Appointment of Hinders Marks a New Era for Edgio

Edgio, Inc., the platform of choice for speed, security, and simplicity at the edge, today announced that Todd Hinders has been promoted to the position of CEO, effective immediately. Mr. Hinders has also joined the company’s board of directors. Hinders takes over from Bob Lyons, who has resigned from his role as President and CEO and as a member of the board of directors.

Mr. Hinders has served as the company’s Chief Revenue Officer since May 2023. He has a 25-year track record of success, building cloud, security, edge, and media platform businesses in both start-up environments and high growth hyperscalers. He has led global sales and customer growth for AWS Elemental, an Amazon Web Services company, overseeing go-to-market activities for AWS Elemental Media Services, CloudFront, Twitch Interactive Video Service, and Edge security products. Prior to his time at AWS Elemental, Todd held numerous leadership roles at Cisco Systems, Maven Networks, Encoding.com/Loudeye and other leading technology firms where he has demonstrated his strategic, go-to-market and business capability.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Bob and wish him well in his future endeavors,” said Kenneth Traub, Chairman of the Board of Edgio. “Now is the right time for new leadership that will infuse Edgio with the discipline and energy needed to capitalize on the opportunity Edgio has in the marketplace. While Edgio had a challenging year in 2023, we are excited to start 2024 under Todd’s leadership. Todd brings both continuity and new passion to help the company achieve its potential. He and the entire executive leadership team of Edgio have the full support of the Board.”

“I'm thrilled to be leading Edgio at this exciting time for the company,” said Todd Hinders, CEO of Edgio. “Edgio is on a transformative journey. We're diligently optimizing our global edge-network, expanding our customer base, particularly in high-margin streaming and application businesses and reducing operating expenses. We have also been adding world-class talent to our team and strengthening our balance sheet. Together with our new board of directors, the executive team, our dedicated employees, and valued customers and partners, we intend to build a world-class company, relentlessly delivering on customer success and maximizing shareholder value.”

Company Launches its HabyPets Interactive Game

DatChat, a secure messaging, social media, and metaverse company, announced today the release of its new AI social gaming platform and developer program for game designers and content creators. Additionally, DatChat launched the full HabyPets AI-powered interactive game, allowing users to adopt, train and showcase their pets in competitions.

HabyPets, an AI-powered social pet game on the Habytat platform, provides an interactive experience within the Habytat world, creating a more immersive and personal experience for users. HabyPets features include pet care, outdoor exploration, dog parks, training, and competitions. HabyPets opens the door to a growing bond with an AI-powered pet that evolves and learns from player interactions and personalization. Please visit Habypets.com for more information.

The new developer program opens up the Habytat interactive platform to both game developers and content creators, enabling them to share in the revenue generated by their games and products. This includes those who wish to feature their games and products on the Habytat platform. More info about the developer program can be found at https://www.habypets.com/.

"We are extremely excited to announce HabyPets as an extension to the Habytat ecosystem,” says DatChat CEO, Darin Myman. “The core technology at the heart of Habytat provides an immersive and personal experience for users to engage with their HabyPets and form a unique bond with an AI-powered dog, evolving alongside users within the universe. This launch marks an exciting chapter in digital interaction, offering an unprecedented blend of technology and companionship that is set to captivate users worldwide. We look forward to adding more features and different types of pets in the future, building a diverse and growing community.”

HabyPets is available within the Habytat universe at habytat.io and a free AI puppy is available for each member for a limited time.

Trust Stamp’s Privacy-first AI-powered biometric technology, combined with Scurid’s platform ensures a secure and streamlined process, making the hassle of traditional authentication methods a thing of the past and it paves the way for a fluid, intuitive and seamless authentication between humans and machines, while addressing crucial security and privacy concerns

Trust Stamp, the Privacy-First Identity CompanyTM, providing AI-powered trust and identity services, has entered a partnership with Scurid, a global pioneer in delivering cutting-edge solutions for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) device identity and access management (IAM) platform, that enhances device identities through the incorporation of interoperability and data management functionalities. Scurid’s user-friendly platform, enables seamless connectivity among IoT edge devices,IoT platforms, databases, and other applications, allowing clients to implement secure autonomous IoT systems swiftly in their applications, and with a deployment base exceeding 1000 devices, Scurid has earned trust in production environments, providing their customers the ability to bring their innovations to market swiftly and securely.

In a strategic collaboration aimed at enhancing the smooth and secure interaction between humans and machines, Scurid has joined forces with Trust Stamp, to leverage the benefits of biometrics as it opens an avenue to elevate the usability and security of IoT devices. This partnership is poised to play a crucial role in fortifying a diverse array of emerging IoT and edge devices, effectively addressing security challenges, and establishing seamless authentication and authorization, fostering a more integrated connection between humans and machines

However, biometric data storage and transmission, particularly for IoT and edge devices, pose security challenges. Encryption, while common, is not foolproof, leading to potential breaches.  Moreover, in biometric systems with extensive databases, the search process for a match can be computationally intensive and time-consuming, and encryption adds complexity, further slowing down system response time and accuracy. By utilizing biometric tokenization, like that of Trust Stamp’s IT2,  it addresses these issues, providing performance and security. By transforming facial biometrics into a tokenized, irreversible form, the risk of unauthorized access or use of exfiltrated biometric data is significantly reduced.

Scurid, in synergy with Trust Stamp's biometric verification, has the potential to revolutionize secure identification and authorization across diverse IoT deployments such as fleet management, smart manufacturing, smart cities, and smart warehouses. This seamless integration forms a scalable, comprehensive solution, eliminating the complexities of traditional authentication and fostering a fluid, intuitive interaction between humans and machines. Scurid’s platform is not just secure but also highly adaptable, ensuring ease of integration with any existing platform without vendor lock-in. Its built-in capabilities replace the need for multiple toolchains, offering a well-rounded, self-sufficient solution. The decentralized core of Scurid’s device identity significantly reduces the risk and impact of security breaches, making it a cost-effective, reliable choice for dynamic device identity implementation. This approach paves the way for a new era in security dynamics, where users can grant access with unprecedented precision, reshaping the interaction between users and machines in the digital world.

This collaborative project between Trust Stamp and Scurid not only addresses security challenges in IoT and edge devices but also exemplifies the multifaceted uses of Trust Stamp's IT2 technology, showcasing its adaptability and efficacy in diverse sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government, where precise and secure identification is essential for fostering trust and efficiency.

• UserWay (TASE: UWAY) to become a privately held company, continuing to operate under its name and brand.

• The transaction has been approved by UserWay’s Board of Directors and is subject to shareholder approval;

• Transaction values UserWay at approximately US $98.7 million; UserWay shareholders to receive US $21.06 (approximately 76 ILS) per share, a premium of 22% over the Company’s last thirty-day average fully diluted share price.

UserWay, a pioneer in accessibility AI technologies, and Level Access, a leading provider of digital accessibility solutions, have signed a definitive agreement for Level Access to acquire UserWay in an all-cash transaction for a consideration of US $98.7 million.

Upon closing of the transaction, the combined teams will help more organizations to launch and sustain successful digital accessibility programs. Level Access’ decades of full-service digital accessibility expertise and UserWay’s technology innovation will bridge the digital disability divide for more people online.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, UserWay shareholders will receive US $21.06 (approximately 76 ILS) per share in cash, representing a premium of 17% over the fully diluted share price as of market close on December 28th, 2023, and 22% over the Company’s last thirty-day average fully diluted share price.

“We’ve long admired the Level Access team and their integration of technology, service, and subject matter expertise,” said Allon Mason, CEO and Founder of UserWay. “This transaction delivers compelling value to our shareholders and provides our team with a great opportunity to bring our technologies to a broader market. We are unified by a shared mission to make the world more accessible, and we believe this partnership will increase and accelerate what we are able to accomplish.”

“Allon and the UserWay team have developed incredible automated remediation technologies that enable organizations to move faster in their digital accessibility programs,” said Tim Springer, CEO and Founder of Level Access. “This combination, with our full-service digital accessibility platform, will enable us to bring powerful new tools to our customers and positions us with a robust solution set for organizations of any size and maturity.”

Approvals and Timing

The transaction has been approved by UserWay’s Audit Committee, Board of Directors and is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of UserWay shareholders and regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close in early 2024. UserWay CEO Allon Mason will also be participating in the transaction with a direct investment in Level Access.

Upon closing of the transaction, UserWay will become a privately-held company wholly owned by Level Access and the company’s shares will no longer be listed on TASE or on any public stock exchange. The business will continue to operate under the UserWay name and brand, with Allon Mason as CEO of UserWay and President of Level Access.

Nfluence Partners acted as exclusive financial advisors and Sullivan & Worcester as legal counsel to UserWay. Latham & Watkins LLP and Herzog, Fox & Neeman served as legal counsel to Level Access.

• Inaugural AI study surveyed over 1,000 AI decision makers in the enterprise, rating 159 vendors of AI Deployments

• While companies split halfway between those who outsource (52%) and those who insource (48%) AI deployments, 45% of companies who outsource plan to change their vendor choice in 2024

• 47% of organizations who insourced AI solutions such as cloud compute will change their vendor in 2024

• Primary AI deployment consultant / integrator is Accenture (25%) followed by Deloitte (14%)

• Companies who will invest $2M and up in AI solutions will triple in 2024

In its inaugural and first-of-its-kind study for the AI market, Futurum Intelligence released the findings of its AI In The Enterprise Decision Maker Survey. Conducted twice a year, Futurum Intelligence has independently ranked 159 vendors of AI deployments across tech enterprises, aiming to learn the current state of preferences towards products and vendors in near-term (12 months) buying plans.

Following a year of innovation and R&D in AI across cloud computing, SaaS, Embedded End-to-End, semiconductors and hardware, the market is now expected to yield signs of monetization among its players. The power centers of traditional IT vendors for the enterprise have naturally pioneered with their AI deployment offerings among their customers, but in 2024, enterprise decision makers intend to make some surprising changes.

Some of the most surprising power shifts can be found among the enterprises insourcing their AI deployments for AI Cloud Compute. In 2023 AWS ranks highest as select vendor (22%), followed by Microsoft, Google and IBM. Going into 2024, companies who’ve indicated exploring new vendor entries rank Google as their top new vendor for AI Cloud Compute (11.1%) followed by AWS and IBM.

In the AI Development Tools and Platforms category, insourcing companies who seek new vendor entrants rank Google as top choice (7.2%), while leap-jumping AMD as second highest ranked new paid vendor entrant (up from 5^th place), followed by AWS and IBM.

Here are a few more key highlights from the study:

• Of those who outsource, 45% plan to change their vendors this quarter or early 2024
• For those who insource, 47% plan to change vendors
• Top decision criteria as well as criteria for ‘excellence in meeting requirements’ was found to be expertise and experience with AI (40% and 35% respectively)
• Failure criteria to meet requirements was found to be implementation speed and timeline and projected time to value (23% and 22% respectively)
• Among those who outsource, Accenture is selected as primary consultant / integrator by far (25%), followed by Deloitte (14%), CGI and KPMG
• Among outsourcing companies who deploy (paid) SaaS / Embedded for AI deployments, select vendors are Microsoft (21%), followed by Google (14%), AWS and IBM (13.5% and 10% respectively)
• In 2023 Microsoft leads as primary vendor in SaaS / Embedded AI (21%) followed by Google (14%)
• Within SaaS/Embedded, select vendors for End-to-End AI Applications rank AWS as primary vendor (21%) followed by Microsoft (19%), IBM and Google (15% and 10.5% respectively)
• Among companies who seek to change their choice of AI deployment vendor in 2024, Google and Microsoft rank almost evenly at 9.6% and 9.2% respectively, for SaaS/Embedded solutions while AWS and Google are the select choices for End-to-End solutions newly integrated in 2024 (7% and 5.5%)

Marc Beccue, AI Research Director at The Futurum Group was astonished by the amount of companies leveraging outsourced AI. "Given all the media attention to DIY-AI, I was a bit surprised at the percentage of organizations that are currently leveraging outsourced AI services, which we define as an end-to-end application, like a Nuance AI customer service automation, or SaaS/Embedded AI, such as Adobe's Firefly, or Photoshop,“ he said. “52% are outsourcing in this way today, while 48% are primarily pursuing in-house development of AI. Our data clearly indicates that organizations are going to spread their AI investments in 2024, there are strong metrics for keeping vendors but also adding new ones,” he added.

“Not surprisingly, the market for SaaS/Embedded AI applications is highly competitive and fragmented,” said Keith Kirkpatrick, Research Director, Enterprise Applications. “While Google (10%) and Microsoft (9%) were the top two choices for organizations seeking to add new vendors in late 2023 or 2024, 13 other large SaaS vendors are each expected to garner interest from buyers, reflective of the variety of quality, enterprise-grade solutions that are successfully integrating AI within their platform,” he added.

Marc Beattie, Head of Futurum Intelligence, believes the market is exceptionally dynamic and the benefactors are customers and integrators. "AI vendors have been seeking credible intelligence on the plans and preferences of enterprise buyers that is both relevant and accessible,” he said, adding, “The AI Decision Maker IQ service enables competitive and market intelligence professionals to dig in at the vendor level or zoom out to the market level to learn critical insights to make better decisions on building and deploying their own products and services."

Richtech Robotics Inc., a trailblazer in collaborative robotic solutions for the service industry, announces a strategic alliance with MAC Marketing LLC (“MAC-USA”), a leading Vietnamese point-of-service (POS) provider. This groundbreaking partnership aims to revolutionize how merchants streamline their operations and elevate customer experiences through cutting-edge automation.

As part of this partnership, MAC-USA will integrate Richtech Robotics' state-of-the-art robotic solutions, ADAM and Matradee L, into their POS systems. Through a seamless application programming interface (API) connection, ADAM will fulfill beverage orders instantaneously upon transaction, while Matradee L will prepare for food deliveries upon POS order confirmation.

"Our collaboration with MAC-USA signifies a leap forward in leveraging technology to enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction," remarked Matt Casella, Richtech Robotics’ President. "We're excited to empower MAC-USA's merchants with our innovative robotic solutions, revolutionizing the way businesses operate and connect with their clientele."

With over a decade of industry expertise, MAC-USA has garnered acclaim for its disruptive approach by eliminating extra fees, providing a transparent and cost-effective model for merchants. MAC-USA processes over $1 billion in transactions annually.

As part of the collaboration, MAC-USA will spearhead an extensive marketing campaign to introduce ADAM and Matradee L as premier upgrades to its POS system, targeting both existing and new merchants. This initiative aligns with Richtech Robotics' vision of pioneering a harmonious future where automation enhances interactions, productivity, and overall industry excellence.

ProTexting, a leader in innovative mobile marketing solutions, is excited to announce a significant enhancement to its platform: the seamless integration of Twilio numbers. This new feature allows users to quickly and easily connect any Twilio number, including SMS Toll-Free TFNs, 10DLC, Short Code, or Long Code, to ProTexting's professional SMS marketing dashboard.

ProTexting, a leader in innovative mobile marketing solutions, is excited to announce a significant enhancement to its platform: the seamless integration of Twilio numbers. This new feature allows users to quickly and easily connect any Twilio number, including SMS Toll-Free TFNs, 10DLC, Short Code, or Long Code, to ProTexting's professional SMS marketing dashboard.

This integration represents a significant step forward in SMS marketing technology. ProTexting users can now leverage the power of Twilio's extensive phone number capabilities directly within the intuitive ProTexting dashboard. This integration simplifies the process of launching and managing SMS marketing campaigns, making it more accessible to businesses of all sizes.

Kalin Kassabov, CEO of ProTexting, comments on this development: "We are thrilled to offer this new capability to our clients. The integration of Twilio with our SMS marketing dashboard is a game-changer. It not only streamlines the process but also opens up new possibilities for our users. Our goal has always been to provide the most comprehensive and user-friendly mobile marketing solutions, and this is a significant step in that direction."

In addition to Twilio integration, ProTexting proudly offers seamless connections with various popular platforms, including HubSpot, Intercom, Zapier, MailChimp, Salesforce, Google Calendars, Shopify, and more. These integrations allow users to effortlessly synchronize their marketing efforts across multiple channels and platforms, providing a more unified and effective marketing strategy.

SOCi's all-in-one platform empowers franchisees to customize local marketing efforts to enhance guest experiences

SOCi Inc, the leading CoMarketing Cloud Platform for multi-location enterprises, today announced it is the new Platform of Record for WOWorks, the holding company of better-for-you restaurant brands, including Saladworks, Frutta Bowls, Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh, The Simple Greek, Barberitos Southwestern Grille and Cantina, and Zoup! Eatery. With the goal of being a leader in customer service, WOWorks has enabled its franchisees with the SOCi platform to better manage guest relations through social media, online business listings, and reviews, the trifecta of local visibility.

WOWorks, which has about 350 locations across its six brands, relies heavily on digital marketing and understands the importance of being visible online to build awareness and become entrenched in its local communities. By equipping WOWorks franchisees with the right platform to improve their individual businesses all in one place, they are able to become leaders in guest relations and ensure each guest receives the online support they need and deserve.

"We provide a variety of programs for franchisees to use and simplifying use and accessibility is always a priority." said Ted Asbury, Chief Marketing Officer, WOWorks. "The implementation of the SOCi platform helps do both while empowering franchisees to take ownership of their local marketing efforts in making their own presence even larger in their respective market."

Through SOCi Social, Listings, and Reviews, WOWorks and its franchisees are able to streamline the management of countless guest-facing digital channels to ensure quick and personalized review responses, accurate location information, and engaging social content that its guests find valuable across all of its restaurant brands.

"Managing digital marketing channels for a single multi-location brand can be a challenge in itself, but the consolidation factor for companies like WOWorks, which operates multiple restaurant brands, is crucial as the channels start to add up to the hundreds and eventually thousands," said David Marler, Chief Customer Officer, SOCi. "Being able to address the needs of its guests across channels in one streamlined platform was a top priority for the WOWorks team, and we're proud to help them take their guest relations to the next level."