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Spectur Awarded Long Term Contract with Transport for NSW
Solar security, sensing and visual AI solutions and platforms company Spectur Limited (ASX: SP3) (Spectur or the Company) is pleased to announce the signing of a three-year contract for $787,428 with Transport for NSW (Contract No: CW2592803), with optional extensions to nine (9) years (Total price – nine year term - $2,632,284).
Highlights
- Spectur entity 3 Crowns Technologies Pty Ltd has signed a contract with Transport for NSW for the provision of cameras and analytic services.
- The value of the three-year contract is a minimum $787,428 with an optional extension of a further three plus three years for a total of 9 years (Total price $2,362,284).
- Expansion to new sites included in this contract may increase the annual contract value between $50,000 and $200,000 subject to final scope confirmation, giving a potential contract value of almost $1.4M.
- Year to date sales exceeds all previous records with $4.18m sold (13 November YTD FY25), compared with $2.205m sold October YTD in FY24.
This contract includes the provision of the following services and products:
- Live webcam vision with night vision enabled cameras for 23 existing locations including all hardware supply, installation, maintenance, software and data provisions as a managed service
- Expansion of these 23 locations to new fixed locations. This is currently being scoped
- Provision of new mobile trailer systems. Quantity to be confirmed, with the potential to increase the base contract value of $ 787,427.
The contract follows on from an ongoing smaller contract with 100%-owned entity 3 Crowns Technologies Pty Ltd (3CT), which was extended by 6 months earlier in 2024 and will be replaced when this contract is implemented, anticipated to be in January 2025. There is an optional extension of an additional three plus three years, extending the potential duration of the contract to nine years. This contract will be executed through the 3CT entity.
Key material terms of the contract are included in Appendix A.
This contract win follows on from earlier substantial contract wins with other 3CT entities in Q1, in addition to general growth within the Spectur business. Total sales (including longer term contracts) to date this financial year (at 13 November 2024) are $4.18m, a 90% increase over FY24 October YTD results of $2.205m. Whilst many of these sales are longer term contracts and have not yet converted into revenue in FY25, they underpin long term, secured recurring revenues.
Executive commentary
Spectur Managing Director, Gerard Dyson, said:
“The portion of revenue that is coming from high gross margin recurring revenue continues to increase at Spectur, with current run rates in excess of 60% of total revenue. Many of the projects that form this growing base, including the recent win with Transport for NSW, arise through the growth of existing relationships and accounts. The Spectur ecosystem is becoming increasingly flexible and expandable, with an ever greater number of opportunities to add in third party AI, sensors, cameras, devices and other applications. It is becoming a core platform for many customers, and an increasing number of resellers.
“Spectur continues to win increasingly large projects as evidenced by the year-to-date sales. This funnel of revenue continues to grow and is the product of many years of cultivation that are bearing rewards now and into the future. Ongoing strong, high margin sales, combined with recent cost control activities in response to productivity improvement, underpins the ‘fitness’ of Spectur going forward. These long- term contracts ultimately reduce and then remove the requirements for hardware sales and service to cover costs, ushering in a new era of profitability and a platform for accelerating growth.”
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Spectur Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Quarterly Activities/Appendix 4C Cash Flow Report
Artificial Intelligence software companyRocketBoots Limited (ASX:ROC) (RocketBoots or the Company), is pleased to provide an update on activities for the quarter ending 31 December 2024 (the Quarter) focused on delivering its AI & cloud based SaaS platform to enable enterprise retail and retail banking businesses to continually adapt their In-Person channels to rapidly changing customer behaviour. The platform enables these businesses to fundamentally transform their performance in workforce management, customer service, and loss prevention.
Highlights
- SaaS contract extended with major Australian retailer, which continues a 5+ year foundation partnership across hundreds of stores
- Advanced discussions continue with a number of international enterprise customers across a growing sales pipeline, with the Company focused on progressing a number of qualified opportunities who are currently trialling RocketBoots technology. The sales pipeline has increased credibility with large multinational retailers currently conducting live trials.
- Experienced investor and growth company specialist Roy McKelvie appointed as Chairman
- RocketBoots successfully raised $1.5 million during the quarter over two tranches with new and existing sophisticated investors that will support the Company’s international expansion strategy.
Key Customer Contracts Won
Major Australian Retailer
RocketBoots confirms a contract extension with a major Australian retailer, as released to the ASX on 6 December 2024, which continues a 7-year partnership providing critical software across its Australian locations. Over this time, the Company has established opportunities to optimise operations, as well as integrate RocketBoots technology with other retailer systems further enhancing the customers ability to leverage value across its operations.
Importantly, RocketBoots has continued to demonstrate a sustainable return on investment that underpins its commercial model where the Company is now building momentum and scaling the business to secure a share in the billion-dollar global retail, grocery and banking markets.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Rocketboots Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Quarterly Activities Report and Appendix 4C for the Period Ended 31 December 2024
BlinkLab Limited (ASX:BB1) (“BlinkLab”, or the “Company”) an innovative digital healthcare company leveraging smartphones, computer vision, Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), and Machine Learning (“ML”) to diagnose neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD, is pleased to release its Appendix 4C and Quarterly Activity Report for the period ended 31 December 2024 (the “Quarter”).
Highlights
- BlinkLab initiated its FDA registrational study, which aims to revolutionise the diagnostics and care for autism, making it more accessible and reliable.
- The initial phase will recruit up to 100 participants (children aged between 2-11 years old), with the main study recruiting up to 1,000 subjects.
- Four clinical sites have been selected, with six additional sites to be added; the sites are spread across the US to ensure diversity of the population.
- Final results are expected by the end of CY 2025 and will be used for the 510(k) Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) approval.
- BlinkLab received positive feedback from a Pre-Submission meeting with the US Federal Drug Administration (“FDA”) regarding the regulatory pathway for BlinkLab Dx 1 diagnostic app.
- Final results from the pivotal autism study (announced in November of 2024) bolster confidence that BlinkLab Dx 1 will surpass the accuracy parameters that are required for regulatory approval in the upcoming FDA registration trial.
- BlinkLab and Monash University have partnered on the large-scale Monash Autism-ADHD Genetics and Neurodevelopment (“MAGNET”) study, which aims to conduct deep phenotyping in children on the autism spectrum, with ADHD, or both. The study will also work towards further improvements to BlinkLab’s Machine Learning (“ML”) algorithm to better distinguish between autism- and ADHD-specific clinical features.
- As at 31 December 2024, the Company had a cash balance of A$4.4 million.
Following the positive outcome from the recent FDA pre-submission meeting, as well as positive final data from the pivotal preliminary study (ASX Announcement 19 November 2024), BlinkLab is confident in the success of its registrational study, as well as the subsequent 510(k) regulatory approval for our first diagnostic tool for autism, called “Blinklab Dx 1”.
US FDA Registrational Study in Autism Now Underway
The FDA registrational study program will consist of a pilot study, followed by the primary study. The pilot study will recruit up to 100 participants (children aged between 2-11 years) and will continue into a registrational study, which will be conducted with up to 1,000 subjects across ten clinical sites in the US. The pilot study will be used to train the investigators and personnel at clinical sites, as well as to test the procedures of subject screening and data collection. These steps are part of BlinkLab’s considered strategy for mitigating risk leading up to the main FDA study and are aimed at ensuring the highest quality of data and diagnostic accuracy of the BlinkLab tests.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Blinklab Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Tech Stocks, Cryptocurrencies Pull Back as OpenAI Competitor DeepSeek Spooks Market
A premarket tech stock selloff extended into the cryptocurrency market on Monday (January 27) ahead of a data-packed week that includes interest rate announcements from the US Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada.
The selloff began after DeepSeek, a Chinese rival to OpenAI, became the top free app in the Apple Store over the weekend. DeepSeek-R1, which was released on January 10, can reportedly perform reasoning tasks just as well as OpenAI’s o1, but costs less and is a partially open system that allows researchers to study it.
Also last week, ByteDance released Doubao-1.5-pro, an upgrade to its flagship artificial intelligence (AI) model, claiming it outperforms OpenAI's o1 in AIME, a benchmark test that measures how well AI models understand and respond to complex instructions. ByteDance is the owner of popular social media app TikTok.
Reuters later reported that outages were affecting DeepSeek as its popularity skyrocketed.
For its part, OpenAI unveiled its AI agent, Operator, on January 23, launching in the US for ChatGPT Pro users; it has no immediate plans to expand the release to Plus, Team or Enterprise customers. Operator is trained to interact with graphical interfaces online, allowing it to “see” web browsers and perform tasks such as making reservations. It can reportedly self-correct if it makes a mistake and will hand control back to the human user if it runs into challenges.
Elsewhere, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a projection of his company's AI spending targets, indicating that Meta plans to spend between US$60 billion and US$65 billion on AI in 2025.
The funds will primarily be used to build a data center so large that it “covers a significant part of Manhattan.” The data center will power an AI engineer, which will contribute to the company’s research and development efforts.
With the release of DeepSeek, the level of spending and investment in AI by western countries is suddenly facing higher levels of scrutiny, with a cheaper alternative readily available and popular with consumers.
“We still don’t know the details and nothing has been 100 percent confirmed in regards to the claims, but if there truly has been a breakthrough in the cost to train models from US$100 million+ to this alleged US$6 million number this is actually very positive for productivity and AI end users as cost is obviously much lower meaning lower cost of access,” Reuters quotes Jon Withaar, a senior portfolio manager at Pictet Asset Management, as saying.
Researchers for the small Hangzhou startup behind DeepSeek wrote in a paper last month that the DeepSeek-V3 model was trained using NVIDIA's (NASDAQ:NVDA) H800 chips, which were initially developed as a reduced-capability product to get around US restrictions on sales to China. Training the model reportedly cost less than US$6 million.
US sanctions subsequently banned the chips. If DeepSeek is able achieve these results with mid-level chips, it challenges the narrative that advanced computing abilities are necessary.
Tech stocks and crypto react to DeepSeek news
Tech stocks tumbled Monday, with the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) sinking nearly 3 percent to record its biggest drop since September 2022. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) fell 1.7 percent.
Chipmakers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) pulled back, and NVIDIA, Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) were among the hardest-hit tech names.
Investors sought safety in bonds, pushing 10 year Treasury yields down to 4.54 percent. The CBOE Volatility Index (INDEXCBOE:VIX) spiked to a one month high, reflecting increased market anxiety.
The selloff extended to energy companies like Vistra (NYSE:VST) and GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV), which are expected to benefit from AI's growing energy demands. However, major tech companies Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Meta and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) experienced only modest declines for the day.
Cryptocurrencies joined tech stocks in a Monday downturn, with the total market cap for the sector dipping over 6 percent in premarket trading. Bitcoin saw a sharp 6.5 percent slide on Sunday, falling from above US$104,000 to US$97,790 overnight. Traders are piling into protective US$97,500 strike options, according to Barchart of Business.
While some tokens, such as XRP, SOL and Dogecoin, saw a short-lived rebound of over 2 percent in early trading, overall sentiment among cryptocurrency investors remains cautious.
Charles Wayn, co-founder of Galxe, doesn't see the downturn in the crypto sector lasting long.
"Yes, we’ve seen a slide in crypto tokens today, but it won’t last as crypto is the biggest beneficiary of AI technology," he told the Investing News Network in an email on Monday morning.
"Whether that be AI co-pilots like Alva that can help investors research different digital assets, AI that can assist developers to make faster more efficient advancements in blockchain technology or AI agents that can fully manage portfolios, the possibilities are endless," the expert continued.
"So no matter where this technology comes from, the crypto sector will benefit from it.”
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.
4DMedical progresses to a commercial agreement with Qscan
Respiratory imaging technology company 4DMedical Limited (ASX:4DX, “4DMedical”, or the “Company”) today announces the signing of a commercial contract with Qscan Radiology Clinics ("Qscan"), a leading provider of diagnostic imaging services in Queensland. This agreement follows a successful pilot of 4DMedical’s products with Qscan, and represents the first Australian contract to incorporate products from both the Pulmonary Function and Pulmonary Structure suites, including CT LVAS™.
Pilot success leads to commercial agreement
With 40 clinics across Queensland, New South Wales, ACT, Tasmania, and Western Australia, Qscan is one of Australia’s leading medical imaging providers, offering a comprehensive range of diagnostic and interventional radiology services.
Following the success of a pilot program, which demonstrated the clinical and operational effectiveness of 4DMedical’s proprietary suite of products, 4DMedical and Qscan have entered a commercial arrangement under which Qscan will offer 4DMedical’s respiratory imaging solutions at select practices in Brisbane.
This agreement marks 4DMedical’s first Australian commercial contract to incorporate products from both its Pulmonary Function and Pulmonary Structure suites. Specifically, the agreement with Qscan will provide clinicians with access to CT LVAS™, Lung Density Analysis™ - Inspiration (LDAi), Functional Lung Density Analysis™ (LDAf), and Lung Texture Analysis™ (LTA), each providing advanced diagnostic capabilities to support referrers and patients.
Reports will be delivered and billed on a Software-as-a-Service model on terms in line with those of the Company’s other commercial partners.
4DMedical MD/CEO and Founder Andreas Fouras said:
Having completed our pilot with Qscan, we are excited to have progressed to a commercial agreement. This partnership ensures that more patients and clinicians have access to detailed, actionable insights into lung health, supporting better healthcare outcomes.
Momentum continues to build with the commercialisation of our technology across the US and Australia. With the addition of Qscan to our network of providers in Australia, I am excited to see our footprint expand to ensure our cutting-edge technology is now becoming more readily available to all Australians.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from 4DMedical, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Biden Admin Enacts Tougher Regulations for Chip and Connected Vehicle Sectors
As part of its national security strategy, the US government is set to introduce new measures targeting advanced chipmakers, and has added restrictions on connected vehicle technology.
The actions come in the final days of President Joe Biden's administration, and represent a concerted effort to curtail access to sensitive technologies by foreign adversaries.
US planning to add more advanced chip restrictions
According to Bloomberg, the new chip rules from the US government will build on sales limits for advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips that were announced earlier this week.
Those restrictions limit AI chip sales from companies like NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) to global data centers, with specific curbs on sales to China. The upcoming rules are also directed at advanced chip-making companies — their aim is to push the companies to increase due diligence efforts on their customers.
The measures are designed to address instances of advanced chips being diverted to Chinese entities such as Huawei Technologies, which is blacklisted by the US government.
They come after chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) (NYSE:TSM,TPE:2330) found their way into Huawei products — this incident prompted the US Department of Commerce to instruct TSMC to halt chip production at the 7 nanometer threshold for Chinese firms.
Under the planned new rules, chips with technology thresholds of 14 to 16 nanometers or smaller will be presumed restricted, requiring manufacturers to obtain government licenses to sell them in China.
This extends to chips deemed powerful enough to support AI or other advanced applications.
Manufacturers can bypass the restrictions if their chips meet certain criteria, such as having fewer than 30 billion transistors, or being processed by approved packaging facilities.
The measures aim to bolster due diligence practices among chipmakers to ensure compliance with US trade curbs.
Biden admin finalizes connected vehicle technology regulations
In a parallel development, on Tuesday (January 14), the Biden administration finalized regulations to safeguard US connected vehicle supply chains against exploitation by China and Russia.
The rules, issued by the Department of Commerce, prohibit the sale and import of connected vehicle hardware and software systems, as well as entire connected vehicles, from entities associated with these nations.
The rules focus on vehicle connectivity systems and automated driving systems, which enable functions such as satellite communication, Bluetooth and autonomous driving. Starting with model year 2027, the US will prohibit the import or sale of connected vehicles and components involving Chinese or Russian entities.
A complete ban on such hardware will take effect by model year 2030. The regulations aim to prevent foreign adversaries from gaining access to sensitive data and critical infrastructure.
The Department of Commerce has highlighted risks including potential mass collection of geolocation data, audio and video recordings and other personal information by malign actors.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Syntheia
Investor Insight
Syntheia’s innovative conversational AI solution is transforming the face of customer engagement for the B2B market. Backed by a stable financial foundation, Syntheia is well-placed to execute its growth strategy, offering investors a compelling opportunity.
Overview
Syntheia (CSE:SYAI) has rapidly emerged as an innovative player in the expanding conversational AI platform-as-a-service market.
In an industry poised to transform customer engagement, Syntheia addresses the complex needs of modern communication through cutting-edge AI solutions. Designed to emulate human-like conversations over phone and digital channels, Syntheia’s platform targets both large enterprises and small-to-medium businesses, which often struggle with customer support inefficiencies and high employee turnover in customer-facing roles. Syntheia’s focus on language processing, tonality, sentiment analysis, and conversational behavior makes its offerings distinctive, providing customers an experience that moves closer to natural human interaction than traditional chatbot solutions.
At the core of Syntheia’s strategy is an innovative approach to AI-driven customer service solutions, a sector experiencing explosive growth. The global conversational AI market, valued at $9.9 billion in 2023, is anticipated to reach a staggering $32.62 billion by 2030. With a projected compound annual growth rate of 21.5 percent, the demand for AI solutions that can handle customer inquiries seamlessly is clear. Factors fueling this market growth include the rising demand for customer-centric interactions, the need for operational efficiency, and cost reductions that companies can realize by automating and enhancing their customer support processes. Syntheia is well-positioned within this trend, providing businesses with tools that reduce onboarding costs, language barriers and other operational challenges while enhancing engagement.
Syntheia is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker symbol SYAI, and its stock is closely held, with a tight float that allows for controlled expansion of shares. Financially, the company is in a solid position with $2 million in cash and no debt, and maintains a well-structured capitalization profile that includes options and warrants. This stable financial foundation provides Syntheia with the means to execute its growth strategy while maintaining flexibility to adapt to market shifts.
Company Highlights
- Syntheia is a conversational AI solution delivering AI-driven, human-like customer service for enterprises and SMBs.
- The AssistantNLP Platform offers 24/7/365 multilingual support, accessible globally.
- Syntheia operates on a freemium revenue model, with scalable plans catering to varied business sizes and needs.
- The conversational AI market is expected to reach $32.62 billion by 2030, with Syntheia well-positioned to capitalize on this growth.
- Syntheia’s algorithms have achieved an 84 percent success rate in data collection and 98 percent in outreach programs, highlighting exceptional efficiency.
- Financially stable, Syntheia has $2 million in cash, no debt and trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
Key Technology
Syntheia is a front-runner in conversational AI, employing natural language processing (NLP) algorithms that are continually refined for accuracy and contextual understanding. The platform’s advanced NLP technology, bolstered by proprietary algorithms, enables it to understand and respond to various conversational cues, including tone, sentiment, semantics, and even idiomatic expressions. These sophisticated capabilities make interactions feel more fluid, accurate and responsive, which is particularly advantageous in sectors like healthcare, finance and customer service, where nuanced communication is essential. In fact, Syntheia’s algorithms exhibit impressive efficacy rates, achieving an 84 percent success rate in data collection and a 98 percent success rate in outreach initiatives, demonstrating the system’s effectiveness in real-world applications.
One of the most compelling aspects of Syntheia’s solution is its proprietary AssistantNLP platform, which offers 24/7/365 conversational AI service. The AssistantNLP platform is designed to handle high volumes of customer queries in multiple languages and across industries, ensuring a scalable, reliable and flexible solution for diverse customer needs. Syntheia’s platform is also highly accessible, structured around a freemium revenue model that allows businesses to try the service at no cost and then upgrade based on usage and additional features. The freemium model’s flexibility is essential in broadening Syntheia’s customer base by reducing the initial financial commitment for prospective clients and encouraging growth from smaller firms to larger enterprise accounts.
Management Team
Tony Di Benedetto – Chairman, Chief Executive Officer
Tony Di Benedetto has nearly 20 years of IT entrepreneurship, mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets experience. As a seasoned technology business leader, he has successfully built and brought multiple tech businesses to market.
Richard Buzbuzian – President
Richard Buzbuzian is a capital markets executive with over 25 years of investment experience in Canada and Europe, and operates a family office with an investment portfolio of public and pre-IPO companies. Buzbuzian holds a degree from the University of Toronto.
Paul Di Benedetto – Chief Technology Officer
Paul Di Benedetto is a technology visionary with expertise in diverse innovative technologies, including blockchain and AI. He is responsible for overseeing the ongoing development of patent-approved technology at work from Syntheia.
Veronique Laberge – Chief Financial Officer
Veronique Laberge is a chartered professional accountant and holds the title of auditor. With more than 17 years of experience in professional practice, she specializes in certification mandates and general accounting, and acts as a consultant for public and private companies.
Emilio Iantorno – VP of Product & Experience Strategy
Emilio Iantorno, a 20-year design veteran, specializes in crafting engaging product experiences for diverse audiences and industries. Emilio leads the Syntheia design process, effectively harnessing the best technology to tackle business challenges.
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