News Hub | News Direct

Technology

Artificial Intelligence Big Data Cloud Computing Cyber Security Data Management Electronics Enterprise & Network Technology Financial Technology Hardware Mobile & Wireless Nanotechnology Semiconductor Software Telecommunications
Article thumbnail News Release

MY.GAMES Q2 Results Build Solid Performance with 18% YoY Revenue Growth for the First Half of 2021

MY.GAMES

MY.GAMES revenue in the first half of 2021 increased by 18% compared to the previous year and amounted to 22.1 billion rubles ($297m). EBITDA for the first half of the year increased by 42% and amounted to 4.1 billion rubles ($55m). Global gaming brand MY.GAMES (part of Mail.ru Group) today announced its results for Q2 2021 - with revenue increasing by 1% and surpassing Q2 2020 in absolute revenues. This is all despite no new internal game launches and no significant studio acquisitions year-to-date, as well as IDFA related changes and the base effect. MY.GAMES received 74% of their games revenue in Q2 2021 outside Russia and CIS with the key markets being the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. The company currently has more than 20 titles in the pipeline and the investment division - MCVG - also continues to develop the international and domestic business. War Robots, Warface, Hustle Castle, Rush Royale and Grand Hotel Mania were the main revenue contributors in the second quarter of 2021. The mobile segment accounted for 77% of the total revenue of MY.GAMES. The company enjoyed consolidated success in Q2 - with updates to existing games performing well and hit mobile titles Rush Royale, Hustle Castle and War Robots, launching on PC Allods Team has announced the game Blast Brigade vs. the Evil Legion of Dr. Cread, a two-dimensional platformer with elements of metroidvania. The game will be available in early access from September this year. Release dates on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, XboxSeries X|S will be announced soon. The mobile game Rush Royale reached the mark of 9 million downloads, although it was released only in December last year, and monthly revenue in June approached 400 million rubles (5.4m USD), which set the project to one of the most successful launches in MY.GAMES history. The Warface franchise reached 117.4 million players worldwide on all platforms during the second quarter of 2021, and still remains among the top three in terms of revenue among MY.GAMES projects. On consoles, Warface has received a cross-play feature that unites more than 24 million PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch players on shared servers. The game has also been released on the Epic Games Store, which expands the games’ reach further. As part of MY.GAMES ongoing investment in Cloud development June saw a strategic investment in Playkey as well as release of the MY.GAMES Cloud BETA for Mac OS in the Russian domestic market - the platform currently boasts more than 300 games and over 100k monthly active users (MAU). Vasily Maguryan, CEO at MY.GAMES commented: "In the second quarter of 2021, we managed to demonstrate growth against the background of a significant decline in the overall dynamics of the global games market. This was achieved by MY.GAMES strategic approach to portfolio diversification and our focus on organic product growth. The company's revenue grew by 18% in the first half of 2021, despite the effect of the high base of the previous year. In addition, we continue to successfully increase business efficiency — the second quarter of 2021 was the best in terms of marginality (24%) since the beginning of 2020." Overall Highlights for Q2: MY.GAMES Q2 EBITDA stood at RUB 2.7bn ($36.4m), delivering 13% YoY growth, with a margin of 24%, with the division on track to deliver a small margin improvement in 2021 and double-digit organic growth. The games War Robots, Warface franchise, Hustle Castle, Rush Royale and Grand Hotel Mania were the largest revenue contributors for the quarter. Share of revenue coming from markets outside Russia & CIS stood at 74%, with the US, Germany and the UK having the largest share in international revenue. Average MAU stood at 21.4mn in Q2 with a 4.7% share of paying monthly users, roughly unchanged versus the level seen in Q2 2020, during the peak of lockdowns and therefore player engagement. Highlights for the US Market are: Mobile advertising revenue up 117% y/y w mobile MAU up 2% y/y. PC revenue up 34% y/y w paying users share up 64% y/y. CB new users up 193% y/y w MAU up 173% y/y and revenue up 347% y/y. Grand Hotel Mania regs up 57% y/y w MAU up 291% y/y and revenue up 688% y/y. Left to Survive MAU up 7% y/y and revenue up 21% y/y. ARPPU up 12% y/y. Storyngton Hall sales up 18% q/q. Tacticool new users up 91% y/y w MAU up 64% y/y and revenue up 69% y/y. %PU up 15% y/y. Zero City new users up 26% y/y w MAU up 40% y/y and revenue up 39% y/y. Highlights for the mobile portfolio are: The top-5 revenue generating titles in Q2 remained War Robots, Hustle Castle, Rush Royale, Grand Hotel Mania and Left to Survive. War Robots (2014, Pixonic studio) shooter reached 197mn users in June, with average monthly revenue of ~RUB 800mn ($10.8m) in Q2 and significant positive EBITDA contribution. The RPG, Hustle Castle (2017, Nord Studio), reached 70mn downloads, with RUB 400mn ($5.4m) in monthly revenue in Q2. Other highlights from Nord Studio included Zero City (~19mn downloads, RUB 150mn ($2m) in monthly revenue) and American Dad! Apocalypse Soon, which performed well, with 9mn cumulative downloads as of the end of Q2. The Grand Hotel Mania (2020, Deus Craft) - a time management game reached 12mn installs, with ~RUB 300mn ($4m) in monthly revenue in Q2. Left to Survive (2018, Whalekit) shooter reached 38mn downloads and exceeded RUB 200mn ($2.7m) in monthly revenue in Q2, with >20% YoY growth along with almost 2x EBITDA improvement. Whalekit’s other title, Warface: Global Operations (2020), reached 18mn downloads. The Rush Royale (2020, IT Territory studio) a tower defense game reached 9mn downloads since its launch in December with monthly revenue exceeding RUB 400mn ($5.4m) in June, which makes it one of the most successful launches in MY.GAMES history. Tacticool (2019, Panzerdog) top-down pvp mobile shooter game reached ~20mn downloads and achieved a new monthly revenue record of RUB 150mn+ ($2m) in April with >50% YoY revenue growth. Highlights for the PC and Console portfolio are: The Warface (2013, PC/console/mobile) first-person shooter franchise reached 117.4mn players worldwide across all platforms and remains a top-3 revenue generator for MY.GAMES. Warface cross-play became available on console, connecting over 24mn of its players across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch to the same server. Warface was also added to Epic Games Store, broadening distribution of this key franchise title. Allods Team has announced a new title – Blast Brigade vs. the Evil Legion of Dr. Cread, which is 2D action-adventure platformer with metroidvania elements. It's coming to Steam later this year. Launch dates on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S will be announced soon. Lost Ark (PC, licensed from Smilegate) MMORPG released an update on Russia language servers and also announced an update with a 19th new class Demon Hunter on Russian language servers. Tactical action MMO Conqueror's Blade (2019, PC, licensed from Booming Games) reached 3.4mn in users and showed >50% YoY revenue growth in Q2 after another game update rolled out in March. Free-to-play MMO Skyforge (2017, PC, Allods Team) reached 13mn in registered users. In Q2 MY.GAMES continued to port its own mobile titles to PC on MY.GAMES Store as part of internal cross-selling and cross-integration, with Rush Royale, War Robots and Hustle Castle released in Q2. Highlights for Strategic Investments are: As part of its Cloud development efforts, in June MY.GAMES completed consolidation of Playkey, while also releasing the beta of MY.GAMES Cloud on Mac OS, with 300+ games and 100k MAU. MY.GAMES Store launched MY.GAMES Boost - a crowdfunding service based on the internal Boosty.to service, allowing content creators to receive donations for their work. Follow us on: Facebook LinkedIn Twitter MY.GAMES is an international gaming brand (part of Mail.ru Group) and a leading online entertainment company. MY.GAMES comprises 11 regional offices in Russia, Europe and the US, over 1,800 staff, and 13 development studios. MY.GAMES creates titles for the PC, consoles, and mobile devices. The company operates over 80 projects, with more than 150 titles in its portfolio including War Robots, Hustle Castle, Left to Survive, Skyforge, and Allods Online. MY.GAMES portfolio includes renowned titles like Warface, ArcheAge, Perfect World, Revelation Online, Conqueror's Blade, Lost Ark, and more. Contact Details Renaissance PR Stefano Petrullo +44 7828 692315 stefano@renaissancepr.biz Renaissance PR Emily Britt +44 7530 081191 emily@renaissancepr.biz Renaissance PR Vincent Gallopin +1 323-898-9891 vincent@renaissancepr.biz

July 29, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Image
Article thumbnail News Release

Akeneo Once More Named a Leader in IDC MarketScape on PIM

Akeneo

Akeneo, a global leader in Product Experience Management (PXM) solutions, today announced that it has once more been ​named a Leader in this year’s ​IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Product Information Management Applications for Commerce 2021 Vendor Assessment (Doc # #US47482521, July 2021). The recognition follows Akeneo being named a Strong Performer as a new entrant in the Forrester Wave™ for Product Information Management (Q2 2021), and an Overall Value Index Leader and Exemplary Vendor by Ventana Research in their Value Index on Product Information Management (2021). The IDC MarketScape evaluated 16 companies for the report, but only positioned five in the Leaders category, where Akeneo was recognized for both its current product capabilities, as well as its go-to-market strategy that aligns with customer's growth ambitions. Akeneo is trusted by over 500 PIM enterprise customers in 39 countries worldwide, some of which use Akeneo’s solutions to manage PIM across tens of millions of products and to manage terabytes of digital assets. IDC expects technology buyers will increasingly prioritize PIM applications that readily integrate with adjacent technologies such as digital commerce and content management. With 130 implementation partners and 90 technology partners for its PIM solution, Akeneo enables online merchants to deliver modern digital experiences that enable them to tell richer stories about their products across the end-to-end customer journey. IDC offers special praise for Akeneo’s ease of use, noting that Akeneo clients and partner organizations consistently score Akeneo highly for its UI and overall usability. Akeneo’s users also gave the company an above-average rating for customer support, with customers reporting that Akeneo was very quick to respond to and resolve support requests. The report also notes Akeneo’s commitment to open-source development, which enables customers to try its product without financial commitment, while benefiting from a well-established global PXM community. “IDC believes the importance of PIM systems will only grow as a larger share of all transactions occur online, prompting organizations to seek out stronger customer relationships via engaging product stories,” Jordan Jewell, IDC's research director for digital commerce, writes in the report. “Consider Akeneo if you are a B2C or B2B organization with a wide range of business models and if you need a tightly integrated system for high-quality product information across all owned and unowned digital channels, as well as offline channels including in-store and print.” “At Akeneo, we’re always striving to build the best solution for our customers, and earning this recognition from IDC, Forrester, and Ventana is a testament to the strength of our vision,” said Akeneo CEO Fred de Gombert. “These organizations’ analysts understand that Akeneo is fusing best-of-breed technology and a true commitment to customer experience to deliver the powerful and streamlined solutions needed by today’s eCommerce and omnichannel merchants.” An excerpt of the full report can be downloaded here: https://www.akeneo.com/white-paper/idc-marketscape-pim-applications/ About Akeneo Akeneo is a global leader in Product Experience Management (PXM) helping businesses with products to unlock growth opportunities by delivering a consistent and compelling product experience across all channels, including eCommerce, mobile, print, points of sale and beyond. With its open platform, leading PIM, add-ons, connectors and marketplace, Akeneo PXM Studio dramatically improves product data quality and accuracy, simplifies catalog management, and accelerates the sharing of product information across channels and locales. Leading global brands, manufacturers, distributors and retailers, including Staples Canada, Fossil, Air Liquide and Myer, trust Akeneo to scale and customize their omnichannel commerce initiatives. Using Akeneo, brands and retailers can improve customer experience, increase sales, reduce time to market, go global, and boost team productivity. More information at https://www.akeneo.com About IDC MarketScape: The IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor's position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors. Contact Details Ran Xu +1 213-309-2373 ran@rosebudpr.io

July 28, 2021 05:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Article thumbnail News Release

Genpact and Not Impossible Join Forces, Leveraging Technology to Fight Food Insecurity at Scale

YourUpdateTV

A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://youtu.be/0ZgGIMRoOnk No family should have to choose between feeding their children and paying their rent, but that’s the exact choice millions of families are forced to make each day. Efforts to address this problem are time-consuming and difficult, and often come at the expense of personal dignity – from long lines at food pantries, to food stamps at grocery stores. The Not Impossible Foundation has joined forces with digital transformation firm Genpact (NYSE: G) to grow and improve its ability to confront food insecurity using “Technology for the Sake of Humanity.” The program will leverage the best of technology to create real-time transparency and increased connectedness so donors can see the direct impact of their compassionate giving. It’s an approach that could help non-profit and mutual aid efforts in your community understand their human impact and meet their goals. One key technology leveraged by the Not Impossible Foundation to combat hunger is Bento, a community-engagement platform that uses SMS text messaging to connect at-risk populations with convenient, nutritious, pre-paid meals from local restaurants. The process is stigma free for participants because meals are provided through existing online ordering systems. It also supports restaurants, many of which struggled during the pandemic. “We are a country with tremendous resources, yet food insecurity – the constant struggle to find enough to eat – is still a major social problem,” said Mick Ebeling, founder and chief executive officer of Bento and Not Impossible Labs. “The problem isn’t about the lack of food. It’s the lack of connectivity. Technology can connect people who can help to those who need help. Genpact will be instrumental in helping us do that at scale. Their innovative digital transformation has the potential to revolutionize charitable giving, while retaining the human element of social impact.” This first of its kind platform will create insights and transparency into donations that will enable individuals to see where funds go, be alerted in real time of the impact of their generosity on individuals, and create a richer end-to-end experience that fuels philanthropic engagement, retention, and commitment. To do this, Genpact will leverage its deep process and technology expertise, including user experience, machine learning, analytics, and automation. “No family should have to choose between feeding their children and paying their rent, but that’s the exact choice millions of families are forced to make each day,” said Stacy Simpson, chief marketing officer, global leader of corporate responsibility and diversity, equity, and inclusion, Genpact. “Contributing the best of our technology, humanity, and innovation to help eradicate hunger in America speaks directly to Genpact’s purpose: the relentless pursuit of a world that works better for people.” To bring additional awareness to this critical issue, Genpact leveraged its partnership with Envision Virgin Racing to add the Not Impossible Bento logo (NI Labs Bento) to its all-electric race cars during Formula E’s 2021 ABB New York City E-Prix. “Solving some of the world’s seemingly unsolvable problems requires all of us to step up and do something,” added Simpson. “Formula E fans are among the most engaged, passionate, and socially motivated audiences. Securing logo space on Envision Virgin Racing’s car for Not Impossible is about deliberately giving critical exposure to ending hunger, which is both a humanitarian and environmental issue.” For more information on this partnership or to donate, visit www.Genpact.com/NotImpossible. About Genpact: Genpact (NYSE: G) is a global professional services firm that makes business transformation real. Led by our purpose -- the relentless pursuit of a world that works better for people -- we drive digital-led innovation and digitally enabled intelligent operations for our clients. Guided by our experience reinventing and running thousands of processes for hundreds of clients, many of them Global Fortune 500 companies, we drive real-world transformation at scale. We think with design, dream in digital, and solve problems with data and analytics. Combining our expertise in end-to-end operations and our AI-based platform, Genpact Cora, we focus on the details – all 90,000+ of us. From New York to New Delhi, and more than 30 countries in between, we connect every dot, reimagine every process, and reinvent the ways companies work. We know that reimagining each step from start to finish creates better business outcomes. Whatever it is, we’ll be there with you – accelerating digital transformation to create bold, lasting results - because transformation happens here. Get to know us at Genpact.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. About Not Impossible Foundation: Not Impossible Foundation DEFIES the IMPOSSIBLE by creating access to POSSIBILITIES for those in need through technology-based solutions. The Not Impossible Foundation was born from the Not Impossible Lab’s belief in tackling the absurd through technology solutions for the sake of humanity. Harnessing the power of open-source thinking to unite great ideas with the people that need them, The Not Impossible Foundation is dedicated to scaling technology-based solutions and helping people in need. The Foundation strives to help the “many” from Not Impossible Labs motto of “help one, help many.” Through corporate support and personal donations, the Foundation is passionate about scaling solutions and expanding possibilities. For more information, please visit https://www.notimpossible.com/foundation MEDIA CONTACTS: Genpact Michael Schneider +1 (217) 260-5041 michael.schneider@genpact.com Not Impossible/Bento Susan Williams +1 (646) 753-0336 susan@gobento.com About YourUpdateTV: YourUpdateTV is a social media video portal for organizations to share their content. It includes separate channels for Health and Wellness, Lifestyle, Media and Entertainment, Money and Finance, Social Responsibility, Sports and Technology. Contact Details YourUpdateTV +1 212-736-2727 yourupdatetv@gmail.com

July 28, 2021 10:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Video
Article thumbnail News Release

RALLY VENTURES WELCOMES JAY BORENSTEIN AS VENTURE PARTNER

Rally Ventures

Rally Ventures, a leading venture capital firm focused on early-stage business technology, today announced that Jay Borenstein has joined the firm as a venture partner. He brings 25+ years of experience as a founder, operator and investor to Rally Ventures. Borenstein is a lecturer of computer science at Stanford University with a focus on virtual reality, software engineering and entrepreneurship. He also runs the Education Modernization (EdMod) Group at Facebook. In this role, he focuses on leveraging modern technologies to improve education and create more equity in education. Borenstein founded IntApp Inc., a Palo Alto-based business management software company, in 2000 and served as the company’s CEO through 2007. IntApp raised $273 million in its initial public offering (Nasdaq: INTA) in June of 2021. Borenstein previously served as the managing director at Chmod Ventures, which was a satellite fund of Lightspeed Venture Partners. In his role as venture partner, Borenstein will be responsible for driving new investments, supporting existing portfolio companies and deepening Rally’s expertise in edtech and extended reality (XR). “Jay’s ability to relate to founders and understand the intricacies of their technologies and businesses will make him a fantastic addition to our team,” said Charles Beeler, co-founder and managing director, Rally Ventures. “His background as a founder and an educator working with students at the formative stage gives him a unique understanding of what it takes to make early-stage founders successful.” Rally Ventures is investing from its latest fund, Rally Ventures IV (2020 vintage), a $250 million fund that brings their total committed capital raised since inception to over $600 million. The firm remains committed to its strategy of backing early-stage technology companies building innovative solutions for the fast-changing B2B landscape, focusing largely on Seed and Series A financing. Since its inception in 2012, Rally Ventures has invested in 59 companies and has had 15 successful exits, including 3 initial public offerings. Borenstein joins a team of three managing directors, four venture partners and 100+ technology partners — executives, technologists and luminaries — who act as an extension to the Rally Ventures team and provide operating leverage for portfolio companies to help broaden the firm's capabilities. “Rally Ventures has a terrific track record of supporting early-stage entrepreneurs. I look forward to augmenting that and supporting great people to achieve great outcomes,” said Borenstein. About Rally Ventures Rally Ventures invests exclusively in early-stage business technology companies, focusing on entrepreneurs creating major new markets or bringing transformative approaches to existing ones. Since 1997, Rally Ventures' partners and venture capital industry veterans have invested in or run early stage enterprise business-to-business technology companies with a proven ability to deliver superior returns regardless of the overall market environment. For more information visit rallyventures.com. Contact Details Rally Ventures Rachel Stone +1 952-270-2648 rachel@rallyventures.com Company Website https://www.rallyventures.com/

July 28, 2021 08:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Article thumbnail News Release

ContraForce Joins Microsoft Intelligent Security Association

ContraForce

ContraForce, a leader in Open XDR for small and medium businesses, today announced that it has been nominated to join the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA). ContraForce was nominated for membership due to their Microsoft Azure Sentinel API integration. ContraForce delivers the Azure Sentinel API integration to customers with their Open XDR solution targeted towards MSSP’s and SMB’s. The membership will allow ContraForce to work more closely with Microsoft security product teams in order to build-in additional security for end users. Tighter integrations into the Microsoft security stack will allow ContraForce to deliver a more powerful yet simplified Open XDR experience to customers who are struggling with rapid incident response, generating more visibility across their security environment while reducing their costs. MISA is an ecosystem of independent software vendors and managed security service providers that have integrated their solutions with Microsoft security products to better assist end users defend against the world of increasing threats. Founded in 2018 MISA now has more than 245 members, more than 250 integrations and 165 service offerings some of which are available in the Azure Marketplace. “I am extremely excited to expand our relationship with Microsoft in order to better serve our customers who are battling adversarial threats that impact their capacity to deliver business outcomes to their customers”, stated Stan Golubchik, CEO ContraForce. “With ContraForce’s integrations into the Microsoft security stack we are able to simplify security outcomes through an innovative Open XDR experience for our customers who are on-premises or in the cloud eliminating manual tool configuration, mitigating false positives and automating rapid incident response for reducing risk across all attack vectors,” he added. “Microsoft Intelligent Security Association members leverage Microsoft's security products to better defend against cyber security threats with identity and access management, threat protection, information protection, and security management,” said Rob Lefferts, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Defender. While ContraForce has integrated deeply with the Azure Sentinel API, they have also extended their solution’s integrations with Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Cloud App Security, Defender for Microsoft 365, and Defender for Identity to provide a comprehensive Open XDR platform for customers who believe in the Microsoft vision as much as ContraForce does. About ContraForce ContraForce is the New XDR Company. We focus on securing the digital estate and help Security and IT teams work smarter, allowing them to implement extended detection and response to combat cyberattacks in a timely manner. Our team is passionate about understanding our customers and their security requirements. Our expertise is in designing and deploying security for hybrid and multi-cloud environments, and being able to manage the difficult implementation and optimization typically associated with complex security controls. Our expertise spans the areas of solution development, security integration, governance, risk and compliance and security data analytics. ContraForce is headquartered in McKinney, Texas and was founded and built by industry security and cloud experts from Armor, McAfee, and Intel. ​ContraForce's mission is to empower Security and SOC teams and enable them to be more efficient. Contact Details ContraForce Donna Estrin +1 415-470-1204 donna.estrin@contraforce.com Company Website https://www.contraforce.com/

July 28, 2021 06:05 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Article thumbnail News Release

CSG Partners with Cape Innovation & Technology Initiative to Empower Female ICT Entrepreneurs to Defy Social Norms in South Africa

CSG

CSG ® (NASDAQ: CSGS) today announced new growth in its partnership with Cape Innovation & Technology Initiative (CiTi), one of Africa’s oldest tech incubators, to broaden the organisation’s Women in Business program nationwide as part of CSG South Africa’s commitment to making tech skills accessible and the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE). The Women in Business program supports female entrepreneurs to implement and adopt digital platforms and programs that up-skill their technological acuity to drive business growth and promote inclusion. This year, 30 female information and communications technology (ICT) entrepreneurs will participate in a ten-week course before three finalists are ultimately selected to continue in a ten-month entrepreneurial program that includes opportunities to connect with CSG women in leadership. “Creating space for women and underrepresented voices across the innovation and technology ecosystem is critical to driving economic impact in our communities and diversifying the tech talent pipeline,” said Channing Jones, chief diversity and social responsibility officer, CSG. “We are committed to supporting work that builds capacity and offers access to leadership skills crucial to success in entrepreneurship to foster a more inclusive economy. CSG is proud to partner with the Cape Innovation & Technology Initiative to expand the Women in Business program across the region.” Established in 1999, CiTi works at the intersection of business, government, and society. Its mission is to build a future-fit, inclusive community and shape the future economy through innovation and technology. CiTi's Women in Business initiative is a flagship programme aimed at strategically supporting and developing female entrepreneurs. More than 1,700 women have gone through the program, and over 1,500 more have applied to join. "In Africa, women business owners are defying social norms in the face of systemic obstacles including limited access to funding, inadequate scaling resources, and challenges with work-life balance," said Lara Rosmarin, head of incubation and entrepreneurial development, Cape Innovation & Technology Initiative. "Through the Women in Business programme, we help women overcome these hurdles with strategic support, mentoring, peer to peer learning, and networking opportunities that enable them to navigate tough competition and thrive. With CSG’s support, we are thrilled to now accept nationwide requests and provide female business owners across all of South Africa with the powerful tools they need to grow their businesses." The program is open for submissions from Wednesday, 28th July 2021 to Thursday, 12th August 2021. Applications can be submitted at https://bit.ly/3yBL1RK. For more information on the CiTi Women in Business programme, email wibapps@citi.org.za. # # # About CSG For more than 35 years, CSG has simplified the complexity of business, delivering innovative customer engagement solutions that help companies acquire, monetise, engage, and retain customers. Operating across more than 120 countries worldwide, CSG manages billions of critical customer interactions annually, and its award-winning suite of software and services allow companies across dozens of industries to tackle their biggest business challenges and thrive in an ever-changing marketplace. CSG is the trusted provider for driving digital innovation for hundreds of leading global brands, including Airtel Africa, América Móvil, AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, DISH, Formula 1, Hutchison 3 Indonesia, Inmarsat, Mastercard, Maximus, Microsoft, Mobily, MTN, New Leaf Service Contracts, State of California DMV, TalkTalk and Telstra. To learn more, visit our website at csgi.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter. About Cape Innovation & Technology Initiative The Cape Innovation & Technology Initiative (CiTi) is a Non-Profit Company with a mission to build a futureproof, inclusive society through technology and innovation. CiTi was established in 1999 and operates at the intersection of business, government and society to positively shape the future of the economy and society through the use of innovation and technology. We see this model as the key driver of systemic regional change and progression. CiTi achieves its mission through the following interventions: Entrepreneurial development, support and incubation; Digital job readiness and skills development - training young people to enter the digital economy; Open innovation clusters - picking industries of the future and supporting and stimulating their growth. CiTi continues to look at areas that will be transformative in 20 years and have an impact in five years. We are scaling our work throughout the continent to stimulate and build inclusive transformation within the digital economy. For more than 21 years, CiTi has helped businesses become more sustainable through the implementation of customised incubation, acceleration, training and support programmes for entrepreneurs, SMMEs and corporate businesses. Copyright © 2021 CSG Systems International, Inc. and/or its affiliates (“CSG”). All rights reserved. CSG® is a registered trademark of CSG Systems International, Inc. All third-party trademarks, service marks, and/or product names which are referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners, and all rights therein are reserved. CSG Contacts Kristine Østergaard Europe / Middle East / Africa Public Relations +44 (0)79 2047 7204 kristine.ostergaard@csgi.com John Rea Investor Relations +1 (210) 687-4409 john.rea@csgi.com CiTi Contacts Marietjie Engelbrecht Head of Marketing +27 82 822 8399 marietjie.engelbrecht@citi.org.za Contact Details Kristine Østergaard +44 7500 518412 kristine.ostergaard@csgi.com Company Website https://www.csgi.com

July 28, 2021 01:00 AM Mountain Daylight Time

Article thumbnail News Release

Replicated Raises $50M Series C to Double Down on Multi-Prem Software Delivery

Replicated, Inc.

Replicated, which enables software vendors to operationalize and scale the delivery of their applications into complex enterprise multi-prem environments (on-prem, airgap, private cloud, etc), today announced closing a Series C funding round of $50 million led by Owl Rock, a division of Blue Owl Capital, with participation from Lead Edge Capital, Headline and existing investors including Two Sigma Ventures, Amplify Partners, BoldStart, Ridgeline, and Heavybit. Replicated plans to use this round to accelerate growth and expand into more global markets. “We believe the future of enterprise software delivery is multi-prem, the ability for software vendors to offer their applications to any customer environment with ease,” said Grant Miller, Replicated co-founder and CEO. “Securing this funding will allow Replicated to continue revolutionizing how software is delivered and how enterprises manage it.” Multi-prem software delivery is a means of delivering 3rd party software entirely agnostic of the environment it will be deployed to. With a significant rise in the need for enterprise data privacy, security, and regulatory compliance, multi-tenant SaaS poses more challenges than benefits for organizations with sensitive data concerns. Taking advantage of containerized architecture and software development pipelines brings automation, uniformity, scalability, and observability to software deployment and management. This enables the packaging of cloud-native applications for multiple customer environments, including on-premises, private clouds, and air gapped servers. Replicated’s customers include HashiCorp, Puppet, UiPath, Rocket.Chat, CircleCI, PluralSight, and Tripwire. Currently, more than half of the Fortune 100 uses Replicated to manage applications. “Software vendors want to focus on building and pushing differentiated product features, rather than on the complexities of delivering their applications into customer-controlled environments,” said Albert Koh, Vice President, Owl Rock, a division of Blue Owl Capital. “We saw many of our portfolio companies already using Replicated to address their customers’ constantly evolving security, compliance, and regulatory requirements to manage workloads and applications in their own environments, whether on-prem, private or public cloud, or air gapped. We are thrilled to partner with Replicated to continue building and pioneering their multi-prem application delivery platform.” "We're big believers in helping teams focus on their own differentiation and Replicated helps us do that,” said Rob Zuber, CTO, CircleCI. “Replicated mobilizes our engineering teams to focus on our core competencies while staying connected to customer needs and requirements without distraction." What used to take customers months and significant engineering time is now a faster, frictionless delivery of enterprise-grade applications, and the need is only growing. According to a recent survey conducted by Dimensional Research and sponsored by Replicated, out of 400+ global participants, over 90 percent reported growth in on-prem sales over the past five years, with 86% using Kubernetes. The demand for on-prem software continues to be as strong, if not stronger, than the public cloud option. “Software vendors continue to partner with Replicated to grow their businesses, save money, and quickly deliver the modern applications their customers demand,” added Sunil Dhaliwal, General Partner, Amplify Partners. “We've been very impressed by their rapid expansion and are thrilled to extend our investment in the company." Replicated was founded in 2015 by Miller and Marc Campbell, CTO, who previously founded Look IO, a mobile live-chat program that was acquired by LivePerson. About Replicated: Replicated is the modern way to ship multi-prem software. Replicated gives software vendors a container-based platform for easily deploying cloud native applications inside customers'​ environments to provide greater security and control. Learn more at Replicated.com. Contact Details Forrest Carman +1 206-859-3118 forrestc@owenmedia.com Company Website https://www.replicated.com/

July 27, 2021 09:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time

Article thumbnail News Release

Harmons to Accept Mobile Driver’s Licenses as Part of Utah Pilot Program

GET Group North America

GET Group North America and The Utah Driver License Division (DLD) jointly announced today that Harmons Grocery has signed on as the first grocer in Utah to participate in the state’s mobile driver’s license (mDL) pilot program. As a pioneer of Utah’s mDL, Harmons will accept mobile credentials to verify identity for pharmacy purchases, as well as for age-based purchases, at select locations. It will initially accept mDLs at its City Creek and Traverse Mountain locations, with plans to expand to additional stores. Utah is the first state in the U.S. to pilot an mDL that is fully compliant with international standards that ensure mDLs are accepted globally as a legal form of identification. Mobile driver’s licenses allow for information such as name or age to be confirmed contactlessly by a retailer with a simple tap or scan at point-of-sale -- without a physical credential or a mobile phone ever changing hands. It does not rely on visual inspection of an ID, therefore taking the subjectivity out of verifying its authenticity. Unlike with a physical driver’s license which discloses all personal information, with an optional mDL, the citizen has complete control of the data they choose to share -- limiting it to what is relevant for a specific transaction. mDLs can be verified using an International Standard and apps such as GET Mobile Verify. “Convenience and superior service for our customers is our primary focus and bringing mDL verification, a more secure and convenient form of ID that gives customers greater control over their identity information, is an ideal match,” said Mark Jensen, Harmons president and CEO. “We commend Harmons for embracing the future of ID and becoming a frontrunner in supporting their customers’ use of mDL technology at point-of-sale,” said Chris Caras, Director of the Driver License Division for the State of Utah Department of Public Safety. “The security, privacy and convenience of mobile IDs is something we anticipate the public will really be pleased with, and Harmons is enthusiastic about providing the best experience for their customers.” The pilot includes over 100 Utah residents and is expanding now to 10,000 participants including the broader public. Members of the public and media are invited to Harmons’ City Creek and Traverse Mountain locations between 10am-2pm on August 3 rd and 4 th to get an mDL; a valid driver’s license must be presented. About GET Group North America GET Group North America and its partners develop, manufacture, and implement end-to-end solutions for secure physical and mobile credentials that enable government agencies, motor vehicle departments, municipalities law enforcement organizations, and other entities to leverage the latest in secure identity management technologies. From photo ID cards, driver’s licenses and passports, to mDLs and mIDs, GET Group NA delivers advanced issuance, verification and personalization capabilities that prevent identification fraud, accommodate diversified customer needs, and support the future of ID use cases. About Harmons Since 1932, Harmons passion for innovation, commitment to its associates, and contributions to the community have provided the building blocks to help the company expand from a single fruit stand to 18 thriving locations spanning from Northern to Southern Utah. Harmons is known for its unique grocery industry approach, which provides a high-quality experience to its customers by offering fresh foods prepared in-store by chefs, artisans and experts; local Utah products; and an aggressive sustainability program. For more information about our stores, please visit harmonsgrocery.com. Contact Details Jordan Bouclin +1 401-490-9700 jordan.bouclin@svmpr.com Company Website https://getgroupna.com/

July 27, 2021 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Article thumbnail News Release

Provana Partners with REPAY for Integrated Payment Processing

Provana

Provana, the unified platform for credit and collections process management, today announced a technology partnership with REPAY, a leading provider of vertically integrated payment solutions. Provana customers can now leverage REPAY’s processing solution within IConnect247 ®. Provana’s all-in-one debt repayment and customer service application – the first of its kind within the industry. The integration helps lenders and agencies automate previously time consuming and tedious processes while supporting compliant electronic payment standards, including Regulation E. As the one-stop-shop for lenders and agencies looking to digitally transform their operations, Provana is continually adding new features and capabilities to support automation. The news was announced from the ACA International Convention & Expo in Las Vegas. “Unifying disconnected processes and disparate data sources provides huge value to our clients in accounts receivable management,” said Sean Clark, Senior Vice President of Platforms at Provana. “This integration between REPAY and Provana gives users even more control over workstreams and customer success management.” In addition to partnering with REPAY, Provana added new clients in the first half of 2021 that have already seen tangible benefits from gaining a holistic view into their ARM operations and controls. With Provana’s one-stop-shop for digital transformation, including IConnect247 and ICAP Analytics, credit and collections companies can actively monitor for compliance while boosting productivity. “With Provana, we have streamlined the electronic payment authorization process, enabling our agents and consumers to communicate with the technology already in the palm of their hands,” said Nikki Noyes, Director of Compliance at Logicoll, LLC. “Provana stitches together the delicate balance of compliance with operation efficiency to help us better serve both consumers and our clients.” As Vice President of master servicer, The Bureaus, Inc., Marian Sangalang has also seen the value of Provana’s unified platform first-hand. “Because our network of collections agencies is broad and dispersed, having the ability to dynamically share and track large volumes of documents with efficiency is essential to our core business. Working with Provana enables us to work at speed, while providing a secure and compliant platform for our ARM operations.” To learn more about the benefits of IConnect247 and ICAP, see our infographic, Use Data Analytics to Improve Your Call Center Performance. About Provana Provana is a SaaS platform that gives leaders control over process-intensive operations. We serve law firms, insurance companies, accounts receivable agencies and networked enterprises in the US market that are tightly regulated by the CFPB and other authorities. Provana is built on decades of experience in machine learning and natural language processing and helps customers manage sensitive interactions, analyze unstructured data, process personal information and ensure compliance. Provana is backed by a NYC-based Fintech PE, most recently raising funds in November 2020. Learn more at www.provana.com. About REPAY REPAY provides integrated payment processing solutions to verticals that have specific transaction processing needs. REPAY’s proprietary, integrated payment technology platform reduces the complexity of electronic payments for merchants, while enhancing the overall experience for consumers and businesses. Contact Details Provana Britney Schaeffer britney.schaeffer@provana.com REPAY Kristen Hoyman khoyman@repay.com Company Website https://www.provana.com/

July 27, 2021 08:05 AM Central Daylight Time

1 ... 569570571572573 ... 647