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100ms secures $20M funding round to enable the next generation of live video apps

100ms

Live Video infrastructure startup, 100ms, today announced their Series A funding round of $20M led by Falcon Edge's Alpha Wave Incubation, with participation from Matrix Partners India and LocalGlobe, along with existing investors Accel and Strive.vc. 100ms is enabling product creators to add live video interactions for online classrooms, virtual events, audio rooms, online communities, telehealth, and more. “Zoom and similar products helped us through the surge in digital adoption. We are missing one very important fact though - real 1:1 experiences cannot always be boxed into Zoom video tiles. Our belief is, going forward all companies will embed video experiences into their apps. 100ms provides the best-in-class infrastructure to power these video experiences.”, shares Abhinav Chaturvedi, Partner at Accel, on the continuation of the partnership from the seed stage. “Online gyms are asking trainees to report their injuries. Online schools are adding libraries, and enabling 1-1 help sessions. Online dating apps are looking to recreate better virtual meeting experiences. 100ms is enabling product makers to imagine and add sophisticated live-engagement, by abstracting the complexities of video streaming.” Anirudh Singh, Managing Director at Falcon Edge's Alpha Wave Incubation, commented on leading the round. With customers like WhiteHat Jr, Circle, Paytm Insider, Frontrow, and Kutumb, 100ms announced that it has witnessed over 20X growth in usage metrics over the last quarter. With this round of funding, the company aims to allow developers to build and deploy enterprise-class video applications in hours. "Mainstream video conferencing solutions are good enough, but not best-in-class for someone building a video-first business. Whether it’s online fitness, e-learning, gaming, or shopping, we’re very early in the journey of video-first experiences and the 100ms team has built a great product with phenomenal early traction. We’re excited to partner with Kshitij and Aniket in building a video-first future." said Pranay Desai, Principal, Matrix India. “Building and managing video infrastructure at scale is a non-trivial problem for most organizations”, said Kshitij Gupta, CEO at 100ms and former VP, Engineering at Disney-Hotstar. “Our goal is to make it easy for businesses of all sizes to deliver deeper-than-physical live video experiences within their products in less than half-dozen lines of code.” About 100ms 100ms aims to bring real-life interactions to the virtual world by providing world-class developer tooling for live video. Founded by engineers that built the video infrastructure at Facebook and Disney, 100ms has the vision to build rich, bespoke, and deeper-than-physical experiences for businesses and people. For more information, visit https://100ms.live or follow @100mslive. About Matrix Partners India Matrix Partners India is an investment firm with approximately $1 billion under management. Founded in 2006, the firm invests in Indian companies targeting the consumer and enterprise market at seed, early, and early growth stages. Matrix India has invested in several market-leading companies such as Ola (mobility), Dailyhunt (mobile local language platform), Razorpay (payments), OfBusiness (B2B Commerce, fintech), Five Star Business Finance (SME lending), Ola Electric (electric vehicles), DealShare (social commerce platform), Stanza Living (tech-enabled student housing platform), OneCard (mobile-first credit card), Country Delight (D2C dairy & fresh foods brand), GoKwik (e-commerce enablement platform), Captain Fresh (seafood marketplace), Bijnis (B2B platform for factories), MoEngage (intelligent marketing cloud platform), Superops (MSP software), Zupee (skill-based gaming app), Rocketlane (Customer onboarding software) and Itilite (corporate travel SaaS platform) among others. Matrix India has advisory offices in Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai. Matrix Partners has a global network of funds investing in the US, China, and India, with approximately $5 billion under management. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in. To know more about our investment philosophy & ideologies, check out the #MatrixMoments podcast. About Accel Accel is a global venture capital firm that is the first partner to exceptional teams everywhere, from inception through all phases of private company growth. Accel has been operating in India since 2008, and its investments include companies like BookMyShow, Browserstack, Flipkart, Freshworks, FalconX, Chargebee, Clevertap, Cure Fit, Musigma, Moneyview, Myntra, Moglix, Ninjacart, Swiggy, Stanza Living, Urban Company, Zetwerk, and Zenoti, among many others. We help ambitious entrepreneurs build iconic global businesses. For more, visit www.accel.com or https://twitter.com/Accel_India. About Strive.vc STRIVE is a B2B/SaaS-focused fund with over 80 investments across India, Southeast Asia, and Japan, and managing over $200M in AUM. The firm has invested in several dev infra and SaaS companies in India including Hasura, Testsigma, and Classplus. Contact Details Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://www.100ms.live/

March 11, 2022 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Alexanders Grace Secures Angel Funding for New Automated Influencer Marketing Platform

Alexanders Grace

First-of-its-kind platform brings transparency, hyper-targeting, and attribution to marketing and e-commerce, connecting social influencers, brands, and agencies; AG empowers celebrity through micro influencers to grow and monetize social presence Alexanders Grace, a first-of-its kind automated influencer marketing platform, today announced that it has received funding from angel investor and Baltimore business icon, Steven DeCastro. For businesses that want to leverage social influencers for marketing to target audiences, Alexanders Grace is a free solution that matches brands with influencers using pre-determined filters, organizational campaign goals, and assigns a publicly accessible Influencer Trust Score (ITS) that reflects an individual’s effectiveness and value. “AG provides brands with choice and control while compensating users for their engagement,” said Alexanders Grace CEO and Co-founder, Brad Bergersen. “For influencer marketing agencies, our platform offers a new channel for increasing their respective clients’ visibility and for creating new streams of recurring revenue.” Influencer engagement is a widely popular marketing practice, yet many brands struggle with attribution and measuring campaign ROI. Alexanders Grace not only solves transparency issues with its proprietary technology, but also incentivizes average citizens to monetize their social presence. According to industry data, engagement rate, such as the total number of likes, comments, and shares, is the best indicator of campaign effectiveness. Higher engagement rates lead to more awareness, conversions, and quantifiable ROI. “In a world where Facebook generates four million likes every minute, and in which more than 100 million photos are uploaded to Instagram daily, both influencers and brands need to build a following of targeted, engaged consumers to be relevant. The alternative is obscurity and no brand recognition. “Alexanders Grace helps you stand out on social media, providing a pipeline for consistent growth,” added Bergersen. “In addition, Alexanders Grace lets brands and users search influencers for free, which is something nobody else is offering.” AG serves as a pipeline for organic engagement with brands’ products and services. Influencers with the highest engagement rates are not famous people, but rather micro and nano influencers: ordinary people with under 10,000 followers for whom net engagement rates are between three to six times higher than that of a celebrity. AG aggregates myriad nano and micro influencers to create the perfect profile. “Imagine a smaller influencer with 10,000 followers who runs a coffee lovers review site that sells specialty products such as French presses, custom branded beans, organic filters, and other related items,” said Alexanders Grace Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Scott Mitchell. “While this person may not have a global presence comparable to actors, professional athletes, or high-profile media personalities, she does, however, have dedicated fans who comprise a highly-targeted audience that trusts and acts on her recommendations. “By leveraging big data and automation, AG has revolutionized the process of how influencers, brands, and customers interact.” Influencers on AG are compensated for supporting campaigns with posts from their respective social media accounts that funnel traffic to a brand’s web store. Important to note is that Alexanders Grace covers all costs from post to store checkout, in addition to managing communications, logistics and shipping. AG will also pay users for participating in surveys. To sign up for Alexanders Grace, please visit www.AlexandersGrace.com. ABOUT ALEXANDERS GRACE Headquartered in Baltimore, MD, Alexanders Grace is an automated influencer marketing and engagement platform that connects brands with the people who can reach their respective target audiences. Visit www.AlexandersGrace.com to launch your influencer journey! Contact Details Mostafa Razzak +1 917-912-0623 m.razzak@jmrconnect.net

March 10, 2022 10:32 AM Eastern Standard Time

My Code Releases New Entertainment Report that Examines Multicultural Film and TV Consumption Habits

My Code

My Code, the digital media company that enables brands, agencies, publishers and storytellers to decode and connect with multifaceted and diverse audiences, today released their Multicultural Entertainment report, which examines film and TV audience behaviors and attitudes among AAPI, Black and Hispanic American communities. The Multicultural Entertainment Report is the third report released since the company rebranded itself to My Code earlier this year, following its Smart Health and Wellness Tech and Smart Home Tech reports. The entertainment report adds to My Code’s growing suite of proprietary data that is designed to help advertisers better understand multicultural audiences as growing concerns of underrepresentation and lack of diversity in media have increased the demand for multicultural populations to be accurately represented. “There are fast-growing audiences who want and expect authentic representation in the content that’s produced for them to consume, especially as production companies and advertisers look to expand from COVID-19 influences in movie and TV viewing habits to reach wider audiences,” said Jennifer White, COO at My Code. “Our data illuminates the fact that multicultural audiences have specific preferences that require advertisers and studios to take a specialized approach if they’re to build authentic representation in media campaigns that are targeted at increasing diverse audiences.” The Multicultural Entertainment report was produced by My Code’s Intelligence Center, the company’s proprietary platform dedicated to providing a constant pulse on ever-changing multicultural American consumers’ sentiments, opinions, and habits. The report used data collected from over 1,000 adults representative of all main geographical areas of the United States, ages 18-64, between December 22, 2021, and January 3, 2022. The report highlights how overall growth across the AAPI, Black, and Hispanic populations outpaces the non-Hispanic White population, with 42% of the U.S. population now identified as multicultural. Additionally, growth in digital video viewership is the fastest among younger generations, with the largest shares of multicultural populations being Millennials, Gen Z, or younger. With multicultural audiences growing and younger generations consuming more media, there’s now a greater demand for accurate representation in new content than ever before, top insights include: Movies 8-in-10 multicultural adults view movies weekly, and it is clear that they value flexibility when watching movies at home, as streaming is the leading at-home movie access point. Over half of multicultural audiences watch action, comedy, drama, or adventure movies, revealing that movie genre choice is not monolithic. TV Nearly 9-in-10 multicultural adults watch TV shows weekly, and there is evidence that there is more preference for drama and action/adventure shows, with 49% typically watching each genre and 35% indicating that they typically watch sitcoms. In other words, drama and action/adventure are likely popular TV media diet staples, with other genres filling out individuals’ TV consumption similar to “surrounding content”. Representation Multicultural viewers don’t always feel understood by production studios, and in turn, studios don’t always make an authentic connection. While nearly all multicultural adults are frequent film and TV viewers, roughly 8-in-10 want to be considered during development, but only 1-in-3 feel the industry understands them. Diversity in Talent and Production Overall, multicultural audiences want more authentic representation in TV and movies; 65% want more depictions of multicultural people in ways that break down racial stereotypes, 67% want more diversity among talent playing leading roles, and 67% also want more diversity among the directors and writers that influence content. Award shows Less than half of Multicultural audiences feel that major American awards shows recognize diversity in category nominations, which is reflected in fragmented award show viewership behaviors. As a mirror for the industry, current awards show engagement reflects the role that authentic on- and off-camera representation has in audience building. To download the My Code Multicultural Entertainment Report, please visit this link to the report. About My Code My Code is a digital media company that enables brands, agencies, publishers, and storytellers to decode and connect with multifaceted and diverse audiences. My Code was formed following the expansion of H Code, a 2x Inc. 5000-ranked company founded in 2015, into additional demographics beyond Hispanic consumers. With a diverse team of marketers, sellers, researchers, and storytellers specializing in an ever-growing selection of Cultural and Affinity Codes, My Code helps companies of all sizes reach millions of Hispanic, Black, and AAPI consumers with unmatched authenticity. My Code combines proprietary insights from its Intelligence Center, first-party targetable datasets, and custom creative to deliver unparalleled multimedia content that effectively reaches diverse audiences across the digital landscape. Having evolved from its Hispanic-centric origins, My Code is now a robust, minority-dominant organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of the diverse communities and audiences it represents. Its purpose-driven media marketplace allows advertisers to easily invest in minority-owned and led publishers, creators, and producers. Today, My Code’s employee base is 85% multicultural, 70% Hispanic/Latinx, and 50% female across its offices in the U.S. and Latin America. Contact Details North 6th Agency for My Code +1 212-334-9753 mycode@n6a.com Company Website https://mycodemedia.com/

March 10, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

ibble Launches Social Networking App Landing One Of The Largest Series Seed Funding In Texas History

ibble

ibble, a new social media app empowering people to spark conversations and ignite new ideas has received $12.7MM, the largest series seed funding round in Texas history. Leading the seed round was Drive Capital followed by TTV Capital, Unknown Ventures, and Get Engaged Media. The investment in ibble comes amidst societies overwhelming frustrations with current social media platforms as they increasingly cut content; remove conversations and restrict engagement. “ibble is a Social Media App built on the idea of learning through conversations and having the ability to talk directly with the experts without the friction that currently exists on traditional social media apps and platforms,” said Raymond Kaminski, CEO and Co-founder of ibble. “We believe that talking with your community, not at your community, through the power of audio and video can spark more meaningful conversations and create more insightful engagement." ibble’s mission is to help people connect with and learn from experts through the power of video and audio conversations. Users are able to ask experts questions directly as well as spark conversations with their peers, naturally expanding candid conversations without friction. Is an expert always right? No, of course not. We believe what makes someone an "expert" is their relentless pursuit of the truth about a certain subject and their willingness to share it. For people who have been frustrated by structured and ad focused social media platforms that stifle conversations and are not easily suited to video and audio conversations, the solution is ibble – the social media app built by a distinguished team of entrepreneurs who believe that conversations and connections must have a healthy environment to thrive and grow in this digital age. “Brands, celebrities, influencers, the news, sports figures and more are looking for new ways to engage but that is almost impossible when dealing with the limits of current social media apps and platforms,” said Irving Lee, Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships at ibble. “We built ibble knowing that authenticity is not found in a like, comment or status update, and how could it? ibble provides a platform that celebrates real conversations with real people and threads that mirror real life conversations; conversations you can jump in and out of." With ibble anything is possible through the power of conversation. Users can start a video or audio conversation about their favorite show. They can also ask their favorite influencer or celebrity a question and get a response back with a simple click of a button. ibble makes conversation easy because ibble has made conversation through social media possible, with a focus on the natural flow of conversations and questions. For brands, shows, influencers, celebrities and others, ibble has made it easy to talk with their community members directly while not having to worry about being throttled or competing brands advertised to them while they are communicating with them. About ibble ibble is the social media app that enables experts and their communities to directly engage through audio and video conversations. ibble makes events more accessible and adds depth through back-and-forth video and audio posts. Learn more at https://www.getibble.com/ Contact Details ibble Jason Jepson +1 949-394-7033 press@ibble.io Company Website https://www.getibble.com/

March 10, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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CSG Inspires Social Impact Through Partnership with We Make Change

CSG

DENVER, March 10, 2022 – CSG ® ’s (NASDAQ: CSGS) purpose is to envision, invent and shape a better, more future-ready world. Through community partnerships, the company is giving back and channeling the power of all to make a difference in the communities CSG serve around the world. Today, CSG joined forces with We Make Change, a global volunteering platform that connects skilled volunteers with social enterprises, to host a series of Change Days that allow CSG employees to share their knowledge and skills with social enterprises to help drive social change. Over two Change Day, CSGers dedicated more than 150 hours to support nine social enterprises committed to reducing inequalities and increasing digital inclusion. Most participants signed up to continue their volunteer service with their dedicated social enterprise. In 2022, CSG aspires to reach 40,000 hours of employee volunteer time. “As a global technology leader, CSG aims to dream bigger, where we create a more connected, inclusive and future-ready world that delivers greater impact for our colleagues, customers, and communities,” said Channing Jones, chief diversity and social responsibility officer, CSG. “By volunteering with organizations like We Make Change, our employees gain a better understanding of critical issues facing our communities while leveraging their experience to drive more meaningful impact. Adding social enterprises to our social impact program empowers us to not only serve with our time and intellectual capital but measure the positive impact CSG is making in communities across the globe. We are proud to think globally and act locally with partners like We Make Change that helps us accelerate real-world progress towards solving some of the most vital issues facing our world today.” The two CSG Change Days supported a total of nine social enterprises, including: Empowr: Teaches black youth students about software development foundations, how to build simple apps, and critical leadership techniques to showcase how their skills can impact the world and help increase the number of black-owned businesses. Leiho: Connects essential goods to vulnerable communities that are living without them - from socks that help the homeless stay warm to groceries that feed children in need. LocalPurse: Local Purse connects travelers with experienced local guides and artisans globally through virtual cultural and shopping experiences, having a minimal carbon footprint, and providing a sustainable way of supporting the travel industry. ZigWay: Gives low-income families and disadvantaged populations access to the everyday goods and services they need to break free from poverty. "This Change Day was a game-changing opportunity for Leiho to reignite our confidence and motivation towards making a difference where it truly matters,” said Joey Li, co-founder, Leiho. "Connecting with kind-hearted, sharp-minded CSGers helped us to make our brand messaging clear and concise and inject the transparency we desire for our mission. The added value of having access to the rich skills and expertise Leiho needs to implement greater change is critical for our young organization. CSG's originality and commitment to our success primed our imagination to evolve Leiho for massive social impact and influenced our vision of organic growth." “Employees giving just four hours of skilled volunteer time as part of a Change Day can significantly accelerate the positive impact of a social enterprise,” said James Sancto, co-founder and CEO, We Make Change. “For the social enterprise, they gain access to a vast pool of knowledge and expertise that can help advance their cause and deliver faster results to groups in need. For conscientious companies like CSG, it’s a chance to do more for the world and give their employees meaningful ways to give back to their communities and connect deeply to social issues where they have the power to affect change.” The upcoming CSG Change Days will focus on improving gender equality. By year’s end, CSG will have supported dozens of social enterprises from all corners of the world. # # # About CSG CSG is a leader in innovative customer engagement, revenue management and payments solutions that make ordinary customer experiences extraordinary. Our cloud-first architecture and customer-obsessed mindset help companies around the world launch new digital services, expand into new markets, and create dynamic experiences that capture new customers and build brand loyalty. For 40 years, CSG’s technologies and people have helped some of the world’s most recognizable brands solve their toughest business challenges and evolve to meet the demands of today’s digital economy with future-ready solutions that drive exceptional customer experiences. With 5,000 employees in over 20 countries, CSG is the trusted technology provider for leading global brands in telecommunications, retail, financial services, and healthcare. Our solutions deliver real world outcomes to more than 900 customers in over 120 countries. To learn more, visit us at csgi.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter. About We Make Change We Make Change connects skilled volunteers with Social Enterprises changing the world. We enable individuals and employees to volunteer their skills online to support the causes they care about with the time they can give. Our Change Day online volunteering events bring together corporate teams to develop their skills, connect with colleagues, and make change in just a few hours. With a fast-growing community of over 25,000 volunteers supporting more than 650 Social Enterprises in over 100 countries across the world, We Make Change enables anyone, anywhere to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To learn more or get involved, visit us at wemakechange.org and connect with us on LinkedIn. Copyright © 2022 CSG Systems International, Inc. and/or its affiliates (“CSG”). All rights reserved. CSG® is a registered trademark of CSG Systems International, Inc. All third-party trademarks, service marks, and/or product names which are referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners, and all rights therein are reserved. Contacts: Kristine Østergaard Public Relations +44 (0)79 2047 7204 kristine.ostergaard@csgi.com John Rea Investor Relations +1 (210) 687-4409 john.rea@csgi.com Contact Details Kristine Østergaard +44 7920 477204 kristine.ostergaard@csgi.com Company Website https://www.csgi.com

March 10, 2022 06:30 AM Mountain Standard Time

Luxury without compromise: OPPO's engineers pioneered the ceramic back for Find X5 Pro

OPPO

SHENZHEN, CHINA - Media OutReach - 10 March 2022 - The new OPPO Find X5 Pro — a premium flagship handset born from never-before-seen pioneering engineering methods. Available in stunning ceramic and vegan leather, the curved nature of Find X5 Pro's rear wraps elegantly and organically around the camera housing in an innovative volcano-like design to create an utterly seamless experience, look, and feel, that no other device comes close to matching. Building on the knowledge of creating a similar curved glass rear for Find X3, engineers had to overcome even more substantial challenges to help create a zero-compromise result that met the exact specifications (while surpassing and creating many industry standards in the process). Find X5 Pro's ceramic back is made from a microcrystalline material that's calcined at a temperature of 1000-degrees Celsius to create a texture that reduces fingerprints while being twice as strong as glass, with double the heat dissipation. The downside, however, is that due to its strength, it's a very tricky and unforgiving material to work with. The thought of creating Find X5 Pro's precise, organic curved back from such a material seems impossible, but OPPO's engineers have invented a process which sees the ceramic rear panel carved like a work of art with over 2,000 individual control points used to create its seamlessly organic curves. Taming the ceramic panel posed some crucial hurdles for engineers to solve, and it took six months of research and development in molding, machining and polishing process to create Find X5 Pro's iconic curved rear. A material that's both incredibly strong and resistant to scratches and drops, ceramic is superior to glass in multiple ways, and was therefore the natural choice for a premium handset like Find X5 Pro, further pushing the boundaries of Find X3's glass design. The downside to ceramic's robust properties, however, is that it's difficult to machine, which is clearly problematic when it comes to producing Find X5 Pro's unique curved rear design. Using known existing manufacturing methods resulted in too large a cap between the ceramic rear cover and the camera housing, with less of a smooth curve gradient to boot — an unacceptable outcome. To combat this problem, engineers created a more precise machining method using two blades arranged at a precise 90-degree angle. While this improved the accuracy of the final product, however, the appearance of a straight-edged cutting line surrounding the sides of the ceramic cover, along with visible cutting marks from the machine blade lines. The solution was the creation of a completely new lift edge polishing process which refined the machined edges for a smoother, properly finished look. Initially, however, it was apparent that removing the manufacturing marks also ended up taking away too much of the ceramic material itself away, making the rear panel too small to properly fit the handset. To overcome this, engineers had to meticulously polish the ceramic's edges in multiple stages, using a four-axis polishing machine and micron-level diamond powder. Results from polishing stages were checked at regular intervals to then make minute, precise adjustments down to a staggering 0.005mm. A perfectly machined, premium ceramic rear cover that takes five whole days to produce, with a yield of 97% compared to 87%. One of the major design pain points in smartphones are their camera housing solutions. Most phones have unsightly raised bumps that dominate the design without adding excitement or finesse. Beyond the shape, OPPO's engineers had to decide how to blend the lenses into the housing itself without any ugly protrusions or camera rings. Removing the camera lens ring for a cleaner look means that the lens itself must be precisely positioned so that it's neither too high nor too low. Too high and the lens will be vulnerable to damage. Too low, it will lose the premium feeling of flushnessflow, while being able to feel a dip in the surface. The upshot of this is that the perfect placement of the camera lenses under the ceramic housing was determined to be 0.10mm, or the thickness of a human hair. As a result of direct assembly, however, this number would often reach the thickness of two hairs. This seems utterly insignificant on paper, but anything less than perfect was simply not good enough. To combat this, ceramic battery covers were split into three groups based on their incredibly small variations of thickness. The three lenses for Find X5 Pro were also grouped based on their thickness, and then matched to their closest ceramic cover to reach the perfect, precise depth in the camera housing. OPPO has invested millions to develop specialised automated equipment to group matching lenses and rear covers automatically. In a world where smartphones are churned out to offer a minimal viable experience, however, OPPO's commitment to precision and perfection stands out. Devices like Find X5 Pro are the embodiment of hard work, dedication, and countless hours spent in the pursuit of the absolute very best product possible. With new strides and discoveries being made continuously, OPPO will continue to lead the way for smartphone innovation, with new generations being built on the years of experience and learning before them. #OPPO Contact Details OPPO Media Contact press@oppo.com

March 10, 2022 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Telos Blockchain Joins Bloktopia’s Metaverse

Telos Foundation

Telos Blockchain (Tlos) has become a virtual tenant of Bloktopia and is already organizing to put that space to good work. With Bloktopia now ready to launch its Alpha, the Telos team will be able to use the space as a virtual meeting room for all its AMAs (ask me anything - meetings). Telos has plenty to talk about regarding its recently launched Ethereum Virtual Machine (tEVM ), its decentralized file storage system ( dStor ), its roadmap and a metaverse environment just seems like the perfect setting for these talks. After all, both the tEVM and dStor can and will be used to power the needs of Web 3.0 based dApps. “Bloktopia’s metaverse is a positive step in Web 3.0 adoption and the Telos team is eager to jump in feet first. This is just the beginning of a multi-trillion-dollar industry, and this is just the first step of our grand metaverse ambitions.” Justin Giudici, Acting CEO at Telos Foundation. Introducing the tEVM: Telos is a 3rd Generation, ESG compliant layer 1 blockchain that has been executing energy-efficient smart contracts uninterrupted since 2018. Every transaction on the Telos Network uses less than 0.000002 kWh of energy per transaction and costs end users zero to near zero in gas fees. Telos can generate blocks / smart contracts for Solidity, Native C++ and Vyper faster than any other chain. The network’s core strength stems from its tight use of C++ and custom Wasm runtime environment. It is super-efficient and is one of the main reasons why Web 3.0 dApps can deliver instant transactions while using Telos. Telos is already capable of sustainably delivering hundreds of millions of almost fee-less transactions per day before any future sharding / rollups. The Metaverse will need this level of capacity to thrive. Telos' current capacity is sufficient to handle the transaction needs of every single existing layer 1 chain, including all their future forecasted growth for the next decade. With any one of the following third-party comparisons, one can clearly see for themselves some of the proven strengths of Telos. Cardano, Solana, Polkadot, Fantom and Telos vs the Clock Telos vs Fantom Telos vs Avalanche vs Binance Smart Chain vs Ethereum *Visit links above For Web 3.0 commerce and entertainment to thrive, dApps need speed, capacity, affordability, energy efficiency, decentralization and even decentralized file storage. P2P file storage is precisely why Telos dStor was developed. dStor is a decentralized peer-to-peer cloud-based file storage system that is fully integrated into the Telos architecture. With dStor, individual users, collectors, digital graphic artists, musicians, filmmakers and gaming companies can store all their digital Web 3.0 content seamlessly and simultaneously. This storage capability is available in all global regions, in a decentralized environment and for prices far lower than conventional services that only have single-region availability. *Developer Alert: Telos Spark Hackathon - 100,000 Tlos for First place! Live now! - Register Here Telos Ignite Grant Program - 12 million over 4 years! Live now! - Register Here The next era of blockchain will be very exciting for both developers and end users alike. Keep an eye out for our virtual meetings on bloktopia! About Telos Telos is a 3rd generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts, providing full EVM/Solidity support as well as a fee-less native smart contract layer upon which the EVM is built. Telos performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, decentralization and end-user fairness. The network can sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produces blocks in 0.5 second intervals on a first-in-first-out basis (eliminating frontrunning on the network), offers a fee-less native and low per transaction cost EVM (<$0.10), and a fully decentralized block producer network. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

March 09, 2022 03:26 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Web3 Community Platform Metasky brings in US$ 1.8 million led by Sequoia Capital India, Woodstock Fund

Metasky

Metasky, a platform aimed at the intersection of Web3 and the creator economy, has raised US $1.8 million in a pre-seed token sale round led by Sequoia Capital India and Woodstock Fund. Metasky positions itself as a bridge to Web3 - working with influencers, creators, and brands closely to form a Web3 strategy for their followers with the help of its user-friendly tools for buying, storing, and using NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Web3 is a set of technologies that give ownership of digital assets and data straight to end users. Ownership is given in the form of NFTs and Crypto Tokens. This new approach gives communities the same power that large centralised companies like Google and Facebook have long monopolised - opening avenues for new business models that are far more creator friendly. Metasky’s platform aims to convert people from being mere social media followers into engaged members of a brand’s digital world. Metasky is launching a user-friendly Web3 Wallet that democratises access to the decentralised world by making it easy for anybody to buy and securely hold Crypto Assets (NFTs and crypto tokens). Metasky’s Wallet can seamlessly integrate inside any existing website or application, converting any existing app to a Web3 app. These assets can then be used to provide exclusive benefits to token holders. These benefits range from unlockable digital content of your favourite creators, exclusive chat rooms and live streams, to backstage access into their offline events. Commenting on the fundraise, Ankit Arora Co-Founder at Metasky said, “Metasky itself is organised as a decentralised community. It is the most efficient way of aligning a group of people towards a shared goal. We want to walk the talk that decentralisation is important, but it is a means to an end. Concepts like NFTs only make sense if they are accompanied with a strong set of utilities, a passionate community, and real governance rights. We are building Web3 tools to serve this purpose.” Metasky was founded in 2021 by Ankit Arora and Prakhar Sharma to elevate NFTs from just images into objects that are alive and packed with exclusive benefits. "Ankit and Prakhar are accomplished company builders, and we are excited to work alongside them as they create a holistic platform for NFT communities." Shailesh Lakhani, MD, Sequoia India. Metasky recently launched its first community led project called “Tanukibles” - a play-to-earn game which has started its journey as an NFT collection. Tanukis are animals native to Japan, deeply embedded in Japanese mythology. Anyone can be a part of the production team of Tanukibles by getting one of 9999 limited edition Tanukis. Some Tanukis are rewarded to community participants on merit, others are scheduled to be up for public sale in April. About Metasky Metasky aims to be a bridge to Web3 for influencers, creators, and brands by working with them closely to form a Web3 strategy for their followers. With the help of its user-friendly tools for buying, storing, and using NFTs, Metasky democratises access to the decentralised world. Metasky Wallet can seamlessly integrate inside any website or application, converting any existing app to a Web3 app and enables brands to provide exclusive benefits to token holders. Benefits range from unlockable digital content, exclusive chat rooms and live streams, to backstage access into offline events. About Sequoia Capital IndiaSequoia helps daring founders build legendary companies, from idea to IPO and beyond. Sequoia India operates in Southeast Asia and India where we actively partner with founders from a wide range of companies, across categories, including BYJUs, Carousell, Druva, Gojek, OYO Rooms, Tokopedia, Truecaller, Zilingo, Zomato and more. We spur founders to push the boundaries of what’s possible. In partnering with Sequoia, startups benefit from nearly 50 years of tribal knowledge and lessons learned working with companies like Airbnb, Alibaba, Apple, Dropbox, Google, LinkedIn and Stripe early on. From the beginning, universities, endowments and other non-profits have been the backbone of our investor base, which means founders’ accomplishments make a meaningful difference. For more information on Sequoia’s work in India and SE Asia, visit - https://india.sequoiacap.com/ Contact Details Metasky Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://metasky.me/

March 09, 2022 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Disney Shareholder Proposal On Human Rights Highlight Company’s Complicity in China Genocide

National Legal & Policy Center

On Wednesday, March 9, National Legal and Policy Center will present a resolution at The Walt Disney Company’s annual shareholder meeting that would require an annual report on the company’s efforts to determine human rights impacts in dealing with foreign entities. The resolution comes in light of what has been Disney’s longtime cozy relationship with the communist government of China, which has been credibly accused of slavery, torture and genocide. “Disney for too long has taken its partnership with this authoritarian regime too lightly, and it’s time for shareholders to receive an accounting of the company’s interactions,” said Paul Chesser, director of NLPC’s Corporate Integrity Project. “Unfortunately the company’s board of directors opposes our resolution. We will see if our fellow shareholders agree with them.” Chesser will present the resolution at the meeting, and excerpts of his remarks will be posted afterward at NLPC.org. The full text of NLPC’s shareholder resolution follows: Proposal — Human Rights Due Diligence Report Resolved: Shareholders request that, beginning in 2022, Disney report on the process of due diligence, if any, that the Company undertakes in evaluating the human rights impacts of its business and associations with foreign entities, including foreign governments, their agencies, and private sector intermediaries. SUPPORTING STATEMENT Disney became the center of controversy in 2020 when it was reported that the film credits for Mulan offered “special thanks” to eight Chinese government entities in Xinjiang province. Both the Biden and Trump administrations have formally characterized the Chinese government’s policy toward the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang as “genocide.” The credits also expressed thanks to the publicity department of CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomy Region Committee, the Chinese Communist party’s propaganda agency in Xinjiang. According to the September 3, 2020 Wall Street Journal, “Disney shared the script with Chinese authorities,” prior to receiving permission to release the film in China. Mulan’s titular character was played by Chinese-American actress Liu Yifei, who in 2019, expressed support for the police crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. In an October 7, 2020 letter to British legislators, Sean Bailey, President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, stated: “In any motion picture production, several factors are considered when making decisions about where to produce the film, including: economics, logistics, accessibility, availability of actors, to name just a few.” Notably absent was how a production might impact human rights. If one were to “name just a few” factors, it would seem that human rights would be paramount, especially in parts of the world like Xinjiang Province, China. Information on Disney’s due diligence on human rights, or lack thereof, would allow shareholders to better evaluate business and reputational risks inherent in cooperation with totalitarian and authoritarian regimes that violate human rights. Founded in 1991, NLPC promotes ethics in public life and government accountability through research, investigation, education, and legal action. Contact Details National Legal and Policy Center Paul Chesser +1 703-237-1970 pchesser@nlpc.org Company Website http://www.nlpc.org

March 09, 2022 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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