GumGum, a contextual-first, digital advertising platform, announced its significant growth as the industry moves into a post-cookie world. GumGum will continue to focus on scaling the organization with the hire of seasoned executive, Michelle Hulst, who will be joining GumGum as President.

GumGum, a contextual-first, digital advertising platform, announced its significant growth as the industry moves into a post-cookie world. GumGum will continue to focus on scaling the organization with the hire of seasoned executive, Michelle Hulst, who will be joining GumGum as President. She will lead GumGum's global advertising business as well as drive the worldwide adoption of GumGum's platform for the future of digital advertising, The Mindset Platform™. Hulst will report to GumGum's CEO Phil Schraeder and will be based out of San Francisco.

"Brand adoption and industry support have been unprecedented for us this year. At GumGum, we're partners with over 50% of Interbrand's Best Global Brands of 2022 and are trusted by all six agency-holding companies. We're starting to see advertisers and publishers embrace a mindset-first approach where they are excited about the deeper level of consumer connection and insights they can derive from it. This was highlighted recently when Domino's leveraged The Mindset Platform that combines GumGum's creative, context, and attention products and saw up to 400% ROAS," said Schraeder. "Michelle is an industry veteran that we are thrilled to bring on board to help us continue to scale our business and ensure GumGum is a trusted strategic partner as advertisers head into the cookie-free world of the future that relies on consumer mindset rather than personal data."

Hulst has almost 20 years of leadership experience in advertising and data management and understands the needs of the industry and evolving digital landscape on a global scale. Hulst most recently served as Chief Data Officer at The Trade Desk where she launched industry-leading initiatives such as retail media and Unified ID 2.0. Prior to The Trade Desk, she was Group Vice President, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships at Oracle Data Cloud (now Oracle Advertising), where she led platform and data partnerships and participated in acquisitions of multiple companies, including Moat and Grapeshot. She was also a member of the executive team at data-driven advertising pioneer Datalogix, which led the company through transformational growth to an eventual acquisition by Oracle.

Hulst's hire comes after GumGum has seen a double digit YoY growth rate. GumGum, which has a global presence in over 19 markets, continues to innovate The Mindset Platform to give advertisers the ability to understand the correlation between consumer mindset and digital advertising to drive exceptional campaign outcomes and connections.

"GumGum's mission is to shape meaningful connections, and they've done a great job doing so internally and externally. Their differentiated assets help address some of the biggest concerns for advertisers today – they have unique, engaging ad formats that lead to a better consumer advertising experience, differentiated attention technology from their acquisition of Playground xyz, and an advanced, accredited contextual offering for CTV, web, and mobile that provides brand-safe and relevant advertising without the use of personal data. Each of these are effective products on their own, but the real strength is when they come together," said Hulst. "Joining GumGum, I'm looking forward to bringing the effectiveness and power of The Mindset PlatformT to many more brands and agencies as we continue to scale."

Hulst holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Bank of Hawaii.

Bloomreach, the platform fueling limitless e-commerce experiences, today announced marketers now have the ability to integrate TikTok ads with Bloomreach Engagement. With real-time data, advanced audience building, and granular segmentation fueling their TikTok ad strategies, Bloomreach Engagement users can ensure content is always targeted toward relevant, high-value audiences. Further utilizing Bloomreach’s integrations across Snapchat, Facebook, and Google, marketers can build holistic ad strategies that drive down customer acquisition costs (CAC) and show shoppers the content they really want to see.

TikTok has over one billion monthly active users, and on average, its users open the app 19 times a day and spend almost 11 minutes in each session. With a wide reach and high levels of user engagement, it serves as an ideal channel for marketers to consistently grow and strengthen customer relationships. Yet as shoppers are inundated with more digital ads than ever before — across every channel — the ability to target customers with relevant content has become crucial.

By integrating their TikTok ads with Bloomreach Engagement, marketers will be able to leverage real-time customer data and key segments to reach the right shoppers with each ad. They can use AI predictions to see which audiences are best suited for each ad, and to predict high-value, high-intent audiences. This data-driven approach ensures that, even with fewer ads deployed, marketers can increase their chances of engaging customers — optimizing ad spend and driving greater revenue.

“The impact TikTok has had on today’s consumer is outstanding. This isn’t just a social media channel — it’s a source of inspiration and validation when making a purchase. And with such high levels of engagement, it’s quickly becoming a staple in every marketing strategy,” said Amanda Elam, Chief Marketing Officer, Bloomreach. “With Bloomreach, businesses can use richer data and smarter AI to make every TikTok ad as impactful and cost effective as possible. We’re excited to launch an integration with such a popular channel and grow our list of integrations across the customer journey.”

OpenBOM, a leading provider of cloud-native PLM and PDM solutions, is excited to announce a major set of enhancements in its platform focusing on design data management, collaboration, flexible data management, and integration with Autodesk Platform Services. These enhancements not only solidify OpenBOM's commitment to flexibility and configurability but also further its mission to provide out-of-the-box solutions that can be custom-tailored to various customer needs.

Comprehensive File Management Using Design Projects

Acknowledging the continued relevance of files in design and engineering, OpenBOM is enhancing its file management capabilities. Following the introduction of collaborative engineering solution Drive features last year, OpenBOM launched its Design Projects file management system, which will be available as part of OpenBOM's FREE subscription.

OpenBOM's Design Projects aim to democratize cloud data management by catering to engineers and hard-tech companies that rely on files for design and project collaboration. This feature will include capabilities such as check-in/check-out and release functionalities, ensuring that users can synchronize their files on-demand in both offline and online work.

Seamless Integration with Cloud Design Systems and Storages

Recognizing the increasing adoption of cloud-based CAD and other design systems, OpenBOM introduces integrations with cloud design storages and systems. The initial integration will be with Autodesk Platform Services (APS), previously known as Autodesk Forge, offering users a seamless data connection between Autodesk and OpenBOM.

OpenBOM Custom Objects: A Game-Changer in SaaS PLM Data Management

Manufacturing entities familiar with OpenBOM's current data management system will now be able to tailor the data model entirely and define and manage custom objects, such as Requirements, Specifications, Products, Quality Documents, and more. The feature aims to provide users with a fully flexible data model, built on a user-friendly interface with spreadsheet-like functionalities.

New Property Type: The Object Reference

This new property type will allow users to point from one property to another, creating flexible links between different OpenBOM objects. Initially, these references will become linkable, with plans to integrate them into OpenBOM's Graph Navigator, enhancing user navigation between linked objects.    

"For the last four years, OpenBOM grew to become a global robust and scalable data management platform capable of supporting engineers and hard tech companies across the globe. Ranked at the top of G2 PLM Grid, OpenBOM is expanding to provide a combination of features for both free and open source projects, SME manufacturing business, and Fortune 500 enterprises" says Oleg Shilovitsky, CEO and co-founder of OpenBOM. "OpenBOM's upcoming release promises significant advancements, aimed at providing unparalleled value to engineers, industrial companies, robotics teams, and educational institutions".

Led by investors including the Reno Seed Fund and AZ-VC, former PayPal executive Jack Selby's venture firm, this seed round fuels MessageDesk's growth and market expansion

MessageDesk, a text messaging software for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs), announced today its successful $1.6M million Seed investment. Led by the Reno Seed Fund and with new investments from AZ-VC, Acadian Capital Ventures, Arizona Tech Investors, and Desert Angels; along with support from the Sierra Innovations Entrepreneur Fund of the Sierra Angels.

This new capital furthers MessageDesk's mission of routing business communications to the right people and places at the right time. The company aims to hit $1M+ in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in 2023 and anticipates reaching 1000 SMB customers by the end of Q1 2024 while also expanding its mid-market customer base.

"Savvy investors are increasing their investments in companies like MessageDesk because they deliver on strong use cases and they have shown very early on that they are able to generate sustainable, recurring revenue," explained Gene Wong, Managing Partner of The Reno Seed Fund. "Proven and successful SaaS startups like MessageDesk are hard to find."

"Healthcare staffing agencies, logistics providers, school administrators, and many other professionals already use MessageDesk's inbox and broadcast features to route their text conversations and reach everyone on their contact lists," said Clint Vernon, Co-Founder and CEO of MessageDesk. "We've established product-market fit with over 600 SMB and mid-market customers. These new funds will enable us to scale our marketing, sales, and customer success operations while continuing to evolve our platform and expand it to include features like AI-driven sentiment analysis, team chatbots, and voice-to-text."

"Our investment in MessageDesk is a testament to the potential we see in their innovative solution and business model, especially considering the fluctuating economic conditions and shift to not only more mobile work but mobile work that demands greater efficiency and coordination to deliver services when and where they are most needed," said Ben Brockwell, Partner at AZ-VC. "MessageDesk's focus on streamlining the user experience and its strategic growth plans align well with our investment philosophy."

MessageDesk is a tech company solving real-world problems. It is a great example of the emerging startup ecosystem in Reno, Nevada. MessageDesk's initial local and regional angel investment and new out-of-state venture funding, reiterate its commitment to serving small and medium-sized businesses and aligns well with the investment theses of the contributing funds.

By partnering with Distributor Data Solutions, Productsup empowers manufacturers and distributors to scale perfect product content globally

Productsup, the leading Product-to-Consumer (P2C) software company, today announced a new strategic partnership with DDS (Distributor Data Solutions), the wholesale industry's leading product content solution provider in North America. By combining both platforms' advanced content syndication capabilities, industrial manufacturers and distributors gain access to hundreds of new channels, enabling them to reach more buyers with perfect product content and create new revenue streams worldwide.

"Sharing data within the B2B industry is quite complex. Every manufacturer has its own distinct catalogs – each containing thousands of SKUs – that they need to share with distributors, retailers, data pools, and other buying groups – which all have their own unique data formats and requirements," said Vincent Peters, CEO at Productsup. "Our P2C platform allows manufacturers and distributors to clean and enhance their product data more efficiently. Now with DDS, our customers can be sure their data is standardized and syndicated to an even larger audience, making it easy to scale globally."

Industrial manufacturers and distributors using the Productsup P2C platform can now automatically syndicate their product content to over 300 North American distributors within the DDS network. At the same time, DDS customers can expand their omnichannel operations by leveraging Productsup's platform to access and optimize their data for various marketplaces, retailers, and advertising channels worldwide.

"Despite there being thousands of channels available to manufacturers to reach their buyers, most of the industry lags behind in being omnipresent," said Matt Christensen, President at DDS. "Companies that can make full and up-to-date product information instantly available to customers, regardless of where they are in the world and how their data needs to be formatted, don't just have a competitive advantage. They have the agility to adapt to any economic situation as supply chains fluctuate."

Learn more about Productsup's syndication capabilities for industrial manufacturers through its Distribution PX offering. Download the 2023 Productsup Distribution PX guide for an in-depth look at how manufacturers can perfect their product content journeys.

Foundever™, a global leader in the customer experience (CX) industry, today announced that technology leader and entrepreneur Guillaume Laporte has joined the organization as Chief AI Officer. In this role, Guillaume is responsible for defining AI strategy and working with cross-functional teams to ensure it aligns with the company’s overall mission. He will work to identify the organization's AI goals, develop a roadmap for achieving those goals and allocate resources to AI initiatives. He will also build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders including clients, leadership, shareholders and more.

“We are thrilled to add Guillaume to our Global Executive Team, where he’ll be responsible for using his extensive knowledge of AI to drive innovation with advancements in technology,” said Laurent Uberti, President, CEO & founder of Foundever. “Guillaume brings the experience and skill set we need to accelerate our organization’s technological growth, supporting our mission to make things simple and deliver the best experiences on behalf of our clients all over the world. Having Guillaume in this new role allows Foundever to successfully develop and implement AI projects, identify and mitigate risk and ensure that AI is used responsibly and ethically – which is always a top priority.”

Based in Barcelona and a native of Switzerland, Guillaume brings a wealth of digital know-how and knowledge to Foundever. In 2016, he co-founded and led Mindsay, a conversational AI solution used to automate customer-facing processes. In 2022, Mindsay was acquired by Laiye, an AI-powered platform that creates a digital workforce intended to complement the human workforce in order to give companies a competitive edge. Following the acquisition, Guillaume served as General Manager of Chatbot International at Laiye, where he continued to build on his skill set of scaling AI SaaS.

The optimistic view Foundever has for the potential value of generative AI and its capabilities creates an important opportunity to enhance the delivery of CX services by improving efficiency and agility, while also enabling cost reduction and improved results. Guillaume’s role as Chief AI Officer is intended to support the company as the capabilities of generative AI continue to develop and as accelerating investments into both proprietary and open-source AI models continue to expand.

As a global leader in the delivery of innovative and digitally integrated solutions for +750 brands across all major verticals, Foundever combines a proven record in leveraging AI capabilities within customer-centric solutions for almost a decade and more than 30 years of experience delivering exceptional business process outsourcing (BPO) services around the world.

“I’m incredibly honored to join the Foundever team as Chief AI Officer,” said Guillaume Laporte. “We are entering a pivotal moment in technology and the use of AI must be approached with care. I am inspired by the company’s mission and feel strongly that my career and experiences in AI and entrepreneurship have prepared me for this role. I look forward to seeing what we accomplish together.”

Pynt automates API security testing, minimizing exposure, and saving time & effort by bridging the gap between software development and security

Pynt today announced the general availability of its autopilot platform for API security used by thousands of developers and security experts, as well as $6 million in Seed funding led by Joule Ventures with the participation of Dallas VC and Honeystone VC.

The use of APIs is exploding, with 83% of internet traffic today related to API services. These software interfaces enable seamless integration, propelling businesses toward success. But reliance on them has created myriads of critical vulnerabilities. API security breaches can happen anywhere, as incidents at Twitter and LinkedIn exemplify, casting a worldwide shadow over cyber defenses.

Shockingly, more than half of all APIs remain hidden from the inquisitive eyes of security teams. With developers under pressure to deliver more software, faster, in an environment of ever-increasing complexity, more often than not API testing is low on the priority list, and is often overlooked. At the same time, cybersecurity talent is in short supply, with a whopping 3.5 million unfilled jobs projected for 2025. This explosive combination leaves critical business logic vulnerable to exploitation.

Pynt enables API security by bridging the gap between developers and security experts. Its platform takes on the role of a hacker, employing human logic to generate attacks and eliminate vulnerabilities before they become exposed. By seamlessly integrating with popular API development tools and CI/CD pipelines, Pynt offers a fully automated API security solution used by thousands of developers and security experts around the world.

"API security is top of mind for security professionals and business stakeholders alike, and for good reason. Putting up an API to your application and data is like opening up doors to your castle. These doors should be both secure by design and well-guarded with the 'door makers' and 'guards' sharing the responsibility", said Pynt Co-Founder & CEO Tzvika Shneider.

"It's the same thing for API security: developers and security experts should share the responsibility. The problem is, developers don't know much about security, and security people can't be involved in development. And both already have a lot on their plate. We solve that problem by elegantly shifting left API security, improving both productivity and security. That's why thousands of developers and security experts have been working with our platform from the get-go".

Shneider co-founded Pynt with CTO Ori Goldberg, CSO Golan Yosef and CPO Ofer Hakimi. Pynt's founders are all veterans in both cybersecurity and software development, having spent years in the trenches responding to large-scale incidents. It's the same team that built the world's 1st automotive app security solution for developers at Harman (Samsung).

Pynt offers a freemium and an enterprise version, and is already in use at companies ranging from mid-market to Fortune 500. In addition to automating the identification of API vulnerabilities during development, Pynt delivers comprehensive reports and dashboards for developers and other stakeholders, as well as actionable recommendations for addressing security issues.

"Pynt's unique approach to securing APIs pre-production is the next logical step for the growing number of enterprises looking to embrace 'shift left' best practices, said Brian Rosenzweig, founding partner at Joule Ventures. "This Pynt team has an exceptional combination of experience, technical acumen, and vision and is poised to make a significant dent in the API Security market."

Pynt has been developed in collaboration with, and is supported by, a wide range of application development and security experts. Most notably, Pynt integrates with Postman, one of the most popular API development and testing tools. Abhinav Asthana, Postman's CEO and co-founder, is an investor in Pynt, alongside other notable angel investors such as Tamir Carmel, Boaz Chalamish, Cyber Club London, Amos Stern and Noam Lanir.