Amazon, Aspermont, BASF - Innovations for the markets of the future

Amazon - Innovative startup promotion in the United Arab Emirates

Europe is in the grip of inflation, gas and energy crises. The European Union plans to intervene in the short term to get inflation under control and mitigate the risk of recession. Storage facilities in Europe are currently replenishing. As a result, Europe's chances of surviving the coming winter months with sufficient supplies are increasing.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is completely unaffected by this plight. The seven countries on the Persian Gulf obtain 44% of their energy from renewable energies. That is followed closely by gas, which is imported from neighboring Qatar. The UAE economy is estimated to have grown by 8.2% in the first quarter of this year due to higher oil production. Real gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 5.4% in 2022 and 4.2% next year.

These are ideal conditions for Amazon to drive its AWS business there. The new AWS region in the Middle East is expected to contribute about USD 11 billion to the UAE's gross domestic product (GDP) over the next 15 years. AWS will create approximately 6,000 full-time jobs with external providers. By 2036, the Seattle-based Group will have invested USD 5 billion in the local economy.

Amazon's AWS offerings are popular in the startup environment. Accelerators, in particular, have entry-level offerings for young companies. Amazon thus has its finger on the pulse and knows which innovations are being worked on profitably.

Aspermont - From publishing house to strategic investor in the mining industry

Mediatech innovator Aspermont offers a knowledge lead for investors. Over the past seven years, the former Australian publishing house has evolved from a 187-year-old print publisher into the leading B2B media services provider for the mining and natural resources industry. The content published by Aspermont currently reaches 4 million industry insiders worldwide in 190 countries. Its customers include renowned companies such as Shell, BP, Siemens, Bosch and John Deere.

The core business of the Australians is "Anything-as-a-Service". What sounds like a vendor's tray is the exact opposite: With its relevant expertise and excellent industry knowledge, Aspermont offers its customers all relevant products and services along the supply chain. With their audience-client ecosystem, they can flexibly adapt to the needs of each client and guarantee the best possible service. The content model offers high engagement, and exclusive services are created from the data models, which are also used for end-to-end marketing solutions, among other things.

What Jeff Bezos once started with online book sales and built into a media empire is creating Aspermont in its vertical niche. Thanks to digital platform technology, specific content can be semantically searched. Based on user behavior, targeted marketing measures can be derived for their customers.

In 2021, the mining sector alone accounted for around EUR 9.6 billion raised. So it is no surprise that Aspermont is also gaining a foothold in the capital market with one of its platform technologies. It is a business model that has been successfully applied by numerous publishers. Whether Holtzbrinck in Germany with Holtzrinck Ventures or Axel Springer Digital Ventures, publishing houses are increasingly becoming capital providers and changing the market sooner or later. Aspermont has everything it needs to do this in the mining and raw materials industry.

BASF - Animal feed as a future factor in the global agricultural industry

The chemical company on the Rhine is in the midst of a digital turnaround. Thanks to its affiliated business incubator "Chemovator", the Ludwigshafen-based company is doing everything possible to occupy new or complementary business areas through in-house spin-offs. For example, Corbiota was launched in BASF's Chemovator in 2019 with a mission to revolutionize animal feed. Now Corbiota has been founded as an independent company in Düsseldorf, Germany. Animal feed is currently an area where BASF continues to expand. BASF Venture Capital, the Company's in-house corporate venture arm, is investing with a co-investor in the Asian Company Sea6 Energy, which will produce animal feed from red seaweed.

The fast-growing red seaweed, mainly native to the tropical waters of Asia, is ideally suited as a raw material due to its biomass. Due to constant and high temperatures that favor year-round growth, the algae can be used in a variety of applications, such as animal feed and pesticides, gelling agents in the food industry, or ingredients in cosmetics. It is a strategically valuable move for the future viability of the chemical group.

Currently, BASF AG is facing the challenges of Germany as a production location, including the energy crisis. Analysts still consider the stock to be volatile. The Company's stock is currently 34.31% below its 52-week high of EUR 64.49. The 52-week low is EUR 39.32.

Innovations help BASF AG with the digital transformation. Through the investment in the Asian region, the Group is opening up new business opportunities in the already integrated agricultural division. International locations are also conducive to further expanding the business in view of the energy and electricity crisis in the EU. Aspermont is now developing its knowledge advantage in the mining and raw materials industry into a new business unit. The leading B2B service provider sits at a source of targeted investment in its industry thanks to its publication platforms and data aggregates. In doing so, Aspermont is strengthening its ecosystem and shareholder value. Amazon is betting on energy self-sufficient regions like the UAE. At the source of the startup scene there, it is establishing its AWS cloud services and is well equipped for the future.