SPARKLABS ENGAGES WITH ARGON GROUP TO LAUNCH THE FIRST STARTUP ACCELERATOR SECURITY TOKEN OFFERING

The Largest Accelerator Network in Asia Partners with Argon Group, a leading digital finance advisory firm, and Swarm Fund, the first security token platform, to Democratize Venture Capital Access

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 14 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SparkLabs Group, which has the largest accelerator network in Asia and operates global venture capital funds, has engaged with Argon Group, a leading digital finance advisory firm, to launch the first startup accelerator security token offering through their Smart City & Smart Planet Fund (sparklabs.tokenhub.com).

The SparkLabs token is not a utility token and is simply a smart contract that represents an investor’s (“Limited Partners”) equity into its fund vehicle that will have equal holdings in start-up companies that are associated with SparkLabs IoT & Smart City Accelerator in Songdo, South Korea and SparkLabs Cultiv8 Accelerator in Orange, Australia.

“SparkLabs has been very conservative in our approach and viewpoints on the cryptocurrency space and token offerings.  We have been concerned that many utility tokens are in fact securities and have viewed this space with some trepidation.  After meticulous diligence, we have now decided to jump into the pool a bit with a security token offering that we believe is conservative and provides a better understanding for venture capitalists on how this can affect our industry in the years to come,” stated Jimmy Kim, Co-founder of SparkLabs Group and former CFO of Nexon (South Korea’s largest onling gaming company).  Additionally, Mr. Kim’s most recent startup, N3N, was Cisco’s first IoT investment.

Graduates of SparkLabs accelerators have an average raise size of over $3.5 million with 80% of the startups receiving funding after the program.  SparkLabs’ startups also average over $500,000 in funds raised prior to entering the accelerator programs.

“We believe our Smart City & Smart Planet Fund allows people across the globe to invest into two accelerator funds that can truly change the world in terms of urban innovation, innovation in agriculture, and how we interact with our planet. Both accelerators have excellent partners, such as Australia’s Government of New South Wales which generously provided access to over 30,000 acres of farmland for our startups to utilize as a test bed,” explained Frank Meehan, Co-founder of SparkLabs Group.  Mr. Meehan was born and raised in Australia and is currently living in London. Prior to launching SparkLabs, he was best known for leading DeepMind’s Series A (acquired by Google) and sat on Siri’s board of directors until it was acquired by Apple. 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=31881

MOTION GESTURES LAUNCHES BREAKTHROUGH GESTURE RECOGNITION PLATFORM AND CLOSES $1.65 MILLION USD IN SEED FINANCING

Revolutionary software enables creation of a gesture interface in minutes, without programming or data input.

WATERLOO, Ontario, May 14 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Motion Gestures, a Canadian machine learning startup specializing in gesture recognition software, today launched a breakthrough platform for gesture recognition applications. The software is a significant advance over conventional approaches and dramatically reduces the time, cost, and effort of building a gesture interface for any system, device, or app. It supports gesture recognition with a wide variety of motion, touch, and vision sensors and can be deployed on cloud, gateway/hub, and embedded platforms.

Watch our video!
The patent-pending technology defines the state-of-the-art in gesture recognition in six fundamental ways:

• No need to code custom gestures. Just draw the desired motion trajectory on a mobile or tablet screen and edit it.
• No need to collect data for training gesture models. The system generates data automatically for model training.
• No need to build gesture models for different sensors. Once a model is ready, utilize it with any supported sensor.
• No need to build gesture models for different platforms. Once a model is ready, deploy it on any supported platform.
• No limitation in gesture choices. Choose from a library comprising letters, numbers, shapes, symbols, and rotations.
• No complicated testing procedures. Test any gesture using your smart phone and receive comprehensive feedback.

Motion Gestures also announced today closing of $1.65 million USD in seed investment. China Canada Angels Alliance (CCAA) led the round that also included participation from Golden Triangle Angel Network (GTAN), Keiretsu Forum, and Propel(x) The financing will be used to further the development of company’s gesture recognition platform and initiate international marketing.

Alan Yang, Vice President of CCAA, said: “Gesture recognition is the new frontier of human machine interaction.  We are very impressed with Motion Gestures’ platform’s ability to popularize and de-mystify gesture interaction. We see major applications of its gesture recognition software in key business verticals, such as wearables, automotive, mobile phones, consumer electronics, home automation, medical devices, virtual reality, toys, drones, and robotics, to name a few.”

“We believe gesture recognition as a human machine interface is today where voice recognition was five years ago,” said Kashif Kahn, CEO and Co-Founder of Motion Gestures. “We want to dominate this emerging space by offering a powerful solution that eliminates the difficulties of building a gesture interface and helps bring gesture control into consumer mainstream. We invite developers to experience the power of our breakthrough platform via use of a free developer license.”

About Motion Gestures

Motion Gestures specializes in machine learning-based gesture recognition software and was founded in Waterloo, Canada in 2016. The company aims to enable rapid development and deployment of gesture-enabled interfaces for systems, devices, and apps. Its software supports advanced 2D and 3D gestures using motion, touch, and vision sensors and can be deployed on cloud, gateway/hub, and embedded platforms. Developers are offered free licenses to the cloud SDK and can quickly create and test any gesture using their smart phones.

For more information on Motion Gestures, visit our website: https://motiongestures.com/

For a free developer license to the full-function cloud SDK, fill out the following form: https://sdk.motiongestures.com/#!/register

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Kashif Kahn
CEO & Co-Founder,
Motion Gestures
info@motiongestures.com

A video accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/873fa350-cc78-4aff-a0a3-993cbdfd20e6

Source : Motion Gestures

--BERNAMA

BREALTIME AND CLEARSTREAM MERGE TO FORM EMX, A NEW DIGITAL MEDIA MARKETPLACE

NEW YORK, May 14 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- bRealTime and Clearstream have merged to form EMX, a new programmatic marketplace. EMX will offer more powerful media solutions across supply, demand and data to publishers, advertisers, ad tech providers and agencies, including increased efficiencies, heightened transparency and an overall lift in ROI.

EMX combines the services of bRealTime, an automated global marketplace specializing in direct-to-consumer access through technologies like header bidding, with Clearstream, the leading deterministic data and decisioning platform for advertisers and brands. As an integrated business, EMX gives clients access to a unified supply chain providing access to more audiences on all screens, including TV, OOH, mobile and desktop.

Mike Zacharski, formerly CEO of bRealTime, has been named CEO of EMX. Brian Mandelbaum, previously CEO of Clearstream, will assume the role of President & Chief Strategy Officer. They will lead the ongoing development of EMX’s industry-leading products, which combine premium supply, demand and data under one solution. The new EMX business is supported by a team of veteran digital media practitioners, data scientists and technologists.

“The digital marketplace has given marketers the power to reach and engage with consumers in seemingly limitless ways, however, with its meteoric rise, it has brought a new breed of challenges – from fraud, excessive complexity and cost, to black box behavioral data sets,” said Zacharski. “With EMX, we have pioneered a new industry standard that helps solve for these issues.”

Additional benefits of EMX include:

• Increased scale, increased transparency and increased ROI for all parties.
• Publisher and advertiser transactions are united in a single space, giving publishers access to more advertising partners, and advertisers access to more publisher partners, increasing scale for both.
• Parties have greater oversight of the entire programmatic process, as well as access to more data about how their content and strategies are performing, increasing transparency and safety for both.
• Increased transparency and data access allows both parties to better optimize their outputs, maximizing ROI for all.
• Simplifies the programmatic transaction process for clients with bespoke tools and solutions.

Continued Zacharski: “By bringing our proprietary tools and talented specialists together, we’ve been able to create a marketplace using best-of-breed technologies that deliver genuine ROI for both publishers and advertisers.”

PRESS CONTACT:
Marielena Santana
DiGennaro Communications
marielena.santana@digennaro-usa.com

ABOUT EMX
EMX is a digital solutions provider that connects publishers, advertisers and agencies with consumer data, proprietary tools and innovative technology through EMX’s programmatic media marketplace. Formed from the union of bRealTime and Clearstream, EMX provides increased scale, transparency and data access, allowing both advertisers and publishers to better optimize their outputs, thus optimizing ROI for all.

Source : EMX

--BERNAMA

​INVIVOSCRIBE ANNOUNCES A REGIONAL "CENTER OF EXCELLENCE" REFERENCE LABORATORY IN BEIRUT TO OFFER SPECIALIZED GENE PANELS

SAN DIEGO, May 14 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Invivoscribe Technologies Inc., a global precision diagnostics company in oncology and personalized molecular medicine, announces a partnership with the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) in Lebanon to create a new Center of Excellence. This facility will serve as an international service laboratory in the Middle East, testing for all hematologic diseases, including leukemia and lymphoma. This partnership will enable the American University of Beirut Medical Center to provide pharmaceutical and clinical partners in the Middle East the same high quality, reliable, standardized tests and bioinformatics tools provided by Invivoscribe’s LabPMM clinical laboratories in the U.S.A., Japan and Germany. The establishment of this center also facilitates quicker turnaround times, which are important for clinical trial enrollment and tracking of patients during the course of treatment.

The Center of Excellence at the CAP-accredited Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory of the American University of Beirut Medical Center will expand the range of diagnostic services available in the Middle East, bringing a comprehensive array of new tests designed and manufactured in an ISO 13485 accredited facility. Most importantly, through this partnership, Invivoscribe’s specialized next generation sequencing (NGS) gene panel tests including MyAML^®, MyHeme^®, and MyMRD^®will become available in the Middle East. These tests identify and track primary driver mutations and their subclonal architectures, as well as the emergence of new driver mutations in patients with hematologic diseases. Other available tests include the comprehensive menu of IdentiClone^® and LymphoTrack^® Dx Assays for clonality, minimal residual disease (MRD) and somatic hypermutation testing. This Center of Excellence is the first of many that will facilitate international standardization of testing services, allowing medical centers around the world unprecedented access to Invivoscribe’s proprietary assays and bioinformatics.

About Invivoscribe

Invivoscribe Technologies Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare worldwide by providing high quality, reliable, standardized reagents, tests, and bioinformatics tools to advance the fields of personalized molecular diagnostics and personalized molecular medicine. Invivoscribe’s PCR and NGS-based tests, reagents and bioinformatics tools are currently being used in more than 700 clinical and research laboratories in more than 160 countries.  Invivoscribe currently has clinical laboratories located in North America, Europe and Asia, which provide international access to harmonized CLIA, CAP, and ISO 15189 accredited clinical testing and contract research organization (CRO) services. Invivoscribe has a successful track record of partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies developing and commercializing companion diagnostics. As an international leader, Invivoscribe has long embraced the value of quality systems and develops all IVD products, including bioinformatics software, in compliance with ISO 13485 design controls, making them eligible to be submitted to worldwide regulatory authorities for registration. 

For additional information please visit www.invivoscribe.com.

About the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at AUBMC

Currently, the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine covers an area of 3,500 m²  and operates about 400 instruments distributed over 14 laboratory units and disciplines: Clinical Hematology, Clinical Chemistry, Clinical Microbiology, Biochemical Genetics, Flow Cytometry, Cytogenetics, Molecular Diagnostics, Surgical Pathology, Cytology, Immunohistochemistry, Neuromuscular, Blood Bank, Donor Management and Stem Cell Preparation. It offers a lab menu that exceeds 500 tests and covers all major Pathology and Laboratory Medicine specialties. Currently, more than 2,400,000 billable tests per year are performed by a team of highly skilled faculty and staff in the respective units of the lab and according to the best international standards of clinical laboratory testing. All faculty had their training in USA and the majority are diplomats of the American Board of Pathology. The Department is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and meets the standards of the Joint Commission International (JCI). 

About the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC)

Since 1902, AUBMC has been providing the highest standards of care to patients across Lebanon and the region. It is also the teaching hospital for the Faculty of Medicine at AUB (established in 1867), which has trained generations of medical students and physicians, and whose graduates are at leading institutions around the world. AUBMC is the only medical institution in the Middle East to have earned the five international accreditations of JCI, Magnet, CAP, ACGME-I and JACIE, thus attesting to its superior standards in patient-centered care, nursing, pathology/laboratory services and graduate medical education.

The Faculty of Medicine has graduated over 4,000 medical students and physicians; the Rafic Hariri School of Nursing provides excellent education for the nursing staff, and the Medical Center meets the healthcare needs of over 360,000 patient visits annually.

CONTACT:
Kevin Dobyns 858-224-6600

Source : Invivoscribe, Inc.

--BERNAMA

Sigma Systems, Telkomsel Team Up To Build Digital Indonesia

KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 (Bernama) -- Sigma Systems -- a global leader in catalog-driven software -- entered a major deal with Telkomsel -- Indonesia´s leading mobile network operator -- to build Digital Indonesia.

Telkomsel has selected Sigma Systems as a partner, establishing Sigma Catalog as the central enterprise catalog to underpin their evolving business, a statement said.

"We are pleased to partner with Sigma to deploy a B/OSS platform that enables the rapid creation of personalized, micro-segmented offers to our customers. Sigma´s agile delivery methodology and product-centric approach ultimately supports Telkomsel´s mission of building a Digital Indonesia, " said chief information officer at Telkomsel, Montgomery Hong.

Entering the digital era, Telkomsel continues to expand its digital business to incorporate advertising, lifestyle, mobile financial services and Internet of Things.

With more than 190 million customers, Telkomsel is currently the largest mobile operator in Indonesia. Telkomsel has also consistently implemented the latest mobile technology and was the first to commercially launch 4G LTE mobile services in the country.

Meanwhile, Sigma Systems chief executive officer, Tim Spencer said: "Telkomsel is at the forefront of digital transformation in the region, and recognizes the critical role a catalog-driven solution plays in accelerating the creation, selling and delivery of innovative and deeply personalized market offerings.

For further information can be accessed at www.sigma-systems.com

--BERNAMA 

OurCrowd and Bangkok Bank Announce Strategic Alliance as Asia Expansion Continues

Partnership with Leading Thailand Bank to Strengthen Local Innovation Ecosystem

JERUSALEM & BANGKOK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

OurCrowd, a global leader in equity crowdfunding, today announced its further expansion in Asia, with an innovative partnership with Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited (“BBL”), one of Thailand and Southeast Asia’s premier commercial banks.

OurCrowd and BBL have already launched their cooperation in support of Thailand’s tech ecosystem which will create key relationships for Thailand’s major corporations seeking next generation technology. The collaboration empowers OurCrowd to deliver deeper exposure for BBL’s SME and major corporate clients to Israeli and global technologies.

"Thailand is the second largest economy in the ASEAN region and we are excited to partner with one of the country’s top financial institutions, Bangkok Bank," said OurCrowd's CEO Jon Medved. "This is a great opportunity for Bangkok Bank and OurCrowd to expand the rapidly growing and vibrant innovation ecosystem in Thailand and beyond."

As a strategic partner, Bangkok Bank will have the ability to provide direct access into OurCrowd’s portfolio on behalf of its corporate and SME clients. The collaboration additionally targets opportunities for the Bangkok Bank network to actively access one of the world’s largest equity crowdfunding platforms, which has raised over USD 700 million from over 25,000 investors across 150 countries for over 150 early stage companies.

OurCrowd entered the Asian market in 2015 and has positioned itself as a leading provider to the local market of global alternative business development and investment opportunities. Other current partnerships in the region include United Overseas Bank in Singapore, Shanghai Commercial Savings Bank in Taiwan, Citic Pacific in Hong Kong, Reliance Private Client in India, and National Australia Bank.

About OurCrowd: OurCrowd is a global investment platform, bringing venture capital opportunities to accredited investors worldwide. A leader in equity crowdfunding, OurCrowd is managed by a team of seasoned investment professionals and is led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved. OurCrowd vets and selects companies, invests its own capital, and invites its accredited membership of investors and institutional partners to invest alongside in these opportunities. OurCrowd provides support to its portfolio companies, assigns industry experts as mentors, and creates growth opportunities through its network of strategic multinational partnerships.

The OurCrowd community consists of almost 25,000 accredited investors from over 150 countries. OurCrowd has raised over $700M and invested in 150 portfolio companies and funds. To join OurCrowd as an accredited investor visit www.ourcrowd.com and click “Join.”

About Bangkok Bank: Bangkok Bank is one of Southeast Asia’s leading regional banks and Thailand’s market leader in corporate and SME banking. It has approximately 17 million customer accounts and around 1,200 branches nationwide and total assets of USD 102 billion as of March 31, 2018. Internationally, Bangkok Bank has the largest overseas branch network of any Thai bank, with 32 overseas locations in 15 economies, mainly concentrated in Southeast Asia and China. The bank's ongoing market leadership is due to its philosophy of developing long-term supportive partnerships with customers. The bank’s scope of operations and complementary synergies means it offers an impressive breadth and depth of services to both local and international clients. For more information visit http://www.bangkokbank.com.

For Press Materials: http://blog.ourcrowd.com/bangkokbank

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180508006051/en/

SD-WAN MARKET LEADER ARYAKA UNVEILS APPLICATION-DRIVEN ADAPTIVE QOS FOR THE WAN AT ONUG SPRING 2018

SAN MATEO, Calif., May 14 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aryaka®, the leading global SD-WAN provider, today unveiled new capabilities that enhance real-time quality of service over the WAN for mission-critical business applications at ONUG Spring 2018 in San Francisco, CA. Integrated with Aryaka’s SmartCONNECT global SD-WAN services, Application-Driven Adaptive QoS enables enterprises to elastically share and optimize access resources between business applications.

Feature Highlights:

• Aryaka’s Application-Driven Adaptive QoS provides extra bandwidth on shared links to Internet-bound traffic when mission-critical business applications no longer need it.
• The feature prioritizes mission-critical applications and delivers best-in-class application performance through Aryaka’s software-defined global private network.
• This feature also offers precision link control and improves overall utilization as customers can re-balance according to application bandwidth requirements.

“Cloud service models have revolutionized how enterprises consume IT resources and applications globally,” said Mouli Radhakrishnan, Aryaka’s Senior Director of Product Management. “Businesses embarking on global expansion and cloud transformation journeys will access the world over an elastic network driven by application and business intent. Aryaka’s Application-Driven Adaptive QoS feature has started to gain a lot of traction among our early pilot customers as they require the flexibility of on-demand, usage-based cloud deployment models applied to connectivity and optimization.”

Aryaka will also conduct a live demonstration of its industry-leading global SD-WAN solution for enterprises at ONUG and will be leading discussions with customers and partners on the benefits of using a private network-based SD-WAN as-a-Service versus Internet-based appliances.

Radhakrishnan will lead a presentation showcasing how Aryaka’s global SD-WAN can deliver significantly enhanced performance for on-premises and cloud/SaaS applications worldwide by giving a first-hand look at MyAryaka^TM, the company’s best-in-class, web-based network and application visibility portal.

The Open Networking User Group (ONUG) is a leading IT user-driven community focused on leveraging the power of engineering and procurement to influence the pace and deployment of open networking solutions. Its semiannual conferences, including ONUG Spring 2018, function as an opportunity for IT leaders to take the stage and discuss the latest in IT trends with an emphasis on digital transformation.

In addition to owning a speaking slot at ONUG Spring 2018, Aryaka is also an “Innovator” level sponsor and the company will have a presence on the exhibit floor. For more information about ONUG Spring 2018, visit: https://www.onug.net/onug-spring-2018/

Deployed by more than 800 global enterprises, Aryaka is the leading and fastest-growing global SD-WAN provider in the market today. It has quickly become the only viable MPLS replacement solution for global enterprises requiring alternatives to legacy WAN infrastructures for mission-critical application delivery.

For more information about Aryaka’s global SD-WAN, visit www.aryaka.com. To arrange a meeting at the event, email alesia.ramanenka@aryaka.com.

About Aryaka
Aryaka is transforming how global enterprises connect sites and users worldwide, and use mission-critical applications to support modern business execution demands. Aryaka’s Global SD-WAN combines a purpose-built private network, SD-WAN, optimization and acceleration techniques, connectivity to cloud platforms, and network visibility in a single solution that is delivered as a service.

To learn more, visit www.aryaka.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Aryaka Media Contact
Shehzad Karkhanawala
Director of Marketing
Aryaka
408-273-8420
pr@aryaka.com

Source : Aryaka

--BERNAMA