NS8 Raises $123 Million Series A, Now Among Fastest Growing Fraud Prevention Platforms in the World

Latest Raise Led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and AXA Venture Partners

LAS VEGAS, June 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — NS8, an online fraud prevention company, announced the company has successfully closed $123 million in venture funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and AXA Venture Partners (AVP).

With this investment, NS8 will accelerate product development and expand its global reach with an increased focus on growing its vast partner network. The company has grown from 50 to over 200 employees within the last year, and hiring continues across sales, engineering, marketing, and infrastructure.

Lightspeed’s investment provides NS8 with access to the firm’s expansive global network, as well as a team of operators and advisors to help navigate challenges, build world-class teams, and support the company’s continued growth at all stages. 

“Online fraud prevention has grown rapidly due to the acceleration of ecommerce adoption by merchants and, with it, an increased threat of those seeking to attack online stores. Merchants of all sizes need to invest in security products to ensure a safe and secure online experience,” said Bradley Twohig, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. “NS8’s platform allows its partners and their merchants to stand up a full-service fraud prevention hub, in a matter of a day, across almost every ecommerce platform. The time to value is simply best in class.”

AVP has significant experience helping scale companies that leverage differentiated technology and efficient business models to drive innovation in enterprise software, fintech, consumer and digital health. With offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, AVP can also help NS8 accelerate its global expansion.

“NS8 has built a market-leading fraud detection and prevention platform combining advanced data analytics with real-time scoring. NS8’s rapid growth is a testament to the strength of the company’s product and the value NS8 delivers to its customers,” said Alex Scherbakovsky, General Partner at AXA Venture Partners and NS8 board member. “We are excited to partner with Adam and the NS8 team to scale the business globally.”

Throughout the recent global pandemic, NS8 continues to emerge as the fastest growing industry leader, with year-over-year revenue growth of 200 percent and a dedicated focus on aiding online vendors to make fraud decisions that protect their customers and their bottom line.

“Thanks to this investment from Lightspeed, AXA Venture Partners, and our full backing group, we can continue to scale to meet the growing demand for fraud prevention technology in the global marketplace,” said NS8 CEO Adam Rogas. “This partnership positions NS8 to empower even more businesses with enterprise-level fraud defenses, regardless of size or industry.”

About NS8
NS8 is a comprehensive fraud prevention platform that combines behavioral analytics, real-time scoring, and global monitoring to help online businesses minimize risk. Its patented scoring technology provides actionable data about the type, quality, and trustworthiness of transactions, which businesses leverage to automate fraud management workflows to suit their individual needs. NS8 is headquartered in Las Vegas, with regional offices located in San Francisco, San Ramon, Miami, Amsterdam, Singapore, and Melbourne. www.ns8.com

Crowell & Moring LLP served as legal counsel to NS8 in the fundraising transaction.

About Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise and Consumer sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 400 companies globally, including Snap, Nest, Nutanix, AppDynamics, MuleSoft, OYO, Guardant, StitchFix, and GrubHub. Lightspeed and its affiliates currently manage $10.5B across the global Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in Silicon Valley, Israel, India, China, Southeast Asia, and Europe. www.lsvp.com

About AXA Venture Partners
AXA Venture Partners (AVP) is a global venture capital firm investing in high-growth, technology-enabled companies. AVP has built, in less than five years, a unique investment platform specialized in tech investments with $800 million of assets under management through three pillars of investment expertise: early stage, growth stage, and fund of funds. To date, AVP has invested in more than 45 companies and more than 15 funds. The AVP team operates globally with offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong. Beyond investments, AVP provides unique access to business development opportunities helping portfolio companies to scale globally and accelerate their growth. www.axavp.com

LinkedIn: @ns8               Twitter: @ns8inc               NS8.com

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Source: NS8, Inc.

FICO Survey: Philippine Consumers more Comfortable Opening Bank Accounts with Smartphones than Americans and British

26 percent of Filipinos prefer to open a bank account on their phone compared to 18 percent in the US and 25 percent in the UK

MANILA, Philippines, June 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ —

Do Identity Checks by Philippine Banks Turn Away Customers?
Do Identity Checks by Philippine Banks Turn Away Customers?

Highlights:

  • The FICO Consumer Digital Banking Survey examines the preferences Filipino consumers have with digital bank account opening
  • The study found 26 percent of Filipinos prefer to open a bank account on their phone compared to 18 percent in the US and 25 percent in the UK
  • 76 percent of Filipino consumers said they would open a financial account online
  • Identity verification with too much friction could cost organizations over 40 percent of new account openings

More information: https://www.fico.com/identity

FICO, a global analytics software firm, has released its Consumer Digital Banking Survey which found Philippine consumers are more comfortable opening bank accounts on their smartphones than consumers in the US and the UK.

The study showed that 26 percent of Filipinos prefer to open a bank account on their phone, compared to 18 percent in the US and 25 percent in the UK.

“Filipino consumers are digital natives,” said Subhashish Bose, FICO’s lead for fraud, security and compliance in Asia Pacific. “Around 40 percent of Filipinos have a smartphone and according to a recent study they rank in the top 10 mobile internet users globally, spending an average of 4.58 hours a day on their phones.”

The study showed that digital account opening is rapidly becoming the norm in the Philippines, with 76 percent of consumers saying they would open some kind of financial account online.

Of those that would open a financial account online, 40 percent would consider doing so for an everyday transaction account, 38 percent for a credit card and 33 percent for a personal loan.

Bucking expectations, it was older consumers in the Philippines who were more likely to be leading the digital push with the youngest Filipinos being the laggards.

  • 46 percent of those over 55 years of age said they would open a bank account online
  • 40 to 45 percent of 25-34, 35-44 and 45-54 year-olds said they would do the same
  • While just 28 percent of 18-24-year-olds would open a bank account online

“The truth in the numbers here is far more nuanced,” explained Bose. “Younger Filipinos are adept at using smartphones and computers, however, many do not have the required identification forms to open bank accounts at a young age, don’t have regular income or are presented with bank account options that are not appealing. For example, many bank accounts in the Philippines require a minimum balance to avoid monthly account-keeping fees.

“As consumers’ reliance on online services grows in response to COVID-19, we expect further shifts in adoption and indeed an acceleration and acceptance in opening bank accounts digitally. It is important that banks closely examine any points of friction in their application process to ensure consumers are not abandoning a process or switching to a competitor,” said Bose.

Filipinos expect account opening to be fully digital

The survey found that a large percentage of Filipinos had an expectation that they should be able to complete all aspects of account opening online or on their phone.

Out of the regular identity checks needed to open an account, 67 percent of Filipinos thought they should be able to prove their identity by scanning documents or providing a selfie, 47 percent expected to prove where they live without going offline and 45 percent said they should be able to set up a biometric such as a fingerprint scan at account opening.

If all actions required to complete an account opening cannot be accomplished in-session, only 41 percent of respondents said they would carry out the necessary offline actions as soon as possible.

Around 33 percent thought they would eventually complete offline actions such as taking a phone call, posting documents, or visiting a branch. A further 13 percent said they would try a competitor while 5 percent said they would give up completely. Overall findings demonstrated that financial institutions in the Philippines that don’t facilitate a completely digital account opening experience could lose over 40 percent of their new business.

“There is research to show that only 6 to 9 percent of applicants move through the funnel and complete the process,” said Bose. “Banking executives should review the application completion for authenticated versus non-authenticated applications, as well as how many applicants with saved or abandoned applications return to complete the process.”

FICO’s Consumer Digital Banking Survey was produced using an online, quantitative poll of 5,000 adults (over 18) across 10 countries carried out on behalf of FICO by an independent research company. The countries surveyed were: Brazil, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Sweden, UK and the USA.

About FICO
FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956 and based in Silicon Valley, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 195 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 100 countries do everything from protecting 2.6 billion payment cards from fraud, to helping people get credit, to ensuring that millions of airplanes and rental cars are in the right place at the right time.

Join the conversation on Twitter at @FICOnews_APAC.

FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the US and other countries

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TECH I.S. Fixes ‘the E-learning Bug’ by Filling the Gap Between the New Age E-learning and Old School Learning

TOKYO, June 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Due to COVID-19 pandemic, lots of business operations and services took a hit and it is totally unclear when these operations will resume normalcy. Many people use the isolation time to learn new things and acquire new skills, as a result Edu-Tech is booming in this pandemic situation. However, E-Learning has one problem. Almost 95% of candidates or students give-up due to lack of guidance of coding or motivation.

TECH I.S. - SKILL WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
TECH I.S. – SKILL WHAT YOU CAN LEARN

To solve this problem, TECH I.S. offers programs where students can get on a Zoom call with tutors and learn programming and they can also get career guidance from their dedicated consultant so they can start their professional career as programmers once they complete their course.

As a global programming school curated to fill the void in the Edu-Tech space, TECH I.S. has three branches in Silicon Valley (USA), Tokyo (Japan) and Bengaluru (India). The majority of the curriculum is made by Silicon Valley engineers, which includes Web Application Development and Data Science course. TECH I.S. was started from Japan as an offline programming school and helped over 300 students to become professionals in the Information Technology industry with industry-relevant curriculum and to make a professional web application portfolio.

TECH I.S. is on a mission to fill the gap between the new age E-learning and old school learning to make online learning more simple and efficient. With increasing practice of social distancing, online learning from a tutor becoming the better alternate mode of education.

TECH I.S. is currently operating from India and Japan, the tutors are based out of Bangalore, Tokyo, and Silicon Valley. The programs are available for anyone who has the passion to become a programmer. TECH I.S. offers Full-Time as well as Part-Time curriculum for 3 months and 6 months respectively.

For more information, please visit or contact:
TECH I.S.
https://techis.io/
support@techis.io 

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Source: TECH I.S.

RÉDUIT’s Haircare System Tops Trending Lists Less Than a Month After Launch

The RÉDUIT One and Hairpods™, which utilize proprietary micro-misting technology, have outpaced some of the hottest beauty gadgets out there.

NEUCHÂTEL, Switzerland, June 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — RÉDUIT’s products, the RÉDUIT One applicator and their line of Hairpods™ haircare treatments, have stormed to the no. 2 position on TrendHunter.com‘s “Top 100 Gadget Trends in June 2020” list on June 10th, leaving behind a bunch of world-renowned brands like Microsoft, Intel, Samsung, Nintendo.

RÉDUIT Shine Diffusion Hairpods(TM) - infuse hair with a lustrous shine in just seconds
RÉDUIT Shine Diffusion Hairpods(TM) – infuse hair with a lustrous shine in just seconds

TrendHunter is the world’s largest trend community, with more than 20,000,000 monthly views. Known for leveraging big data, researchers, and AI to identify consumer insights, they actively seek out the world’s most innovative companies and ideas. The trend experts gave RÉDUIT’s products a rating of 9.8 out of 10, and wrote, “RÉDUIT offers products […] which have the potential to transform the way people apply their hair products.”

RÉDUIT is on a mission to deliver smarter, superior, and more sustainable beauty concepts, without the usual compromise on quality or innovation. The RÉDUIT One device and Hairpods™ form a comprehensive haircare delivery system that enhances the application of proven haircare ingredients with never-seen-before efficiency in the haircare industry. The system relies on proprietary magnetic-misting technology to improve both application and absorption in haircare treatments. Hairpods™ are pre-packed formulations free of unnecessary ingredients usually used as fillers, thickeners or stabilizers, which allow for 38 times better performances while creating less waste.

“This is an important milestone, as it shows that a beauty product can be as exciting as the world’s best gadgets from the top brands. Trend data validates our view that beauty devices are no longer regarded as accessories.  They are now seen as necessities that make our lives easier, our beauty routines more efficient, and deliver performance that far exceeds manual application” says Paul Peros, the CEO of RÉDUIT.

This news comes in the wake of a number of recent initiatives and accomplishments on the part of the company, including the announcement of an ambitious 20:20 launch campaign, where a new product will be released every week for 20 weeks.

RÉDUIT has recently won the Best Special Innovation award at the Pure Beauty Global Awards 2020 for their Hairpods™ line.  To learn more about RÉDUIT, visit their website at www.reduit.com.

About RÉDUIT:

In French ‘Réduit’ means ‘reduced’. We reduce packaging. Amplify results. Reduce time. Amplify efficacy. Reduce steps. Amplify beauty.

RÉDUIT was created with one vision: to revolutionize the everyday beauty routine.  We started in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, with the dream of creating truly superior beauty products. From performance to sustainability and user-friendliness, we design products that truly elevate the everyday.

Set on raising the bar for professional and at-home beauty solutions that deliver on one simple promise: enhancing the results and experience while reducing the unnecessary.

For more information on RÉDUIT, visit our Media Center (https://reduit.com/media/), or contact us directly at media@reduit.com

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Infosys Launches ‘Return to Workplace’ Solutions to Help Enterprises Build Safe, Nurturing and Resilient Workplaces

BENGALURU, India, June 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Infosys (NYSE: INFY), the global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today announced the launch of its enterprise-grade ‘Return to Workplace’ solutions to help clients ensure safety and wellness of their employees as they adapt to new ways of working amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The cloud and edge-based solutions offer a comprehensive framework that enables enterprises to implement:

  • Elevated Body Temperature (EBT) screening – Leverages automation and AI on Edge to help enterprises screen their workforce or visitors in real-time for possible infection to isolate them and prevent them from entering the establishment.
  • Contact Tracing – Redefining the contact tracing category using proven technologies like GPS and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) to provide completely voluntary and Opt-In basis for building traceability.
  • Mask Compliance / Social Distancing Compliance – Video analytics algorithms to provide alerts when masks are not detected, or the distance between people walking together or gathering at a place is not sufficient. Smart wearables can also be incorporated based on the specific situations.
  • COVID-19 Chatbot – An AI-powered Digital Assistant solution to help answer employee queries related to return to work scenarios
  • Contactless biometrics – Ensures employees and visitors enter workplaces in a safe manner
  • Occupancy and workspace analytics – To help real estate teams track metrics on floor occupancy, density and automate sanitation routines in common areas. Contactless elevator workflows, HVAC refresh cycles and many more solutions towards ongoing workplace wellbeing.

These solutions do not collect any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and use the power of AI, IOTVision Analytics, Edge Computing, 5G, RFID, Biometrics and Gesture controls to reduce the need for human intervention and enable data-driven decision making. The underlying platform ensures ease of maintenance and compliance reporting as required in various geographies.

Nitesh Bansal, SVP and Head- Engineering Services, Infosys, said, “The future of work will demand innovative solutions that enterprises can deploy rapidly, and at scale to ensure safety of their workforce while at the same time nurture collaboration and productivity. We are pleased to launch our ‘Return to Workplace’ offering that is aimed at positively impacting the re-opening of workspaces in a seamless, automated, and systematic manner. We are implementing some of these solutions, starting with EBT checks, across five million sq. ft. of our own office spaces as we prepare for 20,000 Infosys employees to return to their workplaces in a phased manner. We are confident that these solutions will reassure enterprises and employees that their workplaces are safe, collaborative, yet non-intrusive.”

These solutions adhere to data privacy standards and practices with FDA, FCC, ISO, and IEC compliance.

Mukesh Dialani, Program Director of Product Engineering and Operations Technology/Services, IDC, said, “Infosys’ scalable and flexible ‘Return to Workplace’ solution is timely and well thought out. Adhering to data privacy standards and built on a foundation of digital engineering elements including computer vision, edge and AI, it will provide customers with processes and solutions to restart their operations in a safe and resilient manner.”

To know more on how ‘Return to Workplace’ solutions came about, and watch Nitesh Bansal tell the story, click here: https://www.infosys.com/newsroom/infytv/making-our-way-back-to-workplace.html

About Infosys Ltd.

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 46 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With nearly four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the ‘safe harbor’ under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019. These filings are available at www.sec.gov . Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.

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CQG Licenses Software Assets from Blue Trading Systems (BTS) to Deploy Exclusive, Robust Suite of Custom Algorithms, Low-Latency Spreader Environment

Kevin Darby, BTS Co-Founder and Managing Partner, to Lead Integration, Implementation as CQG Product Manager

CHICAGO and DENVER, June 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — CQG, a leading global provider of high-performance technology solutions for traders, brokers, commercial hedgers, and exchanges, today announced that it has just completed a transaction to license certain software assets from Blue Trading Systems (BTS). The move will give CQG an exclusive, comprehensive suite of custom algorithmic strategies to offer clients, along with new low-latency spread routing for spread traders.

The new, cutting-edge technology is designed to give traders access to strategies offering the best execution across a range of markets.  CQG is integrating the new algos and execution logic into its full suite of trading products, allowing for a range of choices for traders and brokers who seek anything from low-cost, easy-to-use products to more advanced, sophisticated trading platforms.

The firm also announced that Kevin Darby, formerly Co-Founder and Managing Partner of BTS, has joined CQG as a Product Manager, overseeing the product strategy for its spreader and algo offerings. In that role he will also oversee the integration and implementation of the new customized CQG offering based on the BTS software.  

When the integration is complete, CQG’s existing infrastructure, coupled with new low-latency spread routing, will give new power to traders and hedgers, letting them decide when to turn on faster routing in some markets and standard order routing in others.  CQG’s industry-leading simulation and back-testing tools will allow users to test strategies in as near real-market conditions as possible. They can then leverage transaction cost analysis (TCA) features to review performance, giving users full visibility into the benefits of deploying their proposed strategies.

CQG President Ryan Moroney said: “One of the things that stands out from the market activity over the last few months has been the incredible velocity with which markets can react to world events.  During this time of high volatility, we had numerous internal discussions on product enhancements we could make to provide our customers with new solutions designed for these market conditions.  We’ve known the BTS team for a few years and have always admired the care that has gone into its products.  When the opportunity came up to license the BTS code as well as to bring Kevin on to lead the new offering, we seized on it. This approach provides us with the basis for building a high-performance algo and spreading platform that will allow our customers to thrive in markets like these.”

Darby said: “I’m thrilled to join the highly skilled and well-respected group of professionals at CQG in an effort to build out both a comprehensive institutional algo suite and a new, faster spreader platform.  Licensing the BTS code affords us a familiar low-latency foundation on which to pursue this exciting endeavor.”

About CQG:

CQG provides the industry’s highest performing solutions for traders, brokers, commercial hedgers, and exchanges for their market-related activities globally, including trading, market data, advanced technical analysis, risk management, and account administration. The firm partners with the vast majority of futures brokerage and clearing firms and provides Direct Market Access (DMA) to more than 45 exchanges through its global network of co-located Hosted Exchange Gateways. CQG technology serves as the front end for a variety of exchanges, and the firm’s technology is increasingly employed as the over-the-counter matching engine for important new markets. CQG’s server-side order management tools for spreading, market aggregation, and smart orders are unsurpassed for speed and ease of use. Its market data feed consolidates 85 sources, including exchanges worldwide for futures, options, fixed income, foreign exchange, and equities, as well as data on debt securities, industry reports, and financial indices. One of the longest-serving technology solutions providers in the industry, CQG is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2020. CQG has received the Prop Traders’ ISV of the Year award from FOW (now Global Investor Group), the Best Technical Analysis Platform award from The Technical Analyst, and the Best Product for Traders award from Finance Magnates for its multi-asset trading platform. CQG is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with 16 sales and support offices and data centers in key markets globally.

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European Deep-tech Champion IQM Receives More Than €20M of New Funding

Simultaneously IQM unveils its first quantum computer design to set the phase in the technology roadmap

ESPOO, Finland, June 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — IQM Finland Oy (IQM), a leading European company for quantum computer hardware, was just awarded a €2.5M grant and up to €15M of equity investment from the EIC Accelerator program for the development of quantum computers, benefiting the industry and the society at large. Together with Business Finland grants of €3.3M that IQM received so far, the company is on a fast run with more than €20M more raised in less than a year from its €11.4M seed round, summing in total to €32M.

IQM quantum computer design
IQM quantum computer design

IQM has experienced amazing growth, set up a fully functional research lab in record time, and also hired the largest industrial quantum hardware team in Europe. With the help of this new €20M, IQM will hire one quantum engineer per week and take an important next step to commercialize the technology through co-design of quantum-computing hardware and applications.

Quantum computers will be funded by European governments, supporting IQM´s expansion strategy to build quantum computers in Germany,” says Dr. Jan Goetz, CEO and co-founder of IQM.

Last week, the Finnish government announced they will support the acquisition of a quantum computer with €20.7M for the Finnish State Research center VTT.

“It has been a mind-blowing forty-million past week for quantum computers in Finland. IQM staff is excited to work together with VTT, Aalto University, and CSC in this ecosystem,” rejoices Prof. Mikko Möttönen, Chief Scientist and co-founder of IQM.

This announcement was followed by the German government with €2b and to immediately commission the construction of at least two quantum computers. IQM sees this as an ideal point to expand its operations in Germany.

“With our growing team in Munich, IQM will build co-design quantum computers for commercial applications and install testing facilities for quantum processors,” states Prof. Enrique Solano, CEO of IQM Germany.

Quantum computing will radically transform the lives of billions of people. Applications range from game-changing invention of medicine and novel materials to the discovery of economic models and sustainable processes.

“We are witnessing a boost in deep-tech funding in Europe, very important now. For a healthy growth of startups like IQM, we need all three funding channels: (1) research grants to stimulate new key innovations, (2) equity investments to grow the company, (3) early adoption through acquisitions supported by the government. This allows to pool the risk while creating a new industry and business cases,” says Dr. Goetz. 

IQM is focusing on superconducting quantum processors, which are streamlined for commercial applications in a novel Co-Design approach.

“With the new funding and immense support from the Finnish and the European governments, we are ready to scale technologically. This brings us closer to quantum advantage thus providing tangible commercial value in near-term quantum computers,” adds Dr. Kuan Yen Tan, CTO and co-founder of IQM.

IQM ranks in the top 2% of all European deep tech startups applying for the highly competitive EIC Accelerator program

Thanks to its strong technology and business plan, IQM was one of the 72 to succeed in the very competitive selection process of the EIC. Altogether 3969 companies applied for this funding.

The €15M equity component of the EIC can be an ideal contribution to IQM’s Series A funding round.” says a beaming Dr. Juha Vartiainen, COO and co-founder of IQM.

The new funding also supports IQM´s recent establishment of its new underground quantum computing infrastructure capable of housing the first European farm of quantum computers. IQM provides the full hardware stack for a quantum computer, integrating different technologies, and invites collaborations with quantum software companies. Brilliant quantum software engineers are also welcomed to join IQM.

About IQM:
https://www.meetiqm.com/company/#aboutus

IQM videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvjqSqZiJ715XVH3O3IF93Q

About EIC Accelerator (SME instrument) program:
https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/news/eic-accelerator-offers-new-blend-grants-and-equity

About Business Finland:
https://www.businessfinland.fi/en/for-finnish-customers/about-us/in-brief/

IQM PR CONTACTS 

IQM Contacts for questions and comments: 

Dr Jan Goetz 
CEO, IQM 
email: jan@meetiqm.com   
tel. +358 505 666 483  
(English & German) 

Prof Mikko Möttönen 
Chief Scientist, IQM 
email: mikko@meetiqm.com 
tel. +358 505 940 950  
(English & Finnish) 

Dr Kuan Yen Tan 
Chief technology officer, IQM 
email: kuan@meetiqm.com 
tel. +358 504 778 091  
(English & Chinese) 

IQM's CEO and Co-founder Dr Jan Goetz at IQM's new lab, in Espoo, Finland
IQM’s CEO and Co-founder Dr Jan Goetz at IQM’s new lab, in Espoo, Finland

 

IQM founders: Dr Kuan Yen Tan (CTO), Prof Mikko Möttönen (Chief Scientist), Dr Jan Goetz (CEO), Dr Juha Vartiainen (COO).
IQM founders: Dr Kuan Yen Tan (CTO), Prof Mikko Möttönen (Chief Scientist), Dr Jan Goetz (CEO), Dr Juha Vartiainen (COO).

 

Bright Pattern Contact Center Deployed by the Leading Real Estate Marketplace in the US

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, California, June 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Bright Pattern, a leading provider of AI-powered cloud contact center software for innovative companies, announced today that it was deployed by the leading real estate marketplace in the US to support customers over voice and chat. The company is dedicated to empowering consumers with data and inspiration around the place they call home. The company plans to empower customers in 2020 with a tight integration between its mobile app and the Bright Pattern platform to provide seamless connectivity to live support agents from within the app.

The online real estate company selected Bright Pattern as its cloud contact center provider because of Bright Pattern’s ability to handle innovative channels like in-app communication (talk, chat, or share documents within the mobile app), enterprise scalability, simple deployment, ease of use, and out-of-box integration with Zendesk CRM.

“Like most companies shifting to work-from-home due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, this enterprise customer needed a cloud solution that would empower their agents to effortlessly work from home with full connection to their mobile application and existing solutions,” said Michael McCloskey, CEO at Bright Pattern. “Deploying a virtual contact center can be a hard task, but Bright Pattern helps by providing a platform that connects agents and teams while utilizing AI and automation to reduce contact center expenses and assist remote agents. Bright Pattern is helping enterprises across the globe migrate to the cloud and adopt omnichannel to provide a more effortless experience between multiple channels like in-app and voice. Bright Pattern’s omnichannel platform has built-in capabilities for a customer to initiate a live phone conversation or video conversation directly from the self-service mobile app.”

Bright Pattern Mobile App Customer Support
Bright Pattern offers in-app customer service, empowering your customers to request live assistance directly from their mobile apps. Customers no longer have to start a call, listen to menu prompts, wait on hold, identify themselves, or explain why they are calling.

Bright Pattern Mobile App Features:

  • One-click dialing and messaging directly from the mobile app for voice and video escalation
  • Customer context carried from app to other channel (ie. customer data is sent to the live agent so that the customer never has to repeat themselves)
  • Customer notification when an agent is ready, eliminating hold time
  • Mobile messenger integration with Facebook Messenger, LINE, Telegram, Twitter, Viber, and WeChat
  • Photo and media sharing within the app (ie. a car insurance customer can send an image of a car accident directly through the mobile app when filing a claim)
  • Two way mobile messaging offers a convenient way to inform customers about deliveries, purchases, or suspicious activities
  • Surveys can be offered at the end of all mobile interactions
  • In-context reporting over all channels for a comprehensive view
  • CRM integration for data consolidation and ease of use for agents

Bright Pattern Zendesk Integration
The Bright Pattern Zendesk integration leverages the information contained in your Zendesk CRM with Bright Pattern’s omnichannel cloud call center solution to provide an exceptional agent and customer experience.

Benefits of Out-of-the-box Zendesk Integration:

  • Agent empowerment through unified agent desktop
  • True omnichannel routing engine
  • Customizable customer journey
  • Robust omnichannel analytics

Read more on our Bright Pattern + Zendesk Use Cases:

About Bright Pattern 
Bright Pattern provides the simplest and most powerful AI-powered contact center for innovative midsize and enterprise companies. With the purpose of making customer service brighter, easier, and faster than ever before, Bright Pattern offers the only true omnichannel cloud platform with embedded AI that can be deployed quickly and nimbly by business users—without costly professional services. Bright Pattern allows companies to offer an effortless, personal, and seamless customer experience across channels like voice, text, chat, email, video, messengers, and bots. Bright Pattern also allows companies to measure and act on every interaction on every channel via embedded AI omnichannel quality management capability. The company was founded by a team of industry veterans who pioneered the leading contact center solutions and today are delivering architecture for the future with an advanced cloud-first approach. Bright Pattern’s cloud contact center solution is used globally in over 26 countries and 12 languages.

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LIZHI Ranks Among Top 50 Cultural Enterprises in Guangzhou, China

GUANGZHOU, China, June 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — LIZHI INC. (“LIZHI” or the “LIZHI App” or “the Company”) (NASDAQ: LIZI), a leading online UGC audio community and interactive audio entertainment platform in China, has been ranked one of the “Top 50 Cultural Enterprise” in Guangzhou, China. The ranking is part of a study conducted by Guangzhou institute for society studies, South China Daily and Guangzhou Association for Cultural and Creative Industries to analyze and evaluate the economic significance of the cultural industry of the city.

The live-streaming industry in China has seen a dramatic boom in recent years. As of March 2020, the number of live-streaming users surged to 560 million with the number of viewers tuning in live-streaming e-commerce events reaching 265 million, according to report from the China Internet Network Information Center. The market has also seen major industry players such as Tiktok, Alibaba and Kuaishou achieved enormous commercial success.

With the launch of 5G network and the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has accelerated the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT), Guangzhou, a city in southern China, which is home to numerous tech and internet giants, is on track to create an economic model developing a diverse ecosystem of live-streaming, spanning music, gaming, audio, entertainment, traveling, commerce and intangible cultural heritage. The huge potential of the audio market in China will also propel audio-sharing platforms to usher in a new era of on-demand and streaming content.

Against this backdrop, LIZHI has become the most extensive online UGC audio community and one of the Top 100 Internet Companies in China with total revenue of RMB 1.2 billion  (USD 170 million) in 2019. 2020 marks a new milestone for LIZHI, which has seen the Company’s Q1 revenue surge by 42% year-over-year to RMB 370 million  (USD 52.3 million). The growth has brought a new record high of average monthly active users and creators, which stands at 54.5 million and 6.2 million, respectively. The average number of monthly paying users also soared by 60% this year, to over 450,000.

Backed by its unique business model, LIZHI is riding this technological momentum to create an audio community where everyone not only can enjoy informative and engaging user-generated audio content but also design, share and connect through voices across cultures and countries. Powered by AI, LIZHI’s proprietary tools for audio creation enable creatorsto fine-tune recordings and produce innovative sound effects while streamlining the process of creation, production and distribution.

“As we build a vibrant platform and community for our users and creators, we want to offer the resources they need to thrive. LIZHI now boasts user-generated content across 27 categories including relationship advice, family, education, music and talk shows,” said Mr. Marco Lai, Founder and Chief Executive Officerof LIZHI. “We are particularly proud to see that our community is helping low-skilled workers and people with disabilities connect with the world via their vocal talent.”

LIZHI has been developing powerful tools with partners to help creators connect to and grow their audience. In 2019, LIZHI worked in partnership with Baidu, a technology company specializing in Internet-based services and artificial intelligence, to create Xiaodu smart speakers that come equipped with built-in features allowing users to better engage with listeners during audio-streaming sessions. Looking forward, the Company will continue to develop new ways of distributing content for IoT devices, optimize interactive features and user interface to create a better experience for all users.

For more information, please visit: http://ir.lizhi.fm/

About LIZHI INC.

LIZHI INC. is a leading online UGC audio community and interactive audio entertainment platform in China, with a mission to enable everyone to showcase vocal talent. The Company is aiming to bring people closer together through voices. 

Since the launch of its Lizhi app in 2013, LIZHI has cultivated a vibrant and growing community encouraging audio content creation and sharing. Now LIZHI is an audio wonderland offering a wide range of podcasts and audio entertainment products and features, including audio live streaming and various interactive audio social products, empowering users to enjoy an immersive and diversified entertainment experience through audio.

LIZHI envisions a global audio community – a place where everyone can create, share and connect with each other through voices and across cultures.

Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lizhi-ranks-among-top-50-cultural-enterprises-in-guangzhou-china-301074274.html

realme is Not All About Smartphones Anymore!

IoT was the keyword of last year. That does not mean that IoT is an outdated concept though. It is still a big thing as we are going into the 5G era. But IoT is also not a new concept even coming into 2019. Our smartwatches are considered IoT devices. These smartwatches have existed for several years now. 

Of course, ever since we saw the first smartwatch, everyone wants to be a part of that smart wearable market. The accessories market, after all, is one of the most profitable. realme, being on of the major players in the smartphone market is one of those companies that has delved into the IoT product market. In fact, they have been one of the fastest growing manufacturers in the segment. 

Their growth rate is nothing curious though. The brand has been offering very compelling products at extremely attractive and accessible prices. Think about it, would you buy a TWS earbuds for MYR 599 or MYR 199 when they do the same things? The only real difference is probably in the branding. Okay, to be fair, there are some differences here and there in different aspects. But hey, the better accessibility also means that you can sell more of it since it is less painful to your pockets. 

With the kind of success they enjoy, they are going to expand on other wearable and smart living products. It is quite inevitable too; everyone is getting into the wearable game that was conquered by the likes of Samsung. So, in addition to their previously launched realme Buds TWS earbuds, they launched even more products today. 

realme Buds Air Neo 

Firstly, they launched a new and improved TWS earbuds. They call it the realme Buds Air Neo. No, it does not come with noise cancelling technology. But it is an all-around better product with a slightly larger drivers at 13mm. They come with 17 hours of battery life too in total too. Also, it is a Bluetooth 5.0 device. Now also, you can wear it to the gym with zero worries since it is an IPX4 device. You might be able to wear it in the showers too. Just make sure it does not go into the drain.  

realme Buds Q 

They also launched another TWS earbuds. They launched the realme Buds Q that is supposed to have even more battery life at up to 20 hours of music playback time. Instead of the Apple Earpods-esque design, this is a more conventional design that we are used to. It has the usual silicon eartips that fit into your ears and seal the sounds in for a passive noise cancelling. Even with a smaller 10mm drivers, you should not lose too much performance on the earbuds. Still, because of the smaller drivers, it is light too at 3.9g each side 

It comes with its own set of touch sensitive controls for a seamless design. The charging and storage case is also different with a pebble like design for a better looking fit and feel in the hands. It feels more natural. Of course, that is to be expected when they engaged Hermés’ designer josé Lévy. 

realme watch 

Source: realme

Then there is the realme watch. The realme watch is realme’s answer to the Fitbit Versa, HUAWEI Watch GT, Samsung Galaxy Watch, and even the Apple Watch. At first glances, it looks more like the Fitbit Versa and Apple Watch combined. The rotating crown and button combination of the Apple Watch is nowehere to be found. In their place is a Fitbit Versa-eque button but in the wrong place.  

Greeting you from your wrist is a 1.4-inch touch sensitive display that is quite a staple for plenty of smartwatches these days. Like any respectable smartwatches too the realme watch has all the right sensors including a full-time heart rate sensor. It is also made to be water resistant with IP68 so you can wear it to the gym, or even in the showers with no fuss.  

The realme watch does not look like it is running on Google Wear though. Instead realme builds their own version of a wearable operating system that fits the squared face better. Of course, it comes with multiple watchfaces that you can swap to anytime you like. The watch that has 14 sports modes will connect with your smartphones via the realme proprietary Link Smart App for all the health data and additional settings to be controlled on your smartphone.  

realme Band 

If you are not looking for something as complex as a smartwatch though, you have the realme Band. While it looks like just any other smart fitness tracker band thing that you can get from the likes of Samsung and even Fitibit, it is a little bit more special. You do not need any USB docks or wires to charge the device. No, it is not wireless charging in a sense, it is still docked charging, just that you do not need anything other than the watch itself to charge. Simply remove the bottom part of the strap and plug it into your PC or power bank or wall charger via USB port to start charging it.  

You get 0.95-inch of colours from the watchface with a full-time heart rate sensor. You also get to track your daily activities with the built-in 9 modes. It is also IP68 rated so you still can take it from the gym to the showers with zero concerns over your device dying on you. 

Power Banks 

Of course, everyone is in extended power game now. Realme has their own attractive looking, striking coloured realme Power Bank line-up too. They introduced their new Power Bank 2 with multiple charging ports that supports up to 18W power output with USB Type-C two-way charging. This is a 10,000 mAh power pack, which also means it can charge most of your smartphones twice over 

They also launched another variant of their Power Bank – the realme 30W Dart Charge Power Bank. As its name suggest, this power pack charges devices at up to 30W to drain its 10,000mAh capacity in no time. Yes, it charges multiple devices at one go too.  

Price and Availability 

The realme Buds Air Neo will be available in three colours – Pop White, Punk Green, and Rock Red. It will be available on the 22nd of June onward exclusively on Shopee at this time for MYR 199. If you do go on Shoppe to buy the TWS earbuds on the 22nd and 23rd of June, on the realme exclusive flash sales on Shopee though, you can get your Buds Air Neo at MYR 79.  

The pretty looking realme Buds Q will be available in either Yellow, Pure white, or Black colour options. You are looking at July if you want your hands on one. There are no prices announced yet for this one, so stay tune to realme’s website or Facebook page

realme’s watch will be available in Black, but you can interchange your strap to different colours. That will also be available with realme watch on the 12th June onward for MYR 299. If you get it on realme’s exclusive flash sales on Shopee though, you can get your hands on one for MYR 249 only. 

The realme Band will also only be available later from 22nd June onward. It will be available in three colours variants – Yellow, Black and Green. On 22nd and 23rd realme exclusive flash sales on Shopee, you can get your hands on the realme Band at MYR 79 instead of its full retail price of MYR 129. 

The Power Banks that realme introduced today will be available in two colour options – Yellow and Black. The Power Bank 2 with 18W charging will be available on the 12th June 2020 onward. On that day’s exclusive flash sales on Shopeee, you can get the Power Bank 2 for MYR 99 instead of MYR 129. The Dart Charge Power Bank will only be available somewhere in July with no announced price tag just yet. For more information on all their launched products, you can head over to their website