Latest News – Page 729

Moledao launches pioneering Web 3.0 Hackathon on the metaverse

November 17, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Moledao, a social platform for blockchain enthusiasts, announced today its upcoming Web 3.0 Hackathon. This pioneering global hackathon will be held in the metaverse, and take place from 15th November 2021 to 9th January 2022. Web 3.0 is the vision for the next internet generation that is decentralized, verifiable and secure.

Participants are invited to work on real-life solutions related to the main hackathon theme of Web 3.0 with the three recommended tracks:

Multi-chain Decentralized Applications (dApps) – create cross-chain interoperability solutions
Metaverse – create a purpose-built metaverse or build on top of existing metaverses
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) – build and govern truly community-owned DAO initiatives

Participants will have the opportunity to obtain VC institutional investment, industry mentorship and win a total of $100K in grants and prizes. Moledao, a global blockchain ecosystem builder, wants to bring the best developers together to turn innovative blockchain ideas into reality and is hosting the Web 3.0 Hackathon to bolster this goal.

Web 3.0 Hackathon is supported by Bybit, BitDAO, Web3 Collective and Blockchain Infrastructure Alliance, which includes established organizations like EthSign, Mask, Torus, Biconomy, Polygon, PingCAP, and Alchemy Pay. The hackathon aims to be a platform that empowers developers to create projects that are innovative, user-friendly and applicable in real-life.

Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou explained, “Web 3.0 is an exciting space to be in. We now have an opportunity to wrestle back power from the few Web 2.0 giants and return it to the greater internet community. We are delighted to support Moledao’s hackathon, and help encourage and empower developers to buidl the Web 3.0 future together.”

Co-founder of EthSign (Web3 Collective Initiator, a consortium of Web 3.0 projects) Potter Li commented, “Blockchain innovations that make low-cost decentralized computing and storage possible give rise to Web3 applications that have user experiences as frictionless as Web2 applications. EthSign is built on this vision. We wish to partner with leading Web3 projects to push forward the development and adoption of the decentralized internet.”

“Our goal is to solve the key infrastructure problems to help advance the entire blockchain industry. The vision of Alchemy Pay and BIA are quite aligned with Moledao’s Hackathon. We believe in blockchain that provide utility and benefits readily accessible to the rest of the world and look forward to more innovations in these areas,” said John Tan, Founding Partner of Blockchain Infrastructure Alliance (BIA).

New and exciting things are gradually shaping the future, which brings our reality closer to the Web 3.0 dream. Register now for the hackathon and free exclusive Web 3.0 related workshops here.

Sportradar Announces Strong Third Quarter 2021 Financial Results

November 17, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Sportradar Group AG , a leading global technology platform enabling next generation engagement in sports, and the number one provider of business-to-business solutions to the global sports betting industry, today announced financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2021.

Third Quarter 2021 Highlights

Revenue in the third quarter of 2021 increased 30% compared to the third quarter of 2020 to €136.8 million ($158.7 million)¹, driven by robust growth across all geographies and business segments
Continued strong performance in the U.S. market with U.S. revenue in the third quarter of 2021 increasing by 119% compared to the third quarter of 2020. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021 the U.S. revenue reached €48.5 million ($56.3 million)¹
Adjusted EBITDA* in the third quarter of 2021 was up 21% compared to the third quarter of 2020 to €20.9 million ($24.2 million)¹
Strong Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate* of 128% at the end of third quarter of 2021, underscoring the continued success of our cross-sell and upsell strategy
Successfully extended our partnership through 2028 with FanDuel Group, a leader in the U.S. sports betting market, covering pre-match betting services, live betting services, and betting entertainment tools
Completed successful listing on Nasdaq, raising €546 million of primary net proceeds to fund continued growth in the business, providing the Company with €878 million to continue to invest in global growth
For the full-year 2021, we expect revenue to be in the range of €553 to €555 ($641 to $644)¹ million and Adjusted EBITDA* in the range of €99.5 to 101.5 ($115.4 to $117.7)¹ million.

	Q3	Q3	Change
	2021	2020	%

Revenue	€136.8	€105.3	+30%

Adjusted EBITDA*	€20.9	€17.3	+21%

Adjusted EBITDA margin*	15%	16%	-7%

Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate*	128%	114%	+12%

Adjusted Free Cash Flow*	€32.9	€13.5	+144%

Cash Flow Conversion*	158%	78%	+102%

_____________________
¹ For the convenience of the reader, we have translated Euros amounts in the tables below at the noon buying rate of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on September 30, 2021, which was €1.00 to $1.16.
^* Non-IFRS financial measure; see “Non-IFRS Financial Measures and Operating Metrics” and accompanying tables for further explanations and reconciliations of non-IFRS measures to IFRS measures.

Carsten Koerl, Chief Executive Officer of Sportradar said: “Our strong results demonstrate the value we provide to our partners and customers around the world. We are the largest provider of sports intelligence in the world and the only profitable global sports technology platform of scale. Critically, we believe we are also the most innovative in developing technology solutions that enable our league customers, media and betting partners to use our ever-increasing data to attract and engage sports fans.”

Koerl continued, “We plan to continue to make significant investments, particularly in the U.S. The U.S. represents the primary area of focus to execute on our strategic growth plans, as the U.S. region is currently only 7 percent of our group revenues, representing a significant potential business opportunity as more states legalize betting and the market expands from $1 billion in 2019 to an estimated $23 billion in the next 10 years. Our recent Nasdaq listing in the U.S. was a tremendous milestone for our team, and we look forward to building on our success in a multitude of areas in the years ahead.”

Financial Highlights for the Three Months Ended September 30, 2021

Revenue in the third quarter of 2021 increased by 30% compared to the third quarter of 2020 to €136.8 million
Adjusted EBITDA* in the third quarter of 2021 increased by 21% compared to the third quarter of 2020 to €20.9 million
Adjusted EBITDA margin* remains strong at 15% in the third quarter of 2021, a slight decrease compared to the third quarter 2020 due to additional IPO costs of approximately €5.7 million which were incurred in the third quarter of 2021. Eliminating the impact of IPO costs would result in an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 20%, illustrating our continuous ability to achieve operating leverage
Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate* increased from 114% to 128% for the comparable twelve month period ending at September 30, 2020 and 2021 demonstrating continued execution of our upsell and cross-sell strategy and underscoring the quality of the products and services we provide our customers
Adjusted Free Cash Flow* in the third quarter of 2021 increased by 144% to €32.9 million which resulted in a Group Cashflow conversion of 158%
Cash totaled €768.4 million as of September 30, 2021. Total liquidity available for use at September 30, 2021, including undrawn credit facilities was €878.4 million
Total Debt at September 30, 2021 was €436.7 million resulting in a net cash position of €331.7 million

Segment Information

RoW Betting

Segment revenue in the third quarter of 2021 increased by 24% compared to the third quarter of 2020 to €78.6 million. This growth was driven primarily by uptake in our higher value-add offerings including Managed Betting Services and Live Odds Services, which increased by 63% and 20% respectively, as a result of new customers wins as well as increased turnover² and volume.
Segment Adjusted EBITDA* in the third quarter of 2021 increased by 36% compared to the third quarter of 2020 to €44.7 million. The Segment Adjusted EBITDA margin* improved from 52% to 57% in the third quarter of 2021 driven by growth in higher margin products.

_____________________
² Turnover is the total amount of stakes placed and accepted in betting.

RoW AV

Segment revenue increased in the third quarter of 2021 by 13% compared to the third quarter of 2020 to €29.0 million. This growth was impacted by COVID related schedule changes in 2020, when more matches than usual were played in Q3 2020. Adjusting for schedule changes Q3 2021 growth was approximately 30%, driven by volume growth as we were able to sell more matches (such as Soccer and Baseball) as well as growth from additional, new content (such as Copa America, Horse Racing and eSports) being sold to existing and new customers.
Segment Adjusted EBITDA* in the third quarter of 2021 increased by 220% compared to the third quarter of 2020 to €9.6 million. The Segment Adjusted EBITDA margin* improved from 12% to 33% in the third quarter of 2021 driven by lower cost of some content.

United States

Segment revenue in the third quarter of 2021 increased by 119% compared to the third quarter of 2020 to €19.6 million. This result was driven by growth in our US Betting services and increased revenue from our customers as the underlying market and turnover grew. We also experienced strong adoption of our ad:s product, growth in US Media and a positive impact from the acquisition of Synergy Sports in the second quarter of 2021.
Segment Adjusted EBITDA* in the third quarter of 2021 increased by 24% compared to the third quarter of 2020 to -€(6.6) million. The Segment Adjusted EBITDA margin* improved from (-60%) to (-34%) in the third quarter of 2021 which reflects the scalability of this business and clear path to profitability while continuing to invest in the US market.

Costs and Expenses

Personnel expenses in the third quarter of 2021 increased by €20.0 million compared to the third quarter of 2020 to €51.3 million resulting from additional hires in new business lines (2.849 FTE in the third quarter of 2021 vs 2.235 FTE in the third quarter of 2020), stock-based compensation, and reversal of temporary COVID 19 cost savings in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the third quarter of 2020.
Other Operating expenses in the third quarter of 2021 increased by €15.7 million compared to the third quarter of 2020 to €25.2 million mainly driven by incurred costs for IPO, compliance costs relating to operating as a publicly listed company in the US and M&A costs.
Total Sport rights costs in the third quarter of 2021 decreased by €9.0 million compared to the third quarter of 2020 to €28.7 million resulting from fewer major sporting events in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the third quarter of 2020.
Adjusted EBITDA* in the third quarter of 2021 was negatively impacted by IPO costs of €5.7 million. Eliminating this impact would result in an Adjusted EBITDA* of €26.6 million.

Recent Business Highlights

Issued and sold 19 million shares in connection with the closing of our IPO on Nasdaq raising €546 million of primary net proceeds
Signed integrity partnerships with leading sports leagues and federations such as cricket’s Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), Badminton Europe and the Austrian Tennis Association
Secured a multi-year exclusive official data and media rights deal with Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), France’s top basketball league
Implemented full Computer Vision models for Grand Slam tennis events including Wimbledon and US open
Combined newly developed AI tools with our Managed Trading Services, Sportradar’s holistic trading service for sportsbook operators, to more accurately detect potential betting related match-fixing
Announced partnership extension with US market leader FanDuel Group through 2028
Announced a five-year deal with US betting and iGaming operator, Bally’s Interactive, to help support and grow sportsbook operations in the US
Celebrated three wins at the EGR B2B Awards in the Best Customer Service and Live Streaming Supplier categories, as well as the recently acquired Fresh Eight being shortlisted for Best Marketing and PR Supplier

Financial Outlook

For the full-year 2021, the Company currently expects:

Revenue in the range of €553 million to €555 million, representing growth of 36.6% to 37.1% for fiscal 2021
Adjusted EBITDA* in the range of €99.5 million to €101.5 million, representing growth of 29.4% to 32.0% for fiscal 2021

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Sportradar will host a conference call to discuss the third quarter 2021 financial results on November 17, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (“ET”). The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing 1-877-423-9813, or for international callers 1-201-689-8573. A replay will be available from 11:00 a.m. ET on November 17, 2021 through November 24, 2021, by dialing 1-844-512-2921, or for international callers 1-412-317-6671. The replay passcode will be 13724560.

Xinhua Silk Road: Jiangsu Kunshan accelerates development of emerging industries with investment of nearly RMB100 bln

November 17, 2021 Published by Roboticulized.com

98 emerging industry projects involving a total investment of 98.06 billion yuan were recently signed and settled in the city of Kunshan in east China’s Jiangsu Province, showing the surging momentum of Kunshan’s industrial innovation and transformation.

The emerging industry projects signed cover a wide range including advanced computing, artificial intelligence, intelligent manufacturing, aerospace, biomedicine, new materials and other emerging industry fields.

As China’s first county-level city with an industrial output value of over one trillion yuan, Kunshan topped the ranking of China’s Top 100 County-Level Cities by comprehensive strength for 17 consecutive years.

Kunshan is now vigorously developing emerging industries, focusing on new display, new intellectual manufacturing, new medical, new energy, new materials and new digital, and accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system.

The city has attracted many famous enterprises to invest here. Located in the Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Td Automotive Compressor (Kunshan) Co., Ltd. (TACK), a company producing the Toyota Denso air conditioning compressor, has invested 77 million U.S. dollars in Kunshan. The company placed the group’s first new energy vehicle air conditioning compressor project in Kunshan because of the obvious advantages of the city’s location, the supporting policies and also excellent business environment, according to Fujii Akira, the general manager of TACK.

The development of emerging industries cannot be separated from a high-quality industrial ecology. Kunshan launched a total of 10 billion yuan of industrial development investment fund, focusing on high-quality enterprises of leading industries, emerging industries and other areas, also with the emerging industry cooperation institution established.

In the future, Kunshan will focus on the development direction of emerging industries, comprehensively improve the total amount, quality and innovation capacity of emerging industries in Kunshan, making every effort to build a highland of emerging industries with global competitive advantages.

original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/324886.html

SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road

Online Blockchain plc: Umbria announces latest partnerships in NFT space

November 17, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Umbria Network is collaborating with a range of exciting NFT projects, built on the Polygon network, to introduce their communities to its game changing cross-chain bridge (Narni).

Using the Narni Bridge, it typically takes less than four minutes and often costs just $4-$9 to transfer assets from Ethereum to Polygon. This makes it approximately 10 times cheaper and 10 times faster than other available cross-chain bridges. The speed and cost advantages of the Umbria Narni bridge have led to its adoption by projects including Zed Run, Chicken Derby, House of Kibaa and CryptoIsland. Aavegotchi recently partnered with Umbria to provide its users with the cheapest and fastest way to bridge its GHST token (GHST holders can also earn interest on their GHST by staking their tokens in the bridge pool).

Umbria is pleased to announce the following new partnerships and collaborations:

Aww, Rats! are a series of 1,000 ‘vermiNFTs’ which live on the Polygon network. They have a unique combination of assigned ‘rattributes’, rat pieces (fur colour, eyes, tails style, facial expressions, accessories etc) and backstory. Rat owners currently get access to a series of dApps created by the team for styling their Rats and showcasing them (http://awwrats.com/sewer). In the future, holders will additionally get access to tools to help build out their own NFT projects. Go to: http://awwrats.com to find out more.

FunkoBits is a project of 10,000 random and unique characters generated with python. FunkoBits recommends the Narni bridge on its OpenSea collection page, which can be viewed here: https://opensea.io/collection/funkobits. Co-lead developer Oscar Chambers has even bought FunkoBits #1. The V2 minting starts on the 24th of November: https://funkobits.com

Matic Mike is a 100% on chain high utility generative NFT built on the Polygon chain with staking, PvP (player vs player), PvE (player vs environment) and upgrading features. A cross between Zed and Anonymice, Matic Mike’s goal is to provide competitive features with some comedic relief. The project has partnered with Umbria and endorses Narni as its official Ethereum to Polygon bridge for sending funds to and from Polygon at the lowest rates. Matic Mike has recently launched its PvP battle Royale; take a look: https://maticmike.club/

Elegant Elephants Society (EES) is a herd of 7,500 secret spies aka unique digital collectibles, drawn by hand, assembled by code and living on the Polygon blockchain. Each Elegant Elephant doubles as a Key Card and grants access to members-only benefits. Additionally, 10% of all profits go to charity. Elephant Society strongly recommends using the Umbria Narni Bridge for transferring ETH to wETH. Minting now: https://elegantelephantsociety.com/mint

SPKY FRSH are composable, evolutionary NFTs, built on Polygon using the ERC1155 token standard. The team’s mission is to disrupt the NFT industry by building a co-creation ecosystem that enables collectors, brands, and mission driven organizations to engage in social impact causes. Its NFT Avatars aka Spirit of Guide of the Metaverse are a set of 369 Limited Edition NFTs that include three out of 18 Spirit Forces (time, gravity and light). Each Spirit Force is hand crafted with 50+ unique traits, generatively summoned, and staked to one of the 17 UN Sustainability Goals + the Creative Commons. Royalties from secondary sales will be allocated to the FRSH Dao to support impact causes, voted on by its community of NFT holders. The collection can be minted on its website or viewed on Opensea: https://opensea.io/collection/spky-frsh…

Umbria has also been working with Shroom Folk who has been recommending the Narni Bridge to its community. Shroom Folk is a collection of 6666 generative NFTs, which are minting now on the Polygon blockchain. More details about this project here: https://shroomfolk.io/

Umbria’s partners gain visibility from an entirely new audience, who are interested in exciting new cryptocurrency and NFT projects. In addition to being included in the partner sections on both the homepage and the bridge page, partner projects are introduced to the Umbria community and are incorporated into Umbria’s social media and traditional marketing campaigns. Umbria also provides technical support for a partnered project’s community when using Narni for bridging.

“We love seeing creative and innovative NFT projects doing great things on Polygon and we’re enjoying engaging and improving the experience of their passionate and supportive communities,” said Barney Chambers, co-lead developer of Umbria Network. “The feedback has been fantastic as NFT enthusiasts are genuinely amazed by how cheap bridging is with the Narni Bridge. We look forward to opening the door to lots more projects.”

Got a project on Polygon? Does your community need cheap and fast bridging? Get in touch on Twitter if you’d like to collaborate.

Great News for Online Casino Lovers: Kalamba Games Is Coming to Sweden

November 17, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The iGaming slot provider, Kalamba Games, which is based in Krakow and Malta, will enter Sweden’s online casino market after getting permission and accreditation for numerous online slot products they have.

Many of their top-performing titles from the Joker series like Burning Diamonds, Atlantis Thunder, and Griffin’s Quest and others are ready to be distributed to various casino operators in Sweden since now Kalamba Games has a certification. Each of the nine online games has already been seen as highly popular by players all across Europe.

Since Kalamba has achieved success in countries such as Croatia, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and others from Latin America, they are planning an expansion also in the USA and the UK. In Latin America and Spain, they made expansion through Emara Play, in Italy, Croatia, and Portugal through BLOX, and last but not least, through SKS365 Group in the Netherlands.

Kalamba, as one of the world’s leading B2B online casino game providers, achieved great success this month by receiving the wanted MGA license. The newest video slot game is titled Lady Lava, which offers many extra spins and impressive bonuses, and also has a progressive jackpot. And that is not all; it has a wild multiplier feature that has an increasing value when a gambling player gathers more K-Cash Spins or K-Cash.

What is even more impressive is that as part of the K-Cash series, this online slot can return prizes of up to 3,793 times the bet, and with the HyperBonus function, there is an incredible 96.86% RTP.

Believe it or not, there are more than 400 online casino operators that use Kalamba’s Bullseye RGS platform. And since the Joker series is top-rated, in December, there will be another sequel named X-Mas edition, so the players that love this series will be more than happy to play another edition.

Source

Hand Protection Equipment Market Size Worth $30.6 Billion By 2028: Grand View Research, Inc.

November 17, 2021 Published by Roboticulized.com

The global hand protection equipment market size is expected to reach USD 30.6 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2019 to 2028. The rising awareness among industry participants pertaining to the importance of worker security and safety at workplaces on account of the stringent regulations is expected to drive the market.

Key Insights and Findings:

The durable gloves segment dominated the market and accounted for 56.5% of the global revenue share in 2020 owing to the increasing demand for high utility and durable protective gloves in various industries such as oil and gas, mechanical, machinery, and refining
The demand for nitrile gloves is estimated to witness a CAGR of 7.2% over the forecast period owing to their ability to provide high puncture resistance, excellent barrier protection, and high durability
The penetration of hand protection equipment in the healthcare industry is estimated to witness a CAGR of 8.8% over the forecast period, on account of the increasing product adoption to limit the spread of COVID-19 infection caused through surface contact
Europe accounted for 31.0% of global revenue share in 2020 owing to the presence of stringent norms concerning occupational health and safety established by regulatory bodies European Commission and the European Committee for Standardization
India is expected to witness a CAGR of 9.4% over the forecast period, on account of the growing concerns regarding high-risk activities in the construction and manufacturing sectors
Manufactures of the market are focusing on introducing new technologies for manufacturing gloves and integrating them across various stages of the value chain in order to gain a competitive edge in the market

Read 170 page market research report, “Hand Protection Equipment Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Disposable, Durable), By Raw Material (Nitrile Gloves, Vinyl Gloves), By End Use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2019 – 2028“, by Grand View Research

Companies have established safety guidelines and prioritized worker safety to reduce workplace hazards, thereby limiting the adverse impact on the overall operational costs in the form of arbitrated settlements or compensation. The demand for hand protection equipment in the healthcare sector is witnessing growth with the rising prevalence of infectious diseases.

Increasing awareness about the safety and health measures related to emergency response occurrences coupled with the treatment of patients is anticipated to augment the demand for hand protection equipment in the healthcare sector. Moreover, risks associated with on-the-job transmission of blood-borne pathogens have the increased adoption of hand protection.

Manufacturers of hand protection equipment are focusing on the expansion of production facilities to increase the production capacity. For instance, In March 2020, Hartalega purchased land to expand its glove production facilities in Sepang, Malaysia, as the demand for hand protection has surged owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Grand View Research has segmented the global hand protection equipment market on the basis of product, raw material, end use, and region:

Hand Protection Equipment Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 – 2028)
- Disposable
- Durable
Hand Protection Equipment Raw Material Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 – 2028)
- Natural rubber/latex
- Nitrile gloves
- Neoprene
- Vinyl gloves
- Others
Hand Protection Equipment End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 – 2028)
- Construction
- Manufacturing
- Oil & Gas
- Chemicals
- Food
- Pharmaceuticals
- Healthcare
- Transportation
- Mining
- Others
Hand Protection Equipment Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 – 2028)
- North America
  - U.S.
  - Canada
  - Mexico
- Europe
  - France
  - Germany
  - Italy
  - Russia
  - Spain
  - U.K.
- Asia Pacific
  - Australia
  - China
  - India
  - Japan
  - South Korea
- Central & South America
  - Argentina
  - Brazil
- Middle East & Africa
  - Saudi Arabia
  - South Africa
  - UAE

List of Key players of Hand Protection Equipment Market

Top Glove Corporation Bhd
Hartalega Holdings Berhad
Superior Gloves
Adenna LLC
MCR Safety
Atlantic Safety Products, Inc.
Ammex Corporation
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Sempermed USA, Inc.
Halyard Health, Inc.
Medline Industries, Inc.
Cardinal Health
Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd
Globus (Shetland) Ltd..

Find more research reports on Smart Textiles Industry, by Grand View Research:

Cleanroom Technology Market– The global cleanroom technology market size is expected to reach USD 5.0 billion by 2028 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.4% over the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc.
Infection Control Market– The global infection control market size is expected to reach USD 258.3 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc.
Hospital Acquired Infection Control Market– The global hospital acquired infection control market size is anticipated to reach USD 8.1 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc.

cibc,-itau-unibanco,-national-australia-bank-and-natwest-group-announce-winners-of-global-open-finance-challenge

CIBC, Itaú Unibanco, National Australia Bank and NatWest Group announce winners of Global Open Finance Challenge

November 17, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

– Today CIBC, Itaú Unibanco, National Australia Bank and NatWest Group announced the winners of the Global Open Finance Challenge, which invited teams of innovators from around the world to prototype and present ground-breaking ideas to help customers and the public at large access banking services in new and exciting ways. The Challenge was hosted by the four banks in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

In total, 91 teams from 19 countries competed in the Challenge, with four teams ultimately selected as winners by the four banks’ CEOs and three industry leaders.

Each of the winning teams will now have the opportunity to explore working with one or more of the banks to turn their innovative idea into a proof of concept.

The winning teams
The overall winner of the Global Open Finance Challenge is:

ValAi, Australia
- ValAi developed Greenhouse, an automated sustainability rating tool and marketplace that provides customers tailored insights for their home, and fills the knowledge gap for homeowners and financial institutions on the impact of a sustainability rating on the value of the asset.

The winners of each Challenge theme are:

9th Gear Technologies, USA– ‘Most innovative customer experience for businesses and corporates’
- 9th Gear Technologies developed a blockchain-powered business-to-business foreign exchange (FX) platform that allows for real-time FX settlement using tokens which represent pre-funded currency values, expediting the current process for clients.
NoFrontiers, Brazil – ‘Most innovative and convenient channel for accessing banking services’
- NoFrontiers developed FinPass, a newcomer/immigrant onboarding and credit solution, connected to a global network of banks, making it easier for newcomers/immigrants to access credit and establish themselves in new countries.
Banyan, USA – ‘Most innovative solution in support of climate and sustainability’
- Banyan developed a loan and risk management platform which digitizes the loan lifecycle for renewable energy projects, to enable financial institutions to fund an increased number of green infrastructure projects.

“Founded in late 2019, ValAi is a female founder-led startup with backgrounds in sustainability, property valuation and tech. Our novel product, Greenhouse, puts people at the heart of the global transition to net zero and challenges the finance sector to influence and guide the next phase of our community’s transformational change,” said Allys Todd, Founder, ValAi. “Our company vision is creating a zero-carbon, nature-positive global economy, in which finance fuels the energy transition, a healthy planet and green jobs.”

The four winners were amongst the top teams selected to present their ideas to a judging panel featuring the CEOs of the four banks, plus executives from private equity, venture capital, and technology organizations:

Victor Dodig, President and CEO, CIBC
Milton Maluhy Filho, CEO, Itaú Unibanco
Ross McEwan, Group CEO, National Australia Bank
Alison Rose, CEO, NatWest Group
Werner Vogels, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Amazon.com, Inc.
Rob Heyvaert, Managing Partner, Motive Partners
Rick Yang, General Partner and Head of Consumer, New Enterprise Associates

“We’re thrilled that so many innovators from around the world took part in the Global Open Finance Challenge, presenting new ideas and solutions to advance and reshape our financial ecosystem,” said Victor G. Dodig, CIBC President and Chief Executive Officer. “Global collaboration offers immense opportunity to generate and harness ideas that can create more value for clients, which benefits all stakeholders as we shape the future of banking.”

“AWS has been a champion of startups from day one and we continue to work hard to support a global community of builders who can transform ideas. It was an exciting journey working with the teams in the Global Open Finance Challenge as they built and tested technology solutions to better serve banking customers in the rapidly evolving digital economy,” said Werner Vogels, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Amazon.com, Inc. “Times of change offer opportunities to experiment and innovate, and the impressive fintechs that took part in the Challenge embraced the resources and expert advice it provided to hone their ideas and jumpstart new technology solutions.”

Capital Trust Announces Q2 & H1 FY22 Financial Results

November 17, 2021 Published by TheFintechBuzz.com

Capital Trust Limited (Capital Trust), a digitally enabled non-banking finance company (NBFC), specialising in providing income generating micro business loans in tier 3-5 regions, announced its financial results for the quarter ended 30^th Sep 2021.

Particulars (In INR Millions)	Sep-21	Sep-20	YoY%	June-21	QoQ%
Assets Under Management (AUM)	3108.1	4294.7	-28%	3,374.4	-8%
Total Disbursement	455.1	215.3	111%	110.8	311%
Net Interest Income	127.9	107.2	19%	101.1	27%
Profit After Tax	8.7	8.7	0%	-138	–
Gross Stage 3 Assets (% of AUM)	3.8%	7.1%	-47%	3.8%	-1%
Net Stage 3 Assets (% of AUM)	0.0%	0.0%	–	0.0%	–
90+ Assets (% of AUM)	12.6%	7.7%	64%	15.3%	-18%
Net 90% Assets (% of AUM)	0.0%	2.5%	–	0.0%	–
Capital Adequacy*	42.6%	49.8%	-14%	45.2%	-6%
Debt-to-Equity	2.0	1.6	25%	1.9	3%

Commenting on the performance, Mr. Yogen Khosla, Managing Director, Capital Trust Limited, said, “Disbursements for the quarter grew by 311% QoQ on account of improved consumer sentiments and picking up demand across sectors. Our technology-based POS has significantly helped us in penetrating Tier III/IV cities seamlessly. The Collections picked up significantly from 81% in June to 88% in September and 89% in October, it is further expected to improve during H2FY22. The Company being inherently cautious, decided to slow down the disbursements during last year on account of Covid related lockdowns, which has helped us in keeping our asset quality intact. At the same time company has also created adequate provisions to mitigate any further impact on our loan book. We believe worst is behind us on asset quality front and new trajectory of growth is being undertaken by the company. This is further demonstrated by our continuous focus on customer penetration through branch network.

Despite the disruptions caused by COVID-19, Capital Trust has significantly expanded its branch network by opening 71 new branches during the quarter. With this, the total branch network reaches 315 branches spread across 94 Districts covering 10 states. This will help the company in further expanding our customer base, deeper penetration, and access to new markets.

The company’s robust liquidity position, healthy balance sheet, strong leadership combined with the focus on strengthening its rural-doorstep fintech model will certainly fuel its growth going forward.”

*Including investment in wholly owned subsidiaries

Consolidated Financial Highlights

Average collection efficiency for Q2 FY22 was 88% for the company and 96% for digital loans sourced post-first lockdown
Net worth as on 30^th Sept 21 was at INR 1178.0 million
Finance cost during Q2 FY22 was INR 155.5 million which were increased by INR 74.9 million as compared to Q1 FY22.
Total Provisions outstanding for the year was INR 570.9 million; ECL provision was 161.1 INR million and COVID related provision was INR 409.8 million
Strong liquidity position with INR 1152.2 million in cash/bank balance, liquid investments, and fixed deposit
Total operational branches as on Sept 30, 2021 stood at 315 covering 94 districts across 10 states
Business Correspondent Partnership ties ups with IDFC First Bank, MAS Financials, Dhanvarsha Finvest and OML P2P.

Portfolio Distribution


Particulars (In INR Millions)	Q2 FY22	Q2 FY21	YoY%	Q1 FY22	QoQ%
Digitally Enabled Collection Products
– Capital Magic Loan	808.9	532.6	52%	674.9	20%
– Micro-Business Loan	653.5	909.9	-28%	759.1	-14%
Total Capital Digital Initiative	1,462.4	1,442.5	1%	1,434	2%
Cash Collections Products
– Micro-Enterprise Loan	1,599.3	2,450.5	-35%	1,849.3	-14%
– Secured-Enterprise Loan	18.5	203.2	-91%	43.8	-59%
– Microfinance Loan	28.0	198.5	-86%	47.3	-40%
Total Legacy Portfolio	1,645.8	2,852.2	-42%	1,940.4	-15%
Total Assets Under Management (AUM)	3,108.1	4,294.7	-28%	3,374.4	-8%

On-Book Portfolio	2,549.4	3,173.0	-20%	2,543.9	0%
Off-Book Portfolio	558.7	1,121.7	-50%	830.5	-33%
Total Assets Under Management (AUM)	3,108.1	4,294.7	-28%	3,374.4	-8%

GambleAware recommissions the Scottish Gambling Education Hub delivered by Fast Forward

November 17, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

Reading Time: 2 minutes

GambleAware has recommissioned the Scottish Gambling Education Hub for a further three years from 1^st November 2021. The Hub has been delivered by the Scottish charity Fast Forward since 2018.

The Scottish Gambling Education Hub, funded by GambleAware, works with young people, and the adults in their lives, to raise awareness of gambling harms, and ensure that those working with young people and families are confident in their ability to offer harm reduction advice and signpost those who need it to advice and support.

The Hub’s mission will remain to ensure all children, young people and families in Scotland have access to gambling education and prevention opportunities and resources. Improvements to the current structure of the programme will be made, to ensure partners, practitioners, and policymakers remain engaged with the issue.

To date, the Hub has trained staff from more than 550 different organisations across all 32 local authorities in Scotland, including schools, colleges, universities, youth work and family services.

Since its creation, the Hub and the external evaluation provider, identified potential areas for improvement in the existing gambling training delivery model. Based on these insights the updated structure for the programme will offer a more tailored approach to gambling prevention and education training for professionals and practitioners. With an increased use of the existing training and resources, the availability of gambling harm awareness and support activities for children, young people, and families across Scotland will be improved.

In addition, in 2019, the Scottish Gambling Education Hub established the Scottish Gambling Education Network (SGEN) to bring together individuals from a variety of settings with the aim to share best practices, provide support and help establish, sustain, and improve gambling education and prevention provision across Scotland. The Hub will continue to facilitate and broaden the scope of SGEN activities, introducing hosting a national conference in 2022.

The Scottish Education Hub will play a key part in supporting the creation of the English Education Hub and Welsh Education Hub, projects that will soon be commissioned by GambleAware to help the prevention of gambling harm among young people in both nations.

Dr Jane Rigbye, Prevention Director at GambleAware said: “Fast Forward has demonstrated its value as a key partner to prevent gambling harm among young people in Scotland. Given the success of the work already carried out, continuity is vital.

“The Scottish Education Hub has engaged with young people, parents, the community and youth workers in an impactful and creative way to deliver unique projects over the years.

“We are delighted to support them further in their prevention and education work and look forward to publishing the independent evaluation of the project for their work in 2022.”

Allie Cherry-Byrnes, Fast Forward’s CEO said: “Fast Forward’s work supports young people to make informed choices regarding risk-taking behaviours, towards positive life-long health outcomes.

“Gambling has become normalised in our communities, with many young people affected by their own gambling, or by the gambling of a parent, carer, or family member.

“The renewed funding from GambleAware means that the Scottish Gambling Education Hub will continue to work with young people, parents and educators to raise awareness of gambling harms and ensure support is accessible if they need it.”

ViewMind Named Among Business Worldwide Magazine’s Top 20 Most Innovative Companies to Watch, 2021

November 17, 2021 Published by Roboticulized.com

ViewMind is a neurotech company specializing in developing non-invasive evaluations for the early detection and management of Alzheimer’s and other dementias, using revolutionary eye-tracking technology. This groundbreaking approach has led to the company being named by Business Worldwide Magazine in its list of “Top 20 Most Innovative Companies to Watch, 2021.”

The list is a celebration of the trailblazing organizations that are changing the game in their respective industries and altering the corporate landscape. Encompassing healthcare, banking, industry, construction, energy, and more, these companies are at the cutting edge of breakthrough technologies, innovation and modernized business structures. Those included have a shared goal of developing revolutionary products and technologies that drive scalable business models and disrupt established industries and markets.

As leaders in the biotech field, ViewMind have developed a solution that could improve (and even save) millions of lives. Using cutting edge technology in an immersive diagnosis, it allows for precise, neurocognitive health assessments, the likes of which have never been seen before.

Led by CEO Mark Edwards, the company set out to solve a problem posed by Bill Gates – how to find a relatable, affordable and easy-to-use diagnostic for stopping Alzheimer’s. it’s a crippling, devastating condition with over 50 million sufferers, and is the sixth leading cause of mortality in Americans aged 65 or over. The World Health Organization has ranked Alzheimer’s as the 7^th leading cause of death globally, and it affects twice as many women as men.

ViewMind’s pioneering work is not only revolutionary from a technological point of view, but the solutions the company has developed have been clinically validated and their devices have been approved in several regions including Europe. ViewMind are partnering with tier one pharmaceutical companies around the world, and their solutions can enable physicians to detect conditions including Alzheimer’s as much as 20 years before symptoms appear.

The solution combines a non-invasive virtual reality eye tracking headset with ViewMind’s artificial intelligence (AI) application to identify minor alterations in how a patient’s eyes behave under certain visual stimuli processing. These oculomotor patterns are analysed by the software and allow the detection of pathologies with high precision. Historically, the most common form of testing has involved either cognitive pen and paper testing solutions, which were developed 30 to 50 years ago and required skilled assessors and time consuming to perform and lack objectivity. The physical condition of the brain is historically assessed with biomarkers using diagnostic solutions such as a lumbar puncture, a brain scan or a PET scan – all of which are both invasive and expensive. Furthermore, these tests typically only take place once the patient has obvious symptoms – meaning the disease may be too far advanced and treatment is unlikely to have a significant impact. The Alzheimer’s pathology begins some 20 years before clinical symptoms, and ViewMind’s approach is revolutionary because it allows for early detection among patients with only mild cognitive impairment.

Operations are expanding globally, and this is clearly a company that’s poised for huge commercial success. For further details on ViewMind and its innovative plans, please visit the company website – https://www.viewmind.com/

An article on the company can be found on the Business Worldwide Magazine’s website https://bwmonline.com/2021/11/14/viewmind-getting-ahead-of-alzheimers-with-ai/

More information on the winners and the Awards themselves can be found here: https://www.bwmonline.com/awards/20-most-innovative-companies-to-watch-awards-2021/

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