The paper argues that Africa's transformation will depend not only on policy reform and investment, but on a fundamental shift in how governments, businesses and institutions approach regional integration and collaboration. The paper focuses on the practical actions and mindset shifts African CEOs believe are required to unlock the full potential of regional trade and economic integration.

Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum, Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, said: "Unlocking intra-African trade is one of the greatest economic opportunities of our generation. Africa has the resources, talent and entrepreneurial dynamism to become a major engine of global growth. What is needed now is deeper collaboration between Governments, business and regional institutions to remove barriers to trade, investment and mobility and build the conducive infrastructure to support this. The Africa Business Leaders Coalition is demonstrating how the private sector can help drive a more integrated, resilient and competitive African economy."

The paper outlines five key mindset shifts required to unlock intra-African trade and strengthen Africa's long-term competitiveness:

• Viewing continental collaboration as a strategic advantage rather than competition;
• Recognizing that Africa can produce goods, not just export raw materials;
• Treating the mobility of people and talent as an economic opportunity;
• Building interconnected infrastructure networks instead of isolated national projects; and
• Acting with urgency to seize Africa's current economic moment.

The report also emphasizes the need for stronger regional value chains in sectors including agriculture, automotive manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, while investing in emerging technologies and workforce readiness, including artificial intelligence.

Alongside the trade paper, the ABLC also released its 2025 Voluntary Climate Action and Gender Equality Report, which demonstrates growing momentum among African businesses on climate action, resilience and inclusion. The report highlights that ABLC members have collectively mobilized US$9.4 billion in climate finance since 2023. Other key findings from the report include:

• Approximately 90 per cent of climate finance mobilized by ABLC members has been directed toward climate mitigation and renewable energy projects;
• Half of reporting members now have climate adaptation and resilience plans in place;
• Eighty-four per cent of reporting members have integrated gender equality strategies into overall company strategy;
• Women represent an average of 32 per cent of management positions across participating companies;
• ABLC members provided approximately US$1.02 billion in investment and financing to women-owned SMEs in 2025.

Sharing these statistics, Phumzilie Langeni, ABLC member and Deputy Chairman of DP World Africa reflected on the Coalition's progress from commitments to concrete action: "When we started, it seemed like such a long journey. But I'm reminded of some of the conversations that we've had as members of ABLC — the theme has been that we as African business leaders can solve our own problems. We don't need to wait. We're not waiting to be saved."

About the UN Global Compact
As a special initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN Global Compact is a call to companies worldwide to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our vision is clear: to mobilize business to transform sustainability ambition into action at the scale the world demands. With more than 25,000 participants and a presence in over 100 countries through 5 Regional Hubs and more than 70 Country Networks and expansion territories, the UN Global Compact is the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative.

For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our website at unglobalcompact.org

Key Highlights

• ABLC paper outlines five mindset shifts needed to unlock intra-African trade
• AfCFTA could increase African exports by 68% and more than double FDI by 2035
• ABLC members have mobilized US$9.4 billion in climate finance since 2023
• ABLC report highlights growing private sector leadership on climate action, resilience and gender equality
• ABLC members have provided more than US$1 billion in financing to women-owned SMEs

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the Africa Business Leaders Coalition (ABLC)?
The UN Global Compact Africa Business Leaders Coalition is a platform convened by the United Nations Global Compact that brings together leading African CEOs and companies to advance sustainable growth, climate action, gender equality and economic transformation across the continent.

What is the new position paper about?
The paper, Five Mindset Shifts to Unlock Intra-African Trade: A Perspective from African CEOs, outlines practical recommendations from African business leaders on how to accelerate regional trade and economic integration under the AfCFTA.

Why is intra-African trade important?
Greater intra-African trade can strengthen economic resilience, create jobs, attract investment, develop regional value chains and reduce reliance on external markets. The AfCFTA is seen as one of the most important economic opportunities for the continent.

What are the five mindset shifts identified in the paper?
The paper calls for:

1. Greater continental collaboration;
2. More African industrial production and value addition;
3. Easier movement of people and talent;
4. Better connected infrastructure networks; and
5. Faster implementation and action.

What does the ABLC Annual Report show?
The Voluntary Climate Action and Gender Equality Report highlights measurable progress by member companies on climate finance, renewable energy, resilience planning and gender equality.

How much climate finance have ABLC members mobilized?
ABLC members have collectively mobilized approximately US$9.4 billion in climate finance since 2023.

How large is the ABLC network?
The Coalition currently includes 75 companies operating across 52 African countries, representing nearly one million employees and approximately US$171 billion in combined annual revenue.

What role does the private sector play in Africa's development?
The ABLC believes the private sector has a critical role to play in driving investment, innovation, industrialization, climate action and job creation across Africa, particularly through partnerships with governments and regional institutions.

Six Years of Dedication: Connecting China and the Globe Through Classics

Co-hosted by China Education Television and New Channel International Education Group, the "Stories of China Retold in English" Challenge is China's first large-scale cultural exchange event for young people both in China and abroad, focusing on the international dissemination of Chinese culture. Launched in 2020, the challenge has attracted 1.53 million young participants from 149 countries and regions worldwide. Starting from its third edition, it has introduced an overseas division for Chinese students studying at foreign universities, offering them a platform to express their national sentiments and share China's voice with the world. Following successful overseas sessions at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in 2024 and 2025 respectively, this year's edition made its debut in Singapore.

As a cultural hub of Southeast Asia, Singapore serves as a vital gateway for Chinese culture to reach Southeast Asia and the world. By choosing The Analects as its core theme, this Singapore session delved deeply into the scholarly spirit of "Learning and then constantly putting what you've learned into practice," the value pursuit of "A gentleman can be guided by righteousness," and the principle of "Do not impose on others what you would not wish for yourself." It allowed Confucian wisdom spanning over 2,500 years to thrive anew in multicultural Singapore, infusing profound cultural meaning into people-to-people exchanges between China and Singapore.

Grand Opening: Distinguished Guests Gather to Explore Cultural Missions

The event garnered extensive attention and strong support from educational and cultural circles in both China and Singapore, with representatives from institutions including the Chinese Embassy in Singapore, the Singapore Institute of Management, PSB Academy, Curtin Singapore, and the Singapore Culture and Education Association attending in person.

Mr. Wang Yong, First Secretary of the Education Office of the Chinese Embassy in Singapore, delivered the opening address. He stated that the "Stories of China Retold in English" Challenge is of far-reaching significance. It provides a high-quality platform for young people and culture enthusiasts to showcase themselves and engage in exchanges and learning. It also helps hone their cross-linguistic and cross-cultural communication skills, fosters their cultural confidence, and consolidates their sense of responsibility and commitment to inherit and carry forward fine traditional Chinese culture. With stories as a medium and culture as a bridge, the event features sincere voices from young people, which, in addition to conveying China's strength, draws the hearts of the Chinese and Singaporean peoples closer and facilitates exchanges between diverse civilizations. He also hoped that Chinese students studying in Singapore would take this event as an opportunity to strive to be storytellers of China and ambassadors of Chinese culture.   

Zhang Fanlin, Executive Commander of the "Stories of China Retold in English" Challenge and VP of New Channel International Education Group, noted in his speech that as a leading Chinese international education institution, New Channel adheres to the educational philosophy of "cultivating young learners with deep Chinese cultural roots and authentic global competence," and is committed to deeply integrating international education with international communication. This Singapore overseas session, themed on The Analects, carries profound cultural significance: It inspires Chinese international students to unleash their creativity and vitality, interpret Chinese classics from a contemporary perspective through an international language, and tell China's stories well and share China's voice across the globe.

Classics Revitalized: Diverse Renditions of The Analects' Contemporary Meaning

The performances at this edition highlighted a hallmark  of "integrating ancient and modern elements, blending Chinese and Western styles." Young participants delivered creative interpretations, rendering the ancient Confucian classics vivid and approachable while showcasing the younger Chinese generation's admiration for and inheritance of the classics.

Wang Minda from Nanyang Technological University presented an original Chinese-English rap titled PhD Rap Diary (Confucius in a Group Meeting), which stood out as one of the event's highlights. He cleverly wove Confucius's educational principles of "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude" and "diligently pursuing knowledge without ever feeling satisfied" into the daily research and group meeting experiences of modern PhD students and supervisors. Through trendy rap, he portrayed Confucius as "China's earliest doctoral supervisor," delighting the audience in a lighthearted atmosphere. Ji Sihan, an environmental engineering student at the National University of Singapore, delivered a speech titled "Standing Firm in Hardship," resonating deeply with the audience. Drawing on her own experience of loneliness and academic pressure while studying abroad, as well as the social mission of environmental engineering in global climate governance, she offered a profound interpretation of the quote: "Noble men, indeed, also face hardships, but unlike petty men, they do not lose their composure or act recklessly when confronted with adversity," illustrating how Confucian ethos informs contemporary personal growth and global problem-solving.

The fusion of traditional art and international expression was equally splendid. Highlights included the bilingual bel canto performance Ode to the Orchid, bilingual recitations of The Analects: Youthful Journey and A Millennium of Questions and Answers, the original cross-talk Confucius Goes South to the Ocean, and the martial arts performance Youthful Grace of Benevolence. These programs showcased the diverse expressive charm of The Analects from multiple dimensions.

Passing the Torch: Writing a New Chapter Through Cultural Bridges

The event also arranged a Chinese cultural experience zone outside the venue, featuring three signature activities: solving lantern riddles, hanging sachets, and creating handwritten brush-calligraphy slips. This allowed Chinese and international guests to experience the charm of traditional Chinese culture up close through sight, sound, touch, and perception after the performances.

Under colorful lanterns, traditional Chinese riddles drew many visitors to stop and participate. In the calligraphy and painting area, foreign friends picked up brushes for the first time to experience the charm of traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting. People of different nationalities and languages exchanged ideas and strengthened friendship through interaction, making this the most touching part of the event.

The successful Singapore session not only provided a platform for Chinese and Singaporean youth to showcase themselves and engage in cultural exchanges, but also enabled Confucian wisdom to transcend boundaries and radiate its unique charm in Singapore, contributing Chinese insights to the exchange and mutual learning of world civilizations. Moving forward, the "Stories of China Retold in English" Challenge will continue to serve as a bridge for cross-cultural communication, joining hands with global youth to help more authentic, profound and heartfelt Chinese stories take root, bloom and bear fruit worldwide.

First Quarter 2026 Financial Highlights

• Revenue: $737,844 for the first quarter of 2026, compared to $961,954 for the first quarter of 2025.
• Net Income: $77,879 for the first quarter of 2026, compared to $183,485 for the first quarter of 2025.
• Total Comprehensive Income: $83,137 for the first quarter of 2026, compared to $185,195 for the prior-year period.
• Cash Position: Cash and cash equivalents were approximately $10.61 million as of March 31, 2026.

Business Overview

EUBG provides digital marketing consultancy services through its wholly-owned PRC subsidiary. The Company focuses on delivering marketing consulting and related services to enterprises in China, supporting brand development and customer acquisition through online and integrated service solutions.

During the first quarter of 2026, the Company continued to optimize its service structure and expand selected business initiatives, including a recent acquisition of 100% of the equity interests in a Hong Kong entity, Heng Ying International Investment Limited. This acquisition permits the Company to engage in commercial lending activities once its Money Lenders License is renewed, which is expected around June 2026.

Strategic Outlook

EUBG continues to focus on strengthening its consulting capabilities, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing long-term competitiveness.

The Company is also evaluating strategic expansion opportunities, including selected fintech-related initiatives through its recently acquired Hong Kong subsidiary, Heng Ying International Investment Limited.

In addition, on February 25, 2026, the Company effected a 1-for-10 reverse stock split, further aligning its capital structure with long-term strategic objectives.

Management Commentary

Mr. Guolin Tao, CEO of EUBG, stated:

"Although our first quarter results reflected a more cautious operating environment and adjustments in certain service lines, we continued to maintain profitability and a strong cash position.

We remain focused on disciplined execution, operational optimization, and long-term strategic development. Looking ahead, we will continue enhancing our consulting service capabilities while prudently evaluating new business opportunities that support sustainable growth."

About Entrepreneur Universe Bright Group

Entrepreneur Universe Bright Group is a Nevada holding company that conducts its operations through its wholly-owned subsidiaries in Hong Kong and mainland China. The Company primarily engages in consulting and marketing services in China with support from its Hong Kong subsidiary.

For more information, please visit: www.eubggroup.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains projections and "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 related to the Company's business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts. When the Company uses words such as "may," "will," "intend," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "estimate," or similar expressions that do not relate solely to historical matters, it is making forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the following: the Company's goals and strategies; future business development; financial condition and results of operations; product and service demand and acceptance; competition and pricing pressures; changes in technology; government regulations; fluctuations in economic and business conditions in China; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing and other risks contained in the Company's filings with the SEC. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company's filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

SINGAPORE, May 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- What if your eyes could use light to heal themselves? Drawing inspiration from how plants harness sunlight, researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) are pioneering a revolutionary treatment for dry eye disease. Their approach uses a light-activated technology derived from the photosynthetic membranes of the spinach plant, enabling the eye to stay continuously hydrated. This offers a solution that is simple, effective and non-invasive.

Dry eye disease, also known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, is one of the most common eye conditions, affecting more than 1.5 billion people worldwide. Far more than a minor discomfort, the disease causes corneal scarring, chronic pain, blurred vision and sensitivity to light. Various studies have linked it to depression, anxiety and reduced workplace productivity, as well as an economic burden estimated at US$3.84 billion annually in the United States alone. Current treatments such as cyclosporine A (Restasis®) and lifitegrast (Xiidra®) target inflammation through specific molecular pathways, but their high costs and adverse side effects limit long-term use.

At the cellular level, the disease is driven by a vicious cycle. Inflammation in the corneal region generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), chemically aggressive molecules that damage cells. Healthy eyes can neutralise ROS through antioxidant production that is driven by Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate (reduced form) (NADPH). But in inflamed eyes, ROS levels overwhelm the cornea's natural defences, resulting in the generation of even more ROS – a death spiral.

A team led by Associate Professor David Leong Tai Wei from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in the College of Design and Engineering at NUS has developed a fundamentally different approach by transplanting functional plant-derived photosynthetic machinery into corneal cells, enabling them to harvest ambient light and produce NADPH independently from the cells' own NADPH production pathways. In preclinical studies, the technology, delivered as simple eye drops at doses so low that it does not interfere with colour perception, reversed corneal damage to near-healthy levels within five days, outperforming Restasis®.

The study was published online in the scientific journal Cell on 15 May 2026.

An eye-opening biological crossover

Evolutionarily, plants and animals have taken divergent paths such that animals, with one exception, are not able to photosynthesise. This exception is the sacoglossan sea slug, which ingests and stores away the chloroplasts (organelles responsible for photosynthesis in plant cells) of microalgae within its intestinal cells. When starved, these sea slugs can live off the nutrients made through photosynthesis — the only known case of an animal being able to photosynthesise just like a plant. This unusual animal trait raised an intriguing question: could mammals also acquire some limited form of photosynthesis?

To test out their ideas, the NUS researchers chose the eye as it is one of the few organs in the human body that absorbs visible light — just like plant leaves. They engineered LEAF (Light-reaction Enriched thylAkoid NADPH-Foundry), a nanosized, structurally preserved version of the thylakoid grana — the tightly stacked membrane compartments inside the chloroplasts of plant cells where light energy is harnessed and converted to NADPH molecules. During photosynthesis, the NADPH molecules are subsequently used to produce glucose, providing energy and food for the plant.

The team's core innovation was to strip away the part of the chloroplasts that consumes NADPH while keeping the thylakoids, where the light-reactions machinery of photosynthesis is, intact. This resulted in a nanosized package that acts as a dedicated NADPH factory capable of producing about 20 per cent more NADPH compared to unpackaged thylakoids. Prepared from the familiar spinach leaves using a patented, mild mechanical and chemical extraction method developed by the NUS team, the particles are roughly 400 nanometres across — small enough to be readily absorbed by cells. LEAF, when in the cells, then produces photosynthetic NADPH upon exposure to ambient light sources, and the NADPH produced tackles dry eye disease via two pathways – inside and outside the cell.

"This is an exciting finding as we have, for the first time, demonstrated that plant photosynthetic machinery can be transplanted into mammalian tissue to generate biologically useful molecules, powered entirely by the same light that enables our vision. We, too, can have limited photosynthetic abilities." said Dr Xing Kuoran, the first author of the work.

Tested in living tissue

In laboratory tests on inflamed cells, LEAF restored NADPH levels within 30 minutes of light exposure, suppressed ROS and pivoted immune cells in the cornea from a pro-inflammatory to an anti-inflammatory state. When tested directly in tear samples collected from patients with dry eye disease, LEAF increased NADPH levels roughly 20-fold and reduced hydrogen peroxide, a key cell-damaging oxidant, by more than 95 per cent.

In their first preclinical trial in collaboration with ophthalmologists from Eye Centre of Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, LEAF administered as eye drops under ambient indoor lighting reversed corneal damage to near-healthy levels within five days, outperforming Restasis®. A second preclinical trial also confirmed the therapeutic effect. Safety assessments, including skin sensitisation, eye irritation and organ toxicity studies conducted over two months showed no adverse effects. The team plans to conduct clinical trials to further validate the technology.

More than meets the eye

"With LEAF, we now have a technology that harnesses ambient light to directly restore the molecule that dry eye disease depletes," added Assoc Prof Leong. "As it is derived from spinach, delivered as a simple eye drop, requires no external device or power source and using the ambient light that is used for vision, we believe it has a strong potential for clinical translation. It is almost surreal when thinking of a possible future reality where human cells can have some limited but beneficial form of photosynthetic ability not only in the eye but elsewhere, too."

In addition, as oxidative stress underpins a wide range of inflammatory conditions beyond dry eye disease, the team also sees potential for LEAF-based approaches wherever the body's antioxidant defences are overwhelmed, particularly in tissues naturally accessible to visible light such as the retina, skin and underlying skeletal muscles. They are also developing new strategies that can produce therapeutically useful photosynthesised molecules in internal organs without the need for visible light penetration.

Read more: https://news.nus.edu.sg/eyes-that-photosynthesise

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, pointed out: "Respecting, adapting to, and protecting nature is essential for building China into a modern socialist country in all respects."

As outlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for national economic and social development, securing major breakthroughs in strategic tasks of overall importance to Chinese modernization and making major new progress in the Beautiful China Initiative are set as key objectives.

The Global Times is launching a series of articles titled "BeautifulChinaING." From the perspectives of the beauty of nature, the beauty of system and the beauty of lifestyle, the series uses both Chinese and international cases as entry points. Through field reporting and video storytelling, it explores how green development has become a defining feature of Chinese modernization while showcasing China's role as a responsible major country providing global public goods.

In this installment, we turn our focus to China's broader fight against desertification and the growing public participation behind it. Through the stories of young volunteers planting trees in Minqin County, Northwest China's Gansu Province, and similar efforts across the country, this story examines how grassroots action, youth engagement and long-term ecological restoration are becoming part of the wider practice of building a Beautiful China.

This spring, many young Chinese people have chosen not to spend their holidays at popular tourist attractions, but on the edge of the desert in Minqin County, Northwest China's Gansu Province.

On social media, "Come to Minqin and plant a tree" has become a trending topic. Young people from across the country have paid their own way to travel there, carrying shovels and saplings on their backs, planting native sand-fixing plants amid wind and sand. In doing so, they have turned "going to the desert to plant trees" into a new public welfare trend.

As of May 5, the 2026 "Come to Minqin and plant a tree" volunteer campaign had received more than 50,000 online registrations and attracted 46,000 volunteer visits in total. At its peak, more than 4,000 volunteers booked slots in a single day via the online platform to come to Minqin to plant trees, the People's Daily reported.

This trend also stands as a vivid testament to the country's broader green development efforts.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, China completed afforestation of 36.6 million hectares over the past five years, restored 289,600 mu (19,307 hectares) of wetlands, and treated 10.13 million mu of desertified land. The country has continued to see reductions in both desertified and sandy land areas, becoming the first in the world to achieve "zero growth" in land degradation.

Zhao Yu, who works in the internet industry in Beijing, is one of the volunteers coming to Minqin. She first came across stories about Minqin's desertification control efforts on short video platforms and was moved by the persistence of Zhong Lin, a young man born in 1998 who returned to his hometown, and local residents who have spent years guarding the oasis.

In March, she arrived in Minqin. She had originally thought planting trees was simply about "digging a hole and putting a sapling in it." But after truly stepping into the desert, she found that preventing and controlling desertification was far more arduous than she had imagined - and far more concrete.

"I used to think ecological civilization and green development were somewhat distant from ordinary people," Zhao told the Global Times. But in Minqin, she said, she felt for the first time that ecological civilization could be a tree planted by ordinary people with their own hands. It could also be the genuine efforts of a group of young people bending over in the wind and sand to bring more green to the desert.

From screen to sand

The first thing Zhao felt after arriving in Minqin was a strong sense of contrast.

Before setting off, Minqin had been, to her, simply a destination many young people were heading to under related topics on social media platforms like Douyin and RedNote. Only after arriving did she realize that the wind and sand pressure borne by this land was far more direct and heavier than what she had seen on screen.

On the way to Minqin, the scenery outside the car window gradually turned vast and desolate. Along the way, she heard local residents explain that Minqin lies between the Tengger Desert and the Badain Jaran Desert like "a sandwich," and has long faced the pressure of being hemmed in by the two deserts.

Planting trees in the desert was not as easy as she had imagined. This year, the base adopted a new planting method, putting sand-tolerant plants into nutrient cups for mixed planting, in order to improve the survival rate and enrich biodiversity.

Saxaul trees, also known by their scientific name Haloxylon ammodendron, are highly drought-resistant plants that help stabilize sand dunes and form shelter belts. A single saxaul tree can help stabilize about 10 square meters of desertified soil.

Volunteers were divided into different groups. Some distributed saplings, some filled soil, some dug holes, and others watered and backfilled them. Since the nutrient cups were relatively tall, the holes had to be dug deep - sometimes above knee level. The loose sand would quickly slide back into the hole soon after being shoveled aside, so one hole often required several people to work together.

Zhao's group had eight or nine people, and over several days, they planted nearly 100 saplings.

The physical hardship soon became tangible. When the wind and sand were strong, sand would get into their hats, masks, shoe covers and the seams of clothing. Under the noon sun beating down on the sand, those working would soon be drenched in sweat.

But what impressed Zhao most was not the hardship, but the tacit understanding that formed among the young people on site. She saw that many volunteers were around 20 years old, and quite a few had never participated in environmental protection activities before or even held a shovel. Yet after arriving, they all carefully learned how to distribute saplings, dig holes and backfill them, worried that the saplings they planted might not survive.

One detail particularly touched her. A teenage girl in her group said while planting trees, "I must make sure the tree I plant survives."

Zhao said the remark helped her immediately understand the state of mind of many young people after arriving in Minqin: "They were not there for an easy visit and a selfie. They truly hoped that the trees they planted with their own hands would take root, sprout and grow."

She also noticed that local residents were especially warm toward volunteers from other places, whether in terms of accommodation, meals, transportation or other services.

The thought deeply touched her. "Planting trees here carries not only the enthusiasm of young people from outside, but also Minqin people's cherishing of and expectations for their homeland," Zhao told the Global Times.

After returning to Beijing, Zhao posted her experience online, and the response surprised her. She said the questions she received most often from netizens were how to sign up, how to get to Minqin and whether they could make donations. Many people also sent her long private messages expressing a keen interest to take part.

After receiving all these messages, and seeing how enthusiastic people were, she made a separate guide video, compiling information on registration methods, travel routes and precautions.

Growing groves

In Minqin, the arrival of young people did not begin only this year.

According to the People's Daily, as early as 2006, Ma Junhe, a local resident of Minqin, and his friends jointly launched a volunteer association. In 2007, they organized volunteers online for the first time to come to Minqin to plant trees and fight desertification. In the first year, only around 20 people answered the call and came to the desert to plant trees.

More than a decade later, the internet has continued to play a role, but in a different way. Short videos, variety shows and social media platforms have brought Minqin onto the phone screens of more young people.

The Global Times learned from the Minqin county publicity department that in February 2024, the production team of an online variety show filmed a program in the county, where the guests and Zhong Lin, a young entrepreneur who returned to his hometown in Minqin, jointly planted 180,000 saxaul trees on the edge of the Tengger Desert.

After watching the program, many young people made the journey to the county, and took part in tree-planting activities.

In February 2025, the county issued a recruitment notice for the "Come to Minqin and plant a tree" public welfare tree-planting campaign. Soon afterwards, more volunteers from across the country began arriving in Minqin to take part in voluntary tree planting.

The Global Times learned from the Minqin county publicity department that since the campaign was launched, it has attracted more than 92,000 volunteer visits from across the country.

Zhong said he experienced failure when he first began working on nonprofit desertification control.

When he first tried to plant 500 saxaul trees, most of them failed to survive due to his lack of experience. He later studied materials on desertification control, sought advice from local villagers, summarized the lessons learned and planted another 53 hectares of saxaul trees. He also moved his home to the edge of the desert to guard the saplings as they grew. The survival rate of that batch of saxaul trees reached 80 percent.

"Planting trees in the desert is something Minqin people have been doing for generations," Zhong told the Global Times. Now, through the "Come to Minqin and plant a tree" initiative, more and more young people from across the country have joined in, and many parents have brought their children here to plant trees, Zhong said. "This is the meaning of what I am doing."

Grassroots synergy

The continuous influx of volunteers has also brought new tests to this northwest China county, which has a relatively small permanent population.

The Global Times learned from the Minqin county publicity department that, since 2025, in order to ensure the smooth and orderly operation of the "Come to Minqin and plant a tree" volunteer campaign, Minqin has refined services and support around the full process of volunteers' needs, covering meals, accommodation, transportation and tree planting. Local authorities have also set up police, medical and emergency service points.

Such efforts are emerging in more places. In the Hunshandake Sandy Land in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, spring tree planting has also attracted many volunteers.

During this year's May Day holidays, a public welfare spring planting campaign was launched in the Hunshandake Sandy Land in Inner Mongolia. On the first day, more than 300 volunteers from different places planted drought-resistant and sand-fixing species such as yellow willow and caragana on 6.7 hectares of mobile sandy land, with professional technicians providing on-site guidance, reported the Inner Mongolia TV.

From Minqin to Hunshandake, and from offline volunteer tree planting to internet-based public welfare platforms, the ways in which the public participates in desertification prevention and control are becoming more diverse.

Behind this public participation is China's long-term process of advancing large-scale land greening and desertification prevention and control. According to a report released by the National Greening Commission, by 2025, various regions across China had built 3,071 "internet + voluntary tree planting" bases, launched 62,000 responsibility-fulfilling activities throughout the year and received more than 33 million visits.

For Zhao, these grand figures eventually came back to a small detail in everyday life.

One day, her niece, who is still in kindergarten, suddenly said to her, "Auntie, I want to plant a tree." Zhao asked what kind of tree she wanted to plant. The child replied, "A saxaul tree."

The answer surprised Zhao. She said she had not told the child in detail about the tree-planting process in Minqin, yet the name "saxaul tree" had already taken root and begun to sprout in the child's heart.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202605/1360997.shtml

A live session underscored the shift from fragmented tools to unified payments infrastructure

SAN MATEO, Calif., May 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Subotiz, a next-generation platform for subscriptions, payment and growth, showcased its AI-driven capabilities at SaaStr AI Annual 2026, where more than 10,000 SaaS founders, operators, and AI leaders gathered to discuss the future of AI-native software and business infrastructure.

At the event, Subotiz demonstrated how AI and SaaS companies can unify payments, subscription billing, tax, fraud management, compliance, and payouts in one connected revenue system. In a live session with Subotiz CRO Adam Mawdesley, the company explored how AI-native businesses can replace disconnected tools with a unified platform that learns from every transaction, streamlines revenue operations and helps companies scale more efficiently.

The session also focused on how AI products require billing systems that can adapt to evolving pricing models, including usage-based, subscription, and hybrid approaches. Subotiz highlighted how it can support more flexible payment experiences and create smoother buying journeys for customers worldwide.

Key features of the platform include:

• Unified subscription and recurring billing infrastructure
• Global payment routing and multi-method payment support
• Merchant of Record (MoR) capabilities and tax compliance management
• AI-powered fraud prevention and payment optimization
• Revenue infrastructure supporting e-commerce and mobile commerce
• Flexible APIs and embedded financial workflows for platform integrations

"SaaStr AI Annual was an important opportunity to demonstrate how payment and revenue systems are evolving alongside AI-native software," said Adam, CRO of Subotiz. "As AI products become more dynamic, businesses need systems that are programmable, scalable, and deeply integrated into the product experience. Payments, billing, compliance, and payouts can no longer operate in silos."

Subotiz's participation at SaaStr AI Annual 2026 reflects the company's continued expansion across AI and SaaS companies, digital commerce, and platform technology markets, where businesses increasingly require unified revenue and payment operations to support global growth.

About Subotiz

Subotiz is a next-generation payment and revenue infrastructure platform designed for global digital businesses. By combining payments, subscription management, usage-based billing, tax and compliance automation, fraud prevention, and payout orchestration into a unified platform, Subotiz enables SaaS, AI, eCommerce, and platform businesses to scale globally with greater operational efficiency and revenue flexibility. Learn more at Subotiz.

The course provided participants with a comprehensive introduction to the MINISH Veneers workflow, covering diagnosis, tooth preparation, communication with the laboratory, bonding protocols, optimized workflow with assistant, and final delivery. Through lectures, live demonstrations, and practical exercises, attendees experienced the clinical philosophy and systematic workflow that have been refined through more than 18 years and over 200,000 clinical veneer cases.

Unlike conventional veneer approaches that often prioritize aggressive preparation for esthetic outcomes, the MINISH philosophy emphasizes preservation of healthy tooth structure and biomimetic restoration principles. The concept focuses on restoring teeth in a way that closely mimics the natural structure and function of enamel while minimizing unnecessary reduction of healthy tissue.

One of the distinguishing aspects of the program was its highly interactive hands-on environment. Six experienced faculty members provided close guidance throughout the course, allowing participants to receive individualized feedback and direct clinical instruction. Many attendees highlighted the faculty-to-participant ratio and the depth of practical education as major strengths of the program.

"Most veneer courses focus heavily on esthetics alone, but this course helped connect esthetics, function, and long-term preservation," said one participant. "The workflow was systematic, detailed, and immediately applicable to daily practice."

The course also introduced participants to the broader MINISH ecosystem, including its proprietary laboratory communication process and collaboration with MINISH Lab, Asia's first VITA-certified dental laboratory. Participants gained insight into how digital workflows, material selection, and technician-clinician collaboration contribute to predictable restorative outcomes.

Due to increasing interest in minimally invasive dentistry and conservative restorative solutions, MINISH Veneers USA continues to expand its educational initiatives throughout North America. The company stated that upcoming courses will continue focusing on practical clinical integration, biomimetic principles, and real-world workflows that can be implemented efficiently in modern dental practices.

Following strong attendance and positive participant feedback, future MINISH Courses are expected to attract growing interest from clinicians seeking conservative alternatives to traditional restorative approaches.

For more information about future MINISH Veneers Courses, visit the official MINISH Veneers USA website: https://minishveneers.com/us-veneers-training-course/

CONTACT: Aili Zhao, contact@minishtech.com, +1-323-880-2875

HONG KONG, May 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 15, 2026, Chow Tai Fook, a leading global Chinese jewellery house, unveils its first global flagship store on Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Conceived as "Home of Chow Tai Fook," the store blends nearly a century of heritage with contemporary aesthetics, showcasing the beauty of China to the world through jewellery.

Chow Tai Fook first global flagship store spanning around 10,000 square feet, it is the group's largest store in the Hong Kong and Macau market. The store features the Heritage Pavilion, celebrating Chow Tai Fook's journey and the artisanal heritage that has shaped the Brand since its founding. Spanning from 1929 to the present, it highlights collaborations with leading institutions to research and preserve hammering, filigree, and other ancient gold jewellery techniques, ensuring these time-honoured skills remain a living legacy for the future.

A Gold Ginkgo Tree stands as an iconic presence of the flagship store, measuring 2.1 metres tall and 2.3 metres wide. Its leaves and branches are cast in pure gold, weighing nearly 40,000 grams in total. A testament to Chow Tai Fook's technical mastery, the tree was crafted by nearly 50 artisans in around 60,000 hours.

As the first global Chinese jewellery brand to enter the luxury home category, the Brand is bringing its mastery of fine craftsmanship to objects designed to enrich home décor. Developed in collaboration with internationally acclaimed brand, Bernardaud — the venerable French porcelain maison — Chow Tai Fook Home's tableware Rouge Collection brings together world-class artisanal traditions with a contemporary design language. This expansion reinforces the Brand positioning in the global luxury landscape, while integrating the brand more deeply into customers' daily lives.

The space includes a newly introduced concierge service and redesigned interiors aimed at creating a more structured and service-led in-store journey.

The opening of Chow Tai Fook's first global flagship store marks a pivotal milestone in the Brand's strategic evolution, embodying its artisanal mastery and cultural depth while offering a fresh and contemporary vision of Chinese luxury. Every visit is transformed into an immersive encounter with the Brand's rich history, exceptional craftsmanship, and oriental aesthetics, redefining the luxury retail experience on a global stage.

New AI agents help brands launch faster, market smarter, and scale more efficiently

SAN MATEO, Calif., May 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Shoplazza, a leading commerce platform for DTC brands, showcased its expanding AI-native Commerce Operating System at SaaStr AI Annual 2026, where more than 10,000 SaaS founders, operators, and growth leaders gathered to discuss the future of AI-driven business technology.

Shoplazza's participation at SaaStr AI Annual 2026 follows the company's broader North American expansion efforts and continued rollout of its AI commerce agent ecosystem.

During the event, Shoplazza highlighted the industry's shift from traditional software tools toward AI systems designed to automate and simplify the work behind running and growing a commerce business. Through live demonstrations, Shoplazza showed how its AI agents work together to help brands go from idea to revenue faster by automating storefront creation, creative production, advertising, and operations across a unified platform.

Among the technologies featured at the event were Shoplazza's core AI agents, including:

• Shoplazza AI Store Builder — a conversational AI storefront creation agent that enables merchants to launch fully functional eCommerce stores in minutes through simple voice or text prompts. The platform automatically generates localized storefronts, product pages, collections, and branded content tailored for global markets.
• LazzaStudio — an AI-powered visual creation platform that allows merchants to instantly generate professional-grade product imagery, promotional banners, and advertising creatives without traditional photography or design workflows. The platform helps brands accelerate content production while maintaining visual consistency across channels.
• AdValet — an AI advertising agent that transforms storefront and product data into automated advertising campaigns across major digital platforms. The system manages campaign setup, creative generation, audience targeting, optimization, and performance monitoring to help merchants improve advertising efficiency.
• Athena — an AI operations agent designed to streamline backend commerce management, including product operations, analytics, workflow coordination, and business optimization through conversational AI interactions.

Additionally, Group CRO Adam Mawdesley delivered a live presentation during the show sharing insights into how AI agents can coordinate workflows across the commerce journey within a unified platform. The session also highlighted Shoplazza's partnership with Subotiz to support payments, subscriptions, and compliance for modern commerce businesses.

"SaaStr AI Annual was an important opportunity to demonstrate how AI is fundamentally changing commerce operations," said Jeff Li, Founder and CEO of Shoplazza. "Businesses today need more than software tools; they need intelligent systems that can execute. Our AI-native Commerce Operating System helps merchants and growth teams launch faster, automate critical workflows, and scale globally with far greater efficiency."

About Shoplazza

Shoplazza is a global AI-native commerce operating system that enables brands to build, launch, and scale their online businesses. Built on an AI agent-native framework, Shoplazza integrates storefronts, marketing, payments, and operational workflows into a unified system designed to support scalable, long-term growth across global markets. Learn more at https://www.shoplazza.com/.

Telkom Indonesia's 20-F report is available on its website at www.telkom.co.id (http://www.telkom.co.id/) as well as through the SEC website at www.sec.gov (http://www.sec.gov/).

Holders of Telkom Indonesia's securities can receive a hard copy of the 20-F report (including the complete audited financial statements) free of charge upon request. Requests can be made by contacting Telkom Indonesia Investor Relations at investor@telkom.co.id (mailto: investor@telkom.co.id).

For further information please contact:

PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk

Investor Relations

E-mail: investor@telkom.co.id (mailto:investor@telkom.co.id)

Website: www.telkom.co.id (http://www.telkom.co.id/)

LAS VEGAS, May 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Lepro today announced the launch of STV1, a new camera-based TV backlight designed to make home entertainment more immersive by extending on-screen color into the room around the TV. Built for movies, gaming, live sports, and music, STV1 combines synchronized ambient lighting, AI-generated lighting scenes, and simplified installation in one entertainment-focused solution.

What makes STV1 different from standard TV light strips is that it is designed not only as a screen-sync backlight, but also as an AI lighting system for the living room. With LightGPM™ 4 AI Lighting Designer, users can create customized lighting scenes from text, voice, or image prompts, while a 2-in-1 camera-controller design reduces wiring and makes setup cleaner and easier.

Faster sync when every frame matters

At the heart of STV1 is LightIMS™ Instant Sync, powered by a high-performance chip and Lepro's proprietary synchronization technology. The system delivers a response speed that is 36% faster than comparable competing products, according to Lepro testing, helping the backlight react more quickly to changing visuals on screen.

Faster response time is especially important for content with rapid changes, such as action scenes, console games, camera cuts, and live sports. When a backlight lags behind the TV image, lighting can fall out of sync with the current frame and feel disconnected from the viewing experience. STV1's faster sync helps the ambient light follow fast-moving visuals more closely, creating a smoother and more natural extension of the picture beyond the screen.

Lepro Lens Correction for more accurate screen color

STV1 uses True-to-Screen Color, combining color-accurate RGBIC LEDs, Lepro Lens Correction, and proprietary image-processing algorithms to deliver more faithful color reproduction.

To capture color from an entire TV screen - up to 85 inches - from a short distance using a single camera, STV1 uses a fisheye ultra-wide-angle lens with a field of view greater than 180 degrees. Lepro Lens Correction applies distortion correction and zone mapping to the captured image, helping restore the fisheye camera view into a more accurate representation of the screen. This allows STV1 to identify color zones more precisely and match the backlight to the correct areas of the TV image.

A cleaner setup with fewer cables

To simplify installation, Lepro designed STV1 with a 2-in-1 integrated structure that combines the camera and controller into a single device. Compared with setups that rely on separate external components, the integrated design reduces cable clutter, simplifies placement, and helps users complete installation and calibration more easily.

The ultra-wide camera lens also makes positioning more flexible, reducing the need for highly precise placement and making setup easier across different TV configurations.

AI lighting for sports nights, music, and personalized scenes

Beyond screen sync, STV1 expands into broader entertainment scenarios with LightGPM™ 4 AI Lighting Designer. Users can create lighting scenes from text, voice, or image prompts, making it easy to generate team-inspired lighting for game-day viewing, match a movie-night mood, or personalize the room for different occasions.

For music-driven moments, LightBeats™ Music Sync uses a patented loudness algorithm to produce smooth, wave-like rhythm lighting. Rather than relying on aggressive flashing effects, the system is designed to create a more fluid and comfortable sync between sound and light.

Smarter everyday use with automatic shutoff

STV1 includes blank-screen detection, allowing the lights to turn off automatically when the TV screen goes dark. This feature helps reduce unnecessary power consumption while also making the product easier to live with day to day.

Pricing and availability

STV1 will be available in two TV-size options: a 55-65-inch model priced at US$89.99 and a 75-85-inch model priced at US$109.99. Both models are scheduled to go on sale on May 15, 2026, through the Lepro official website and the Lepro Amazon flagship store. Full product specifications will be available on the product pages at launch.

Bringing more immersion to the living room

With STV1, Lepro is expanding its smart lighting portfolio with a product that combines fast synchronized ambient lighting, AI scene creation, and simplified hardware design in one entertainment-focused solution.

Whether used for movie nights, gaming sessions, sports viewing, or music playback, STV1 is designed to turn the TV into the center of a more engaging and atmospheric living-room experience.

SHANGHAI, May 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- According to recent analysis by Frost & Sullivan, the global coatings industry is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by tightening environmental regulations, evolving construction demands, and rapid technological advancements. In parallel, the stone paint segment is emerging as a high-growth category, reshaping the landscape of exterior architectural finishes worldwide.

The global coatings industry, comprising waterborne, powder, and high-solids coatings, continues to transition toward environmentally sustainable solutions. This shift is supported by increasing regulatory pressure and strong construction activity, particularly across emerging markets. Waterborne coatings, including stone paint, are gaining traction as low-VOC alternatives that align with global sustainability targets.

The industry value chain remains robust, with stable upstream supply of raw materials such as solvents, aggregates, and additives, supporting midstream manufacturers producing architectural and industrial coatings. Downstream, demand spans diverse sectors including construction, automotive, furniture, and industrial equipment.

Frost & Sullivan estimates that the global coatings market grew from RMB 1,137.6 billion in 2020 to RMB 1,565.0 billion in 2025, representing a CAGR of 7.8%. The market is projected to reach RMB 2,248.7 billion by 2030, driven by continued innovation, infrastructure development, and the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies.

Within this broader market, the global stone paint industry - classified under exterior textured paints - has emerged as a key growth segment. These coatings replicate the appearance of natural stone while offering superior flexibility, reduced weight, and enhanced weather resistance. As a result, they are increasingly replacing traditional cladding materials in modern construction.

The global stone paint market expanded from RMB 42.2 billion in 2020 to RMB 106.1 billion in 2025, achieving a CAGR of 20.2%. It is forecast to reach RMB 245.1 billion by 2030, with a projected CAGR of 18.2% from 2025. Growth is being driven by rising demand for energy-efficient building materials and enhanced architectural aesthetics.

Stone-like coatings are becoming a pivotal enabler of high-quality architectural development. They not only enhance visual appeal but also reduce structural load and natural resource consumption, making them highly aligned with global sustainability objectives.

The Asia-Pacific region continues to play a central role in market expansion, both as a production hub and a key demand centre. In 2025, China accounted for 25.6% of the global stone paint market, supported by strong policy momentum around green building standards and carbon reduction initiatives. The country's stone paint market grew from RMB 11.4 billion in 2020 to RMB 27.2 billion in 2025, and is expected to reach RMB 50.6 billion by 2030.

From a competitive standpoint, the market remains moderately concentrated, with the top five players accounting for approximately 36.3% of global market share in 2025. SKSHU Paint leads the segment with an estimated 23.2% share.

Looking ahead, several structural drivers are expected to sustain growth in the stone paint market. These include increasing demand for customized architectural aesthetics, cost advantages over natural stone, and the continued tightening of environmental regulations promoting low-VOC and water-based solutions. In addition, infrastructure expansion across emerging markets in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa is expected to provide significant long-term demand.

As urbanisation accelerates and sustainability becomes a core priority, both the global coatings and stone paint industries are poised for continued innovation and expansion, reinforcing their critical role in the future of construction and industrial development.

Download your complimentary copy of the whitepaper here.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Pipeline Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation, and leadership. The company's Growth Pipeline as a Service provides the CEO's Growth Team with transformational strategies and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth opportunities. For over 60 years, Frost & Sullivan has partnered with investors, corporate leaders, and governments to identify, prioritise, and execute transformational growth strategies.

Your Transformational Growth Journey Starts Here: Schedule Your Growth Pipeline Dialog™ with the Frost & Sullivan team.

Contact:
Rachel Zhang
Frost & Sullivan China
E: rachel.zhang@frostchina.com 
T: +86 021-3209-6800

SAN FRANCISCO, May 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- True Global Ventures (TGV) and Accel today announced a $9 million Pre-Series A round in Sprouts.ai, bringing the company's total funding to $14 million. Sprouts.ai is a fast-growing AI native startup delivering Revenue Agents for B2B enterprises, anchored in a proprietary go-to-market (GTM) data layer.

The platform enables revenue teams to identify, enrich, engage, and convert ideal customers with precision using deep account intelligence. Its Deep AI GTM Engine powers several first to market AI functionality like complex query search, product heatmaps, buyer committee mapping, relationship networks, and autonomous AI workflows. Sprouts.ai delivers this functionality natively, inside customer CRMs like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics, and through leading LLMs like Claude.

The investment underscores TGV and Accel's conviction in AI-first companies transforming how businesses grow revenue, and marks another milestone in TGV's global strategy of backing visionary founders at the intersection of AI and enterprise GTM.

Solving the B2B GTM Intelligence Gap

Sprouts.ai is headquartered in Palo Alto and addresses one of the most persistent challenges in modern B2B: efficiently identifying and engaging the right buyers at the right time. One key reason for the same is dirty and siloed data. According to Gartner, 85% of enterprise AI initiatives fail due to dirty data. Enterprises run an average of more than 20 GTM tools, compounding data-quality problems across silos, with CRM the largest offender with 30 to 40 percent of records being inaccurate, stale, or missing.

Sprouts.ai replaces the fragmented stack with a unified AI-native layer that maintains high-fidelity data and auto-cleans the surrounding ecosystem. The platform discovers ICP-qualified accounts, enriches contacts with high accuracy, surfaces real-time buying signals, and automates multi-channel outreach.

Trusted by leading global brands including Razorpay, Hewlett Packard, HighRadius, and Udemy, Sprouts.ai has delivered measurable outcomes. Customers report a 3x increase in ICP-qualified leads, a 25% lift in Sales Qualified Leads, a 3x improvement in response rates, and a 35% reduction in GTM tooling costs.

"The B2B revenue stack is broken. Sales and marketing teams operate across more than 20 tools, work off dirty data, and bolt AI on top of infrastructure that was never built for it. We built Sprouts.ai to replace that fragmentation with a unified data and agent layer that actually moves the pipeline. With TGV and Accel, we have the partners and the global reach to put Revenue Agents inside every enterprise running on Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and the leading LLMs."

Karan Chaudhry, Co-Founder and CEO, Sprouts AI

"Sprouts AI is exactly the kind of company TGV looks for — a Californian AI-first business with real traction, clear product-market fit, and a data moat accelerated by distribution channels. B2B go-to-market has historically been expensive, fragmented, noisy and opaque. Karan and his team have built something genuinely transformative: a platform that brings together data, intent, and automation into a single intelligent layer that helps companies grow faster and smarter. We are thrilled to support Sprouts AI's next chapter of growth in agentic AI to help the sales team perform better without additional headcount."

Beatrice Lion, General Partner and CEO, True Global Ventures

"At Accel, we've long believed that the future of B2B growth lies at the intersection of AI, data, and automation. Sprouts AI embodies that thesis. Their platform gives revenue teams unprecedented intelligence and execution capability, dramatically compressing the time from prospect identification to closed deals. Native integration with Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics accelerates distribution across enterprise clients. We're excited to have TGV join us in backing Sprouts as they scale."

Shekhar Kirani, Partner, Accel

ABOUT SPROUTS AI

Sprouts.ai builds Revenue Agents that turn traditional revenue teams AI-native. The company has invested in a deep data intelligence moat to power autonomous agents across the full funnel, from ICP to Closed Won. Customers can run Sprouts.ai inside the platforms they already use, including Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Copilot and Claude. Built for enterprises that demand secure, compliant, and trusted data, Sprouts.ai is disrupting a $250B category by replacing fragmented legacy tooling and dirty data with a unified GTM intelligence layer. Founded in 2023 by Karan Chaudhry, Kapil Chaudhry, and Avinash Nagla, the company is headquartered in Palo Alto and trusted by leading global brands. Learn more at www.sprouts.ai

ABOUT TRUE GLOBAL VENTURES

True Global Ventures (TGV) is a global venture capital firm investing in post-revenues AI-first companies at the early stage. TGV's current portfolio includes Prezent, Cynch, COVU, Obligo, Ledger, Animoca Brands, Jus Mundi, Coding Giants and many others. Almost all portfolio companies are in the U.S. or entering the U.S. With presence in San Francisco, New York, Paris, London, Stockholm, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong, TGV backs visionary founders building the next generation of transformative technology ventures. www.trueglobalventures.com

ABOUT ACCEL

Accel is a global venture capital firm that is the first partner to exceptional teams everywhere, from inception through all phases of private company growth. Atlassian, Browserstack, Bumble, CrowdStrike, Freshworks, Flipkart, Ola Cabs, Qualtrics, Scale, Segment, Slack, Spotify, Swiggy, and UiPath are among the companies Accel has backed over the past 40+ years. We help ambitious entrepreneurs build iconic global businesses. For more, visit www.accel.com.

Funding will accelerate the expansion of Wirestock's data platform and the company's ability to deliver premium, ethically sourced multimodal datasets to the world's leading AI labs while deepening its commitment to empowering creators globally

SAN FRANCISCO, May 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Wirestock, the platform connecting the world's creative community with the frontier of artificial intelligence, today announced the close of a $23 million Series A funding round led by Nava Ventures with participation from SBVP (co-founded by Sheryl Sandberg), Formula VC, I2BF Global Ventures and other strategic and existing investors. The investment will fuel the next chapter of Wirestock's mission: building the definitive platform for creators to monetize their skills while powering the most advanced AI models in the world with premium, human-made multimodal data. Data that isn't scraped or repurposed, but made intentionally.

Since its founding, Wirestock has grown to a community of more than 700,000 creators spanning photographers, videographers, graphic designers, 3D artists, filmmakers, and musicians who have collectively contributed millions of assets to the platform, with millions of dollars paid directly to creators monthly. These figures are evidence that human creativity and technological progress reinforce rather than undermine each other. Moving to an AI licensing model has driven 20x YoY growth in creator payouts, and aided in the business surpassing a 40M annual run rate.

"Wirestock has built an incredibly versatile platform that orchestrates the creation, curation, and delivery of complex multimodal datasets," said Mikayel Khachatryan, CEO and co-founder of Wirestock. "By learning from this data, AI models gain a deeper understanding of the world around us and become more capable of performing creative tasks. With all this innovation, we never lose sight of what powers Wirestock, our global community of creators. We remain deeply committed to fair compensation, transparency, and providing ethical data that drives responsible AI development."

"This investment will allow us to deepen our research and continue expanding the platform to meet the evolving data needs of future AI models. We're excited to partner with Nava Ventures and other like-minded investors who share this vision."

Next Generation Multimodal Data

Wirestock's datasets are built for the demands of modern multimodal architectures, serving major hyperscalers and frontier AI labs. Most visual data used to train AI models today was never intended for that purpose. It was produced for entertainment, marketing, or social media, and repurposed after the fact. Wirestock takes the opposite approach. Every asset on the platform is sourced, curated, and structured specifically for AI learning, spanning images, video, 3D models, design, and real-world spatial data.

Curation is handled through layered pipelines combining human expert review and AI-assisted moderation, producing datasets with high signal-to-noise ratios, dense semantic annotations, and tight image-text alignment essential for vision-language model training. The result is something closer to a textbook than a data dump: content organized intentionally around how AI models practically learn to understand the visual world and human creativity. For the AI labs building the next generation of foundation models, that distinction directly impacts convergence speed, downstream task performance, and deployment robustness. With over 700,000 credentialed creators contributing across a wide range of creative disciplines, Wirestock has assembled a data sourcing and curation infrastructure that no competitor has replicated.

This is the position that Wirestock's Series A will strengthen. The investment will expand the company's capacity to execute on increasingly complex custom datasets, extend coverage across emerging creative modalities, and deepen the integrations that make Wirestock's data pipelines a seamless extension of its AI lab partners' research workflows. As the models being built today push into new domains of perception, generation, and reasoning, the infrastructure required to train them must keep pace. Wirestock is building that infrastructure.

"Wirestock is at the cutting edge of the rapidly growing multimodal data ecosystem," said Freddie Martignetti of Nava Ventures. "As artificial intelligence progresses past language-based systems, multimodal data will become an increasingly important part of any model's training.  Mikayel and the team at Wirestock have a deeply prepared mind in the space, and have positioned themselves as clear leaders in the category."

Building the World's Leading Monetization Platform for Creators

A significant portion of the Series A will be directed toward expanding Wirestock's creator platform developing new tools, capabilities, and earning pathways that make it easier for creative professionals at every stage of their career to contribute meaningfully and earn consistently.

The platform already supports a wide range of disciplines in photography, video, graphic design, motion design, 3D modeling, music, and more and will continue expanding its creative disciplines, project formats, and compensation structures. Every creator on Wirestock knows precisely where their work goes and how they will be paid for it. That transparency is foundational, and it is not negotiable.

About Wirestock

Wirestock is the world's leading platform for creators to monetize their skills while powering the frontier of artificial intelligence with premium, ethically sourced multimodal training data. With a global community of over 700,000 creators who have earned millions of dollars on the platform, and partnerships with the world's leading AI labs, Wirestock operates at the intersection of the creative economy and cutting-edge AI development. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Learn more at: wirestock.io 

About Nava Ventures

Nava Ventures is a modern, early-stage investment firm built on more than a decade of venture capital experience. The firm partners with founders who are creating new markets, changing industries, and building companies with a positive impact on the world. For more information, visit nava.vc.

VEVOR today announced the launch of VEVOR Monthly Power 15, a new monthly brand event kicking off May 15–18 and returning on the 15th of every month. Designed to make home upgrades more accessible and predictable, Monthly Power 15 gives customers a consistent moment to discover practical, pro-level products across VEVOR's full-category home improvement lineup — from the home and yard to the garage, workshop, kitchen, and beyond.

Rather than a one-off promotion, Monthly Power 15 is designed to become a recurring brand ritual — a date customers can plan around as they take on projects across different areas of the home. "Customers don't upgrade their spaces through one category alone," said a VEVOR brand spokesperson. "They organize, repair, refresh, build, maintain, and improve in many ways. Monthly Power 15 is our way of supporting those ongoing projects with reliable monthly value across the categories they use most."

How Monthly Power 15 Works

For the May launch cycle, Monthly Power 15 brings together automatic savings and returning-customer coupon offers across selected VEVOR products and categories:

• Up to 5% off sitewide on selected items
• $15 off orders of $180+ for returning customers
• $30 off orders of $300+ for returning customers
• Exclusive 12% off on 20 featured Home Creator's Picks

Built for Ongoing Home Upgrade Needs

Launched initially for customers with one or more prior orders, Monthly Power 15 recognizes that home improvement is an ongoing journey rather than a one-time purchase. From seasonal maintenance to everyday upgrades, the event gives returning customers a reliable monthly reason to continue building, fixing, organizing, and improving with VEVOR.

Over 30 million Home Creators worldwide have chosen VEVOR for projects ranging from backyard makeovers to apartment upgrades. Monthly Power 15 is the brand's next step in consistently delivering real value to that community, month after month.

Availability

VEVOR Monthly Power 15 kicks off May 15–18 — four days of big savings on the tools and gear Home Creators rely on. Savings apply automatically at checkout.

Deals are live now. Ready to upgrade your space? Visit VEVOR.com/Power15 and grab yours before they're gone.

About VEVOR

VEVOR is a global direct-to-consumer brand offering a full range of home improvement products, from tools and equipment to outdoor essentials and workshop gear, all at honest prices. Rooted in the joy of hands-on creation, VEVOR empowers Home Creators to build, fix, and transform their spaces, one project at a time. Pro-grade quality without the pro-grade price tag. That's the VEVOR way: Upgrade. The Home Creator Way.

Media Contact
VEVOR Communications Team
media@vevor.com 

• RB042 Phase 1 trial advances into multiple ascending dose study cohorts, demonstrating safety and tolerability to date.
• Dr. Coulie brings more than 25 years of international biopharma leadership and deep expertise in pulmonary disease to the Atisama Board of Directors.

MELBOURNE, Australia, May 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Atisama Therapeutics (formerly Rage Bio) ("Atisama" or the "Company"), an Australian clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel splice-switching oligonucleotide (SSO) therapeutics for chronic inflammatory disease, today reported progress in the Phase 1 study of its lead candidate, RB042, and announced the appointment of Dr. Bernard Coulie as Chair of the Board of Directors.

RB042 Phase 1 Clinical Update
The RB042 Phase 1 study (RB042_1001; NCT07285122), evaluating RB042 in healthy volunteers and healthy smokers, has advanced to multi-dose ascending (MAD) cohorts, and continues to demonstrate safety and tolerability. Three of four single ascending dose (SAD) cohorts are complete, and the first MAD cohort has been initiated, with higher-dose cohorts expected to readout in H2 2026.

"RB042 clinical progress is tracking to plan. Safety and tolerability across three SAD cohorts have supported advancement into MAD dosing. Higher-dose cohorts may provide early insights into target engagement to inform future development, with readouts expected later this year," said Dr. Ed Tucker, Chief Medical and Development Officer.

Appointment of Bernard Coulie as Chair of the Board
Dr. Coulie joins Atisama at a pivotal moment, as RB042 advances through early clinical development and the Company prepares for its next phase of growth.

Dr. Coulie currently serves as President and CEO of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PLRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of integrin-based therapies, and holds board positions at several global biotech companies. His career includes senior executive roles at Johnson & Johnson and Actogenix. He has founded and led companies across a range of therapeutic areas, with particular expertise in pulmonary disease, directly relevant to Atisama's lead clinical programme.

As Chair, Dr. Coulie brings deep governance experience and operational leadership to the Atisama Board, with clinical, scientific and commercial acumen that aligns directly with the Company's mission.

"Bernard brings exactly the strategic depth and governance experience we need as we scale and advance our pipeline toward later-stage clinical development. His track record in pulmonary disease, his experience building companies, and his strong relationships across the global investment community make him an exceptional addition to our Board. We are delighted to welcome him," said Dr. Siro Perez, Chief Executive and Scientific Officer.

"Atisama is working on a genuinely differentiated scientific approach to one of the most important unmet needs in respiratory medicine. The biology is compelling, the team is strong, and the clinical progress to date is highly encouraging. I am excited to join the Board and to support the Company as it moves through the clinic and into its next chapter," said Dr. Bernard Coulie, Chair of the Board.

About Atisama Therapeutics
Atisama Therapeutics Pty Ltd (ACN 640 194 770, formerly Rage Bio Pty Ltd) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel splice-switching oligonucleotide (SSO) therapies for inflammatory disease. Founded on the principle of restoring molecular balance for lasting health, the Company's SSO platform is producing drug candidates that down-regulate disease-driving isoforms and upregulates their protective counterparts; a dual-action mechanism unique to the SSO modality. Atisama's lead asset, RB042, is an inhaled SSO currently in Phase 1 clinical development. Atisama has several other programmes leveraging the novel SSO platform. The Company is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

About RB042
RB042 is an inhaled splice-switching oligonucleotide (SSO) targeting the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-products (RAGE), a genetically validated driver of inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). RB042 redirects pre-mRNA expression to the protective soluble esRAGE isoform over pro-inflammatory membrane-bound mRAGE, potentially shifting the isoform balance disrupted in disease. RB042 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 study (RB042_1001; NCT07285122) in healthy volunteers and healthy smokers across single ascending dose and multiple ascending dose cohorts. COPD affects approximately 400 million people globally and is the third leading cause of death; approximately 70% of patients are non-eosinophilic and lack a targeted therapeutic option. RB042 is being developed across all COPD endotypes, with additional indications under evaluation.

For more information, visit www.atisama.com or contact media@atisama.com. 

YANGON, Myanmar and KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, May 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Malaysia Healthcare Week Yangon 2026 is officially launched today at Park Royal Yangon, bringing together leading Malaysian hospitals to connect directly with Myanmar patients, healthcare professionals, and industry partners. The four-day initiative, led by the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), comes amid a 117% increase in the number of Myanmar health tourists who travelled to Malaysia for treatment in 2025.

Held at Park Royal Yangon from 14 to 17 May 2026, the initiative is part of Malaysia's broader efforts under the Malaysia Year of Medical Tourism (MYMT) 2026 campaign, themed Healing Meets Hospitality, which aims to position Malaysia as the preferred global destination for medical tourism.

The event brings together leading Malaysian healthcare providers, including the National Heart Institute (IJN), Subang Jaya Medical Centre, Alpha IVF, Sunway Medical Centre Penang, Prince Court Medical Centre, Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur, and KPJ Healthcare Group, showcasing Malaysia's comprehensive range of specialised treatments and patient-centred care.

The initiative comes at a time of rising demand for healthcare services abroad among Myanmar patients. In 2025, the number of health tourists from Myanmar grew by 117%, from 2,901 to 6,285, while the total number of healthcare travellers exceeded 44,000 — reflecting growing confidence in cross-border healthcare and in Malaysia's capabilities as a trusted destination.

MHTC's Chief Executive Officer, Suriaghandi Suppiah, said the initiative reflects Malaysia's long-term commitment to the region.

"Myanmar patients are choosing Malaysia because they trust our clinical standards and the care experience we provide. Malaysia Healthcare Week Yangon is about deepening that trust — connecting patients with our best hospitals and specialists, and building partnerships that ensure seamless, quality care long after the event ends," said Suppiah.

The programme features moderated forums with hospital leaders, insurers, and healthcare administrators; a session addressing embassy officials, expatriate communities, and NGOs; and a Malaysia-Myanmar Clinical Exchange dinner bringing together the medical fraternity from both countries. The weekend's public-facing health expo will offer free consultations and health talks on men's and women's health, wellness, and longevity.

Malaysia Healthcare Week Yangon 2026 is part of a series of regional activations under MYMT 2026. As Malaysia expands its healthcare travel outreach across Southeast Asia, the initiative reinforces the country's position as a trusted long-term healthcare partner — where Healing Meets Hospitality.

For media inquiries and further information, please contact:

Mohamad Shahizam Fauzi
Head, Communications
+603 8776 6168
shahizam.f@mhtc.org.my 

Siti Hamidah Mohd Najib
Senior Executive, Communications
+603 8776 6168
hamidah.m@mhtc.org.my 

About Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council

Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), established in 2009 under the purview of the Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia, is entrusted with developing and nurturing the "Malaysia Healthcare" brand. MHTC enhances, coordinates, and promotes Malaysia's healthcare travel industry by fostering industry collaborations and building valuable public-private partnerships both domestically and internationally. With 80 member hospitals nationwide, MHTC continues to elevate the healthcare travel ecosystem through strong branding, seamless patient experiences, and strategic market initiatives. In line with these efforts, MHTC is spearheading the Malaysia Year of Medical Tourism (MYMT) 2026, the nation's first dedicated year to celebrate and advance healthcare travel. MYMT 2026 serves as a milestone initiative to showcase Malaysia's world-class healthcare offerings, strengthen its position as the premier global healthcare destination, and highlight the industry's significant contribution to the national economy.

More information can be found at https://www.malaysiahealthcare.org.

TOKYO, May 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- SwitchBot, a leading provider of smart home automation and embodied AI products, today announced the launch of the SwitchBot Lock Vision Series in North America, consisting of SwitchBot Lock Vision and SwitchBot Lock Vision Pro.

Designed to elevate smart home entry, the Lock Vision Series is the world's first smart deadbolt lock equipped with advanced 3D structured-light faiacial recognition technology, delivering faster, safer, and more effortless unlocking for modern households.

Inspired by the same core technology used in flagship smartphones, the Lock Vision Series projects over 20,000 infrared points to create highly accurate 3D facial maps capable of millimeter-level recognition. The system unlocks doors in under one second while effectively resisting spoofing attempts using photos or videos. Unlike traditional fingerprint-based solutions, the technology works reliably even when users are wearing glasses, hats, wigs, or makeup.

Smarter, Hands-Free Unlocking for Every Household

The Lock Vision Series offers multiple unlock methods, including 3D facial recognition, app control, NFC cards, passwords, voice assistants, smartwatch control, auto-unlock via geo-fencing, and physical keys.

SwitchBot Lock Vision Pro further expands biometric access with contactless palm vein recognition and semiconductor fingerprint unlocking. Using near-infrared sensing technology, palm vein recognition enables users to unlock doors without touching the device, even when hands are wet, dirty, or difficult to scan with conventional fingerprint readers.

By storing all biometric information locally with AES-128 encrypted communication, the Lock Vision Series prioritizes both privacy and security.

Built for Long-Term Reliability

To reduce concerns around battery anxiety and lockouts, the Lock Vision Series features SwitchBot's DualPower™ and DualBackup™ systems. A built-in 10,000mAh rechargeable battery can power the lock for up to 12 months on a single charge under typical usage conditions, while an additional CR123A backup battery provides up to 500 emergency unlocks. In emergency situations, users can also temporarily power the device via the USB-C emergency power port (the port provides temporary power and does not charge the lock).

To further improve power efficiency, the lock utilizes mmWave radar detection, activating biometric recognition only when someone approaches the door. The SwitchBot app also provides real-time battery monitoring and low-battery notifications.

Matter-over-WiFi Connectivity Without a Hub

The Lock Vision Series supports Matter-over-WiFi, allowing users to connect directly with supported smart home ecosystems without requiring an additional Matter-enabled hub. The locks are designed to work with Apple Home and integrate naturally with the broader SwitchBot ecosystem*.

When paired with other SwitchBot products, the Lock Vision Series enables expanded smart home experiences. Combined with the SwitchBot Smart Video Doorbell, users can monitor activity outside the door, remotely unlock for visitors, and automate entry workflows. With Wallet Finder Card integration, users can also use the tracking card as an NFC key for unlocking the door.

*Users are not able to access/retrieve/manage any biometric information on any third-party platforms, as all the biometric information is stored locally

Secure, Durable, and Designed for Real Homes

The Lock Vision Series incorporates a six-tier security protection system covering alarm security, locking security, unlocking security, communication security, storage security, and power security. Features include tamper alerts, forced unlock protection, emergency SOS fingerprint recognition, remote unlock confirmation, and automatic lockout after repeated failed verification attempts.

The series is also rated IP65 for water and dust resistance, helping ensure reliable performance in various weather conditions. Designed for broad compatibility with most deadbolt locks, the Lock Vision Series can be installed in approximately 15 minutes using only a screwdriver.

Pricing and Availability

SwitchBot Lock Vision series will be available through the SwitchBot Amazon US & CA (coming soon) and official SwitchBot website, with an MSRP starting at USD 169.99 / CAD 229.99.

For more information, please visit SwitchBot's official website and follow SwitchBot on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Media Kit: SwitchBot Lock Vision Series