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ForwardPMX Becomes A Fashion Avenger, Joining the Dynamic Movement to Accelerate the Fashion Industry’s Role in Achieving the UN’s Global Goals

ForwardPMX

Global data and technology driven marketing services company, ForwardPMX, has signed onto the Fashion Avengers campaign, a newly launched global initiative which highlights the critical role the fashion sector has in driving progress towards the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals ( The Global Goals ). As the only agency partner and official Fashion Avenger, ForwardPMX joins a group of global industry leaders and top brands, creators, influencers and media, including Burberry, Rankin, Marie Claire, Pour Les Femmes and PANGAIA. The campaign is also supported by the British Fashion Council (BFC) and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CDFA). On becoming a Fashion Avenger, ForwardPMX Global CEO, James Townsend, said, “Sustainability started as a moral choice, but it is now equally a business imperative. As Fashion Avengers, we will help to inspire a new agenda and facilitate a more strategic conversation with brands about how to ingrain sustainability and social impact within their organizations.” The Fashion Avengers campaign was established by Project Everyone, a nonprofit creative communications agency that is focused on raising awareness, inspiring action and facilitating a cross-industry network to accelerate progress for the Global Goals. The Goals were agreed upon in 2015 by 195 countries, and represent the collective ambitious plan to eradicate poverty, fight inequality and address the climate change crisis by 2030. As a sector, Fashion uniquely intersects with all 17 of the UN’s Goals, which spurred the creation of the Fashion Avengers to serve as a crucial forum and measurable framework for global industry stakeholders to collaborate and drive progress together. Townsend added, “We intend to further invest and lead in this space as we continue to grow our company, while strengthening relationships with likeminded clients who share our values and commitment to social impact and sustainability.” Gail Gallie, Co-Founder of Project Everyone, said, “As we work to positively transform the industry, we’re surrounding ourselves with new partners to help us push for a greater uptake of the Goals. We are thrilled to have ForwardPMX onboard, as they, like the diverse group of leaders joining us as partners, understand why fashion must change and how the Goals can help the sector get there.” In addition to signing on as an official Fashion Avenger, ForwardPMX is supporting Project Everyone with global digital media expertise and other pro bono communications work surrounding the launch of the campaign and beyond. The agency has also selected its own Goals out of the 17 to design its social good frameworks across EMEA, North America, MENA and APAC. “Social impact and sustainability have been deeply embedded within our agency’s culture, our proposition and our way of working over the last decade. As a Fashion Avenger, we’re not only strongly positioned to guide our fashion clients, but we’re also creating a platform to further encourage our global staff base to increase their own self-efficacy and to live a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle,” said Hanna Kubbutat-Byrne, Head of Social Impact and co-lead of ForwardPMX’s social impact arm, TransformFP. The Fashion Avengers campaign has launched at the Forest for Change at the Somerset House in London. Help spread the word beginning June 10 th using #FashionAvengers. And see the Industry launch and Fashion Avengers panel streaming live at the Goals House. About ForwardPMX: ForwardPMX is a global data and technology driven marketing services company, designed to help brands find the change that delivers meaningful growth to their businesses. With over 20 offices worldwide and 1,000 of the industry's most distinguished talent, ForwardPMX brings a unified global vision, with local depth and expertise across a comprehensive set of data, technology, consultancy and performance solutions that reach people all over the world. By pairing people with data-led process and powerful technology capabilities, ForwardPMX is uniquely positioned to deliver scale and accelerate problem solving. ForwardPMX is a proud member of The Stagwell Group. About Project Everyone: Devised by Richard Curtis, Project Everyone is a nonprofit creative communications agency focused on raising awareness, inspiring action and driving accountability for the United Nations’ Global Goals: an ambitious plan to eradicate poverty, fight inequality, and tackle the climate crisis. Project Everyone’s motto is ‘in order to make things happen, you have to make things’ - and so they create advocacy campaigns, content, programmes and events, telling stories that help multiple sectors engage with the Goals. Through a global network of campaigning organisations, philanthropists, private sector partners, governments, UN agencies, public figures, and activists, Project Everyone looks to accelerate progress towards a better future for both people and planet. About the UN Global Goals: In 2015, the 193 Member States of the United Nations agreed to 17 Global Goals (officially known as the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs), to be achieved by 2030. Recognizing that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and threats to biodiversity, the Goals call on all countries to promote prosperity and social well-being whilst taking ambitious steps to protect the planet. However it is now up to all of us - governments, businesses, civil society and the general public alike - to work together to build a better, fairer future where no one is left behind. With less than 10 years to go, we have more work than ever to do. About Forest for Change From 1 - 27 June 2021, the courtyard of Somerset House will be transformed into a forest, as part of London Design Biennale. Forest for Change – The Global Goals Pavilion, invites visitors to discover the 17 UN Global Goals. The Forest is created from 400 juvenile trees, individually selected for their differing canopy shapes, heights and form. Species have been selected with the aim of ensuring future resilience to the changing London environment, and the trees will be donated to and replanted in London boroughs after they have graced the Somerset House courtyard, creating a living durable legacy. At the heart of the Forest, seventeen mirrored pillars will bring the Goals to life as the world’s To Do List for people and planet. As part of this experience, visitors will be invited to record a short message expressing the change they wish to see in the world. This will be instantly added to a participatory music installation composed by Robert M Thomas, and will become part of ‘Voices for Change’, a Google Arts & Culture Lab collaboration bringing together the voices and passions of people from across the world in an interactive online experience for the Goals. A powerful collective message for change, Forest for Change was designed by leading international artist and designer, and Artistic Director of the Biennale, Es Devlin, in collaboration with Landscape Designer Philip Jaffa and Urban Greening Specialists Scotscape and presented in partnership with Project Everyone. Contact Details ForwardPMX Sara Pollack, VP of Marketing +1 917-438-4923 sara.pollack@fowardpmx.com ForwardPMX Dammi Afolabi, Marketing & Communications Manager +447958069108 dammi.afolabi@forwardpmx.com Company Website https://www.forwardpmx.com/

June 10, 2021 04:02 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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World’s largest product discovery platform RangeMe opens UK retailers to over 750,000 products

RangeMe

The world’s largest product discovery and sourcing platform RangeMe has launched in the UK today. Buyers at British retailers will now be able to source over 750,000 products and connect with more than 200,000 suppliers to fill their shopping aisles and online stores with curated products meeting consumer demand. Buyers at high street chain LloydsPharmacy are currently partnering with RangeMe. RangeMe first launched in 2013 and is used today by over 12,000 retailers in the U.S., including Walmart, Ulta Beauty, Walgreens, and Albertsons. It has quickly established itself as the industry leader for retail product discovery and sourcing by becoming the world’s largest source of brands and products purchased by buyers in the US. RangeMe helps retailers and their buying teams scale product sourcing efforts with streamlined submissions, simplified discovery tools, and the industry standard digital sell sheet. RangeMe enables buyers to filter searches to find brands meeting exact sourcing needs, enables seamless connectivity and collaboration with suppliers and provides curated collections to help identify and understand category trends and emerging brands. “Consumers are looking for a variety of products from all over the world and sourcing them online. The British public is no different, yet high street retailers have struggled to offer these products in store or online principally because they don’t have sight of all that’s available in the market. RangeMe will change this for retailers bringing more choice to shopping aisles and a significant revenue opportunity,” said Nicky Jackson, CEO of RangeMe. “We will pick up the heavy lifting for buyers and present the global product market opportunity in one screen”. LloydsPharmacy which caters to the medical, lifestyle and well-being needs of millions of people in the UK is an early adopter of the RangeMe platform. “We pride ourselves on offering the widest range of products that meet the highest standards for consumers. RangeMe is already helping us to identify a wider spread of products for our customers. Equally importantly, we will quickly scale our buying operations through the platform and reduce the time to get more products on our shelves” added John Acland, Head of Category Management and eCommerce at McKesson UK, parent company to LloydsPharmacy. RangeMe also invites British suppliers to join the platform for a front-row audience of the biggest high street retailers. It is a single place to represent their brand and products to a network of thousands of retail buyers. RangeMe helps suppliers grow their retail relationships with a platform that gives them the tools and insights to manage their products, market their brand, and build awareness. RangeMe is the global online platform where retailers and suppliers can discover, connect, and grow their business. Suppliers can showcase their range, bring new products to market, increase brand visibility, and grow sales, while buyers use RangeMe to discover new products, search trends, and communicate directly with brands. “Our mission has always been to empower retailers and suppliers to be productive and successful. The world has become a smaller place but it remains distant for forging strong cross border buyer and seller relationships. RangeMe will bridge this gap for buyers and sellers around the world and ensure extraordinary products hit store shelves, faster than ever before” added Nicky Jackson. About RangeMe RangeMe, an ECRM company, is the leading online platform that streamlines new product discovery between suppliers and retailers. The platform empowers retail buyers to efficiently discover innovative and emerging products, while streamlining the inbound product submission process. For product suppliers, RangeMe enables them to grow their retail relationships with a platform that gives them the tools to manage their products, market their brand, and build awareness. Now integrated into the ECRM product offering, RangeMe adds increased breadth and depth to the industry's most complete sourcing solution for top retailers and product suppliers. Contact Details RangeMe Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://www.rangeme.com/

June 09, 2021 04:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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NextFerm Technologies Announces Successful Pilot for Industrial-Scale Production of ProteVin™, its Proprietary Vegan Protein

NextFerm Technologies Ltd.

NextFerm Technologies (TASE:NXFR), a Food-tech company developing ProteVin™, a vegan, non-GMO, yeast-based protein alternative, announced that it has successfully completed an industrial production pilot for ProteVin™. The successful pilot is the first of three milestones towards commercial production and launch of ProteVin™, planned in 2022. The two additional milestones are first, generating initial demand from the market and engagement with a first customer by the end of 2021; and second, entering into a production agreement with a subcontractor. As part of the pilot, which was conducted at production facilities in the US, the industrial production of the protein was examined while preserving the same characteristics that were achieved in the laboratory scale. Analysis of the results by independent laboratories, an internal team taste testers and a potential customer, showed that ProteVin™ successfully achieved all the pilot's objectives. Boaz Noy, Chief Executive Officer of NextFerm, said, “The successful industrial pilot of ProteVin™, marks an important achievement that brings us significantly closer to the planned commercial production and launch of ProteVin™ in 2022. The fast-growing alternative protein market is estimated at $13 billion, with an annual growth rate of 10%. The strong need for innovation by leading players in the food industry is for the protein itself, the raw material that is the foundation for all animal-derived food alternatives. The successful pilot reflects the outstanding value proposition of ProteVin™ as an alternative to animal-derived protein, with neutral flavor, the most important parameter for food manufacturers. This makes it accessible to a wide array of products such as milk and dairy substitutes, meat substitutes and additional categories such as infant nutrition, adult nutrition, and sports nutrition. Furthermore, for the first time, we bring the market a vegan protein with nutritional value that is higher than other plant-based proteins and that is comparable to animal-derived proteins. The nutritional advantage of ProteVin™ over other sources of plant-based proteins can be seen in its amino acid profile, which provides more essential amino acids (EAA) and more branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) and has better digestibility.” Mr. Noy Concluded, “We have recently begun sending commercial samples of ProteVin™ to potential customers worldwide. On the production side, we are in discussions with several potential subcontractors, in order to launch the product in 2022, as planned, and look forward to update our investors on our progress.” 1 st Target - Meeting the parameters determined that define the product: In tests performed by an independent laboratory, ProteVin™ met all parameters defined, including concentration of the protein, composition of amino acids, digestibility, light color, a product free of contaminants and allergens, and its compliance with food regulations and other quality parameters. 2 nd Target - Compliance with taste, flavor and odor requirements: ProteVin™ achieved neutral taste, flavor and odor requirements, without typical aftertaste and odor of various types of plant-based proteins. 3 rd Target - ability to supply samples of ProteVin™ for customers' approval: As part of the pilot, NextFerm produced a quantity of the protein sufficient to supply samples in the amount required for approval by potential customers. Customer testing includes integrating the protein in the prototype of their products, which is an essential step towards a commercial agreement with a customer. To the best of the company's knowledge, other than ProteVin™, there is currently no other protein alternative on the market with the same nutritional value and amino acid composition as animal-derived protein, and which has a neutral taste and flavor, with no aftertaste. In terms of regulation, ProteVin™ can be marketed in the US, Europe and other countries. About NextFerm Technologies NextFerm Technologies, traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE:NXFR) is a food-tech company engaged in the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of innovative, functional and vegan yeast-derived, non-GMO protein alternatives for various applications in the food and food supplement markets and the growing market for animal-derived protein alternatives. NextFerm's flagship product is ProteVin™, a vegan yeast-derived protein alternative with nutritional value that is similar to animal-derived protein and a neutral flavor with no aftertastes that are typical of plant-based protein. ProteVin™ is designed for a variety of categories in the alternative protein market, which is estimated at $13 billion, with an annual growth rate of 10%, including the alternative meat market, milk alternatives and powder formulas for the infant nutrition market, for the wellbeing market and the market for athletes. NextFerm is gearing up for commercialization of the product in the US in 2022. Another product currently being sold is Astaferm®, an innovative astaxanthin-based antioxidant derived from yeast that has been sold in the US since the end of 2020 through well-established and leading brands in the food supplement market in the US. The company has additional products which have been licensed to Lallemand, a global giant focused on yeast. For more information, visit the NextFerm website at: www.nextferm.com Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This announcement also includes forecasts, projections, assessments, estimates and other information which refer to future events and matters, the realization of which is uncertain and not exclusively under the Company’s control (forward-looking information). The main facts and data used to support this information are facts and data regarding the current position of the Company and its businesses (including the scope of sales and levels of profitability, manpower, commercial engagements and more), facts and data regarding the current global position of the Company’s operating segments (including industry-specific financial developments, environmental regulatory developments, the competitive environment, technological developments, the reinsurance market and more), and macro-economic facts and data (including the economic situation both in Israel and around the world, yields in the capital markets, social and state developments and more), all as known by the Company when publishing this announcement. The forward-looking information included above in this announcement is significantly based upon, in addition to the existing information held by the Company, on the Company’s current assessments and expectations of future developments vis-a-vis each one of the aforementioned parameters, and the interconnectedness of each one of these developments. The Company has no certainty that its forecasts and assessments will indeed eventuate, and the Company’s operating results may be materially different than the results assessed or implicit based on that set forth above, inter alia, as a result of a change in any of the aforementioned factors. Contact Details NextFerm Technologies Ltd. Yossi Ohana - Chief Financial Officer +972 54-771-5893 yossio@nextferm.com Investor and Media Contact Meirav Gomeh-Bauer +972544764979 meirav@bauerg.com Company Website https://www.nextferm.com/

June 08, 2021 11:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

NEXT Trucking Unveils Customizable Reports to Enable Real-Time Automated Container Tracking For Shippers and Carriers

Next Trucking

NEXT Trucking, a FreightTech pioneer that connects shippers and carriers through a digital marketplace, today announced the launch of its Customizable Reports tool for freight tracking. A new feature within the company’s recently launched Shipper Portal, Customizable Reports offers a faster and more efficient way to receive, download, and share container information across the supply chain. With a comprehensive range of filters and data fields, Customizable Reports provides an unrivaled level of transparency and visibility. Customers have immediate access to an intuitive and fully customizable reporting tool, with options to create, edit, distribute, and schedule recurring reports on NEXT’s secure, proprietary platform. “The most common question asked of us by operations managers in our network is, ‘How do I know where my container or shipment is?'" said Lidia Yan, CEO and co-founder of NEXT Trucking. “With Customizable Reports, we are answering that critical question. In the post-pandemic economy, transparency in the movement of freight throughout the supply chain will be the difference between full and empty shelves - whether virtual, or physical.” Prior to the introduction of the Shipper Portal, container and shipment information was traditionally accessible through legacy methods such as spreadsheets, emails, and phone calls. Now, shippers can communicate and track the real-time status of their freight quickly and efficiently in a streamlined digital format. Customizable Reports is the next step in the evolution of NEXT’s best-in-class container and shipment tracking technology. With automated scheduling features, Customizable Reports allows Shipper Portal users to: Download fully-customized reports as CSVs Share reports within a secure, digital platform Freely edit data fields, time ranges, and filters for each report Automate and schedule distribution via email Adjust reporting frequency and delivery method “Before the Shipper Portal, getting information about my containers and sharing that with stakeholders took a big chunk of my day,” said an Operations Manager with a top US retailer. “With Customizable Reports, once I select the information I need, I can just receive all my container status updates via email everyday. It has saved me at least an hour a day.” “With Customizable Reports, I feel more informed than ever about the whereabouts and details of all my containers,” said the Director of Operations at a top global furniture retailer. “By automating these reports, I’m able to focus more on problem-solving and less on getting basic information about my containers.” Users can access Customizable Reports directly within the Shipper Portal. Future iterations of the Shipper Portal will include expanded automation capabilities, AI-driven delivery order submission processes, and improved invoice management. For more, please visit www.nexttrucking.com. About NEXT Trucking NEXT Trucking, a FreightTech pioneer and drayage leader, offers premium shipping experiences to many of the world’s best-known companies. NEXT’s platform connects shippers with freight capacity across drayage, transload, and OTR. Headquartered in El Segundo, CA, NEXT is venture-backed by leaders such as Brookfield Ventures, GLP, and Sequoia Capital. For more information, visit www.nexttrucking.com. Contact Details Veronica Yip +1 347-870-9402 nexttrucking@trustrelations.agency Company Website https://www.nexttrucking.com/

June 08, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

June is National Candy Month – Unwrap the Sweetness This Summer

YourUpdateTV

Whether you’re heading to the beach, the pool, out for a hike, or just to your backyard – chocolate and candy can add some sweetness to your summer. Recently, Lauren Boland and Carly Schildhaus, spokespeople for the National Confectioners Association, participated in a nationwide satellite media tour to discuss the top summer candy types and provide fun ways to celebrate National Candy Month. A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://youtu.be/zmhC2qP6y7M A recent survey from the National Confectioners Association revealed that: 94% of Americans who say they’ll go camping this summer will bring chocolate and candy along. 93% of Americans who say they’ll go on a road trip this summer will bring chocolate and candy along. 89% of Americans who say they’ll go to the beach this summer will bring chocolate and candy along. 81% of consumers agree that it is completely fine to treat yourself with chocolate or candy occasionally and 77% of consumers feel physical health and emotional well-being are connected. Top 3 Most Popular Summer Candies 1. Chocolate 2. Gummies 3. Hard Candy Top 3 Most Popular Summer Candy Flavors 1. Strawberry 2. Watermelon 3. Cherry For more information, visit NationalCandyMonth.com About the National Confectioners Association (NCA): The National Confectioners Association is the trade organization that advances, protects and promotes the unique role of chocolate, candy, gum and mints in a happy, balanced lifestyle and the companies that make these special treats. Through advocacy and regulatory guidance, communications, industry insights and retail and supply chain engagement, NCA helps foster an environment that enables candy makers to thrive. Confections are produced in all 50 states, creating jobs for approximately 54,000 workers in more than 1,300 manufacturing facilities across the country. Learn more at AlwaysATreat.com or follow NCA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. About YourUpdateTV: YourUpdateTV is a social media video portal for organizations to share their content. It includes separate channels for Health and Wellness, Lifestyle, Media and Entertainment, Money and Finance, Social Responsibility, Sports and Technology. Contact Details YourUpdateTV +1 212-736-2727 yourupdatetv@gmail.com

June 07, 2021 05:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Haystack Analytics attracts investment, powering tech teams globally and addresses developer burnout

Stockwood Strategy

Engineering insights tool Haystack Analytics, backed by Y Combinator, today announced it has secured a US$1.2m funding round which included participation from Founders Club, Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Entrepreneur First and investors Dan Siroker and Blaine Vess. Founded in 2020 by Julian Colina and Kan Yilmaz, Haystack helps build elite developer teams by providing engineering metrics and alerts proven to drive performance. Haystack improves developer productivity and software quality. Through their integration with GitHub, Haystack is able to provide live data insights that illustrate the entire delivery process from commit to deploy, being able to highlight bottlenecks like code review and team productivity. Using this feedback loop, Haystack users have increased production deployments by 58% and achieved 70% faster cycle times on average. In less than 12 months since launch, Haystack is being used by more than 7,000 developers at tech teams in GoDaddy, Microsoft, The Economist, Indiegogo and Truebill among others as revenues have increased by an average of 36% month on month. Julian Colina, CEO and co-founder of Haystack Analytics commented: “Tech teams and engineers around the world are key assets to any company and shipping software is the heartbeat and competitive advantage they seek. The efforts of developers are at the heart of processes, products and, effectively, the bottom line. Until now, it was difficult for CTOs and engineering managers to objectively know what their roadblocks are or have insights into resourcing levels. Haystack gives visibility by providing metrics and alerts to make sure nothing continues to be stuck. We are helping developers to ship faster and improve their satisfaction”. Research 1 has shown that elite performing engineering organisations are twice as likely to achieve their organisational goals and achieve a 50% higher growth rate over 3 years. It isn't just business objectives that do better, employees of elite performers are almost twice as likely to recommend their team as a great place to work. “Companies with strong technology teams are outperforming those which don't. Technology teams which follow DevOps best practice are less likely to see developers being burnt out, whilst allowing new product ideas to be experimented faster and shipping business value more reliably” added Julian Colina. The funding advances Haystack’s commitment to building intuitive one-click dashboards and alerts using GitHub data. Haystack plans to expand its offering to a greater range of data sources whilst providing an ever greater variety of user-friendly alerts and insights. As companies move to hybrid office/home working environments, Haystack provides insights that teams need to experiment with their workflows to prevent developer burnout whilst shipping faster. “Our mission is to bring the competitive advantage data-driven engineering teams like Google have to everyone. We help teams track their delivery process and optimization opportunities instead of relying solely on gut feelings - resulting in 70% faster delivery on average. It’s been an incredible 12 months and we are well set to achieve much more in the next year” concluded Julian Colina. Ends 1 DevOps Research and Assessment, State of DevOps report About Haystack Analytics Haystack was founded in 2020 by Julian Colin and Kan Yilmaz for tech teams to learn more about roadblocks to their work, improve productivity and importantly identify burnout issues with developers. Haystack helps build elite developer teams by providing engineering metrics and alerts proven to drive performance, improve developer productivity and software quality. Through their integration with GitHub, Haystack is able to provide live data insights that illustrate the entire delivery process from commit to deploy, being able to highlight bottlenecks like code review and team productivity. Using this feedback loop, Haystack users have increased production deployments by 58% and achieved 70% faster cycle times on average. Contact Details Haystack Analytics Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 bilal@usehaystack.io Company Website https://www.usehaystack.io/

June 07, 2021 11:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Global investors back fintech KTrade - the ‘Robinhood’ of Pakistan

Stockwood Strategy

Leading Pakistani fintech stock trading app KTrade today announced it has raised $4.5m in a funding round from a range of global investors and institutions led by Hong Kong-based TTB Partners, and HOF Capital from New York. German fintech investor Christian Angermayer, the Managing Partner of German bank Berenberg David Mortlock, and leading Pakistani business families also participated in the round. KTrade is the fintech retail trading app created by KASB Securities, the leading stock brokerage in Pakistan. KTrade provides easy access to financial markets for retail investors much like its global peers such as XP in Brazil, Zerodha and Groww in India, Tiger in China, Flatex in Germany and Robinhood in the US. Since launching in 2019, KTrade has over 200,000 users and aims to reach 10 million Pakistani’s at home and abroad by 2023 to invest in stocks, bonds, commodities and mutual funds through its mobile platform. The Karachi Stock Exchange Index (KSE100) has rallied by 19% per annum over the past 20 years despite regular market cycles. The volumes have increased by 7x over the last 18 months driven by regulatory reforms and increase in retail investor participation. Retail investors now account for over 65% of overall trading volume compared to around 45% 24 months ago. KTrade aims to provide users quick and easy accessibility to this investment opportunity. Ali Farid led the creation of KTrade. He was previously the CFO of UK listed fintech company SafeCharge (acquired by Nuvei) and a Partner at Autonomous Research (acquired by Alliance Bernstein) in London. Ali is a Rhodes Scholar and has been a top ranked Technology Analyst in Europe since 2013. Ali Farid, Co-founder of KTrade commented: “People in Pakistan have traditionally turned to gold or real estate when they consider investment options. However, as the regulatory approach, authority and credibility of the Karachi Stock Exchange has grown, more people are getting comfortable with stock market investing. This is an exciting trend but accessibility to these markets remains a hurdle for millions. KTrade will enable this mobile-first population to participate in the investment opportunity. By connecting these people to companies we can drive capital trapped in unproductive assets into the formal economy which would eventually drive a virtuous cycle of economic growth and higher investments”. Pakistan is emerging on the radar of global investors as the next Indonesia. A large, young and growing middle class and high smartphone penetration have created ideal conditions for technology led disruption. KASB’s aim is to provide retail savers access to financial education, information and financial products and to help them make better financial decisions. “Most people in Pakistan lack access to formal financial products and their savings in real estate or gold offer inferior returns, are inefficient and have high transactional costs. We aim to democratise access to the capital markets and enable them to make stock market investments. The strong demand for KTrade shows that the market is ready for this transformation. Other regional and emerging markets have seen similar evolution led by successful fintech companies” added Ali Farid. “Pakistan and South Asia have some of the most exciting market dynamics and demographics globally, and KTrade is well positioned to take advantage of the democratisation of finance in the region” said Jonathan Bond, Managing Partner TTB Partners who were lead investors in the funding round. “We are delighted to be investing in the latest round of funding for KASB, and to support Ali and his first-class team on their continued journey. We have been extremely impressed by what KASB has built over the past few years, both from a tech perspective and from the educational overlay to investing, which the company has embraced. In particular, we believe that in KTrade, the company has a stellar solution to expanding stock market participation across Pakistan” added Jonathan Bond. About KASB Securities KASB is the leading stock brokerage in Pakistan. It is a member of the Pakistan Stock Exchange and Pakistan Mercantile Exchange and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. KASB’s mission is to democratise investments by giving people in Pakistan easy access to financial information, education and products. It operates KASB Varsity, an online MOOC, and KTrade, the leading stock trading application in Pakistan. KASB’s goal is to channel capital to financial markets by broadening the breadth of the capital markets. Further information visit: https://kasb.com or follow the company on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and through YouTube. Contact Details Stockwood Strategy Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://kasb.com/ktrade/

June 07, 2021 07:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Advisors Mortgage Eastern PA Expansion

Advisors Mortgage Group

Advisors Mortgage Group, LLC has announced the expansion of their Eastern, PA region with a new location in Bristol, PA. The location is slated to open at the end of 2021. Advisors’ existing office in Langhorne, PA has been helping customers with their home financing needs for the past three years and will now be moving to continue their work in this new space. The team at this location is rapidly growing and brings many years’ experience within the mortgage industry. They are all eager to continue helping consumers with their trusted advice and knowledge. Advisors Mortgage is now licensed to lend in 32 states across the country. When Advisors’ President started the company twenty-one years ago in his 400 square foot New Jersey office, he wanted to establish a company with a home-style feel. “I don’t want employees to feel as though they are just coming into work. I want everyone to enjoy their jobs and to make sure they know they are appreciated.” His mindset of having a workforce becoming a family not only makes it a wonderful place to work, but it also opens the lines of communication which increases workflow efficiency. Employees completely agree. “The atmosphere at work is like one big, giant family.” Another remarked that after, “being employed in banking for nineteen years and working for big banks for the majority of my career, it is so nice to work for a company that considers you part of their family and not just a number.” Happy clients also agree. “I can’t say enough on how amazing Advisors Mortgage is. They treat you like an actual person and not a number. This is my first time buying a home and they made the entire process stress-free and easy. I highly recommend them if you or someone you know is looking to buy a home”. Another kind client said, “Advisors is excellent. They made the process go smoothly. It was a great experience and I highly recommend them. I have never seen a company communicate as clearly and as quickly as they did.” Advisors’ mantra is, “We take care of our Family, who take care of our Customers, which allows us to give back to the Community,” and it is held close to their hearts and is very meaningful. They truly do take care of their family, who do take care of their customers, which ultimately allows them to give back to the community. Speaking of giving back to the community, Advisors is also part of many charity programs, some of which include; the NEADS service dogs for veterans program, Free Wheelchair Mission and more. Interested in joining the Advisors Family? Contact them at Ops@AdvisorsMortgage.com. About Advisors Mortgage Group Advisors Mortgage Group is a multi-state mortgage banker with more than thirty branch locations across the country. Focusing on residential lending, Advisors prides itself on maintaining a local and personal feel to help each and every customer feel the comfort and protection that their home financing needs are in the right hands. Advisors has been on the Best Places to Work in NJ list for the past eight years, making sure that all employees feel like Family, while also maintaining the customer service standards that the company was built on. The mission statement at Advisors is that we take care of our family, who help us take care of our Customers, which allows us to give back to our Community. Contact Details Sean Clark +1 800-778-9044 Advisors@AdvisorsMortgage.com Company Website https://advisorsmortgage.com/

June 03, 2021 08:04 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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LambdaTest rallies global investors raising US$16m Series B funding as it rapidly scales

Stockwood Strategy

Cloud-based browser testing platform LambdaTest today announced it has secured US$16 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital India. Telstra Ventures, MENA region investor Wamda Capital and a leading sovereign wealth fund also joined the series B round. Founded in 2017 by Asad Khan and Jay Singh, San Francisco-based LambdaTest is a cloud-based testing infrastructure company that allows users to seamlessly test their websites’ and apps’ look, feel and performance on over 2,000 different browsers and by operating systems and device combinations. The proliferation of devices and browsers has made it increasingly complex for developers to test their websites and apps. LambdaTest solves this problem by enabling developers to run a variety of tests through their cloud-based platform, spotlight concerns, share immediately with teams and remedy issues quickly. LambdaTest exists to support the developer community to identify defects in code much earlier in the release cycle. These defects present one of the biggest challenges and costs facing businesses. Indeed, the cost of fixing these defects once in production and release is 30x higher than addressing earlier in the development cycle. Since its launch, LambdaTest has attracted over 500,000 developers in 132 countries who have performed more than 20 million tests. Customers include SMEs and Fortune 500 companies such as Xerox, Cisco, Microsoft, Deloitte, Media.net, Coca Cola, Trepp, SurveyMonkey, Capgemini, HBR, 23andme and Dashlane. Asad Khan, CEO of LambdaTest commented: “Companies are increasingly competing on customer experience 1 and as such are releasing software updates faster, more frequently to remain relevant. In doing so, there is a greater demand for continuous testing to ensure quality releases in the production environment. In just six short months since the series A round in 2020, LambdaTest has doubled revenues and increased customer numbers by 20%. In that time headcount has doubled in size from 70 people pre-Series A to 150 today across the engineering, sales, and customer success teams. Harshjit Sethi, Principal at Sequoia India commented: “As every company is becoming a software company and deployment cycles are shrinking, testing is becoming an increasingly important part of the software development cycle. Additionally testing is now happening earlier and earlier in the development cycle as part of the ‘Shift Left’ movement that companies like LambdaTest are enabling. Operating in a USD 35 billion market for testing software and services, LambdaTest has emerged as the go-to platform for its users in browser testing, evident from its best-in-class ratings across review sites. Sequoia Capital India is excited to continue partnering with the LambdaTest team as they execute on their vision of building an end-to-end testing system for developers to enable companies to release more reliable software faster.” The number of software tests run by developers has almost doubled from 12m to over 20m in six months at LambdaTest. As developers shift to cloud-based testing, this number will grow exponentially. This trend has been accelerated by the adoption of the Shift Left approach, as more developers are testing code early before they ship to the testing cycles. “LambdaTest’s vision is to empower 23 million developers and testers worldwide with a powerful, comprehensive and secure continuous quality test platform. Our upcoming product lines will enable tech teams to ship high quality code seamlessly boosting their release velocity” added Asad Khan. Steve Schmidt, General Partner at Telstra Ventures commented: “We have an opportunity to build a very large scale and independent testing company with a modern approach to software development and that’s very exciting. Lambdatest has already signed several customers in Australia without having any local presence and we look forward to helping them build out a local APAC team to meet this demand”. The funding advances LambdaTest’s commitment to scaling the testing ecosystem and building next-generation cloud infrastructure for users. To this end, LambdaTest is broadening its reach with the tester community by engaging with developers as it launches a suite of products in 2021 designed for them to perform tests on scale. “We’ve had an exciting period of growth and there is more to come as we expand our platform capabilities and go deeper in global markets. This funding round validates our efforts in building a robust cloud testing platform that is truly resonating with the testing and developer community globally. We pride ourselves in delivering a highly reliable, stable and secure infrastructure for them to achieve success. This success is born out in the numbers as our customers have been able to increase release velocity by over 60% and half the time to market” concluded Asad Khan. About LambdaTest LambdaTest is a cloud testing infrastructure company that allows users to run both manual and automated tests on their websites and webapps across 2000+ different browsers, browser versions and operating system environments. The platform has been used to perform over 20 million tests in just three years, and is now being used by over 500,000 users across 132 different countries. Contact Details LambdaTest Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://www.theeditldn.com/

June 02, 2021 05:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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