Led by Prysm Capital and joined by Canapi Ventures and existing venture partners, new funding validates massive product-market fit, and accelerates market penetration and high revenue growth

Island, the pioneer and leader in the enterprise browser market, today announced that it has raised $100 million in its Series C financing round, which values Island at $1.5 billion. The round was led by Prysm Capital and joined by Canapi Ventures, as well as Island’s current funding partners Insight Partners, Stripes, Sequoia, Cyberstarts and Georgian. This latest funding round brings Island’s total outside investment to over $325 million.

This financing comes as Island is experiencing high growth, having clearly demonstrated extraordinary product-market fit and the go-to-market expertise and skills required for broad market penetration across industries and segments. To date, Island has sold over 2 million browsers to customers in all major verticals and segments, and has multiple customers ranking in the top 20 of the Fortune 100. The Island Enterprise Browser is solving some of the most pressing challenges customers face, including securing BYOD, work-from-anywhere patterns, and contractor access. Beyond security, Island is also helping customers boost workforce productivity and improve user experience, enabled by a mature and comprehensive solution set that spans all devices, operating systems, and application types.

Industry watchers have weighed in on the significance and growth potential of the rapidly emerging enterprise browser category. In a recent report on the emergence of enterprise browsers*, Gartner stated, “Enterprise browsers will evolve to become the core platform for almost all the day-to-day enterprise productivity and security software used by the workforce. Software will be delivered on demand via enterprise application marketplaces within the browser all integrated with centralized policy control and analytics.”

“Island is a pioneer and clear leader in what has rapidly become one of the most exciting and high-growth product segments in cybersecurity and IT in years,” said Jay Park, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Prysm Capital. “There is immense market potential across industries for innovating ways in which employees work securely and productively. Island has demonstrated both product superiority and success in establishing and expanding solutions for many of the largest companies in the world. We could not be more thrilled to be supporting their journey.”

“It is rare to see such rapid adoption of a security technology in the financial sector as we have seen with the Island Enterprise Browser,” said Neil Underwood, Co-founder and General Partner at Canapi Ventures. “This is really the holy grail for financial services and fintech, simultaneously delivering unprecedented security and compliance, as well as massive workforce productivity. No security product has ever nailed both of those priorities in the way the Island Enterprise Browser does. We can’t wait to dive in and drive financial sector growth with them.”

“We are honored that these amazing new investors, as well as our current investors, have the confidence to join and support us on the next phase of our company journey,” said Mike Fey, Island CEO and Co-founder. “This capital infusion will accelerate our ability to scale globally and continue to aggressively invest in R&D, customer success and geographic expansion to cover the major global buying centers. We are incredibly proud and humbled by our success to date, and look forward to driving growth together with our new partners.”

“Island’s performance is impressive in any market conditions, but especially considering the recent headwinds facing all companies, particularly those in the growth stage,” said Jeff Horing, Co-founder and Managing Director of Insight Partners. “We welcome Prysm and Canapi to the Island juggernaut, and look forward to continuing to build this important category and company together.”

Sphere XG expands 3D cloud processing, viewing and collaboration to a broad set of FARO and industry capture devices including stationary, mobile, and iPhone LiDAR scanners, and 360° cameras

FARO^® Technologies, a leading provider of 3D measurement, imaging, and realization solutions, is excited to introduce FARO Sphere® XG: The Next-Generation Digital Reality Platform.

Sphere XG is a unified cloud platform that empowers construction, operations, and geospatial professionals to effortlessly view, measure, analyze and share all reality capture data over time within a single, cohesive environment, spanning cloud, mobile, and desktop. It's designed to seamlessly integrate data from an extensive range of capture methods, including stationary scanning, mobile scanning, iPhone LiDAR scanning, and 360° photo capture over time. This latest iteration of the platform democratizes data access, fostering improved remote collaboration and more efficient decision-making processes among teams and stakeholders.

"We are thrilled to introduce Sphere XG, a platform that will redefine the way professionals approach reality capture and analysis," said Peter Lau, President & Chief Executive Officer for FARO. "With Sphere XG, we aim to empower our customers with the latest technology, enabling them to easily realize the benefits of 3D capture and virtual management all within a single cloud environment."

Sphere XG offers unified data integration through cloud-based services, desktop applications, and mobile apps. This unique multi-modal platform enables users to easily combine 360° photos, 3D point clouds, and BIM models all in one platform. The platform accelerates time to consumption by seamlessly routing data to the cloud for automated processing, streamlining the entire process. Additionally, Sphere XG automatically integrates with its recently released Orbis mobile scanner providing a comprehensive visual overview of projects. The platform underscores FARO's commitment to growing alongside its customers and their technology needs.

Shares of EngageSmart to be Acquired for $23.00 Per Share in Cash

Represents a 30% Premium to the 30-Day Unaffected Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP)

EngageSmart to Become Privately Held Company Upon Completion of the Transaction; General Atlantic to Retain Minority Ownership Position

EngageSmart, Inc. (“EngageSmart” or “the Company”), a leading provider of vertically tailored customer engagement software and integrated payments solutions, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Vista Equity Partners ("Vista"), a leading global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $4.0 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, EngageSmart stockholders will receive $23.00 per share in cash upon completion of the proposed transaction. The purchase price represents a premium of approximately 23% to the unaffected closing price of EngageSmart’s common stock on October 4, 2023, and a premium of approximately 30% over the volume weighted average price (VWAP) of EngageSmart’s common stock for the 30 days ending October 4, 2023.¹ Upon completion of the transaction, affiliates of Vista will hold approximately 65% and affiliates of General Atlantic, a leading global investor, will hold approximately 35% of the outstanding equity.

A special committee of EngageSmart’s Board of Directors comprised of independent directors (the “Special Committee”), advised by independent legal and financial advisors, was formed to conduct a deliberate and thoughtful process to evaluate this proposal and other potential value creation opportunities for EngageSmart.

“We have built an amazing business by putting our customers at the center of everything we do,” said Bob Bennett, EngageSmart CEO. “We continue to see attractive growth and customer retention in our vertically tailored SaaS solutions—a testament to the strength of our business model and our leading products. We believe the partnership with Vista and General Atlantic will enable us to continue investing in innovation and people to drive growth. We look forward to continuing to serve our customers and support our employees who are relentless in their pursuit of customer satisfaction.”

“EngageSmart is a demonstrated leader in delivering mission-critical solutions for modern businesses and simplifying customer and client engagement for over a hundred thousand organizations,” said Michael Fosnaugh, Co-Head of Vista’s Flagship Fund and Senior Managing Director. “We look forward to working with EngageSmart as they continue to innovate, scale and empower organizations to better serve their customers.”

“We have long admired EngageSmart’s vertical domain expertise in SaaS and its high-quality solutions across the SMB and Enterprise segments—proven by an established track record of growth and profitability,” said Jeff Wilson, Managing Director at Vista. “We are eager to build on EngageSmart’s momentum and look forward to working closely with the talented leadership team to provide even more powerful, innovative and seamless solutions for customers.”

“We are grateful to Bob and the entire EngageSmart team for their ongoing collaboration and trust. Since we first partnered together in 2019, EngageSmart has established itself as an industry leader by digitizing critical business processes and payments in the industry verticals they serve,” said Paul Stamas, Managing Director and Global Head of General Atlantic’s Financial Services sector. “We believe this transaction is compelling for stockholders, and we look forward to continued partnership with the EngageSmart team alongside Vista to build on the Company’s success to date.”

Transaction Details

Transaction negotiations were led by the Special Committee and following its unanimous recommendation, the EngageSmart Board of Directors unanimously approved the merger agreement with Vista and agreed to recommend that EngageSmart stockholders vote to adopt the merger agreement.

EngageSmart has entered into support agreements with affiliates of General Atlantic and Summit Partners, owners of 52% and 14% of the fully diluted stock of the Company, respectively, under which they have agreed to vote all of their shares in favor of the transaction, subject to certain terms.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of customary regulatory approvals, as well as the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock held by stockholders other than affiliates of General Atlantic and certain officers of the Company. Vista intends to finance the transaction with fully committed equity financing that is not subject to a financing condition. Upon completion of the transaction, EngageSmart will become a privately held company and EngageSmart common stock will no longer be listed on any public market.

The definitive agreement includes a 30-day "go-shop" period that will expire at 11:59 PM ET on November 22, 2023, which permits the Special Committee and its financial advisors to solicit and consider alternative acquisition proposals. There can be no assurance that this process will result in a superior proposal, and the company does not intend to disclose developments with respect to the "go-shop" process unless and until it determines such disclosure is appropriate or is otherwise required.

Amagi, the global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV (CTV), has announced the release of its ninth Quarterly Global FAST Report, which provides a comprehensive analysis of the FAST industry in conjunction with Amagi's consumer survey and real-time data from the Amagi ANALYTICS platform. Comparing global and region-specific data from APAC, LATAM, EMEA, and North America between Q2 2022 to Q2 2023, the ninth edition of this report undeniably confirms that 2023 has been a successful year for the FAST sector, which by 2027, Omida* projects will grow to $12 billion in revenue and Statista** expects it will reach 1.1bn users. Toward the end of this report, content owners, platforms, and advertisers will find a roadmap outlining how they can take advantage of and promote innovation in the emerging FAST 2.0 ecosystem.

The report examines viewer data across 50-plus FAST platforms and a sample of 1,500 channel deliveries that use Amagi THUNDERSTORM, the company's proprietary server-side ad insertion (SSAI) platform. It also provides insights into audience preferences and viewing habits based on the 2023 Amagi Consumer Survey of over 500 US households, which represents participants of diverse socio-economic backgrounds.

Key Highlights from the Report:

1. Other Regions Surpass North America in FAST Channel Growth: While the US is projected to remain the largest FAST market, the region witnessed a relatively moderate growth, with an increase of 20% in ad impressions and 12% in hours of viewing (HOV). APAC takes a major lead with 290% growth in ad impressions and 181% in HOV, with LATAM in second place and EMEA in third, underscoring the importance of expanding FAST offerings globally.
2. News Ranks Highest in Global, APAC, and US FAST Viewership: Compared to other genres, news content contributed the most in global ad impressions (40%) and HOV (37%). These numbers are roughly on par with APAC (47% in ad impressions, 36% in HOV) and the US (44% in ad impressions, 46% in HOV), demonstrating a general preference for FAST viewers to stay connected to current events.
3. FAST Thrives in EMEA and LATAM, Especially With Movies: From Q2 2022 to Q2 2023, LATAM saw a 174% growth in ad impressions and a 20% growth in HOV, while EMEA experienced a 64% increase in ad impressions and a 58% hike in HOV. Interestingly, movies contributed the most in ad impressions and HOV for both regions, indicating a clear preference for this genre.
4. Content Recommendations Present Challenges and Opportunities: Approximately 70% of respondents to Amagi's Consumer Survey reported experiencing confusion about what to watch next on CTV platforms. However, only half of respondents who receive recommendations from their CTVs said suggestions were helpful, suggesting that more needs to be done in FAST and CTV to improve content discovery.
5. Personalized Advertising Is a Dire Need: Only about 19% of respondents found ads pertinent to their interests, 24% reported they prefer interactive ads, and 22% made a purchase from an ad with an interactive or shoppable feature. These statistics demonstrate that improved personalization, interactivity, and sophistication in CTV advertising should be a top priority in the industry.

"As we delve into the insights and data presented in this report's latest edition, it's clear that FAST has not just arrived; it's thriving, expanding, and reshaping how viewers consume content," said Srinivasan KA, co-founder, and Chief Revenue Officer of Amagi. "The remarkable growth of FAST on a global scale is both an opportunity and a testament to the evolving preferences of the modern viewer. With FAST 2.0 on the horizon, we're entering an era where personalization, interactivity, and innovative ad formats will be key to creating a truly dynamic and engaging linear television experience. We invite broadcasters, content owners, and advertisers to join us in this exciting journey, where we're redefining the future of television."

Amagi provides a complete suite of solutions for channel creation, distribution, and monetization. Amagi's global clients include ABS-CBN, AccuWeather, A+E Networks UK, beIN Sports, Cinedigm, Cox Media Group, Crackle Plus, Fremantle, Gannett, Gusto TV, NBCUniversal, PAC-12, Tastemade, and The Roku Channel among others.

Drata, the leading continuous security and compliance automation platform, today announced the launch of two highly anticipated capabilities: Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and User Access Reviews (UAR). The addition of Role-Based Access Control enables even more partitioned access to various elements of the Drata platform to better manage compliance programs. And with Drata's User Access Reviews offering, customers can automate the pulling of access levels of all employees across all the applications they use and easily review that access on a recurring basis. Both will be showcased at the company's inaugural Drataverse Digital, a virtual product launch event being held on October 24 at 10 a.m. PT, 1 p.m. ET.

Full visibility into a compliance program requires managing and monitoring employee access and permissions—it's a fundamental capability that allows GRC teams to maintain compliance and build trust effectively. Role-Based Access Control gives Drata customers the ability to ensure that employees and teams only have access to the necessary information required for their job roles, minimizing risk and protecting business-sensitive data. User Access Reviews automates the access management review process, making it easy to spot unwanted user access issues while integrating with common ticketing solutions such as Jira and ServiceNow to track and provide evidence of remediation across organizations. The addition of Role-Based Access Control and User Access Reviews to Drata allows multiple teams to securely work together, eliminating the use of time-consuming, fragmented tools to ensure that only the people that should have access to systems, have access.  

"Role Based Access Control is a must-have for us in order to help protect business-sensitive information. This latest addition from Drata provides us greater configurability to ensure that our teams and those involved only have access and visibility to what they need to, while still being able to collaborate on our compliance needs," said Brian Zabeti, Security and Compliance Manager at Pliancy.

"With User Access Reviews, Drata allows us to automatically pull relevant data from all of our Okta-connected integrations, giving us much needed granular visibility into the level of user access with critical systems," said Lesley Heizman, Risk and Compliance Manager at Lucidworks. "We're continuously impressed by the evolution of the Drata platform and how much we are able to further seamlessly manage our GRC program."

In addition to Role-Based Access Control and User Access Reviews, Drata is also launching:

• Control Readiness Approval enhancements that provide customers with greater flexibility and control when managing and determining a control's readiness status in Drata.
• Evidence Library with Cloud Storage to simplify the control evidence upload, linking, and storage process. Evidence Library has been updated to allow customers to connect to a cloud storage provider (such as Google, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.) and upload evidence directly from their cloud storage drive.

"Whether you're an emerging startup or enterprise organization, all companies need to have a solid understanding and ability to govern the entry points and access levels to their systems; it's foundational in maintaining a healthy security compliance posture," said Adam Markowitz, Drata Co-Founder and CEO. "Our latest enhancements give our customers the flexibility to proactively manage and automate access reviews within Drata as well as increase their control over their tech stack, all in one centralized platform."

New tools will aim to streamline the ability of finance professionals to analyze lengthy financial reports and disclosures using Google Cloud's generative AI

Moody's Corporation and Google Cloud today announced a new strategic partnership to explore bringing together Moody's expertise in financial analysis and Google Cloud's advanced generative AI (gen AI) technologies to help Moody's customers and employees leverage new large language models (LLMs) to glean new financial insights and summarize financial data faster.

The partnership is premised on three core objectives:

Building LLMs to Accelerate Financial Analysis: Powered by Google Cloud's gen AI platform, Vertex AI, and leveraging Moody's unique analytical expertise, Moody's and Google will explore co-creation of fine-tuned LLMs purpose-built for financial professionals, enabling customers to perform faster, deeper analyses of financial reports, disclosures and other materials. For example, customers will be able to interrogate, analyze, and draw decision-ready insight directly from financial disclosures.

Enabling Access to Moody's Data in BigQuery for Financial Insights: Moody's will enable access to its proprietary datasets through BigQuery, Google Cloud's serverless data warehouse, which helps customers manage, query, and analyze data. This integration will allow customers to combine Moody's vast databases with their native data assets, and use them in combination with LLMs in Vertex AI. Customers will be able to build and access AI models, accelerating time-to-value through increased efficiency and individualized use cases for financial services professionals.

Enhancing Enterprise Search for Financial Data: Moody's will introduce Vertex AI Search to increase efficiencies by automating manual workflows and combining multiple data sets for easier summation, deeper insights, and overall improved productivity.

"Moody's deep expertise in understanding financial data, disclosures, and reporting uniquely position us to anchor development of fine-tuned large language models," said Nick Reed, Chief Product Officer, Moody's Corporation. "Through this partnership, research teams at Moody's and Google Cloud will collaborate on fine-tuned LLMs and AI applications that will enable financial service professionals to produce new, proprietary insights faster than ever before."

"Our collaboration with Moody's is a blueprint for how advanced gen AI technology can drive efficiencies for financial institutions and employees in the financial services industry," said Phil Moyer, VP, Global AI Business and Solutions, Google Cloud. "By combining Google Cloud's cutting-edge gen AI capabilities with Moody's expertise, we can help customers make better decisions and employees be more productive."

CUJO AI, the leading provider of device intelligence and home network security solutions, today announced that it will offer an additional service on its platform to detect, identify, and secure Internet of Things (IoT) devices that use the Thread mesh network protocol and the Matter fabric. These capabilities further enhance CUJO AI's commitment to providing comprehensive, future-proof device intelligence and network security to consumers and network operators.

Thread, the low-latency wireless mesh protocol for IoT devices, is one of the core technologies behind the growing adoption of Matter, an application-level protocol supported by an international community of over 540 technology companies, including Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung, and IKEA. Until now, Thread networks and devices stayed essentially invisible to network service providers (NSPs), limiting the range and granularity of insights into IoT device adoption and security issues.

The low-power protocol is supported and promoted by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), which has created the Matter standard. Matter simplifies and secures IoT device interoperability across platforms and aims to have a streamlined certification process and reduce IoT manufacturer expenses associated with supporting multiple standards. The standard simplifies the setup and management of IoT devices for consumers, eliminating the need for numerous applications and other major obstacles to widespread adoption of consumer IoT technology.

IoT devices have many publicly known vulnerabilities, some of which can allow an attacker to penetrate the entire home network and cause a lot of damage. As the growing adoption of Matter is likely to spark a new surge in IoT devices in consumer homes, the visibility of Thread devices can pose significant cybersecurity challenges to network service providers, as vulnerable IoT devices are being targeted by malicious actors, according to the data from the 2023 cybersecurity report by CUJO AI Labs.

The addition of Thread and Matter into CUJO AI's advanced device intelligence capabilities offers significant enhancements for network operators even beyond consumer cybersecurity. With CUJO AI Explorer and Lens, operators can achieve industry-leading device identification for Thread and Matter devices, providing valuable insights into technology adoption and its impact on core services. This enables network service providers (NSPs) to predict the increased demand for network connectivity, anticipate the need for automation, and optimize the quality of service. By leveraging CUJO AI's device intelligence, NSPs can make informed decisions, streamline operations, and deliver exceptional connectivity and services to their customers.

"CUJO AI is dedicated to delivering cutting-edge device identification cybersecurity solutions that adapt to the evolving IoT landscape," said Remko Vos, CEO, CUJO AI. "By integrating with Matter and Thread, we are at the forefront of providing our customers with comprehensive protection and valuable insights for a full range of connected devices."

With the recent announcement of Matter standard 1.1 and strong support from industry leaders, including Apple, Google, Ikea, and Samsung, Matter-enabled devices are set to become increasingly popular. CUJO AI continues to deliver on its mission to provide advanced device intelligence and network security solutions that meet the evolving needs of the IoT landscape.

Dahua Technology, a world-leading video-centric AIoT solution and service provider, recently held its 5th Partner Day in Ibiza, Spain. Under the theme "Think# as One", the event highlighted Dahua's dedication to expanding partnerships in multiple fields, jointly creating a mutually beneficial and win-win ecosystem for the sustainable development of the AIoT industry.

The grand event witnessed the presence of more than 370 distinguished leaders and representatives from key sectors such as cybersecurity, smart city, transportation, retail, energy, and education across Europe. In addition to technical partners, this event also brings together system integrators, end users, and organizations from various fields.

Mr. David Shen, President of Dahua WEU, opened the event by expressing his gratitude to the attendees. His opening remarks delivered the core message of comprehensive collaboration with diverse fields including hardware, software, training, certification and delivery, working as one to create a more inclusive ecosystem.

In the following keynote speech, Mr. Neil Ni, Vice President of Dahua Global Business, emphasized the importance of partnerships with ecosystem collaborators and their role in facilitating innovation and mutual growth in the ever-evolving digital landscape. Aligning with the company's business strategy and core AIoT capabilities, Mr. Ni outlined Dahua's ecosystem strategy in three key dimensions: awareness, framework, and operation, and how these contribute to the success of both industry customers and ecosystem partners. He stressed that Dahua will further deepen its ecosystem and open up capabilities at multiple levels including business, technology, and services to enhance experience and benefits of partners. "By combining our strengths, we can co-create value-driven solutions that transcend boundaries and address complex challenges. Through mutual empowerment, we can expand market reach, enhance product portfolios, and achieve sustainable growth that benefits all stakeholders," he concluded.

Mr. Nash Zhang, Managing Director of Dahua Global Enterprise Business mentioned EU's accelerated digital transformation in four key areas, including infrastructure construction, enterprise transformation, public services, and talent cultivation. He went on to share Dahua's application projects in aiding the digital transformation of industrial parks, education, and energy enterprises, as well as its active participation in low-carbon zone management in Spain, which has a positive impact on a safe, efficient, and green future.

Furthermore, a roundtable discussion regarding digital education was conducted among distinguished experts in the education industry, delving into the challenges and trends in different countries, the level of digitalization and IT, the balance of educational resources, and the advantages of online classrooms. It provided valuable insights for the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem in Europe.

The event also showcased insights into Dahua's commitment to cybersecurity. These include an informative presentation from SGS Brightsight focusing on Dahua's Common Criteria EAL2 and EAL3 assessment and certification, as well as an in-depth outlook at Dahua's thermal imaging product testing project shared by CNPP. "Cybersecurity is Dahua's top priority. We have been exploring and applying industry best practices to ensure the security of our products and customer privacy and data. We will continue to consolidate our security capabilities, strengthen deep cooperation with third-party organizations like SGS Brightsight and CNPP, to help customers comply with GDPR and better respond to today's cybersecurity challenges," said Mr. Shen.

As one of the most important strategic initiatives of the company, Dahua always values open and comprehensive cooperation, committed to creating value for its partners, growing together with them, and contributing to their greater success. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, Dahua will remain dedicated to empowering various industries through technology integration and joint solutions, contributing to a green, safe, and efficient digital world together.