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Truck It In raises the largest seed round in MENAP trucking space

Truck It In

Homegrown logistics tech startup Truck It In has closed a $13 million seed round jointly led by venture capital firms Global Founders Capital and Fatima Gobi Ventures. The seed round is the largest of its kind in the MENAP (Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan) region, blowing out previous highs seen in 2021, which was already a banner year for Pakistani startups. The latest seed round brings the total raised capital to $17.5 million, which will support Truck It In’s mission to transform Pakistan’s road freight industry. The round also saw participation from Wamda, Picus Capital, Millville, Graph Ventures, Zayn Capital, i2i Ventures, ADB Ventures, Cianna Capital, Reflect Ventures, and K3 Ventures. Pakistan is one of the largest road freight markets in the Middle East and North Africa, representing a $25 billion annual opportunity, 10% of national GDP. Truck It In aims to be the nexus of road freight in the country by simplifying business for Pakistan’s three million SME businesses and SME truckers (80% of the supply market), who operate in an increasingly complex and deeply fragmented industry. Muhammad Sarmad Farooq, CEO of Truck It In, said, “This seed round comes at an opportune time, as the funds will be deployed to expand our business, driving hiring across all functions, focusing on engineers to help double down on product development and increase our digital penetration in the market. SMEs are reliant on mental notes and telephone calls to run their businesses. Truck It In is leading efforts to bring efficiencies here by building a platform to ensure that SMEs have the right tools and services to thrive today. We are looking to transform the experiences of shippers and truckers, heralding them into the digital future. We are on an exciting journey creating value and solving deep-rooted challenges. In the past year, our revenue has grown 37x, we have expanded into 100+ trade lanes, and added 200 talents, as Truck It In continues to create impact every day. The impact generated allows truckers to lead better economic lives while serving the country.” Truck It In is another key investment by Global Founders Capital that partners with fast-growing companies with huge potential to transform their industries. Tito Costa, the partner at Global Founders Capital, said, “The team at Truck It In is transforming the logistics industry in Pakistan at an unprecedented pace. We are honored to back them again to expand their coverage further and bring their solution to shippers and truckers across the country. ” Fatima Gobi Ventures (FGV), a VC focused on backing promising early-stage Pakistani ventures, is also excited to play a role in developing such an impactful company. Ali Mukhtar, General Partner of FGV, said, “The pandemic has accelerated digital adoption among larger players, widening the gaps of the haves and have-nots in the logistics world. We believe Truck It In is key to closing this gap by making it easy for SME truckers to streamline operations and compete on a more level playing field while keeping costs competitive and serving as a vital lifeline for Pakistan’s thriving economy. With Sarmad and his team at the wheel, Pakistan’s SMEs are in pole position for a strong, sustainable, digital future.” Alejandro Montealegre from Millville Opportunities Master Fund said, “We are excited to back Truck It In’s high caliber team who are providing tremendous value to a critical sector of Pakistan’s economy." Kalsoom Lakhani, Co-Founder & GP at i2i Ventures, said, “Pakistan’s trucking industry presents an enormous opportunity for innovation & disruption, and we have a deep conviction in the Truck it In team, who are tackling this head-on. We are impressed by their execution and honored to support them on their journey as their investors.” Faisal Aftab, Co-Founder Zayn Capital, said, “The Truck It In team has exhibited exceptional scaling ability by rapidly capturing significant market share in this fragmented industry. The team has the tenacity to solve problems unique to Pakistan, creating efficiency for customers and suppliers.” About Truck It In Truck It In is Pakistan’s fastest-growing road freight tech platform servicing clients across Pakistan. The company started operations in 2020 and aims to unlock more than $1 billion for Pakistani businesses through its trucking platform. https://www.truckitin.com/ About Global Founders Capital Founders drive incredible opportunities in the world, and we are their greatest advocates. That’s because our team has built multi-billion dollar technology businesses from scratch and has thrived through all the twists and turns of entrepreneurship along with it. Over the past two decades, we have backed over five hundred entrepreneurs worldwide. Facebook, LinkedIn, Zalando, Lazada, Traveloka, Trivago, Jumia, Away Travel, HelloFresh, Eventbrite, Funding Circle, Slack, Revolut, Canva, Delivery Hero and HomeAway represent a few of our global successes. Global Founders Capital manages over $1.2 billion of committed capital and invests out of eleven offices worldwide. https://www.globalfounders.vc About Fatima Gobi Ventures By bringing together one of the largest conglomerates in Pakistan, Fatima Group and one of the most active multi-national venture capital firms in Asia, Gobi Partners, Fatima Gobi Ventures is fusing local expertise with regional VC know-how. We invest intelligently, using data collated from the flourishing entrepreneurial ecosystems of Northeast and Southeast Asia to identify companies locally that have the edge and drive to go beyond Pakistan’s borders. Simultaneously, we accelerate the growth of founders by benchmarking their businesses and linking them to the developed markets in Asia. For more information, please visit https://fatimagobi.vc/ About Wamda Wamda accelerates entrepreneurship ecosystems throughout the Mena region by joining Wamda’s multi-stage, sector-agnostic investment vehicle, focused on partnering with high growth technology or technology-enabled startups, as well as the leading knowledge platform offering integrated programmes including thought leadership and research, community development, Wamda’s fellowship programme Wamda X, as well as corporate and government advisory services to the various stakeholders of the Mena startup ecosystem. Contact Details Truck It In Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://www.truckitin.com/

February 04, 2022 07:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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DeFi startup Pillow raises $3M led by Elevation Capital and marquee angels

Elevation Capital

Pillow, a DeFi (decentralized finance) startup that helps generate yields on crypto, has raised $3M in seed funding led by Elevation Capital and a host of prominent crypto angels, including Scott Lewis (Co-founder, DeFi Pulse), JD Kanani & Sandeep Nailwal (Co-founders, Polygon), Prabhakar Reddy (Co-founder, FalconX), and Aniket Jindal (Co-founder, Biconomy) and industry stalwarts like Ramakant Sharma (Livspace), Farid Ahsan (Sharechart), Kush & Sambhav (FamPay), Mukund Jha (Dunzo) amongst others. The funds will be used to build alpha-generating DeFi strategies for popular crypto assets (including $BTC, $ETH, and popular stablecoins), accelerate global expansion, build a strong user community, and grow the Pillow brand to make DeFi accessible worldwide. Founded in 2021 by Arindam Roy, Rajath KM, and Kartik Mishra, Pillow is an exclusive community for users worldwide who want to earn market-beating interest rates on their crypto, instead of letting them lie idle. Arindam and Rajath are DeFi maximalists, deeply entrenched in the DeFi space since its inception. They are also active Web 3 advocates. Kartik is an early crypto adopter, buying his first bitcoin in 2013. He’s been actively participating in and advocating for DeFi since 2020. Pillow’s platform helps generate downside-protected interest on crypto assets by investing in curated, actively managed DeFi strategies created by the team. It takes away the complexity of DeFi as users can invest and earn high yields in just 1-click without worrying about gas (transaction) fees, underlying chains and tokens, etc. In under three weeks of launching their beta in December 2021, Pillow has organically scaled to more than $1M in AUM (Assets Under Management) on the back of their stablecoin strategy, which provides 17.8% yield. To ensure customers' crypto assets are secure, Pillow uses BitGo, the world's leading custodial services, for custody management and also leverages Gnosis Safe for multi-sig capabilities. “We want to create a future where accessibility to decentralized finance is democratized, if not more than traditional finance. We’re fulfilling this vision by letting our users gain access to DeFi yield opportunities in a simple, safe, and secure manner,” said the Pillow founders. They added, “Our users have shown unequivocal faith in our platform in our private access program, and we’re on track to scale this to new heights. We’re grateful for the mentorship and guidance of Elevation Capital as we scale, along with some of the best builders in the Web 3.0 space, including Sandeep, JD, Prabhakar and Aniket. We’re elated to have the ecosystem rally behind us as we build our platform and community.” Vaas Bhaskar, Principal, Elevation Capital, said, “We believe the next big unlock in Web 3.0 is going to come from significantly improving user experiences. Pillow fits right into that theme by abstracting away the complexities of DeFi - and hence making It more accessible. We’re impressed with Arindam, Rajath and Kartik's depth of understanding and clarity of vision, and are thrilled to partner with them in this journey.” Speaking about his investment in Pillow, Scott Lewis (of DeFi Pulse) said, “I’m excited to partner with them on their journey as they become the world's first borderless DeFi accessibility platform." Decentralized finance is an emerging financial system that does not rely on centralized intermediaries, such as banks, stock exchanges, or brokers. Instead, DeFi protocols use smart contracts to immutably record transactions and transfer funds. DeFi is a nascent but fast-growing space: the TVL (total value locked) has exploded in just a year, from ~$20 Bn in January 2021 to ~$250 Bn in January 2022. The challenge is in making it simple and user-friendly enough for mass adoption. Arindam, Rajath, and Kartik’s mission is to create a safe, accessible, borderless DeFi investment platform and make DeFi accessible to everyone globally. Pillow is available for download on Google Playstore and Apple App Store, and will provide users with strategies and market-beating rates for popular crypto assets that include $USDC, $USDT, $BTC and $ETH. About Elevation Capital: Elevation Capital is a leading venture capital firm which provides seed and early stage capital for emerging companies in India. Elevation Capital has been investing in India since 2002 and is currently investing out of its seventh pool of capital. The firm is led by Co-Managing Partners Ravi Adusumalli and Mukul Arora, along with three Managing Directors Mridul Arora, Deepak Gaur and Mayank Khanduja. The firm has invested in over 150 companies across Consumer Internet, SaaS, Fintech, D2C, Edtech, Healthtech and Web3/Crypto, and has offices in Bengaluru, Gurgaon and Salt Lake City. Contact Details Marc Brailov marc@trustrelations.agency Nicole Hopwood nicole@trustrelations.agency

February 04, 2022 12:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

News Release

CSG Forte Adds Tens of Thousands of Merchants and New Partners in 2021

CSG

CSG Forte, a CSG ® (NASDAQ: CSGS) company, recorded a milestone year in 2021, adding tens of thousands of merchants to its portfolio through the strength and reach of its growing partner network. With one of the most robust and complete payment platforms on the market, CSG Forte enables integrated software vendors (ISV) to differentiate their solution stack by offering a fully customizable payments solution that seamlessly integrates into existing architectures to scale payments smarter, faster. New partners and enterprises to the CSG Forte portfolio include AlarmHive, Boon-Chapman, Civicplus®, OneShare Health, Velosimo, and Woodson & Bozeman, who collectively serve thousands of merchants across North America in healthcare, government, insurance and property management markets. “Digital transactions have exploded over the last two years and CSG Forte is in a unique position to provide value where no one else can,” said Jeff Kump, head of payments, CSG Forte. “Through our extensive list of ISV partners, we can address the custom needs of insurers, municipalities, and property managers alike instead of forcing them into a one-size-fits-all solution. This means faster time to revenue, increased efficiencies and reduced costs that lead to enhanced end customer experiences. Our success in 2021 was due in large part to our team’s relentless passion, collaboration, and industry-leading innovation. I am proud of the momentum we have built across key verticals and our sustained growth in the market as we embark on another monumental year.” “As the demand for digital payments continues to accelerate, businesses and governments need a payments provider that can not only onboard merchants quickly, but also deliver ongoing innovation that will address changing market demands,” said Mike Strawhecker, president of The Strawhecker Group. “CSG Forte has the ability to deliver speed and flexibility for businesses of all sizes.” CSG Forte delivers a single, end-to-end payments platform that helps businesses and platforms mitigate fraud risks, comply with PCI requirements, and reduce the number of integrations needed to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively. With experience in payment processing (both ACH and Card payments), acceptance, authorization, and management, CSG Forte handles tens of billions of dollars in payments for more than 81,000 merchants annually. CSG Forte, the leading digital payments platform, was recognized by The Strawhecker Group as the Best Performing Payments Gateway in the 2022 Real Transaction Metrics Awards. In 2021, CSG Forte was recognized as the Best Point-of-Sale Company globally at the Fintech Breakthrough Awards and named the Best E-Commerce Gateway Platform at the Card Not Present Awards. Learn more about CSG Forte’s innovative, secure payment solutions that help customers scale payments smarter and grow their business faster. About CSG Forte CSG Forte, a CSG company, delivers scalable digital payments for smarter and faster business growth. Our world-class, award-winning technology offers a unified end-to-end payments platform that easily adapts to changing needs and empowers companies to transform their payments operations into a competitive business strategy. With CSG Forte, companies can process omnichannel payments and offer agnostic payment acceptance, shifting payments from a line-item expense to a profit center. CSG Forte manages billions of payments annually for over 81,000 merchants across government, telecom, insurance and other industries. For nearly 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. Our solutions deliver real world outcomes to more than 900 customers in over 120 countries. To learn more, visit www.forte.net and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter. 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: Jordy Spitale CSG +1 (504) 615 8820 Jordy.spitale@csgi.com John Rea Investor Relations +1 (210) 687-4409 John.rea@csgi.com Contact Details Tammy Hovey +1 917-520-2751 tammy.hovey@csgi.com Company Website https://www.csgi.com

February 03, 2022 06:37 AM Mountain Standard Time

Osmo From BYJU’s Names Kar-Han Tan, Ph.D., Head of Computer Vision and Machine Learning

Osmo

Award-winning STEAM brand, Osmo from BYJU’S, announces Kar-Han Tan’s appointment as Head of Computer Vision and Machine Learning, effective immediately. With three decades leading teams in robotics and AI research and development, Tan will further the development of a world-class computer vision and AI platform that aids in the creation of new products, games, and devices incorporating gains made in deep learning technology. In addition, he will lead a growing global team to research, develop, and optimize new algorithms for computer vision and AI-enabled features such as object detection, object recognition, hand tracking, pattern matching, and hand-drawing analysis, among others, all in an effort to create the best learning tools and outcomes.. “We were impressed by Kar-Han’s extensive experience leading R&D teams in robotics, AI, and deep learning,” says Mark Solomon, Senior Vice President of Products and Platform at BYJU’S. “His background will help Osmo expand the usage of computer vision technology across BYJU’S various products and platforms, further meeting the needs of learners of all ages everywhere.” Tan, who was born and educated in Singapore, most recently founded Helpful Robotics LLC, which designed and built an AI-enabled autonomous assistive robot from the ground up, and fostered a collaboration between scientists and engineers located in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the University of California San Francisco, and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “It’s an important moment for Osmo to capitalize on the explosive breakthroughs in computer vision technology driven by advances in deep learning in recent years,” says Tan, a father of two school-aged children who is passionate about kids’ at-home learning utilizing game-based play. “When combined with advances in neural engines and discoveries of new algorithms for devices, it offers a realm of new capabilities for all devices. Osmo is part of a new ‘space age,’ transforming what was previously imagined as sci-fi fantasy into a concrete reality within the realm of gamified learning and tools.” Between 2017 and 2019, Tan was Head of Product Research and Development at Singapore Telecommunications in Singapore, where he built and led an end-to-end research and development organization and led a number of engineering teams. He helped form the Singtel Cognitive and Artificial Intelligence Lab for Enterprise (SCALE) including a collaboration between Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), which focused on resolving various challenges faced by cities in keeping their infrastructure facilities in top working condition, through the use of smart sensors embedded with AI. Tan was also involved in product launches for a cloud-based open robotic fleet management platform, an AI-powered IoT platform, a smart camera system using Edge intelligence, and an immersive 3D physical security management system. Prior to this, Tan was Vice President of Engineering at NovuMind in Silicon Valley, where he formed and led the software and deep learning algorithms team, in addition to leading the development of a proprietary system for deep learning-based, real-time, unconstrained face recognition system that was installed in an office building in China, to monitor times of entries and exits. Before NovuMind, he was Principal Engineer at Hewlett Packard Personal Systems and later promoted to Head of Advanced Development. He served as technical lead for the computer vision software team for Sprout by HP, the first consumer product to integrate a 3D camera and incorporate 3D scanning capability. Tan’s research and development career also includes working for HP Labs, Epson, and Mitsubishi Electric Research Lab. Tan earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science specializing in computer vision technology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a M.S. in Computer Science specializing in robotics from UCLA, and a B.Sc. in Computer Science from National University of Singapore. Tan holds over 60 patents, and his research has been published and cited in numerous academic and trade journals. About Osmo From BYJU’S Osmo is an award-winning STEAM brand, wholly owned by BYJU’S, the leading global edtech company. Osmo and Osmo Education products are used in over 2.5 million homes and 50,000 classrooms, respectively. Osmo builds a universe of hands-on, curriculum-based learning experiences that nourish the minds of children by unleashing the power of imagination. The brand brings physical tools into the digital world through augmented reality and its proprietary reflective artificial intelligence. Learn more at PlayOsmo.com and Osmo Education. About BYJU’S Launched in 2011, BYJU’S is the world’s leading education technology company for students Pre K-12 and is beloved by 100 million students around the world. By making learning contextual and visual, not just theoretical, BYJU’S is paving the way for new-age, geography-agnostic learning tools that sit at the cross-section of mobile, interactive content and personalized learning methodologies. To learn more, go to: byjus.com/us. Contact Details Osmo Lisa Fujioka lisa@tangibleplay.com Company Website http://www.playosmo.com

February 03, 2022 05:00 AM Pacific Standard Time

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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION CALLS FOR END OF PRE-DEPARTURE COVID-19 TESTING FOR INBOUND VACCINATED TRAVELERS

Travel Tech

The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech), the voice of the travel technology industry, called for eliminating the testing requirement for US-bound vaccinated travelers based on data and science. On January 19, 2022, The World Health Organization recommended the following to state parties: “Lift or ease international traffic bans as they do not provide added value and continue to contribute to the economic and social stress experienced by States Parties. The failure of travel restrictions introduced after the detection and reporting of Omicron variant to limit international spread of Omicron demonstrates the ineffectiveness of such measures over time.” Steve Shur, President of Travel Tech, issued the following statement suggesting rebuilding the global travel and tourism sector by taking a risk-based, data-driven, long-term approach to the endemic: “Travel Tech’s members who maintain the transparent and competitive marketplace for travel, urge the US Government to act on behalf of travel consumers globally, who desperately want to get back to seeing family and friends, business travel and exploring the wonders of the world. With the recently announced WHO recommendations, Travel Tech fully supports revising US international travel restrictions that are aligned with prevailing data driven methodologies while calculating potential risks. Travel Tech urges the US government to eliminate the 24-hour pre-departure testing requirement for vaccinated inbound passengers. Governments around the globe continue implementing and revising a wide variety of vaccination, testing, and quarantine requirements. These measures failed to prevent the spread of Covid. Restrictions slowed the recovery of our collective economies and the travel and tourism industry overall. Reconsideration of these policies is overdue. The UK, Italy, Denmark, and others are leading by relaxing travel restrictions. The US can’t afford to wait any longer.” ### About Travel Tech The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) is the voice of the travel technology industry, advocating for public policy that promotes transparency and competition in the marketplace to encourage innovation and preserve consumer choice. Travel Tech represents the leading innovators in travel technology, including global distribution systems, online travel agencies and metasearch companies, travel management companies, and short-term rental platforms. To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Dan Rene of kglobal at 202-329-8357 or daniel.rene@kglobal.com. Please visit https://www.traveltech.org. Contact Details kglobal Dan Rene +1 202-329-8357 daniel.rene@kglobal.com Company Website https://www.traveltech.org.

February 02, 2022 06:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

Helmut Koller Partners with Roji Studios to Create New Level of NFTs

Roji Studios

Contemporary artist Helmut Koller and NFT studio Roji Studios have entered into a strategic partnership to bring digital fine art experiences to the world of NFTs. This partnership leverages the artistic talents of Helmut Koller and the powerhouse NFT production team at Roji Studios to bring the beauty of Kollerism to your wallet. “We see the utility and functionality NFT's can offer, but we also believe in the beauty of fine art and we are dedicated to showing how the two can work symbiotically. Helmut's understanding of NFT's and willingness to put the effort in to make his NFT's magnificent is exactly the type of artist we are thrilled to work with - fine art bringing NFT's to the next level.” (Martin Wawrusch, CEO of Roji Studios) Helmut Koller has been painting his iconic, colorful animals for over 25 years, and their vivid colors and personality are perfect for the NFT scene. Koller seeks to not just mint his paintings, but use technology to add another dimension. “I have a basic goal that I want to bring. I have actually written down my goal as a painter and it’s the same thing for creating NFTs: To create unique, outstanding and beautifully well executed paintings/NFTs. That’s totally interchangeable. They should be collected and appreciated and recognized all over the world. That’s what I want to get out of it, the big goal above everything.” (Helmut Koller) Roji Studios is most excited about Helmut’s vision for NFTs. “Helmut's willingness to jump into this new world of NFT's with enthusiasm, understanding and with so many incredible ideas for his art and for building his community, is very exciting for us and gives us room to spread our wings. His enthusiasm matches ours and therefore the possibilities are endless - it's a perfect partnership.” (Martin Wawrusch) About Roji Studios: Roji Studios is a full service NFT production company focused on creating world class NFT drops by partnering with established IP holders. Roji Studios incorporates both fully digital and augmented reality experiences and pairs it with DeFi and Real World NFTs while maintaining US compliance. As a subsidiary of Roji, Roji Studios have access to state of the art technical and legal resources. Web: https://rojistudios.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rojistudios Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rojistudios/?hl=en Helmut Koller Social Media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelmutKoller Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helmutkoller/?hl=en NFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/WildPixelsNFT NFT Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildpixelsnft/?hl=en Contact Details Amanda Whitcroft at Panda PR and Marketing, LLC www.pandapr.co amanda@pandapr.co Company Website https://rojistudios.com/

February 02, 2022 01:30 PM Eastern Standard Time

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CEPRES private market coverage eclipses 10,000 funds & 100,000 PE-backed companies

CEPRES

CEPRES — the leader in private market investing data and investment technology — today announced that its proprietary private market data now covers 100,000 PE-backed companies across 10,000 private market funds representing more than $35 trillion in value. CEPRES is the world’s largest private market investment data ecosystem, enabling the secure exchange and analysis of deal-level investment data between 4,000 LPs, GPs and fund of funds. This data represents more than 10,000 funds, 100,000 portfolio companies and more than $35 trillion in value. With better data at the core, CEPRES helps investors make true data-driven investment decisions and fulfill all linked portfolio management related requirements. CEPRES founder & chief executive officer Dr. Daniel Schmidt remarked, “Through CEPRES, investors can make truly data-driven private market investments and decisions. This milestone reflects the strong relationships we’ve built with GPs, LPs and the entire private market investment ecosystem since day one. We have several new products and solutions on the roadmap for early 2022, and expanded data access is at the core.” Private market investors use CEPRES to help drive better investment returns; de-risk investment decisions; review how their investment thesis holds up against actual fund, deal and operating performance comps; and much more. CEPRES reached the 10k funds / 100K company milestone following two years of hypergrowth, which included onboarding several of the most notable institutional investors and private equity firms and handling confidential investment data of 93% of the PEI Top 100 firms. CEPRES is the first platform built for the age of digital transformation in private markets. Our investment data platform provides real-time and predictive analytics to unlock better investment outcomes and drive better faster decisions. CEPRES clients leverage proprietary deal data and complete cash flows from the largest private market ecosystem, containing $35T in assets, 100K PE-backed companies, 10,000 funds, and 4,000 GPs and LPs. Accelerate your private equity digital transformation journey at CEPRES.com. Contact Details CEPRES Marc Allen marc.allen@cepres.com Company Website https://www.cepres.com

February 02, 2022 10:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

SURGING DAILY FANTASY SPORTS PLATFORM STATHERO’S NEWEST INNOVATIVE GAME PLAYS DRIVES PLAYER GROWTH WITH EASY AND LUCRATIVE NEW CONTESTS.

StatHero

StatHero, the next gen Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) platform with unprecedented winning percentages and an emphasis on skill over luck, is announcing the easiest, fastest way to get in on sports betting action with their ‘ PICK’EM’ games. StatHero is also offering players odds multipliers in select ‘ HEAD TO HEAD ’ house lineups. StatHero’s platform continues to breathe fresh new life into the DFS space with an 884% growth in annual revenue while still having their players clocking over a 50% winning percentage. The startup who has seemingly cracked the code between high player winning percentage and company profitability is launching another innovative new gameplay with the intent of solving the biggest issue for the daily fantasy player, their lack of time. StatHero’s PICK’EM game play is the fastest way to play the most familiar fantasy format against the house. Each contest simply pits two pre-selected and pre-posted fantasy teams against each other and players simply select which side they think will score more points. It’s been an immediate hit, especially in states where sports gaming has yet to be legalized. StatHero remains the ONLY independent fantasy sports company playable in 34 states (with more on the horizon) and with their PICK’EM gameplay players in those states no longer need to sift through hundreds of players to create a lineup. One click to pick a winner. It’s fantasy gameplay that fans love without the hours of analysis or tough decisions on who to start. Jason Jaramillo, CEO of StatHero: “We take a lot of pride in keeping things simple, fun and easy. And while the convergence of fantasy sports and sports gambling can be difficult, we think this new offering truly removes the intimidation and stigma surrounding daily fantasy sports and sports gaming altogether.” The breakthrough DFS platform has also upped the ante with their flagship ‘HEAD TO HEAD’ (H2H) contests, by offering up to 10x odds on select H2H contests to test players’ skills with bigger payouts. StatHero has launched a new challenge that gives players higher payouts on their plays if they can beat posted lineups with a lineup of a lesser salary. Putting players in control has been a hallmark of StatHero’s innovation and this new option is no different, giving players the ability to select the odds they want to play for. StatHero now offers 4 unique ways to play DFS against the house that appeal to players of all skill levels and risk profiles: PICK’EM, HEAD TO HEAD, PARLAYS and SURVIVOR POOLS. All games allow DFS players to go up against house lineups instead of long odds contests against unknown users or bogus prop plays. StatHero recently passed their $4 million Series A round of funding and is focusing on their Series B round of funding that is on the horizon for this year. For media/press inquiries on, please contact: Dianne Quirante, dianne@emcbowery.com About STATHERO Combining the best of fantasy sports and sports gaming, StatHero is a first of its kind daily fantasy sports platform. The company has exploded in growth since founded in 2019 in large part due it’s simple gameplay, low commitment and instant gratification. Stathero uses the familiar fantasy sports based format to allow players to compete against posted lineups across a variety of professional sports and game types including Survivor Pools, Head-to-Head and Fantasy Parlays. Their patent pending gameplay gives players an advantage unlike any other in fantasy sports. It’s truly daily fantasy the way it was meant to be played - one-on-one. For more information, visit: www.stathero.com and follow us on Twitter @StatHeroHq. Contact Details Dianne Quirante +1 323-654-0001 dianne@emcbowery.com Company Website https://stathero.com/

February 02, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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DistroTV Makes History as the First FAST to Debut an Original Feature Film with the Global Premiere of Its New Hispanic Film, "Escandalo Secreto"

DistroTV

DistroTV, the largest, independent, free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) platform, is set to make history as the first FAST to debut an original feature film with the global premiere of its new Hispanic film, “Escándalo Secreto: En Plena Cuarentena.” The comedy feature film, directed and written by Jorge Cano, will hit the DistroTV screen for its global premiere on February 25th. This marks the latest installment in DistroTV’s new, free-to-stream DistroTV Español channel bundle and comes on the heels of DistroTV’s recent expansion of its global distribution footprint, which now includes Latin American audiences. Translated to “Secret Scandal: In Quarantine,” “Escandalo Secreto” will debut exclusively on DistroTV Español and be available to all DistroTV audiences globally, including 17 countries in Latin America and in the U.S. where more than 53 million people speak Spanish. The Jorge Cano-helmed comedy features an international, all-star global cast including Alejandro Gutierrez, Danny Trejo, Ninel Conde, Lina Castrillon, Platanito, Nanis Ochoa, Armando Hernandez, Lorena Herrera, Reykon, Margarita Reyes, Alexander Ospina, Valentina Lizcano, Nitzia Chama, Ricardo Hill, Isabella Santiago, and Pancho Moler. The DistroTV original, based on COVID times and set in Bogota, Colombia, will have viewers laughing from beginning to end. “We were thrilled to work with such a diverse and talented group of artists on the making of this film, and to have DistroTV exclusively stream the worldwide premiere just makes sense,” says the film’s director, Jorge Cano. “DistroTV prides itself on streaming diversified content, content that will suit audiences of all backgrounds and interests. This movie premiere is special, because, to us, it represents the start of a movement -- one in which all streaming services take a better hand in helping to profile more creative talent, and to appeal to more viewers in the process.” “Right on the heels of our huge expansion into Latin America, we could not be more excited to break ground in the FAST industry and announce our debut of the first-ever direct-to-CTV original feature film,” said Navdeep Saini, co-founder and CEO of DistroScale, parent company of DistroTV. “Staying true to our commitment to continue to grow our content library to meet the needs of our growing and diverse global audience, we are so proud to premiere this original film on our platform. By also bringing exclusive Spanish-language content into our existing territories, we can ensure that this film will be seen all over the world in a time when we all could use a good laugh!” DistroTV continues to grow and diversify its 200+ channel content library. The platform’s strong programming lineup includes a mix of popular film and television shows, such Bloomberg, EuroNews, People TV, Magellan TV and TD Ameritrade network, as well as independent channels like Black Enterprise, as well as Kweli TV, which spotlights the rich history and global diversity of the Black community; and DistroTV Desi, its free-to-stream South Asian channel bundle. Audiences can enjoy these channels for free anywhere across a wide array of CTV and mobile devices, as well as on the web by visiting Distro.tv -- No registration. No credit cards. Stream for FREE. To become a viewer and / or understand which channels are available for live and / or Video-on-Demand (VoD) access in the various countries, visit https://www.distro.tv or install DistroTV for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google TV, LG TV, Samsung TV, Sony TV, iOS, or Android. View the official film trailer here. To access DistroTV Español, visit https://www.distro.tv/espanol/. About DistroTV DistroTV is the largest, independent, free, ad-supported streaming television service on the market. Launched in 2019 by parent company DistroScale, the platform caters to a multicultural, rapidly expanding, globally-minded audience of passionate viewers in the US, Canada, and UK. Satisfying the growing demand for premium video content in multiple languages, DistroTV delivers premium video content from producers globally across North America, the UK, Bollywood, Latin America, China, Southeast Asia, and growing. With more than 150 channels plus thousands of Video on Demand (VOD) shows, DistroTV cultivates content that covers a broad spectrum of topics to connect with people’s passion points around Entertainment, Lifestyle, Sports, News, Documentaries and International Content in live, linear and video-on-demand formats. DistroTV is available on the web, as well as through Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, Apple TV, LG TV, Samsung TV, Sony TV, and iOS and Android devices. About DistroScale DistroTV is the first direct-to-consumer offering from DistroScale, a technology company founded in 2013 and known for providing a global clientele of thousands of media properties with the industry's most comprehensive video platform for web, apps, and streaming. DistroScale is an all-in-one solution providing infrastructure, content delivery, curation, analytics and a full suite of monetization options. Video enabled by DistroScale reaches more than 250 million visitors per month. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. To become a DistroTV viewer, visit www.distro.tv. More information on DistroScale & DistroTV is available at www.distroscale.com. Contact Details Kite Hill PR Mackenzie Gavel +1 631-739-5716 distrotv@kitehillpr.com Company Website https://www.distro.tv

February 02, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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