Acquisition Represents A Significant Premium Over Kaleyra's Last Closing Price

Tata Communications, a global digital ecosystem enabler, today announces it has entered into a definitive agreement through Tata Communications Limited to acquire Kaleyra, to empower global enterprises to offer personalised experiences to their customers.  Kaleyra is a global omnichannel integrated communication services provider with a set of proprietary platforms, offering targeted personalisation through messaging, video, push notifications, e-mail and voice-based services, and chatbots.

With this transaction, Tata Communications will gain an industry-proven platform with strong capabilities and scale. Kaleyra brings a stronghold in the business communications market in banking and financial services, retail and digital commerce industries across global markets, in addition to a strong team with expertise in technology, engineering and research & development. Tata Communications will also benefit from Tier 1 carrier connections in the US, ready connectors to third party platforms, and video services without the need for additional software plugins.

The resulting business will leverage Tata Communications large base of enterprise customers worldwide including 300 of the Fortune 500 companies, extensive mobile network operator (MNO) connections and global expansion opportunities. It will benefit from the global digital ecosystem enabler that powers today's fast-growing digital economy in more than 190 countries and territories.

Under the terms of the agreement, Tata Communications has agreed to acquire Kaleyra, Inc. in a cash only transaction, at a price per share of USD $7.25 for a total consideration to Kaleyra shareholders of approximately USD 100 million and the assumption of all outstanding debt. This transaction has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both Tata Communications and Kaleyra. Consummation of the deal is subject to approval by Kaleyra's stockholders, certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Upon closing of the transaction, expected in six to nine months, Kaleyra Inc. will become a subsidiary of Tata Communications Limited. For the full year ended 31^st December 2022, Kaleyra reported revenue of USD 339.2 million (USD 353.3 million in constant currency), an increase of 26.7% compared to the full year 2021 (32.0% increase in constant currency).

"With this investment in Kaleyra, we will accelerate our push into the customer interactions platform market and fortify our global CommTech position," said A.S. Lakshminarayanan, MD and CEO, Tata Communications. "We are excited about Kaleyra's remarkable talent and their demonstrated capabilities in next-gen technologies.  With this acquisition, we will further build intelligent, intuitive and innovative multi-channel communication solutions to unlock new growth opportunities for our customers."

Commenting on the acquisition, Mysore Madhusudhan, Executive Vice President, Collaboration and Connected Solutions, Tata Communications added, "As we further our position in the industry 4.0 world, we are committed to offering heightened targeted communications solutions for enterprises and their customers. We are confident our combined forces with Kaleyra will forge the path for the next wave of intelligence in enterprise communications globally."

Dario Calogero, Founder and the CEO of Kaleyra said, "When we launched Kaleyra 24 years ago with my co-founder Simone Fubini, I could hardly envision that our voyage would take us from a small Italian startup, to global expansion, a publicly listed NYSE company, and now working together with a great technology leader like Tata Communications. This is a great day for Kaleyra and our shareholders, and our employees worldwide."

Dr. Avi Katz, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kaleyra, commented, "I am very pleased with today's outcome, fruits of the dedicated and professional work of the Kaleyra team.  It's been a privilege to be part of the Kaleyra team since the onset of their public listing journey in late 2019, and through the follow up significant funding of the company and its meaningful strategic extensions through GigCapital. This transaction represents a significant premium to the last closing share price and delivers significant value creation to all Kaleyra stakeholders. We are excited about the next chapter of the Kaleyra journey, being an essential part of the Tata Communications enterprise."

62% of US organizations surveyed plan to incorporate decentralized identity solutions into their operations according to report from Curity.

US organizations are ready to embrace decentralized identity according to a research report from Curity, an API-focussed identity and access management company. 62% of US organizations surveyed stated they will introduce decentralized identity solutions into their operations with 74% of them planning to do so within the next year.

Decentralized identity has the potential to transform identity management, allowing users to control their online identity and choose which information they provide to authenticate their login when accessing digital services.

The report entitled "Plotting the Roadmap for Digital Identity" surveyed 200 IT decision makers (ITDMs) in the US and UK as well as 1000 consumers to better understand the rapidly changing digital identity landscape.

Organizations are set to embrace this latest innovation in digital identity Curity's report reveals two thirds of consumers currently use digital wallets. Additionally, the report found almost half (46%) of consumers believed new developments in digital identity such as digital identity wallets would give them enhanced security and greater autonomy over their data.

Finance (62%), retail (61%), and travel (46%), were the most popular services by consumers with digital wallets. When it comes to public trust in storing personal data in digital identity wallets, financial institutions (38%) are current leaders, followed by medical providers. (35%), whereas the government (22%) and transport providers (17%) were the least trusted.

Currently, 42% of US organizations are utilizing digital identity solutions and only 21% have no plans to introduce such solutions. 60% of organizations surveyed expect digital identity to have a transformative impact on their industry, with financial services (89%) and health (86%) seen as industries set to benefit most from latest innovation in this area according to ITDMs.

Other key findings include:

• 42% of US organizations are utilizing digital identity solutions compared with only 28% in the UK
• 60% of consumers in the US currently use a digital wallet
• 60% of organizations expect digital identity to have a transformative impact on their industry
• Among US consumers that currently use digital wallets, 81% use it weekly and 34% use it daily.

Travis Spencer, Curity CEO, commented on the findings, "As consumers continue to demand seamless digital experiences and organizations face increasing pressure to protect customers' data, continued innovation and development in the digital identity space could not be of greater importance for all industries. While there are encouraging signs that businesses are adequately prepared for the paradigm shift that decentralized identity will cause, the winners after the move will be those that cultivate trust among consumers. The question of how digital identities are managed and by whom will continue to be a key question over the coming years. To keep up with this pace of change and consumer expectations digital identity must be on the priority list of enterprise architects and strategy makers."

Coveo’s market-leading AI Platform, the Coveo Relevance Cloud™, continues demonstrating strength in security by achieving global security standard with ISO 27001

Coveo, a leader in AI platforms that transform digital experiences with intelligent search, recommendations, 1:1 personalization, and merchandising, today announced that it has received ISO 27001 certification, highlighting its laser focus on customer security. ISO 27001 is the leading international standard focused on information security, developed to help organizations protect their information systematically and cost-effectively by adopting an Information Security Management System.

Coveo earned this important recognition through its commitment to upholding the confidentiality, integrity and availability of its customers’ data while complying with applicable laws and regulations. This helps Coveo customers navigate the changing security implications of data in AI.

To achieve the ISO 27001 certification, organizations must demonstrate a systematic and documented approach to protecting and managing sensitive information, including employee and customer data, financial information, and information entrusted to it by third parties.

“We are proud to have achieved the ISO 27001 certification, reaffirming our commitment to data security and privacy. At Coveo, we have built a foundation of trust, empowering our customers and partners to embrace the limitless possibilities of AI with confidence,” said Anne Theriault, VP of Legal, DPO and CISO. “By adhering to rigorous security standards, we are helping to ensure that our cutting-edge capabilities and solutions can empower businesses to harness the transformative power of AI while minimizing the risks and vulnerabilities.”

ISO 27001 is a globally recognized standard for the establishment and certification of an ISMS. The standard specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, operating, monitoring, reviewing, maintaining and improving a documented ISMS within the context of the organization’s overall business risks. It sets forth a risk-based approach that focuses on adequate and proportionate security controls that protect information assets and give confidence to interested parties.

MediaWallah enables joint customers to manage their own identity natively within their Snowflake account

MediaWallah today announced at Snowflake’s annual user conference, Snowflake Summit 2023, the launch of MediaWallah Identity Builder, a Snowflake Native App on Snowflake Marketplace. Identity Builder empowers Snowflake customers to resolve and manage their own identity data natively within their Snowflake environment with direct access to the MediaWallah id graph, which is managed on Snowflake, for a more accurate, secure, scalable, and accessible approach to identity.

Snowflake, the Data Cloud company, announced that the Snowflake Native App Framework (public preview on AWS) is now available for developers to build and test apps natively in the Data Cloud with additional distribution and monetization capabilities in public preview soon.. Snowflake Native Apps usher in a new era of data collaboration, enabling developers with the tools needed to create robust apps quickly with Snowflake's high availability and auto-scalability, all the while reducing security and procurement hurdles for customers because the apps run directly within the customers’ Snowflake accounts.

“MediaWallah provides an identity solution that allows Snowflake customers to manage identity data natively within their own Snowflake account without needing to move or expose data. With Identity Builder, customers get access to MediaWallah’s identity graph directly in their account so that they can have access to real-time identity data, manage their own data confidently, and merge, resolve and analyze data,” said Chris Child, Senior Director of Product Management, Snowflake.

Snowflake Marketplace already has over 25 new Snowflake Native Apps available today, and over one hundred providers are currently developing apps that span multiple industries and use cases. MediaWallah is one of the leading organizations building in the Data Cloud, with a Snowflake Native App readily available to easily bring unique insights to end users and enabling them to unlock value with just a few clicks on Snowflake Marketplace. By being Powered by Snowflake, MediaWallah is able to create new revenue streams by distributing its app to thousands of Snowflake customers, without these customers having to move or expose their data.

MediaWallah Identity Builder empowers customers to have more control over their approach to identity and over their own data, enabling them to enrich their own identity graph and resolve identity data within the Snowflake environment. Real-time data feeds into the native app so identity data is always fully updated to allow for high match rates when resolving datasets, creating a high-fidelity crosswalk for measurement, targeting, and activation. Customers get access to a flexible set of capabilities from data onboarding to data merging, resolution, and analytics. Customers also get flags to address issues and improve match rates and data quality.

“We’re excited to launch Identity Builder as a Snowflake Native App to empower Snowflake customers with a highly flexible identity tool. We designed Identity Builder to be easy to use, scalable, and secure so that data owners can confidently manage, merge, and match data natively,” said Nancy Marzouk, CEO and Founder at MediaWallah. “Our graph enables far faster data turnaround, offers enhanced addressability domestically and abroad, and delivers advanced controls.”

Amesite, a leading artificial intelligence software company offering a cloud-based learning platform for education, business, and government markets, announces today that V6.3 will be available to its Customers on July 10, 2023.

"We are thrilled to announce the roll out of our latest update – V6.3 – utilizing a streamlined, AI-first infrastructure. Our enterprise customers are in a phase of rapid expansion, and they need reliable solutions that support their growth,” said Amesite Founder & CEO, Dr. Ann Marie Sastry. “Our AI-driven platform features can now be delivered with even greater scalability and affordability, along with greater degrees of customization, to meet our Customers' needs.”

By implementing Azure's cloud solutions, Amesite has enhanced its platform’s efficiency and ensured secure authentication with Azure AD B2C. The incorporation of Azure's latest database technology enables Amesite to deliver services faster and improve user experiences. The centralization of Amesite’s innovation deployments allows rapid access to new features such as games and other AI offerings. This significant update reaffirms Amesite’s dedication to addressing our customers' ever-evolving needs and delivering an unrivaled user experience.

Amesite’s V6.3 includes upgraded cybersecurity with centralized security measures and updates to fortify protection against cyber threats. Enhanced visibility achieved through centralized monitoring allows proactive identification of vulnerabilities, paired with the ability to rapidly deploy security patches across all tenants. In addition, Amesite’s scalable customer support facilitates frictionless resource allocation to manage Customer inquiries and onboarding efficiently.

Seasoned marketing leader brings a wealth of global experience amplifying technology and enterprise software brands

Udemy, a company dedicated to improving lives through learning, today announced the appointment of Genefa Murphy to the newly created role of Chief Marketing Officer, effective July 10, 2023. In this role, Murphy will lead Udemy's worldwide marketing organization and will report directly to Udemy’s President and CEO, Greg Brown.

"I'm thrilled to welcome Genefa to Udemy’s leadership team,” said Brown. “We are at an exciting inflection point given the growth of our enterprise platform for professional learners and organizations, Udemy Business, which now accounts for more than half of our revenue. Genefa has a proven track record for building global brands and brings extensive experience leading marketing initiatives for fast-growing software and technology companies that cater to businesses and consumers. Her unique background, including guiding companies through transformations by leveraging the critically important skill of storytelling, will be an invaluable asset to our team. I am confident Genefa will be integral in accelerating our global brand-building initiatives and further elevating Udemy’s position as a next-generation skills development and acquisition platform.”

Murphy is a seasoned leader with more than 15 years of global experience across various domains including go-to-market, product and marketing. Murphy most recently served as Chief Marketing Officer at Five9, a publicly-traded provider of cloud contact center software, where she supported the company’s expansion into the European market and helped them deliver on their objective to successfully grow their enterprise business. During her tenure at Five9, Genefa received several honors, including being recognized twice as a CRN Woman of the Channel, getting inducted into the Elite 18 Customer Led Marketer by Influitive and receiving the global Women in Technology award by Aragon Research for her contributions to the technology industry. Prior to Five9, she served in senior marketing roles, including Chief Marketing Officer at Micro Focus, a multi-billion dollar software company, now part of OpenText, where she also led the company's sales and technical enablement functions and was a leader in its overall digital transformation program. Murphy joined Micro Focus through the acquisition of Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s software business where she had previously held numerous consulting, product, marketing and go-to-market positions. Murphy holds a Ph.D. in User Acceptance of New Technology and a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Business IT from Swansea University, Wales, UK.

"As a relentless lifelong learner, I’m excited to join an organization of talented leaders and employees who are dedicated to delivering on the company’s mission to improve lives through learning," said Murphy. "The rapid pace of change driven by technological advancements, including the opportunity presented by artificial intelligence (AI), has made it a strategic imperative for companies around the world to continuously invest in upskilling and reskilling their workforces in order to remain durable, productive and competitive. Udemy is uniquely positioned to address the needs of learners, instructors and organizations. I look forward to building and executing a global marketing strategy that connects with each of these audiences to drive greater awareness of Udemy as it scales globally and leads the transformation of the category.”

New Google Marketplace offering enables teams to quickly spin up Trusted Digital Ecosystems to test and demonstrate verifiable credential use cases, understand the power of open-source decentralized identity technology, and accelerate business innovation.

Indicio, the market leader in delivering enterprise-class verifiable data solutions, today announced the availability of Indicio Proven™ Sandbox on Google Cloud. Indicio Proven™ Sandbox is a fast, simple way for teams to dive in and explore verifiable credential technology for seamless, trusted data sharing and verification using Indicio’s award-winning Proven ecosystem.

Proven Sandbox comes with everything needed to devise, build, and test out use cases, to develop integration-free ecosystems for sharing and verifying data, and to understand the power of open-source and open-standard decentralized identity technology. Organizations are able to deploy Indicio Proven Sandbox directly from Google Cloud Marketplace and quickly start building from within their Google Cloud resources; adoption of Indicio Proven™ Sandbox will count toward any existing enterprise-committed spend agreements with Google.

“To be competitive in today’s market, businesses need efficient, innovative ways to create and manage accurate, actionable data, develop seamless processes, and prepare for a much more flexible and frictionless digital future,” said Heather Dahl, CEO, Indicio. “That’s why we created a sandbox version of our Proven ecosystem. It’s a complete package for getting started with verifiable credentials, making it simple to develop, test, and demonstrate use cases. We wanted to give IT teams the opportunity to see how they can build verifiable credentials into existing technology investments and devise seamless processes and solutions instead of ripping and replacing — and do all this quickly from Google Cloud Marketplace.”

Google Cloud customers using Proven Sandbox can also avail of significantly discounted access to Indicio’s team of field-leading experts for assistance across all stages of use-case development, from architecture design to demonstration support. Google customers also get discounted access to the Indicio Academy workshops and training modules, where they can acquire the technical knowledge they need to make the most out of open-source decentralized identity technology.

Indicio Proven™ Sandbox joins Indicio NoDe, a quick-start solution for setting up and operating a node on any Hyperledger Indy network, on Google Cloud Marketplace, and it deepens Indicio’s commitment to bringing open-source, Web 3, decentralized solutions to the hybrid cloud, making it easier for customers and partners to purchase and consume open source decentralized identity and Trusted Digital Ecosystem solutions.

Additions of Jolawn Victor and Mindel Klein Mark Female-Majority Board for Jebbit

Jebbit, the provider of the world’s leading zero-party data platform, today announced the additions of Jolawn Victor, Vice President and GM of the Intuit UK business, and Mindel Klein, former GM of Integrated Marketing Communications and Digital for Colgate-Palmolive North America, to the company's Board of Directors. The news follows the launch of Jebbit’s new AI-powered Experience Generator and Language Translation capabilities as the company continues to introduce new innovations to accelerate the ability for businesses to build meaningful connections with audiences across all channels.

Victor and Klein bring a wealth of global expertise across integrated marketing strategy, consumer product experience and organizational transformation. Their additions to the Jebbit board will support continued growth and help the company take advantage of increased market demand for first-party data collection for the cookieless world. Victor and Klein’s additions also mark a female-majority board for Jebbit.

“As the deprecation of third-party data and identifiers looms, the demand and possibilities for zero-party data and consumer relationship-building have never been higher,” said Tom Coburn, Chief Executive Officer of Jebbit. “Jolawn and Mindel’s deep understanding of brand building, digital marketing and consumer experience will be integral in further developing Jebbit’s growth.”

Jolawn Victor is an acclaimed entrepreneurial strategist with over 20 years of experience leading global teams that build experiences customers love. Her core expertise includes international expansion and go-to-market, including scaling leading B2B and B2C businesses, specifically within Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), fintech and consumer product experience sectors. In her broad role, Victor will continue as the Vice President and GM of the Intuit UK business, with P&L ownership of go-to-market functions. Prior to Intuit, she held international executive leadership roles at Headspace, PepsiCo and General Mills.

“Jebbit empowers companies of all sizes to gain deep customer insights that fuel engagement and drive growth,” said Victor. “I’m excited to use my passion for building experiences that consumers love and expertise in international expansion to support Jebbit in their next phase of growth.”

Mindel Klein is an integrated marketing communications, brand experience and digital transformation expert. She spent 27 years at Colgate-Palmolive in leading roles including Director of Integrated Marketing Communications covering North America; Worldwide Director of Global Digital Marketing; and General Manager, Integrated Marketing Communications, Brand Experience and Digital for North America. Klein has been at the forefront of driving the evolution of marketing through multiple iterations of web technology, she has a strong pulse on the challenges and opportunities facing today’s CMOs and will be a key asset in helping Jebbit deliver innovative solutions while continuing to scale the business.

"I'm thrilled to be joining the Jebbit Board of Directors at a time when the need for direct consumer relationships that offer a true value exchange has never been more important,” said Klein. “As first-party data marketing advances, I look forward to helping Jebbit grow its business further to meet evolving brand and consumer needs."

Victor and Klein’s roles were sourced through the external board program operated by Vista Equity Partners, a global investment firm focused on enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses and an investor in Jebbit. Launched in 2017, the board program leverages Vista’s ecosystem and additional resources to identify, train and appoint qualified board candidates for its portfolio companies. The program works to create a diverse pipeline of qualified board candidates through programs and partnerships that advance diversity for all boards and drive impact for the corporate world at large.