A $20,000 ‘Home Companion' Robot From China to Debut This Year
The company sees 'home companion' robots as a bright spot in China partly because of the growing need for elderly care, Chief Brand Officer Michael Tam told Bloomberg News in an interview on Friday. Still, he didn't give a timing for when the product goes on sale and said an all-purpose robot that can handle many types of household chores and look after human beings is years away as the technology isn't ready.
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HDFC ERGO Becomes India's First Insurer to Service Health Insurance Using Duck Creek OnDemand
The move reinforces their commitment to adopting innovative insurance technologies to enhance policyholder outcomes MUMBAI, India, Aug. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited (HDFC ERGO), India's leading private sector general insurer, has become India's first insurer to use Duck Creek's suite of cloud-native SaaS core solutions to design, underwrite and distribute health insurance products. This achievement establishes a new standard for the delivery of health protection and policyholder outcomes in the region. Already leveraging Duck Creek's cutting-edge SaaS policy, billing, rating and insights solutions for its commercial fire coverage products, HDFC ERGO partnered with Duck Creek to design and co-develop the health insurance line of business for distribution across channels including agency, broker, bancassurance, direct and digital partners. The design and implementation of the new line, to India's specific market requirements, only took eight months thanks to the unique capabilities of Duck Creek's solutions including Product Factory architecture, low-/no-code configuration and open APIs. 'India's health insurance sector is poised to grow at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 20% to reach approximately $46.37 billion by 2030. As an important stakeholder towards building a 'Healthy India', we at HDFC ERGO General Insurance recognise the need to enhance our current health insurance plans and services, so as to make health insurance more accessible, affordable and convenient for consumption. We are happy to partner with Duck Creek to enhance our offerings in the health insurance business and thus stay committed to our vision of propelling financial inclusion across the country,' Sriram Naganathan, President and Chief Technology Officer, HDFC ERGO General Insurance said. 'By implementing the Duck Creek platform, we have witnessed an increase in straight through processing (STP) capabilities which have made it easier for customers, even those with pre-existing ailments, to get policies seamlessly,' said Mr. Naganathan. 'This was an impressive achievement as we could automate a lot of medical underwriting tasks using the advanced product setup and rule configuration capabilities of the Duck Creek platform.' The accelerated development of the health line, harnessing the India geographical layer and the inherent capabilities and functionality of Duck Creek's insurtech, shows the power, ease and agility of the solutions. 'The launch of the health line of business, with the support of HDFC ERGO General Insurance is a significant milestone for Duck Creek in India and the region,' said Christian Erickson, Managing Director APAC, Duck Creek Technologies. 'Duck Creek is committed to delivering the best standard of core delivery insurtech to India's insurers, to support them to become smarter, faster and more efficient. This health insurance innovation demonstrates our investment in the region and openness to collaborate with our customers and partners.' 'We are excited as this further proves the power of Duck Creek's solutions, allowing insurers to reimagine and build the future of insurance. It also opens opportunities for Duck Creek Technologies to engage with insurers offering health products, not only in India but in the broader Asian region, as we continue to expand our operations and support our existing multi-national clients.' About HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited: HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited, one of the leading private sector general insurance companies of India, whose promoters are HDFC Bank Limited, one of India's leading private sector banks, and ERGO International AG, the primary insurance entity of Munich Re Group. A digital-first company, transforming into an AI-first company, HDFC ERGO is a leader in implementing technology to offer customers the best-in-class service experience. HDFC ERGO offers a complete range of General Insurance products including Health, Motor, Home, Agriculture, Travel, Credit, Cyber and Personal Accident in the retail space along with Property, Marine, Engineering, Marine Cargo, Group Health and Liability Insurance in the corporate space. The Company has created a stream of innovative & new products as well as services using technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Natural Processing Language (NLP), and Robotics. HDFC ERGO offers a range of general insurance products and has a completely digital sales process with 299 branches and 600+ digital offices across India. HDFC ERGO's technology platform has empowered the customers to avail services digitally on a 24x7 basis, with 70%+ claims for retail products intimated digitally and over 80% of service interactions are catered digitally of which 10% are AI led. The Company issued ~3.4 crore policies in FY25 and has one of the best claims payout ratios in the General Insurance industry. Be it unique insurance products, integrated customer service models, top-in-class claim processes or a host of technologically innovative solutions, HDFC ERGO has been able to delight its customers at every touch-point and milestone to ensure consumers are serviced in real-time. About Duck Creek Technologies Duck Creek Technologies is the global intelligent solutions provider defining the future of the property and casualty (P&C) and general insurance industry. We are the platform upon which modern insurance systems are built, enabling the industry to capitalize on the power of the cloud to run agile, intelligent, and evergreen operations. Authenticity, purpose, and transparency are core to Duck Creek, and we believe insurance should be there for individuals and businesses when, where, and how they need it most. Our market-leading solutions are available on a standalone basis or as a full suite, and all are available via Duck Creek OnDemand. Visit to learn more. Follow Duck Creek on our social channels for the latest information – LinkedIn and X. Media Contacts: Chris while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
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Mitsubishi Electric Selected as Representative Organization for JAXA's Space Strategy Fund to Develop Solar Cells and Related Components for Satellites
Will help strengthen Japan's satellite supply chain through lower prices and increased supply TOKYO, August 21, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) announced today it has been selected as a representative organization for the technology development titled "Development of Domestic Solar Cells, Cover Glass, and Solar Arrays" under the "Development/Verification of Parts/Components for the Establishment of Satellite Supply Chain," one of the technology development themes included in the 1st Phase of the Space Strategy Fund operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The company has signed a contract with JAXA covering this development. In recent years, with the expansion of the satellite market, including low earth orbit satellite constellations, the demand for solar cells onboard satellites and cover glass to protect solar cells from space radiation has increased, and a global supply shortage has caused high prices and long delivery times. As part of this project, Mitsubishi Electric will develop low-cost, mass-producible solar cells in collaboration with domestic suppliers who have expertise in the solar cell field. In addition, the company will verify the applicability of glass used for ground-based products to the space environment and work toward the mass production of low-cost cover glass. Furthermore, Mitsubishi Electric will develop new solar arrays incorporating the new solar cells and cover glass, aiming to enable smoothly integrated domestic production of these. The company will help to strengthen the domestic satellite supply chain by reducing the cost of solar arrays and their components and strengthening supply capabilities. For the full text, please visit: View source version on Contacts Customer Inquiries Space Systems DivisionDefense & Space Systems GroupMitsubishi Electric Media Inquiries Takeyoshi KomatsuPublic Relations DivisionMitsubishi Electric CorporationTel: + Effettua l'accesso per consultare il tuo portafoglio
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Global beauty firms look to carve up Indian market as 'last bastion' of growth
(Corrects paragraph 2 to say comments were in a report) By Praveen Paramasivam CHENNAI (Reuters) -From Japan's Shiseido to France's L'Oreal, global cosmetics giants are doubling down on India, betting on the world's most populous nation as a key growth market for premium offerings while sales slow in developed economies. India's luxury beauty market is expected to quintuple to $4 billion by 2035 from $800 million in 2023, driven by its young, affluent, social-media savvy shoppers with rising disposable incomes, consulting firm Kearney and luxury beauty distributor LUXASIA said in a report. Luxury beauty makes up just 4% of the $21-billion beauty and personal care market, compared with 8% to 24% across top Southeast Asian countries and 25% to 48% in developed markets including China and the United States. That means there is plenty of room for growth. "India is the last bastion of growth for premium beauty," said Sameer Jindal, managing director for investment bank Houlihan Lokey's corporate finance business in India. "The Indian consumer is willing to experiment and try out new things." U.S. beauty giant Estee Lauder, home to the brands Clinique and MAC, expects a strong runway for expansion and long-term growth in India, even as it grapples with soft sales in the Americas and Asia-Pacific. "India today, within the Estee Lauder network, is looked at as one of the priority emerging markets," said country general manager Rohan Vaziralli, highlighting plans to initially target 60 million women in the nation of more than 1.4 billion. Homemaker R. Priyanka, based in the southern city of Chennai, said she was thrilled to have better access to Estee Lauder's Jo Malone London fragrance in India, as a benefit of the companies' efforts. "It is easier than asking someone (abroad) to get it for you every time," she added. While global beauty brands might have to modify some of their products for India, which bakes in sultry temperatures in summer and oppressive humidity at other times, they face little competition from homegrown brands. Kearney and LUXASIA identified only Forest Essentials and Kama Ayurveda as their major rivals, underscoring how domestic brands make up less than a tenth of luxury beauty sales. In the more established markets of China, Japan and South Korea by comparison, domestic brands account for a 40% share. "There is, of course, a premium perception gap between globally established brands and Indian brands," said Devangshu Dutta, founder of retail consultancy Third Eyesight. Global beauty giants' huge marketing budgets also give them an edge over domestic brands, other industry watchers said. WOOING INDIAN SHOPPERS Estee Lauder is studying online sales patterns to identify the smaller cities to target, such as Siliguri in West Bengal state, partnering with designers such as Sabyasachi Mukherjee, and launching products such as kohl, an eyeliner Indians favour. It has also invested in Forest Essentials, a brand with herbal ingredients, and in a programme offering funding to domestic beauty start-ups. This year France's L'Oreal said it was investing more in India and tapping into the "elevated beauty desires" of the nation's young, digitally savvy, empowered women shoppers to drive growth. It declined further comment. South Korea's Amorepacific, known for brands such as Innisfree and Etude, is trying to leverage the Korean beauty craze in India with products geared to the market. These include items for the popular "cleanser, serum, moisturiser, and sunscreen" beauty regimen, the country head, Paul Lee, said. Japan's Shiseido, with a history of more than 150 years, brought its NARS brand to Indian beauty retailer Nykaa's website this year, and plans to step up growth of its brands in the subcontinent. Global brands are very excited about India, where consumers are splurging more to stay on top of trends such as "cherry makeup", Nykaa co-founder Adwaita Nayar said, referring to a look featuring flushed cheeks, glossy lips, and soft pink eyes. Amazon, which has also been seeing a big boom in beauty demand in India, aims to identify emerging global trends and bring in more brands, said Siddharth Bhagat, director of beauty and fashion at the e-commerce company in India. Retailer Shoppers Stop, which also pioneers foreign labels, plans to open 15 to 20 beauty stores in each of the next three years to boost its revenue from the segment to a quarter from less than a fifth now, its beauty business CEO Biju Kassim said. Sign in to access your portfolio
