Digital Asset DirectARway
Contact Details Proactive Investors Canada Proactive Investors Canada +1 604-688-8158 na-editorial@proactiveinvestors.com
December 14, 2022 07:13 AM Pacific Standard Time
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News ReleaseICode Foundation
The 6th Edition of the ICode Global Hackathon was concluded on 10th December with 800 finalists from 16+ countries participating in it. The Hackathon 2022 started with over 2 million students from 72+ countries participating in the competition, the ICode Global Hackathon has again emerged as the world’s largest coding competition for school students aged 6-16 years. Designed as a gamified, multi-level event, the 2022 edition of the hackathon started with local-level competitions across 72+ countries. The top 10% of participants at each level moved on to their respective national and then regional finals. This year's final saw 800 of the world’s best young coding minds compete for the coveted prize of ICode Global Hackathon champions. The list of countries included a wide spectrum; from developed nations like the USA, Canada, the UAE, South Korea and Singapore to emerging economies like India, South Africa, Thailand, Philippines, Egypt, Myanmar and others. We also saw strong representation from the African Continent with 14 students participating from Ghana, South Africa and Nigeria. Ami Dror, the Chairman of ICode Foundation said, “We are very proud of the efforts of all the participants including the 2 million+ students who participated at the local level of competition in their respective countries. As a platform, ICode Global Hackathon is probably the only global platform that helps students test their algorithmic intelligence and computational thinking skills on a gamified platform and benchmark themselves against their global peers.” “Our students from Australia had a blast while competing in the ICode Hackathon. Kids learned all the basics with the helpful tutorials before taking some truly mind-bending coding challenges. Parents can relax knowing that their children are learning a life skill, and children get the chance to see how they stack up against thousands of their peers around the world. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the ICode Hackathon in 2023,” said Garry Law, Director of Creator Academy. Amit Yadav, the Global Head of Partnerships at ICode Foundation said, “The ICode Global Hackathon is a truly global competition with children representing diverse learning cultures and education systems and the ICode platform acting as a strong tool for learning equity in coding education. We are proud of the fact that a large number of students from developing economies featured in the Global top 100 this year.” The ICode Foundation will launch the 7th Edition of the ICode Global hackathon on 1st March 2023 and will start accepting applications for institutional partnerships from 1st Jan 2023. About ICode Foundation It is a leading global organisation that creates and provides assessment, benchmarking, and certification platforms to students, education systems, school systems, and governments around the world; using cutting-edge gamification and AI tools. It organises the World’s Largest Coding Competition for kids - the ICode Global Hackathon. Contact Details ICode Foundation Amit Yadav - Business Head ICode Foundation +91 99107 35297 info@icode.education Company Website https://icode.org/
December 14, 2022 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
News ReleaseTradeweb
Dear Client, If 2020 and 2021 were tests of our resilience and resolve, this past year was a masterclass in macroeconomic and geopolitical one-upmanship. Financial markets weathered the storm of an ongoing global pandemic, supply chain disruption and massive geopolitical unrest, while rising inflation and rapid-fire interest rate increases and a persistent threat of recession tested the resilience of our markets. With global consumer prices up 10.7%[1] so far this year and the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield nearly 200 basis points (bps) higher than it was in January – not to mention the historic moves we saw in UK Gilts during September and October – 2022 has not disappointed when it comes to keeping market participants on their toes. We’ve had a unique vantage point throughout this journey at Tradeweb. Across virtually every asset class we cover, from government bonds to munis to corporates to mortgage-backed securities to equities, we’ve seen historic milestones and fascinating responses from the markets to maintain efficient access to liquidity in challenging environments. Following are some of the most important developments we’ve tracked over the past year, which we think are critical turning points that will help shape the future of how markets respond to tests down the road. Inflation Rears its Head The biggest macro story of the year, of course, was inflation. What started on used car lots quickly bled into housing and commodities markets and virtually everything else. By June, U.S. mortgage rates were rising at a historic pace, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) was at a 40-year high, the Eurozone was hitting its highest inflation rate since the creation of the euro in 1999, and the UK inflation rate was the highest since 1997, when the National Statistics series began tracking CPI in its current format. Accordingly, central banks around the world responded with swift changes in monetary policy, moving quickly from the record low interest rates of the pandemic era to a steady march of rate increases at the most rapid pace since the 1980s. The far-reaching impact of these moves has been impossible to miss in our rates markets, where yields on the 10-year U.S. Treasury and German Bund each climbed more than 250bps between January and October of this year. On the longer end of the curve, the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond issued in November of 2021 saw its price fall 30% over the last 12 months, all against a backdrop of continued strong supply. In the UK, we saw some of the wildest moves of all, with Gilt yields rising more than 350bps between January and October, only to swing sharply lower throughout the period of upheaval surrounding Prime Minister Liz Truss’ election and abrupt resignation. By the summer, yield curves had inverted in the U.S., with shorter-dated 2-year and 3-year U.S. Treasuries rising higher than the benchmark 10-year yield, sending the clearest signal yet that the markets were starting to grow increasingly concerned about inflation and the growing threat of a possible recession. By November, the 2-year/10-year curve had inverted in at least eight countries, including Germany, Russia, Brazil, the UK, Mexico, South Korea, Canada and the U.S. Markets Adapt to Fast-Moving Fundamentals with Inflation-Linked Securities Of course, wherever there is volatility, there is evolutionary change. At Tradeweb, one of the first ways we saw market participants adapt to this new reality was a dramatic rise in activity in inflation-linked securities, such as Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) and inflation swaps. In Q3, TIPS trading by institutional clients on the Tradeweb platform increased 19% as compared to the same period last year, and, in Q3 alone, we saw roughly $136.5 million of delta in inflation swaps trade on our platform. Through the first three quarters of 2022, average daily volume in inflation swaps was up 63.6% over the same period last year as a broad mix of clients, including liability-driven investors, asset managers, bank desks and hedge funds, embraced the asset class as an efficient way to hedge inflation risk. Perhaps even more interesting than the institutional market’s embrace of inflation-linked securities is the manner in which market participants have been trading these instruments as volatility continued to rise. Historically, periods of market stress have been accompanied by a relative slow-down in response times between dealers and customers as some may have disabled auto-quote tools and started manually sweating the details of every trade. The opposite happened this time around. In fact, dealer response times of under one-second increased to around 70% across all TIPS activity on the Tradeweb platform in the summer of 2022, up from roughly 50% in mid-2021, suggesting that even more dealers than normal may have been auto-quoting inflation-linked securities trades. Likewise, on the customer side, the percentage of TIPS trades executed via Tradeweb’s Automated Intelligent Execution (AiEX) tool topped 20%, which is roughly double the level of automated TIPS trading we saw in 2020. The trend offered a clear signal that institutions are increasingly leveraging electronic trading, and that they are relying on the latest automation tools to stay as nimble as possible when markets get volatile. The Rise of Retail Fixed Income This blurring of lines between traditional, legacy processes and behaviors was a recurring theme throughout the year. Across several asset classes, investors of all types, who had developed a stronger embrace of electronic markets and a stomach for persistent uncertainty, continued to find creative ways to access liquidity. One of the most interesting flash points for this trend was the big moves by retail fixed income investors, who continued to grab a bigger piece of the municipal bond market pie this year versus their institutional counterparts. With municipal bond prices down roughly 9% through the first half of 2022, institutional asset managers were standing face-to-face with a liquidity crunch. That is until retirees and their wealth managers showed up to take advantage of the rising yields that accompanied these plummeting prices. Through the summer of 2022, financial advisors accessing Tradeweb’s municipal bond platform on behalf of their retail clients were buying up munis at a rate of roughly 4-to-1 versus institutional investors, illustrating just how significant the trend toward retail fixed income has become across the broader municipal bond market. An influx of new innovations and advanced data science methods further spurred this trend, as retail participants in the muni bond market increasingly turned to electronic trading innovations such as Tradeweb Municipal Ai-Price to optimize their trading experience through enhanced price discovery and transparency. Historically, those two classes of investors would never cross paths, but – thanks, in part, to advances in electronic trading that have given retail wealth managers a direct conduit to institutional liquidity through Tradeweb Direct – retiree investors have come to wield big buying power in the institutional municipal bond markets. Toward a Portfolio-Centric View of Risk A similar set of evolutionary adaptations is continuing to reveal itself in our corporate credit and ETF markets, where investors have begun to change the way they think about moving risk. With the ICE Bank of America Index of investment grade corporate bonds down roughly 20% so far this year, the bond market is having one of its most challenging years in recent history. Despite this macro trend, we continued to see strong engagement on our global credit platform and our fixed income ETF platforms throughout the year. Digging deeper into the behavior of market participants in both asset classes, we see that these trends are being driven by a fundamental reframing of risk transfer. Driven in large part by the soaring popularity of ETFs—a market that has now crossed over $10 trillion (tn) in assets under management—and the availability of portfolio trading tools that make it possible to move large baskets of bonds in a single trade, market participants have started to think less about trading specific bonds and more about packaged trades that fit a specific risk profile. In a continuation of a trend that’s been building for several years, we’re finding that the liquidity of the ETF, combined with workflow enhancements and electronic trading solutions, are helping institutional market participants move larger volumes of risk more efficiently. As a result, ETF trading volumes on electronic RFQ platforms have continued to climb and clients have begun to apply the advantages electronic trading provided in linking different markets together. In fact, global institutional ETF volumes on Tradeweb surpassed a record $1tn year-to-date (YTD) and by late November Tradeweb had surpassed $250bn in notional trades in U.S. institutional fixed income ETFs compared to $110bn for the full year 2021. Through November of this year, the number of portfolio trades executed on the Tradeweb global credit platform had grown 20% year-over-year. This capability, combined with features like Tradeweb AiEX and all-to-all trading, which allow buy- and sell-side firms to connect more efficiently, are making it possible to keep markets moving in any market condition. Looking Ahead to 2023 If we’ve learned one thing over the last few years of once-in-a-lifetime events occurring with some regularity, it’s that bold pronouncements about what the future will look like are almost certain to be upended by something no one saw coming. Right now, as longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields have inverted further below those on shorter-dated bonds than at any point in recent history, half of investors and analysts think it’s a sure signal of recession, while the other half think it means we’re headed for a soft landing. We’ll leave it to our clients to pick which side of that bet they’re going to take. What we can accurately forecast, however, is that continued advances in electronic trading, increased transparency into real-time pricing and market sentiment, and the breaking down of silos between markets and asset classes will give market participants more flexibility than ever when it comes to accessing liquidity in tough market environments. In addition to the big trends we’ve seen this year in rates, credit, ETF and retail markets, we’re also seeing some very interesting activity in markets that have been slower to embrace electronic trading, like emerging markets and repo. In emerging markets, for example, over $1.5tn in interest rate swaps volume was executed on the Tradeweb platform YTD through the third quarter. That’s up from just $470bn for all of 2020, as investors continue to hunt for new sources of liquidity and wider availability of real-time electronic trading data makes it easier to access these markets. In repo, a sizeable market which we believe demonstrates an opportunity for increased electronification, we are experiencing a steady rise in activity on the Tradeweb platform, with average daily repo volume for the first three quarters up 13% as compared to the prior year period. Likewise, systematic workflow enhancements, such as electronic request-for-quote (RFQ), Tradeweb’s AiEX tool, portfolio trading and other innovations, will continue to improve the speed and efficiency with which investors can transfer risk, regardless of what the markets throw at them. Ultimately, what we see when we peer into the next chapter is a convergence of several trends that have been taking shape for decades finally reaching a tipping point. As the world has shifted to a digital-first mindset for virtually every interaction, electronic trading – and the automation, analytics and execution tools that come with it – have become more widely used. Accordingly, market participants are now able to take advantage of connectivity between markets that never existed, surface liquidity in instruments that were once difficult to move and venture into markets that were once out-of-reach. That evolution is not only a noteworthy turning point for market structure, it is also a fitting milestone in the history of Tradeweb. As we look back on some of the most important developments that shaped our markets in 2022, we can confidently say that regardless of where you see macro markets going over the next year, we’re sure to see more surprises that come out of left field, head-scratching market moves and unanticipated events in the foreseeable future. While no one can realistically prepare for all of them, with the right tools and mindset we can be ready for any of them. Having overseen Tradeweb’s growth together for so many years, we are very proud of what we’ve accomplished with our clients, employees and partners. As we each head into new roles on January 1 (CEO for Billy, Chairman for Lee), we reflect back on just how far Tradeweb has come as an organization. One persistent theme has been that challenging periods in markets often yield our strongest dialogue with clients, and certainly that has been the case in 2022. We will continue to collaborate with you every step of the way to deliver solutions that help your business and move our industry forward. Thank you for your continued partnership and trust, and best wishes for a healthy and happy New Year! Sincerely, Lee Olesky Billy Hult [1] OECD Consumer Price Index, December 6, 2022 About Tradeweb Markets Tradeweb Markets Inc. (Nasdaq: TW) is a leading, global operator of electronic marketplaces for rates, credit, equities and money markets. Founded in 1996, Tradeweb provides access to markets, data and analytics, electronic trading, straight-through-processing and reporting for more than 40 products to clients in the institutional, wholesale and retail markets. Advanced technologies developed by Tradeweb enhance price discovery, order execution and trade workflows while allowing for greater scale and helping to reduce risks in client trading operations. Tradeweb serves approximately 2,500 clients in more than 65 countries. On average, Tradeweb facilitated more than $1.0 trillion in notional value traded per day over the past four quarters. For more information, please go to https://www.tradeweb.com Market and Industry Data This content includes estimates regarding market and industry data that we prepared based on our management’s knowledge and experience in the markets in which we operate, together with information obtained from various sources, including publicly available information, industry reports and publications, surveys, our clients, trade and business organizations and other contacts in the markets in which we operate. In presenting this information, we have made certain assumptions that we believe to be reasonable based on such data and other similar sources and on our knowledge of, and our experience to date in, the markets in which we operate. While such information is believed to be reliable for the purposes used herein, no representations are made as to the accuracy or completeness thereof and we take no responsibility for such information. Forward-Looking Statements This content contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Statements related to, among other things, our outlook and future performance, the industry and markets in which we operate, our expectations, beliefs, plans, strategies, objectives, prospects and assumptions and future events are forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While we believe these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. These and other important factors, including those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in documents of Tradeweb Markets Inc. on file with or furnished to the SEC, may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this content are not guarantees of future performance and our actual results of operations, financial condition or liquidity, and the development of the industry and markets in which we operate, may differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this content. In addition, even if our results of operations, financial condition or liquidity, and events in the industry and markets in which we operate, are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this content, they may not be predictive of results or developments in future periods. Any forward-looking statement that we make in this content speaks only as of the date of such statement. Except as required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise, or to publicly announce any update or revision to, any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this content. Contact Details Tradeweb Media Contact Daniel Noonan +1 646-767-4677 daniel.noonan@tradeweb.com Company Website https://www.tradeweb.com
December 14, 2022 09:30 AM Eastern Standard Time
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News ReleaseBenzinga
Consumer behavior has changed in many ways since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020. One of the key changes was in the way people did their shopping. Most people had to work from home at the time and due to the stay-at-home orders and multiple lockdowns, consumers looked for avenues to shop online and avoid indoor venues like shopping malls and restaurants. E-commerce witnessed an all-time peak in 2020 increasing by $244.2 billion or 43%, rising from $571.2 billion in 2019 to $815.4 billion in 2020. Two years on, these consumer behavior changes continue to be evidenced and e-commerce seems to be here to stay with many brands pivoting their business strategies to include e-commerce in a more significant way to remain competitive. Even with e-commerce, the holiday season is usually the perfect time for a boost in sales, when holiday discounts, gift-giving, festivities, parties and social pressures create a massive influx of consumer spending. Holiday Ecommerce Sales Growth In 2022 Could Likely Drop Below Pre-Pandemic Levels Although the fabulously high levels of e-commerce sales reached during the pandemic and its corresponding holiday season may have been something of an exception, typically the U.S. has always seen a double-digit increase in e-commerce growth during the holiday season. During 2021 the increase in retail e-commerce sales dipped to below pre-pandemic levels to 8.6%, seemingly on account of the post-pandemic economic slowdown –- with cash-strapped consumers being hesitant to open their wallets. The downward trend may continue this year, with reports estimating that U.S. consumers will spend even less in the 2022 holiday season. E-commerce sales seem set to grow by an underwhelming 2.5% according to Insider Intelligence. One of the factors affecting this number could be the sales events that e-commerce giants like Amazon and Walmart initiated in October, ahead of the holiday season which have likely pulled demand forward. While the retail e-commerce scenario seems not so encouraging, wholesale e-commerce could continue to thrive regardless of seasonal trends, as the key drivers of the business are quite different for wholesale e-commerce as compared to retail. Wholesale Businesses Might Benefit Greatly From Using Ecommerce Wholesale e-commerce is a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce model where businesses sell products in bulk at a discounted price to other businesses, instead of selling products individually to consumers – essentially acting as the intermediary between the manufacturer and the distributor or retailer. A significant advantage of e-commerce for wholesale businesses is that they aren't bound by physical location and can reach customers all around the globe via their website, social media and various marketplaces. Moreover, e-commerce makes life much more convenient for wholesalers by enabling them to research options and make their purchases right from their mobile phones while on the move, without having to involve sales. In addition, by using e-commerce platforms, wholesalers can lower or even eliminate unnecessary costs even as they expand their online presence, resulting in improved profitability. Yoshitsu’s Wholesale Businesses Could Help It Sail Through The Holiday Season Tokyo-based Yoshitsu Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: TKLF), a Japanese retailer and wholesaler of beauty and health products, home goods and food has seemingly benefitted from its mixed model approach of straddling both the wholesale and retail business worlds and selling its products through the use of e-commerce as well as via brick and mortar stores. Yoshitsu has an extensive business network both in Japan and abroad, including over 200 wholesale clients, numerous online stores in China, Korea and Japan, several franchise stores in the United States, Canada, China (Hong Kong) and the United Kingdom, apart from company-operated stores in Japan. The company’s online stores, franchised stores and wholesale operations account for up to 95% of its revenue, which hit $221.51 million in 2021, up from $139.57 million in 2020. The company has been expanding its warehouse operations to support its wholesale businesses and as part of its proposed global expansion in Europe, recently leased its first 2,362-square-foot warehouse in London. Yoshitsu also recently opened a new retail store in China (Hong Kong) as part of the company's long-term plan to expand its presence in China. China reportedly contributed 75% of the company's annual revenue in 2021 and the company was also featured as one of the top five stocks to buy to invest in China in a recently published article on WealthyVC. The health and beauty products market in Japan is expected to grow from $24.6 billion in 2022 to $29.7 billion in 2025. In North America, it is projected to do even better and reach $455.1 billion, and in China it's expected to grow to $137.7 billion during the same time frame. With its growing footprint in all the right markets, and a strong wholesale and retail presence straddling both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar approaches, Yoshitsu could be positioned for growth in the coming years. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com
December 14, 2022 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
News ReleaseRally Ventures
Vertical Insure, the embedded insurance platform for vertical SaaS platforms, today announced its $4 million seed round co-led by Rally Ventures and Dundee VC. Vertical Insure provides vertical SaaS platforms with embedded, white label insurance products that can be deployed to their current customer base. The U.S. insurance market was valued at over $1.3 trillion in 2021. There is an enormous demand for the safety net that good insurance provides, but outdated technology and legacy practices have resulted in complex processes and expensive, cookie-cutter coverage. Companies and individuals end up with basic offerings that leave many needs unmet. Vertical SaaS platforms have become the trusted operating and financial partners for the industries they serve. Customers run their entire businesses on these platforms and typically will first look to them for expanded products and services. Now, with Vertical Insure, SaaS companies can offer customized insurance options at the click of a button — resulting in added value and new revenue without any extra overhead or IT bandwidth. Vertical SaaS leaders are experts in their vertical, but they aren’t experts in insurance. Vertical Insure is 100% built around each business and its customers, with tailored recommendations and guided integration. Companies can bundle the range of products their customers need, like event cancellation insurance and shipping protection, and make insurance part of any purchase in any vertical. “Embedded insurance is a huge opportunity. In numerous industries the addition of embedded insurance has been shown to double the revenue of a vertical SaaS company. These platforms know the needs of their customers, and Vertical Insure leverages their existing data to recommend, underwrite and price customized coverage to ultimately create a more valuable product,” said Greg Beaufait, Partner at Dundee Venture Capital. “Vertical SaaS platforms are ideally positioned to offer right-sized coverage. Leveraging their relationships, they can collapse applications down to a single checkbox at checkout and earn revenue for enabling ease of purchase. Platform businesses should get the full benefit of dramatically simplifying insurance for their customers,” said Brock Noland, Co-Founder and CEO of Vertical Insure and Founder and former CEO of Cloudera, Streamsets and phData. “Insurance is a data business and vertical SaaS platforms have an immense amount of data from customers in their vertical to design customized insurance coverage and novel new products. The Vertical Insure founding team has decades of experience in data management and the insurance industry. This is the right team to reimagine insurance, and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with them on that mission,” said Justin Kaufenberg, Managing Director at Rally Ventures and Co-Founder and former CEO of SportsEngine, a vertical SaaS platform that sold tens of millions of dollars in embedded insurance. About Vertical Insure Vertical Insure is the embedded insurance platform built for vertical SaaS platforms. The company offers customized insurance options that are 100% built around each business and its customers, resulting in added value and new revenue without any extra overhead. Make insurance part of any purchase in any vertical with Vertical Insure. For more information, visit www.verticalinsure.com. About Dundee Venture Capital Dundee Venture Capital was formed in 2010 to lead seed rounds in regions and entrepreneurs historically underserved by venture capital. Dundee has more than $90M under management across three funds and has invested in more than 50 world-class founding teams in 20 different cities. For more information visit dundeevc.com. 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 www.rallyventures.com. Contact Details Rally Ventures Rachel Subasic rachel@rallyventures.com Company Website https://www.verticalinsure.com/
December 14, 2022 07:03 AM Eastern Standard Time
News ReleaseOxyle
Water contaminated with persistent and toxic pollutants is one of the world’s most pressing health and environmental concerns. All over the world precious bodies of water are contaminated with micropollutants such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and PFAS chemicals. When untreated, these chemicals cause hormonal imbalances, cancer, and birth defects in humans and pose a serious threat to the survival of our ecosystems. In addressing this global crisis, Oxyle AG, an advanced wastewater treatment and monitoring solution provider, is today announcing a $3 million pre-seed funding round to bring to market their mission of improving the health of our precious bodies of water and protecting ecosystems against micropollutants. The funding round was led by Wingman Ventures with participation from SOSV, Better Ventures, and another.vc. Including this round, with pre-seed non-dilutive funds and grants raised last year, Oxyle has raised over $7.4 million in total. Founded in 2020, Oxyle has developed a sustainable and scalable technology that destroys a wide range of micropollutants including the forever chemicals such as PFAS, pharmaceuticals, hormones, pesticides etc. from contaminated wastewater. Oxyle’s novel treatment process is driven by their nanoporous catalysts that oxidise and eliminate micropollutants, down to detection limits of 1 ng/L, even for the highly persistent compounds that are resistant to existing treatments. This treatment process is coupled with Oxyle’s proprietary analytics technology that allows for real-time monitoring of micropollutants, a truly unique and much-needed offering that helps customers comply with their strict discharge regulations. The aim is to install remotely operated modular, decentralised reactors of varying sizes to meet customer needs from chemical industries, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and environmental remediation projects. The core technology behind this game changing innovation was developed over 5 years by Oxyle’s CEO and co-founder, Dr. Fajer Mushtaq, during her doctoral research at ETH Zurich that commenced in 2014. Together with Dr. Silvan Staufert, the concept of a novel catalyst for micropollutant degradation was built into a scalable technology platform that is able to address the problem where it matters: at the source, before they enter waterways. Oxyle has successfully completed several paid pilots with industrial and municipal customers, advanced its technology to TRL8 through on-site demonstrations, and grown to a team of 17 people. Oxyle’s team of water experts possess strong expertise in developing and implementing advanced water treatment and monitoring solutions for its customers. Dr. Fajer Mushtaq, CEO and Co-founder of Oxyle AG commented: “We are living in an era where we face several existential crises on a daily basis and lack of clean, pollutant-free water is one of them. At Oxyle, we are bringing market-disruptive solutions that remove and detect micropollutants in an efficient, cost-effective and sustainable manner for our industrial and municipal customers. We are exploiting new market drivers such as stricter regulations and growing public pressure to expand our operations in attractive market segments and help a diverse portfolio of global customers. We are excited to work in close partnership with our investors, customers, regulators and partners as we prepare for the market entry of our latest product, our batch treatment system.” Dr. Silvan Staufert CTO and Co-founder of Oxyle AG commented: “Flexibility is at the heart of our technology since its conceptualization. Key performance metrics such as ease of use, energy efficiency and treatment decentralisation were always in the focus. With our scalable technology platform we provide both efficient treatment and monitoring solutions and are ideally positioned to tackle this problem wherever it comes up. Building on the success of our ongoing customer pilots where we have shown removal of PFAS to below detection limit. We are building on this momentum to provide products that protect our health and the environment from these toxic forever chemicals. At present, 80% of the world's wastewater is discharged in rivers, lakes and groundwater bodies without receiving any treatment. Rapid industrialization and growing demand for better consumer goods means ever increasing discharge of toxic pollutants into effluents and a strain on our freshwater resources. In the last few years, incredible advances have been made in the field of water analysis allowing regulators to detect very low concentrations of pollutants in water. Moreover, regulators now have a much better understanding of how toxic and problematic even very low concentrations of micropollutants are for humans and our ecosystems. Just this year, EPA’s health advisory level for PFOA (chemical used in the production of waterproof clothes, teflon, cosmetics etc.) was drastically lowered from 400 ppt (ng/L) in 2009 to 0.004 ppq (pg/L), a 100,000x stricter level due to the danger these chemicals pose to humans when consumed. These market drivers and the lack of effective solutions, have created the perfect opportunity for Oxyle to bring our innovative treatment and monitoring solution to market and fill the much needed void. The proceeds from the funds raised in our round will be used to strengthen our team with upscaling capacities, expand our customer portfolio into attractive market segments, build partnerships to enter new locations, and most importantly, to bring our first product to market next year. Alex Stöckl, founding partner at Wingman Ventures, commented: “Solving our global water crisis has never been more urgent. Our freshwater resources are depleting at alarming rates and toxic micropollutants in water lead to severe damages in our health and environment. New regulations will demand companies to act. But additionally, we need to use sustainable technology to protect our precious water resources for us, and our future generations. We are proud to support Oxyle on their journey to address our global water problem in order to give everyone access to clean water.” Pae Wu, general partner at SOSV, commented: “The pervasive and hidden problem of forever chemicals and other diverse pollutants in our drinking water demands urgent action. Oxyle's technology directly attacks the hardest challenges to deploying a real solution at scale - by volume, by cost, and at the parts per trillion (and below) levels that are necessary to make a meaningful impact on our health. We are thrilled to make this investment in Dr. Mushtaq and her team to get this much-needed technology into the market to solve this major challenge to our right to clean drinking water.” Currently, discharge regulations are based upon the Best Available Treatment (BAT) standards. Oxyle’s technology has demonstrated removal of even the most persistent compounds like PFAS to below detection limits of 1 ng/L, a BAT standard that is 10-100x lower than our competitors. We truly believe that the best approach to solving the global water contamination crisis is to implement stricter pollutant discharge regulations that are realistic to achieve by solution providers. Our long-term vision is to work closely with customers and regulators to set new discharge regulations and support a wide range of customers in developed and developing nations against the negative impact of micropollutants. Empowering our end-users with an efficient technology supported by real-time treatment monitoring performance, while allowing them to reuse treated water and lowering CO2 emissions in customers’ value chains are core components of Oxyle’s long-term mission. About Oxyle Oxyle AG’s market-disrupting technology specializes in advanced wastewater treatment for removal of highly persistent, mobile, and toxic micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals, hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, industrial chemicals like plasticizers and PFAS etc., from industrial and municipal effluents. Oxyle’s catalytic oxidation treatment guarantees removal of >95% of highly problematic chemicals in a cost-effective, eco-friendly, and efficient manner, allowing their customers to easily comply with the new stringent discharge regulations. Oxyle’s long-term vision is to set new (and stringent) discharge regulations and support a wide range of customers in developed and developing nations against the negative impact of micropollutants. Allowing end-users to reuse treated water, reducing blue water consumption and drastically lowering CO2 emissions in customers’ value chains are core components of Oxyle’s long-term mission. Oxyle is a venture backed startup supported by the European Commission’s H2020 EIC accelerator program, the Eurostars program and several competitive Swiss programs. Oxyle has won several competitive awards including the 2020 Grand Prize of the Venture competition, the 2021 SEIF award for Social Innovation sponsored by UBS, and the 2021 Best Energy and Environment Startup award at the Hello Tomorrow global summit from over 4000 applicants. Oxyle has also been awarded financial support from SNSF’s BRIDGE PoC grant, ERC PoC grant, Gebert Rüf Stiftung’s Innobooster grant, the Venture Kick program, and Innosuisse. For more information please visit https://www.oxyle.ch/ About Wingman Ventures Wingman Ventures is Switzerland’s leading pre-seed fund, backing founder teams building tech companies with the potential to become global market leaders. Wingman has a track record of supporting exceptional founders in creating breakthrough companies and has the passionate conviction that the Swiss startup ecosystem is just starting to write its best success stories. About SOSV SOSV is a global, multi-stage venture capital firm with $1.5 billion in assets under management. Headquartered in Princeton, NJ, SOSV operates early stage startup development programs including HAX (hard tech) and IndieBio (human and planetary health) and Orbit Startups (emerging markets). About better ventures better ventures is an angel club for impact-driven startups initiated by Tina Dreimann, Cedric Duvinage and Christoph Behn. More than 50 successful entrepreneurs have joined forces in the Angel Club to support ambitious founders with capital, network and know-how to change the world sustainably with their business models. Contact Details Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://oxyle.ch/
December 14, 2022 07:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
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News ReleaseOasys
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 14 December 2022 - Oasys, a gaming-optimised blockchain built by gamers for gamers, today announces that it has been selected as the blockchain of choice for the development and launch of leading Japanese entertainment company DMM.com ’s first blockchain game, Kanpani Girls RE: BLOOM. DMM.com announced its entry into the Web3 business in early 2022, and has begun developing blockchain games with support from Japanese Web3 game developer, CryptoGames, whose major titles include CryptoSpells and NFT Wars. In its Web3 business, DMM.com has officially selected Oasys as its foundation due to its fast transaction and zero gas fees for users. The first game is the blockchain-based successor to DMM.com’s original mobile and browser turn-based role-playing game, Kanpani Girls, first launched in 2015. DMM.com will be building its own “Verse” on Oasys’ Layer-2 chain, which Kanpani Girls RE: BLOOM is expected to be released sometime in Q2 2023. Oasys recently launched its full Mainnet on 12 December and also completed a USD20 million private token sale round in July which DMM.com participated in. Daiki Moriyama, Director, Oasys, said: “We are passionate about leading the mass adoption of blockchain games by creating an ecosystem for players and developers alike to transition from Web2 to Web3, where they can play and create next-generation games. We are thrilled to be able to continue working together with DMM.com to accelerate their involvement in the Web3 economy, and in doing so, becoming a better hub for all blockchain games.” Kanpani Girls was a popular browser-based game published by DMM GAMES, with a peak total of 2.5 million player accounts. Set in a medieval fantasy world, players assume control as the president of an all-female mercenary company as they travel through a mystical world. In its design, Kanpani Girls RE: BLOOM will honour the dedicated playerbase of its predecessor by providing enhanced content that enables players to fully enjoy the "exchange of value" concepts found in Web3 gaming by incorporating elements of blockchain technology that can better facilitate gameplay experiences. A major feature of the new game will be that each character acquired will be prescribed unique attributes and corresponding value. The game will be multiplayer-enabled at launch and allow for strategising and communications between players, with no change to the ethos of the original game. Kanpani Girls RE: BLOOM is available in English as well as Japanese, allowing it to be played globally. Yusuke Nashiki, Producer, Original Kanpani Girls, said: “It has been a long anticipated wait for our beloved players but we are now finally able to relive our precious memories and love for Kanpani Girls on the blockchain. There is a new and dedicated team hard at work to implement the new game system and re-establish the game as a favourite among fans, but also for new players. As a fan of Kanpani Girls myself, I look forward to seeing how the game will play out and how developers will address any concerns over the game’s development philosophy. I am certain that players will be able to enjoy the best of both worlds - experiencing a brand-new game on the blockchain while also celebrating all the things that made the original Kanpani Girls great. Our players' opinions are what makes our games great!” Ryuma Mihara, Producer, Kanpani Girls RE: BLOOM said: “Nice to meet you. Kanpani Girls RE: BLOOM Producer Mihara. We restart Kanpani Girls as a new, blockchain-based style. The title "RE: BLOOM," came from our wish that existing fans to enjoy Kanpani once again as well as new players to be aware of its fascination. Inheriting the soul from the producer Nashiki of the old Kanpani Girls series, we are currently working in good faith to deliver a new experience of browser game that adds a new element of blockchain game while respecting the world view of the old title. Every support from the players encourages the development team. Stay tuned.” About Oasys Oasys was established in February 2022 to increase mainstream play-and-earn adoption, and at launch, committed to partnering with 21 gaming and Web3 tech companies to act as validators, such as Bandai Namco Research, SEGA, Ubisoft and Yield Guild Games. Led by a team of blockchain experts and joining forces with the biggest gaming company names to serve as the initial validators, Oasys is revolutionising the gaming industry with its Proof-of-Stake (PoS) based eco-friendly blockchain. With a focus on creating an ecosystem for gamers and developers to distribute and develop blockchain-based games, Oasys solves the problems game developers face when building games on the blockchain. The trifecta approach of the fastest network powered by the gaming community, a scalable network powered by AAA game developers and the blockchain offering the best user experience with fast transactions and zero gas fees for users, readies participants to enter the Oasys and play. More information on Oasys is available at: Website: https://www.oasys.games/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/oasys_games Discord: http://discord.gg/oasysgames About DMM.com DMM.com is a Japanese e-commerce and online entertainment company with a diversified group of businesses that includes online shopping, video-streaming, e-books and gaming. With more than 40 distinct business services and over 35 million users, DMM.com works with various partners to develop new and innovative distribution platforms that help to accelerate the Japanese creator economy. Kanpani Girls Kanpani Girls, with a total player count of 2.5 million, will return as a blockchain game - Kanpani Girls RE: BLOOM. You may follow Kanpani Girls on Twitter for the latest information on the game including presales, campaigns: Twitter (Global): https://twitter.com/kanpani_RE_GLB Twitter(Japanese): https://twitter.com/kanpani_RE_JP Website: https://kanpani-girls.com/ About CryptoGames CryptoGames is a blockchain-based game developer based in Japan, which develops games using crypto and NFT technology for players. Contact Details Vanessa Low oasys@wachsman.com Company Website https://www.oasys.games/
December 14, 2022 01:52 AM Eastern Standard Time
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News ReleaseVolatus Aerospace Corp.
Volatus Aerospace Corp. (TSXV: VOL) (OTCQB: VLTTF) ("Volatus" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the expansion of its Science Experiential Aerial Research (SEAR) Program in participating school divisions throughout Manitoba thanks to a grant provided by Research Manitoba with the support of the Government of Manitoba and additional funding from industry partners. The Company’s SEAR program is designed to partner high school students with industry to research unique alternatives to solving relevant community sustainability issues. For the two projects in Manitoba, Volatus will provide drones equipped with remote sensors to gather aerial data in targeted areas and apply machine learning analytics tools to identify the possible presence of Dutch Elm disease—a significant threat to the health of their urban tree canopy—and crop disease in specific crop varieties local to the region such as canola, lentils, and wheat. “This is an exciting project on so many levels,” said Glen Lynch, CEO of Volatus Aerospace. “Not only does it represent an investment in our youth, but the result will facilitate the early detection of Dutch Elm disease, a costly, deadly disease affecting all species of elm trees allowing for early treatment. Similarly, early detection of crop disease will allow our producers to protect valuable food stocks and preserve their yield.” A minimum of 195 high school students (grades 9-12) from Manitoba School Divisions will develop important STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) skills by working with Volatus. Through a comprehensive year-long program, students will take part in almost every stage of the scientific discovery process, culminating in a “Data Collection Field Day,” which will apply the skills learned throughout the year. During the Data Collection Field Day, students will collect aerial and ground-based data samples alongside researchers from the University of Winnipeg to assess the growth and health conditions of the targeted areas. Students will be encouraged to continue with the SEAR program, where they will be exposed to increasingly more complex aspects of drone and machine learning technologies. In addition, students will have the opportunity to work towards obtaining their Transport Canada Basic or Advanced RPAS pilot certificates throughout the program. The professional training and knowledge that students obtain from the program will enable them to pursue career opportunities in STEAM as well as the drone industry, aviation and aerospace. “This program has been a personal passion since we first launched it in 2021 with Seven Oaks School Division in Winnipeg,” said Matthew Johnson, Regional Vice President, Prairies & Director, Education for Volatus Aerospace. “Through these programs we are able to engage students in the process of solving real world problems while providing them with a learning opportunity usually limited to funded university-level programs.” Leveraged funding is $1,238,283 from project partners including $500,000 in Funding provided by Research Manitoba with financial support from the Government of Manitoba, contributions from Southport Aerospace, Winnipeg Airports Authority, Roquette, Integrated Crop Management Services, and additional support from the City of Winnipeg, and Manitoba Aerospace. About Volatus Aerospace: Volatus Aerospace Corp. is a leading provider of integrated drone solutions throughout North America and growing into Latin America and globally. Volatus serves civil, public safety, and defense markets with imaging and inspection, security and surveillance, equipment sales and support, training, as well as R&D, design, and manufacturing. Through our subsidiary, Volatus Aviation, we are introducing green and innovative drone solutions to supplement and replace traditional aircraft and helicopters for long-linear inspections such as pipeline, energy, rail, and cargo services. Volatus is committed to carbon neutrality; the fostering of a safe, equitable and inclusive workplace; and responsible governance. Forward-Looking Information This news release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs, and current expectations of the Company with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Often, but not always, forward-looking information and forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” (or other variations of the foregoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information includes information regarding: (i) the business plans and expectations of the Company; and (ii) expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial, and economic data and operating plans, strategies, or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors may be based on information currently available to the Company, including information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflects expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Forward-looking information and forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s current beliefs and is based on information currently available to it and on assumptions it believes to be not unreasonable in light of all of the circumstances. In some instances, material factors or assumptions are discussed in this news release in connection with statements containing forward-looking information. Such material factors and assumptions include, but are not limited to: the commercialization of drone flights beyond visual line of sight and potential benefits to the Company; and meeting the continued listing requirements of the TSXV. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this news release and, other than as required by law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Source: Volatus Aerospace Corp. TSXV: VOL Contact Details Abhinav Singhvi +1 514-447-7986 abhinav.singhvi@volatusaerospace.com Company Website https://volatusaerospace.com
December 13, 2022 04:59 PM Eastern Standard Time
News ReleaseYourUpdateTV
A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://youtu.be/qjpGbNVC1x0 Some of the biggest trends of the year come from social media and platforms like TikTok. Mike Bako says, “That means content creators of all ages will love the GoPro HERO11 Black. It's one of my favorites!” The GoPro HERO11 Black delivers the highest resolution with 5.3K video and 27 megapixel photo, highest 10-bit color depth, highest level of video stabilization with HyperSmooth 5.0 and widest field of view ever featured on a GoPro HERO camera. Bako adds, “Sharing memories on-the-go has never been easier with HERO11 Black’s auto highlight video feature, which automatically creates highlight reels of your footage with the GoPro Quik app and a GoPro Subscription, which comes with unlimited cloud storage.” Find out more at GoPro.com. Direct Link: https://gopro.com/en/us/shop/cameras/hero11-black/CHDHX-111-master.html Social media handles: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gopro/ Instagram: @gopro Twitter: @GoPro Contact Details YourUpdateTV +1 212-736-2727 yourupdatetv@gmail.com
December 13, 2022 04:10 PM Eastern Standard Time
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