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Contractor+ Is Leveling The Playing Field, Turning The Construction Industry On Its Head With Its Potentially Game-Changing AI-Driven App

Benzinga

By Meg Flippin, Benzinga Contractors play an important role in construction, but when it comes to scaling, many struggle to do more than $2 million in annual sales. A lack of technology is a big reason. Providing estimates, managing customers and handling billing manually can be time-consuming and cumbersome. High pricing is another problem. Finding good workers amid a shortage and solid leads can prove difficult and expensive. Furthermore, network-level collaboration has been largely absent in the contractor space so far. Such factors can put contractors in the U.S. at a disadvantage, seeing the growing demand for their services. The construction market is big and growing, requiring contractors to get the work done. As of 2023, the global construction market size was $13.57 trillion. By 2032, it’s projected to reach $23.92 trillion, growing at a CAGR of 6.5% between now and 2032. To take advantage of that growth, contractors need an upgrade, and Contractor+ believes it can provide that through its AI-driven platform that enables contractors to control every aspect of their business from a mobile app. Leveling The Playing Field For All Contractors The idea behind Contractor+, the brainchild of CEO Justin Smith and CTO Roshan Sethia, is to level the playing field for contractors who may lack technological know-how or have financial constraints — factors that could be preventing them from growing. The company supports growth by giving small and medium businesses access to the tools that can improve quality, automate processes, enhance efficiency and productivity and streamline the process from estimate to completion of the job. That in turn also frees up contractors to do more work and bring in more money. “Our platform is more than a tool; it's a bridge connecting contractors to the digital era, empowering them with technology that was once out of reach,” the company said in its pitch to investors. “The construction industry, historically slow to adopt technology and sensitive to high prices, finds a haven in Contractor+, where next-level efficiency meets affordability.” At the heart of its platform is patent-pending AI that lets contractors transform hours of work into minutes using automation. The app comes with highly flexible and powerful estimation tools, collaboration tools so all parties involved in the project can see what stage it’s at, a website to generate leads and the ability to process payments through the app. On one dashboard, customers see the number of active jobs, estimates, invoices, leads, payments and expenses, as well as a list of current actionable items, the day’s schedule and gross revenue. No more sifting through paper-based invoices and notes jotted down to manage schedules, timelines and payments – it’s all done through one mobile app. Click here to learn more about how Contractor+ is leveling the playing field for contractors. Proof Is In The Growth Around since January 2020, Contractor+ has been making a name for itself in the industry, boasting 75,000 home improvement projects successfully managed via its app, more than 800 paying businesses using the app and a fast-growing community of 5,500 monthly active users. This has translated into year-over-year topline growth of 122%, with the company pegging its total addressable market at $60 billion. Its monthly recurring revenue is targeted to hit $53,000 in 2024, $175,000 by the end of 2025 and $535,000 through 2028. Contractor+ is forecasting annual revenue to reach $22.2 million, gross margins to hit 75% and net margin to be at 33% by 2028. But it’s not just subscriptions Contractor+ is relying on to drive sales and growth. It envisions creating a wide-reaching community in which it can sell, support and provide leads for everything from insurance to referrals. “Our vision extends beyond market capture; it's about market expansion through a collaborative marketplace that not only addresses current needs but also anticipates future demands​​​​,” says Contractor+. Seize The Moment Investors seem to agree so far. Since launching its capital fundraising campaign, Contractor+ has raised $255,000 from 129 investors, more than halfway to its goal of raising $430,000. It previously raised $90,000 from angel investors, including executives from Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Google, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and CACI International Inc. (NYSE: CACI). Hemdeep Dulthummon, a principal at Optiscale Ventures and lead syndicate on this fundraising round said he is confident in the startup’s ability to grow. Dulthummon believes that even capturing just a small share of the market can propel Contractor+ to a $100 million valuation. “Contractor+ offers compelling value propositions to its target customers. The platform's tools deliver significant benefits at a low cost, translating to high ROI and minimal barriers to entry,” says Dulthummon. Ideally, the company wants to raise a total of $1.5 million to supercharge its platform, potentially dominate the market and stand out from rivals servicing contractors. The construction industry is late to the technology party, with countless contractors relying on manual, time-consuming processes to give estimates, manage projects and accept payments. Contractor+ is turning that on its head, leveling the playing field for even the smallest contractor. Interested in getting in on this ground-breaking startup before it takes off? Click here to learn more and invest today. Featured photo by Theme Photos on Unsplash. Benzinga is a leading financial media and data provider, known for delivering accurate, timely, and actionable financial information to empower investors and traders. This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

May 15, 2024 08:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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ToolsGroup Named Leader in Demand Forecasting and Supply Chain Management Software in 2024 Customer Success Report

ToolsGroup

ToolsGroup, a global leader in retail and supply chain planning and optimization software, is proud to announce its recognition as a “Market Leader” in the Spring 2024 Demand Forecasting Software Customer Success Report, published by FeaturedCustomers. This acknowledgment underscores ToolsGroup's commitment to delivering exceptional solutions and customer satisfaction in supply chain solutions. Kevin Young, CMO and Chief Growth Officer at ToolsGroup expressed his gratitude for the recognition, stating, "We're thrilled to be recognized once again by FeaturedCustomers as a market leader in Demand Forecasting for 2024 and being further awarded Supply Chain Management Software Leader status. At ToolsGroup, we are dedicated to helping companies optimize their supply chain performance to meet or exceed their strategic objectives and business goals. It is very gratifying to be acknowledged based on the opinions of our customers." In this latest report, ToolsGroup was given the highest rated “Market Leader” award in recognition of having the top ratio of customer reference content, Demand Forecasting content score and social media presence and ratings. This recognition is in addition to the following FeaturedCustomers awards in 2024: · Customer Excellence Award | 2024 · Top Rated Software Award | 2024 · Customers Love Us Award | 2024 · Hot 100 Vendor Award | 2024 · Top 1000 B2B Software | 2024 FeaturedCustomers Customer Success report is based on over 1,600 pieces of verified customer reference content. A vendor’s overall customer success score is reached via a weighted average of their Content, Market Presence, and Company Scores. Of the vendors listed in the FeaturedCustomers’ Demand Forecasting Software category, only 16 met the minimum requirements needed to be considered for the customer success report. Additional Resources: The full report, along with ToolsGroup’s profile, is available for you to download here. See ToolsGroup’s listing on FeaturedCustomers here. Find out why customers are rating ToolsGroup so highly at the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium in Barcelona, Spain June 10-12. Experience the latest AI-based solutions at Kiosk #400. Book a meeting with our experts today! About ToolsGroup ToolsGroup’s innovative AI-powered solutions enable retailers, distributors and manufacturers to navigate through supply chain uncertainty. Our retail and supply chain planning suites empower a new level of intelligent decision-making and unlock powerful business improvements in forecast accuracy, service levels and inventory – delighting customers and achieving financial and sustainability KPIs.. Stay in touch with ToolsGroup on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, or visit www.toolsgroup.com. Contact Details Meir Kahtan +1 917-864-0800 mkahtan@rcn.com Company Website https://www.toolsgroup.com

May 15, 2024 08:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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NAVEX Unveils Compliance Program Management: DOJ Guidance

NAVEX Global

NAVEX, the global leader in integrated risk and compliance management software, announces the release of NAVEX Compliance Program Management: DOJ Guidance. This news comes on the heels of NAVEX’s recent addition of global whistleblowing rules and regulations to the Compliance Program Management solution. Compliance professionals can now navigate corporate governance regulations by mapping their current program to the latest Department of Justice (DOJ) guidelines, pinpointing weaknesses in minutes. A NAVEX survey found that nearly 44% of companies reported at least one regulatory investigation or enforcement action in the past two years. NAVEX Compliance Program Management: DOJ Guidance helps compliance professionals gain instant insights into gaps and vulnerabilities, ensuring their program meets DOJ expectations and minimizes their risk of legal penalties. “Compliance teams today struggle to identify areas of focus, particularly within DOJ guidance,” says Jazz Mimoun, global ethics program director at onsemi. “NAVEX Compliance Program Management: DOJ Guidance can be a useful tool to identify those areas and conduct internal analyses and risk assessments that actively improve a compliance program more effectively.” The solution translates DOJ guidance on corporate compliance into straightforward control recommendations backed by input from industry experts and GRC industry leaders. It removes the frustration of keeping pace with evolving regulations and offers a clear roadmap to: Clarify compliance with expert input: Translate open-ended compliance guidelines from the DOJ to clear-cut compliance statements vetted by legal experts. Score statements to quantify program performance and identify gaps and shortfalls. Demonstrate program value: Organize and score all GRC programs in a single web-based platform. Prove program value and effectiveness with digestible dashboards and board-ready reports. Stay audit ready: A single source of truth for collecting, organizing and accessing evidence of compliance activities and program structure, making it easier and more cost-effective to stay audit ready. Reduce unseen compliance risk: A program designed with industry-proven structures is the best defense against unknown or unwanted risks. Design and deploy a GRC program to effectively predict, manage, and mitigate those risks. "Companies are facing a lot of challenges that go beyond regulatory compliance. They're dealing with resource constraints, technology integrations, cross-departmental collaboration and more,” says NAVEX Chief Product Officer, A.G. Lambert. "NAVEX Compliance Program Management: DOJ Guidance will immediately help compliance professionals navigate many of these challenges upfront." For more information, visit NAVEX Compliance Program Management: DOJ Guidance. And read our blog. NAVEX is trusted by thousands of customers worldwide to help them achieve the business outcomes that matter most. As the global leader in integrated risk and compliance management software and services, we deliver our solutions through the NAVEX One platform, the industry’s most comprehensive governance, risk and compliance (GRC) information system. Contact Details NAVEX +1 617-388-5773 scott.levesque@navex.com Company Website https://navex.com

May 15, 2024 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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ARway.ai Unveils ARway V3.1: Advancing Augmented Reality Navigation and Immersive Experiences

ARway.ai

ARway.ai Chief Product Officer Shadnam Khan joined Steve Darling from Proactive to announce announced the launch of ARway V3.1, a significant update to its spatial computing platform. The update brings major enhancements to augmented reality (AR) navigation and immersive experiences, including improvements in range and accuracy across large venues and faster deployment of AR indoor navigation. Khan expressed confidence that these enhancements will drive additional revenue and global deployments for ARway.ai. With over 5000 total accounts, 5400 maps created, and 60 pilots and trials, ARway.ai is experiencing increasing demand worldwide across various industries seeking to leverage its AR and spatial computing technology. Key features of ARway V3.1 include expanded AR tracking and navigation range, mini-map navigation, network failure backup, and upgrades to the web Studio 3D Map user experience. These improvements aim to provide users with more seamless and immersive AR experiences while navigating indoor spaces. Contact Details Proactive United States +1 347-449-0879 action@proactiveinvestors.com

May 14, 2024 02:43 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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TRON DAO Adds Google Cloud as a Super Representative Candidate on the TRON Blockchain

TRON DAO

Geneva, Switzerland, May 14th, 2024 – TRON DAO today announced that Google Cloud has joined its roster of Super Representative candidates on the TRON blockchain. Super Representatives are responsible for producing blocks and packing transactions to help ensure blockchain governance on the TRON network. This initiative builds on TRON’s collaboration with Google Cloud to make its data available on BigQuery, Google Cloud’s fully-managed, serverless data warehouse. Having TRON data on BigQuery equips developers with advanced analytics to dissect blockchain transactions and smart contract intricacies on the TRON network. It not only streamlines in-depth analysis for data-driven decision-making but also paves the way for more sophisticated decentralized applications (dApps). The scalability and cost-efficiency of BigQuery bolsters the TRON ecosystem, aligning with its vision of an accessible decentralized internet. TRON will also be using Google Cloud’s suite of solutions that empower the Web3 space including Compute Engine for scalable computing resources and Kubernetes Engine for managing containerized applications. Dave Uhriyniak, Ecosystem Lead at the TRON DAO, expressed enthusiasm about this collaboration: "The initiative with Google Cloud represents a significant step for TRON DAO in our journey towards decentralizing the web and making blockchain technology more mainstream. Google Cloud's becoming a Super Representative candidate underscores our shared vision for a secure, innovative, and decentralized future." “At Google Cloud, we’re committed to making it easy for developers to build Web3 products on our efficient, secure, and reliable infrastructure. We look forward to providing this infrastructure for the TRON ecosystem,” said Rishi Ramchandani, Head of APAC Web3, Google Cloud. With its high-performance blockchain that supports smart contracts, dApps, and a wide array of digital assets, TRON facilitates fast, low-cost transactions, making it an attractive platform for developers and users alike. About TRON DAO TRON DAO is a community-governed DAO dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and dApps. Founded in September 2017, the TRON network is a decentralized layer one blockchain that has achieved significant growth since its MainNet launch in May 2018. As of April 2024, it has over 223.3 million total user accounts, $23.4 billion in total value locked (TVL), more than 7.4 billion total transactions and $11.5 trillion in aggregate transfer value, according to TRONSCAN. In addition, TRON hosts the largest circulating supply of USD Tether (USDT) stablecoin of nearly $56 billion, overtaking Ethereum since April 2021. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. In October 2022, TRON was designated as the national blockchain infrastructure for the Commonwealth of Dominica, which marks the first time a sovereign nation enters into alliance with a public blockchain, pursuant to its endorsement to issue Dominica Coin (“DMC”), a blockchain-based fan token to help promote global fanfare for Dominica’s eco-friendly economy. TRONNetwork | TRONDAO | Twitter | YouTube | Telegram | Discord | Reddit | GitHub | Medium | Forum Media Contact Hayward Wong press@tron.network Contact Details Hayward Wong press@tron.network Company Website https://trondao.org/

May 14, 2024 09:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Apple Rush Company, Inc.

Apple Rush Company, Inc. (Otcpink:APRU), a leading player in the functional beverage industry, proudly announces it has cleared up final details of brand ownership with Bob Corr and Corr Brands, Inc. Tony Torgerud, CEO of Apple Rush, has negotiated a historical closing on the rights and trademarks of Corr Brands, Inc. In the transaction, Bob Corr has agreed to transfer the rights of the Corr Brands, Inc. trademarks and to forgo any royalties from previous agreements to give Tony and Apple Rush the best opportunity to succeed moving forward. Tony Torgerud said, “I have been negotiating for a year with Bob and he finally felt it was time to work out an agreement that would benefit everyone. Over the next couple months, all the required paperwork will be filed for transference and updates on all intellectual property held by Corr Brands, Inc. Not having to pay royalties will add thousands to the bottom line.” This agreement solidifies the future of the “Rush” family of brands that have been in the market since 1972. Bob Corr stated, “I want to see Apple Rush succeed and I feel the timing is right to get this deal done. I retired a long time ago and it is now time to write the next chapters of this story and with Apple Rush having its own production capabilities and its own tunnel pasteurizer, it is an opportunity that shouldn’t be wasted. I have given up hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties, licensing fees and shares to enhance shareholder value.” With our pilot production abilities, we hope to do some reformulations to introduce a 2024 version of Ginseng Rush and the relaunch of the original Apple Rush flavor line. Apple Rush has held a license for 13 states and International distribution for the last 8 years and now owns the IP without paying the $5,000 per state license, another bottom line gain for all of our stockholders. About The Apple Rush Company, Inc. The Apple Rush Company, Inc., through its subsidiary APRU, LLC, is a distributor of CPG products under the trademarked Apple Rush brand, Element brand and other labels. The Apple Rush brand has more than 50 years of existence in the natural beverage industry. As a historical leader in the organic and natural beverage sector our goal is to now become a leader in the distribution of anhydrous hemp oil products nationwide. For more information, please go to www.aprubrands.com, www.element-brands.com, elementk.kratomwave.store www.alkhemicalroots.com with our expanded product portfolio. Safe Harbor Act: Forward-Looking Statements are included within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements regarding our expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategy, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations including words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "could," "should," "will," and similar expressions are forward-looking statements and involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. We are under no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or alter forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contact Details Apple Rush Company, Inc. Tony Torgerud +1 888-741-3777 dtorgerud@aprullc.com Company Website http://www.aprubrands.com

May 14, 2024 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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PathAI Announces PLUTO: a State-of-the-art Foundation Model to Enhance AI-powered Pathology Tools

PathAI

PathAI, a global leader in AI-powered pathology, today announced the launch of Pathology Universal Transformer (PLUTO), a pathology-centric foundation model, to further differentiate their portfolio of products geared towards biopharma and pathology laboratory customers. In machine learning, a foundation model 1 (FM) is a model trained using self-supervised learning on a large scale of unlabeled data to mathematically capture salient information from inputs to the model. Once trained, the FM can be adapted to enable specific tasks in new contexts, especially including previously unforeseen contexts and tasks. The process of adapting a high-quality FM yields better downstream pathology tools, with lower development time and cost, than building bespoke tools from scratch. For example, a pathology FM may be adapted variously to perform cell and nucleus segmentation at microscopic scale on immunohistochemistry (IHC) slides, or to perform histological subtyping at macro-scale for H&E slides. Developing high-quality FMs is particularly important and complex in pathology where there are many different kinds of tasks at different scales of the whole slide image (WSI) data including cell, tissue, and (whole) slide levels. PathAI’s PLUTO was developed to enable this wide diversity of pathology tasks, and was trained using hundreds of millions of unlabeled image patches from about 160,000 WSIs across 30+ disease areas, numerous indications, stains, scanner types and magnification, and over 50 sources of data. To learn high-quality representations of the unlabeled training data, PathAI researchers designed a pathology-focused self-supervised training process using multi-scale, flexible deep vision transformer architectures with novel training objectives. Researchers then evaluated the quality of the resulting FM by adapting it to a wide diversity of pathology-specific tasks, and found that PathAI’s FM outperforms current state-of-the-art models on (whole) slide, cellular and subcellular tasks. Additionally, PathAI’s FM enables building AI-powered pathology tools at multiple scales and resolutions, and is significantly more compact than previously published models, driving massive reductions in training and inference costs, and enabling highly scalable data generation and product development. PLUTO and its adaptations are set to power PathAI’s best-in-class suite of AI products 2 for diagnostic pathology labs and biopharma use. PLUTO will be adapted to develop the next generation of PathAI’s best-in-class products. PLUTO’s embeddings will enable prediction of underlying molecular alterations driving cancer and disease phenotypes–including those previously hidden to AI–as well as the discovery of new biomarkers and therapeutic targets. “PLUTO is meticulously designed to fuel research efforts for better diagnostic and prognostic tools across multiple disease areas. This technology will enable users to compress their pathology workflows using an exceptionally diverse, multi-resolution foundation model at significantly greater speed and a much broader scale than before,” said Harsha Pokalla, Head of Machine Learning at PathAI. “Our aim is to deploy this single, robust model to address a diverse range of applications and use cases within pathology and to continue developing new high performance AI tools that serve our mission to improve patient outcomes.” Footnotes Foundation Models are for research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. PathAI’s AI products are for research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. About PathAI PathAI is the leading precision pathology company providing software and AI-enabled solutions to all pathologist stakeholders including laboratories, research institutions, and the biopharma industry. Rigorously trained and validated with data from more than 15 million annotations, its AI-powered models can be leveraged to optimize the analysis of pathology samples to improve efficiency and accuracy of pathology interpretation, as well as to better gauge therapeutic efficacy and accelerate drug development for complex diseases. For more information, please visit www.pathai.com. Contact Details SVM Public Relations and Marketing Communications Maggie Naples +1 401-490-9700 pathai@svmpr.com Company Website https://www.pathai.com/

May 14, 2024 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Crant Launches Updated Product Offerings, Revolutionizing Access to AI-Powered Brand Building

Crant

Crant, a leader in creative AI solutions empowering businesses to create effective brand building strategies through the use of competitive intelligence in the digital age, announced today the latest evolution of its Ink Lantern product suite: Ink Lantern Lite. The platform aims to revolutionize how businesses build and monitor their brands, providing accessible, AI-powered competitive intelligence across diverse industries. The enhanced tools come at a time when according to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 73% of B2B marketers prioritize content marketing as part of their overall strategy. Ink Lantern combines the rapid analysis capabilities of social listening tools with the in-depth strategic guidance of brand consulting firms, providing a unique solution that is both cost-effective and efficient. Designed for sectors including sports and outdoors apparel, healthcare and biotech, technology, travel and hospitality, cultural institutions, education, and adTech, Ink Lantern offers a suite of advanced tools to enhance brand building and content engagement. "Ink Lantern offers high-caliber, accessible solutions to major brands designed to make brand building more effective. With the extension of Ink Lantern Lite, companies of all sizes now have access to more effective brand building and marketing that drives differentiation," said Alvaro Melendez, Co-founder of Crant. "With the introduction of Ink Lantern Lite, we are leveling the playing field, allowing smaller businesses the same opportunities to excel as their larger counterparts." Based on a brand's needs, Ink Lantern and Ink Lantern Lite effectively benchmark brand love, quantify market engagement, and unlock top-performing content strategies. Additionally brands are able to evaluate commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and compare performance across critical social media platforms. "Since integrating Ink Lantern into our operations, we've experienced a remarkable shift in how we execute our brand strategy. The platform's deep insights and AI-powered analysis tools have enabled us to refine our digital marketing efforts and better understand our position in the competitive landscape. Ink Lantern is a game-changer for Museo de Arte Puerto Rico, providing enterprise-level insights and consulting at a fraction of the cost,” said Larissa Vazquez of Museo de Arte Puerto Rico. Ink Lantern has been recognized by The Webby Awards and The Anthem Awards, and continues to set standards in the AI-driven brand building space. To learn more about Ink Lantern and to begin your journey towards enhanced brand building, please visit www.inklantern.io. About Crant Founded in 2020, Crant, is a pioneering creative AI company that empowers businesses to build super brands in the digital age. By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, Crant develops groundbreaking solutions including Ink Lantern, an AI-powered platform that enables companies to foster deeper connections with their audiences and cultivate enduring brand love. Additionally, Crant also offers comprehensive AI training programs—from Basics AI 101 to the creation of an internal AI Council, these programs are designed to enhance customer engagement and proficiency with AI technologies. Recognized with prestigious accolades including The Webby Awards and The Anthem Awards, Crant combines cutting-edge innovation with a commitment to excellence. Under the leadership of founder Alvaro Melendez, honored by PRovoke Media as one of the most innovative people in the Americas in 2023, Crant helps businesses navigate modern marketing with intelligence and creativity. About Ink Lantern Ink Lantern, an AI-powered platform by Crant, revolutionizes brand building by enabling more effective connections with audiences. Leveraging AI technology and market insights, Ink Lantern provides tools and analyses for monitoring market position, navigating the competitive landscape, and identifying growth strategies. With features like brand love analysis, DEI indexing, competitive benchmarking, and engagement metrics, Ink Lantern offers actionable insights and budget-conscious strategies for businesses to build stronger, more effective brands that resonate with customers and stand out in crowded markets. Experience the power of AI-driven brand building and unlock your brand's potential with Ink Lantern. Contact Details Kite Hill PR Lara Schembri lara@kitehillpr.com Company Website https://www.inklantern.io/

May 14, 2024 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Anthropos raises $2.7m to help companies build the workforce of the future using AI

Anthropos

Talent shortage and skills development are among the top two priorities businesses are struggling to get to grips with today, according to Gartner. Helping them take control of the situation, startup Anthropos has raised $2.7M to create a new way for companies to help employees evolve their skill sets in accordance with business needs while improving retention. With offices in the US and Switzerland, Anthropos’ pre-seed round is led by Switzerland-based Founderful with additional participation from Eden Ventures, Exor Ventures, Zanichelli Venture, Alessandro Rivetti and several angel investors across the EU and US. “People want to see a clear path to grow in their organization and learn the exact skills they need to succeed there. At the same time, you can’t run your business without modern skills and a solution to constantly understand what your people can and cannot do. It’s a problem that is intensifying across all industries and it will get even more important as people need to adopt AI and make it part of their daily job,” said Stefano Bellasio, CEO of Anthropos. Anthropos was founded by Stefano Bellasio and Giacomo Marinangeli after building Cloud Academy Inc, a cloud training platform they started in 2013. The duo scaled the business to over $25M in ARR with Fortune 500 customers like Microsoft, Warner Media, and Deloitte, and, in the process, realized the majority of their enterprise customers were struggling with the same interrelated problems: employee retention and skills development. After exiting the business to the UK's largest tech training provider, Stefano and Giacomo decided to focus on a completely different space with Anthropos, a solution that wants to help corporates with their constant challenges to retain and build their skills. Anthropos helps companies centralize all their skills, employee experiences and training libraries in a modern, employee-focused platform. With Anthropos, companies can map out dedicated paths for every role inside the organization. As a result, employees can upskill themselves in accordance with the roles they want to advance in, and companies can constantly assess what skills are relevant for each role and verify which employees have those skills. This is a significant improvement from the status quo of long, convoluted employee questionnaires to ascertain skill abilities. Central to evidencing its approach, Anthropos is able to verify soft and technical skills at different stages of the employee lifecycle, from hiring to training and progression. As part of the platform, Anthropos has built its own skills taxonomy, which currently covers over 60,000 skills and 18,000 job roles. The company has also created a new technology, called AI Job Simulations, to screen candidates at scale by placing them into immersive real-life scenarios with virtual customers, stakeholders, and colleagues where they can solve missions that demonstrate their soft and hard skills. Early customers at Anthropos have decided to customize their AI Job Simulations to screen candidates at scale and to prepare them for new roles, letting them make mistakes talking to (virtual) customers and other teams and learning from them in a safe environment. The founders describe Anthropos as the easiest way to build a school for each organization where people can learn and evolve with the business at different stages of the employee lifecycle. As part of this, Anthropos is also designed to act as a network. Employees can see the skills their colleagues have, learn how they acquired them, and ultimately pinpoint potential mentors to help them grow. The team launched Anthropos earlier this year and their initial customer base, concentrated in the tech and tech consulting space, is already leveraging Anthropos to stay competitive and retain top talent. Current customers are using Anthropos to rapidly verify the skills of employees that were migrating to new roles, to easily identify the right people with the right skills for certain projects, and to screen candidates at scale by putting them in real scenarios related to their roles using the company’s AI Job Simulations. “It’s a great opportunity for companies. We have seen it first hand, modern generations consider growth and a clear path to learning new skills as the most important aspect of their jobs. It’s more important than your salary or bonuses. If you can’t provide this, you will see employees joining and leaving within months.” said CEO Stefano Bellasio. Antonia Albert, Principal at Founderful added: "We believe that every employee wants to grow and evolve, and that lack of career development and advancement is one of the key drivers of employee turnover. Using AI to democratize career paths and skills development is such a great mission. We are convinced that Stefano and Giacomo, after having successfully scaled and sold their previous tech company, are the right founders to give both companies and employees the transparency needed to enable clear career paths and professional as well as personal growth. Looking ahead, Anthropos plans to provide companies and employees access to thousands of skill paths and AI Simulations for roles and skills across multiple departments that every organization can customize. The company is also planning to publish its first batch of AI Job Simulations in the coming months. “Giacomo and I envision Anthropos becoming the solution for companies to manage and develop all their competencies. In a world that will be redesigned by AI in every role, we believe it’s a great opportunity to help everyone transform their careers,” added CEO Stefano Bellasio. About Anthropos Anthropos reimagines the connection between people and companies as both adapt to a new way of working. People are more ambitious than ever but they are not ok staying in roles and companies that don’t invest in their growth, with values they don’t share.Similarly for companies: skills are changing so rapidly that looking for the right people is the biggest investment in the budget while retaining the existing talent is always a trial and error process. Our thesis is that both parties could use a different solution to solve this problem.For more information please visit https://anthropos.work/ About Founderful Founderful is Switzerland’s leading pre-seed fund, backing founder teams building tech companies with the potential to become global market leaders. Founderful 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: www.founderful.com Contact Details Anthropos Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://anthropos.work/

May 14, 2024 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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