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May 06 2021

GHL Systems to Offer Flexible Payment Options in ASEAN Region with Visa Instalments

GHL Systems has teamed up with payments giant Visa (NYSE:V) in order to become the first in the ASEAN region to offer Visa Instalments for customers using the eGHL Payment Gateway platform.

Visa Instalments works by turning pre-approved issuer credit lines into installment payment options at checkout for all Visa cardholders.

This new option appears to be Visa’s response to the rising popularity of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solutions in Southeast Asia. BNPL services are being widely used because they give consumers more flexibility with how they pay for items. They’re able to split their payments into more manageable interest-free installments (instead of having to pay extra money or interest when using traditional credit cards).

If a customer qualifies or is eligible, they’ve presented the Visa installment options at the point of purchase. They may see this option on a payment terminal screen in-store or at a checkout page online. This should give more customers the ability to complete the purchase in easy installments.

GHL Group is reportedly the very first digital payment gateway in the ASEAN region that has added Visa Instalments, which aims to make shoppers’ big-ticket spending more manageable. It should also allow merchants to achieve greater sales conversion rates.

At present, more than 2,500 eGHL online merchants in Malaysia may be able to provide their clients easy instalment options via this new solution. The solution will be available to GHL face-to-face merchants during the next phase of the rollout.

GHL’s digital payment gateway presently processes more than MYR850 million in online transactions value per month across a wide range of businesses, and across merchants of all types.

GHL appears to be focused on the BNPL sector. In March 2021, the company partnered with BNPL Fintech Split.

Sean Hesh, Group CEO of GHL, remarked:

“GHL is excited to be the first in ASEAN to be integrated to Visa Instalments API to provide a seamless shopping experience and expand consumers’ purchasing power, especially when it comes to bigger ticket items. The payment flexibility is just the beginning of many of our continuous efforts and innovative solutions that we hope to grow with Visa here onwards.”

Kim J. Hak, Head of Products for Visa Malaysia, remarked:

“Visa Instalments empowers consumers [with] the ability to choose how they pay upon checkout, and simplifies the current friction and time-consuming instalment process for buyers and sellers. We’re extremely excited to partner with GHL to integrate our API with their payment gateway and offer this solution to thousands of online merchants. We will be working with our issuer partners to enable this solution for Visa cardholders shortly so that they can make instalment payments with eGHL merchants.”

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Apr 28 2021

KingsCrowd, a Ratings and Analytics Firm for Private Securities Market, Releases New Regulation CF Report

KingsCrowd, the online private market’s data-driven ratings and analytics platform, announced on Tuesday (April 27, 2021) the publication and availability of the KingsCrowd Regulation Crowdfunding 2018-2020 Intelligence Report.

The KingsCrowd Regulation Crowdfunding 2018-2020 Intelligence Report reportedly covers more than 150 Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) market statistics, key insights, and analytics. These items are presented in an “easy-to-read” visual format. Readers get an extensive overview of the Reg CF market as of last year, along with a preview of what is set to be a “record-shattering” 2021, according to a release.

In 2020, startups secured over $210 million via equity crowdfunding. This total represents year-over-year growth of about 110% from 2019’s total funding and notably marks the fourth year early-stage firms have been able to acquire investment capital from the public under the JOBS Act’s Regulation Crowdfunding rules.

KingsCrowd Founder and CEO Chris Lustrino, stated:

“The release of this first edition of our Regulation Crowdfunding Intelligence Report couldn’t come at a better time. On March 15, the U.S. Securities and Exchange increased the maximum raise amount under Regulation Crowdfunding rules from $1.07 million to $5 million. This marks a watershed moment for our industry and makes Regulation Crowdfunding a viable alternative to traditional venture capital and. KingsCrowd’s Regulation Crowdfunding 2018-2020 Intelligence Report was written for anyone interested in the Reg CF market and looking to update themselves on this fast-growing space quickly.”

A few takeaways from the report:

For the year 2020, “more than $210 million was invested in Reg CF raise campaigns.”
The average valuation of companies raising funds in 2020 “was $11.35 million, a 24% increase from 2018’s average valuation and up slightly from 2019’s $11.19 million figure.”
Second half 2020 data “shows 291 out of 964 start-up companies raised capital exhibited mixed-gender founding teams while 27% of all entities that raised funds through Reg CF included minority founders.”

KingsCrowd says that it’s at the “intersection between early-stage companies seeking growth capital and startup investors.” By offering “institutional-grade” data and analysis that stakeholders can “trust,” KingsCrowd allows anyone to “invest like a venture capitalist.”

KingsCrowd’s Merlin™ Ratings Platform analyzes over 150 data points to offer key insights, analytics, and ratings “to help investors navigate the startup investing market and vet the best deals worth adding to their investment portfolio.”

In late January 2021, Wefunder, a leading securities crowdfunding platform, highlighted Q4 performance in the Reg CF crowdfunding sector. According to the numbers generated by Kingscrowd, Wefunder dominated this sector of online capital formation.

Now crowdfunding encompasses other exemptions, including Reg A+ and Reg D (506c). Each of these exemptions is unique in its own way (Reg D is only available for accredited investors, for example), and many platforms offer securities under all three exemptions, including Wefunder but the bulk of the platform’s securities offerings are from issuers raising capital under Reg CF.

The numbers show Wefunder topping its nearest competitor under Reg CF by almost $10 million:

Wefunder – $29 million
StartEngine – $19.8 million
Republic – $9.9 million
All others – $12.6 million

As covered in March 2020, KingsCrowd closed on a $1 million crowdfunding round on the NetCapital marketplace. NetCapital lists private securities under both Reg CF and Reg D. The KingsCrowd offering leveraged both exemptions in a side-by-side offering. KingsCrowd said it raised $902,952 under Reg CF and $97,048.80 under Reg D 506 (c). 555,556 units were sold. Kingscrowd is a ValueSetters, Inc. (OTC:VSTR) portfolio company.

You may download a copy of the KingsCrowd’s Regulation Crowdfunding 2018-2020 Intelligence Report here.

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Apr 28 2021

Four Reasons Why Your Family Needs a Bedtime Routine

This is a guest blog post by Snorble team.

No matter how old we are, having a bedtime routine can make a drastic difference to how well we sleep and how quickly we’re able to get there. More importantly, starting a good routine at an early age (Carolyn from Fennell Seeds started her children at only two weeks old) can help to ensure it’s followed throughout the person’s life. What other benefits are there to developing a bedtime routine for your family?

1) It Can Help to Trigger Your Child’s Wind Down Process

Even at a young age, children can notice patterns, so maintaining a consistent routine each evening helps to develop their association with certain cues to bedtime. According to Erin from The Incremental Mama, this consistency can help to avoid tantrums and encourages a feeling of control and order within the child.

2) It Can Help Everyone Measure Their Progress

As the routine becomes familiar, both your child and you will be able to understand what’s next and what is left before bedtime. Although this might seem daunting at times, especially when one task is taking longer than usual, it can still provide a clearer goal than a night without a routine.

*More than just another sleep trainer, Snorble is an engagingly sweet, interactive character who even learns your child’s name.*

Note: Many parents recommend a timer to help ensure progress is made with each step, and Snorble is great at keeping things running on time.

3) It Can Make Adopting Other Routines Easier

Once you’ve got the bedtime routine working well (we won’t say “mastered” since there will always be a hiccup here or there. Seriously, how many times can a teddy bear go missing?), developing routines for other things should be easier. In fact, as Tina from Mindfulmazing points out, having a good bedtime routine is an important part of ensuring your morning routine goes smoothly too.

4) It Can Make Your Night Easier

As we mentioned, there’s always the chance of bumps in the road, but a good bedtime routine helps to minimize such things. Better yet, as your child becomes accustomed to the routine and the steps involved, there will be steps in which they can act independently to complete the required task before you both move onto the next one. Depending on how long it takes (it’s a well-known fact that sometimes pajama legs are just too tricky to put on all alone), this independence can provide you with the time to accomplish something else in your own bedtime routine. Or maybe even give you a moment to breath. Maybe.

For these reasons and more, Snorble has been designed to support your family in developing a great bedtime routine, and they have a number of options to ensure each part of the process goes as smoothly as possible. Better yet, you can customize each part of the routine based on what you know is best for your family.

If you’d like to learn more about how Snorble is designed to help your family achieve a better bedtime, check out our Indiegogo campaign page.

*Snorble’s magical lights, sounds, and other features generate a soothing, enchanting environment that helps keep your child comfortably in bed. And if your little one wakes up,* *Snorble helps them self-soothe with bedtime stories, breathing exercises, and more.*

Header photo by Mark Zamora via Unsplash

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Apr 22 2021

A Day in the Life of Entrepreneur Mariana Feged, Founder and CEO of L’Autre Sac

Running your own business is no easy feat. It takes a healthy dose of passion, discipline, and commitment. Ever wondered what a day in the life of a small business owner and founder is like? We’re here to give you a glimpse!

This week in honor of Earth Day, we’re shining the spotlight on Barcelona-based entrepreneur Mariana Feged, founder and CEO of emerging sustainable fashion brand, L’Autre Sac. Recently, she launched a crowdfunding campaign to bring her vision of the ROSA Bag to life. This stylish, versatile bag may feel and look like leather, but each vegan bag is actually made of salvaged, recycled car glass that would’ve otherwise ended up in a landfill. If shrinking your carbon footprint is just as important to you as having a timeless go-to accessory that will last a lifetime, then the ROSA Bag is a must-have staple to add to your wardrobe.

Read on to see how she spends her day as she juggles, leading the team at L’Autre Sac, running her current crowdfunding campaign, and being a mom. Then scroll down for a brief Q&A to get to know her better and get inspired!

5 A.M. In deep sleep.

6 A.M. Thinking about falling out of deep sleep.

7 A.M. My watch lets me know it’s time to wake up. I toss in bed an extra 5 minutes. Then, I jump out of bed, get breakfast ready for my 8 and 5 year old kids. I go get them out of bed, and get them ready for school.

8 A.M. My husband leaves with my kids. I pour myself my first coffee of the day. I have to confess coffee is one of my weak points. I just love the smell, the taste, and the caffeine! Recently, I have begun to take a blend of coffee with mushrooms, which has a lighter effect, but still helps me wake up.

9 A.M. After an energizing shower, I sit down in my home office, and go through my priorities for the day.

10 A.M. I touch base with our logistics team. I make sure all e-commerce orders are on their way, and try to solve any issues we may have. Customer service is very important to us, so I stay on top of these issues, and try to communicate personally with our customers whenever there is an issue.

11 A.M. I am hungry, and wondering how to have a healthy breakfast without pausing work for too long. I normally go for something quick and have it on my desk while I enjoy my second coffee of the day.

12 P.M. My days are normally packed with calls and iteration with my business partner Mila, our marketing manager Ella, the people from our workshop in Spain, and our other suppliers.

1 P.M. At this point of the day, my planning for the day has probably been interrupted several times. I am most likely holding three different conversations at the same time on various digital tools.

2 P.M. I realize I haven’t had lunch, and I grab a quick bite.

3 P.M. I juggle between product, marketing, and technical issues related to our e-commerce; plus, all other aspects of managing a business with a very lean team.

5 P.M. I go pick up my kids at their school bus stop. We come back home and chat for a bit, while they have a snack and tell me about their day.

6 P.M. I prepare dinner. Then, I spend some heartwarming quality time with my little ones, most likely painting superheroes and unicorns.

7 P.M. We all have dinner together.

8 P.M. The kids go to bed, and I am back to work for a couple of hours. I will finish unanswered emails and open conversations, especially with suppliers and clients from the U.S. and Canada, and other time zones.

11 P.M. I call my mother who lives in Colombia. Then I do some stretching for my back and neck. I meditate for a bit with a super cool new app called FitMind. This really helps my mental sanity!

Now that you’ve gotten a glimpse of what her day is like, get more inspiration in our exclusive Q&A with her below!

INDIEGOGO: How did you become an entrepreneur?

MARIANA FEGED: I come from a family of entrepreneurs, and grew up surrounded by people with an entrepreneurial spirit. However, I spent 15 years employed in a multinational, and as I progressed in the corporate world, I felt that the next step in my career should be to build my own business. I was ready for the challenge and was eager to put all my experience and skills to work in a project of my own!

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INDIEGOGO: What makes your Indiegogo project unique?

MARIANA: This is the first time that recycled car glass is used in fashion. Although this material has been used in carpets and other items, our campaign is the first time that this unique material comes to life in a fashion accessory. It is pretty groundbreaking for the world of vegan bags! It’s a real, sustainable alternative to animal leather.

INDIEGOGO: What’s your biggest piece of advice for women who want to start their own business?

MARIANA: It has never been easier to create a business. There are endless tools on hand and the barriers to entry are low. However, it has never been more difficult to stand out and compete, precisely because those barriers are so low. I would advise women entrepreneurs to make sure they have a solid product, a powerful story, a healthy marketing budget, and a lot of patience.

INDIEGOGO: What tools would you recommend to anyone starting their own business, crowdfunding campaign, or project?

MARIANA: As a business owner, the book, “Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine” was very relevant and insightful for me. I would recommend it to any entrepreneur! On a personal level, as I mentioned above, I have found a method for meditating that has helped me a lot to stay focused. The app is called FitMind, and it’s different from all the other apps out there because it is very hands-on and practical. I love it!

INDIEGOGO: What’s your favorite Indiegogo campaign, or a sustainable campaign you’ve recently supported?

MARIANA: There’s a campaign called Soapbottle, which I find pretty amazing. They are soap products that come in bottles made from soap. So they’re totally biodegradable. I think this is an amazing concept, and very useful for our planet!

To support ROSA, check out their Indiegogo campaign page.

To learn more about L’Autre Sac, follow them on Facebook or Instagram.

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Apr 14 2021

Zimperium and Ping Identity Extend Zero Trust Controls to the Most Vulnerable Endpoint: Mobile

Integration of Zimperium’s mobile device risk attestation into the PingFederate platform enables real-time Zero Trust authorizations and access to corporate resources

Zimperium is excited to announce a partnership with Ping Identity, enhancing Zero Trust architectures by delivering comprehensive mobile risk posture data to enable joint customers to implement more robust controls and policies to provide end-users with clear, actionable alerts directing them to resolve security or compliance issues. With the real-time mobile threat detection, notification, and response from Zimperium and the PingFederate architecture and enterprise workflows, security teams can ensure mobile endpoint coverage is an integral part of their Zero Trust security posture.

The established perimeters around corporate devices have faded away, replaced by an ever-mobile distributed workforce with global access into enterprise assets. Increased connectivity and data availability enable organizations to grow and evolve beyond a physical location’s confines while minimizing the friction an employee would typically experience in this new, spread-out workspace. For enterprises to securely enable employees to access the data they need on the devices they use the most, Zero Trust must be enabled with advanced mobile threat defense.

Ping Identity, the Intelligent Identity solution for the enterprise, believes zero trust technology is essential to securing business and consumers in an increasingly connected world. And Zimperium’s integration into the PingFederate platform provides joint customers with enhanced controls, addressing the mobile device’s security posture by providing the granular telemetry data back to the Ping Identity Zero Trust architecture.

Using Zimperium’s patented on-device, machine learning-based mobile security technology, the integration enhances Ping Identity’s existing mobile endpoint identity management and access controls. Joint customers will be protected against targeted mobile risks and attacks and will immediately experience the benefits of enhanced Zero Trust capabilities and workflows, such as:

Broadest range of mobile risk and threat-based detection in the industry;
Real-time conditional access across all mobile devices and accounts across a broad range of apps and services;
Direct user feedback on detected risks within the protected app (where applicable)
Defined access policies best suited for the environment; and
Reduced attack surface through mobile endpoint access and authorization controls.

“Due to the rise in distributed work and bring your own device policies, the average enterprise is not securing 60% of the connected devices in their network – mobile endpoints,’ said Jon Paterson, CTO of Zimperium. “The integration between Zimperium and Ping Identity not only brings those devices into the security fold, but it also enhances mobile Zero Trust controls, minimizing mobile risks and attack surfaces.”

This integration between Zimperium and Ping Identity enables enterprises to evolve and scale without sacrificing their security posture. By enhancing existing mobile endpoint identity management and access tools, security operations teams can understand their whole risk posture and raise their mobile security confidence on managed and unmanaged mobile devices.

“Identity is the new perimeter that enterprises need to secure, and the best way to effectively do that is to leverage a zero trust approach that unifies mobile threat defense with strong authentication,” said Loren Russon, vice president of product management at Ping Identity. “Our integration with Zimperium will make zero trust implementation easy for security teams to deliver a more seamless and secure user experience.”

For More Information

Attend our webinar on April 29th at 11am EDT to see a how Zimperium enhances Zero Trust architecture on mobile endpoints.

About Zimperium

Zimperium, the global leader in mobile security, offers the only real-time, on-device, machine learning-based protection against Android, iOS and Chromebooks threats. Powered by z9, Zimperium provides protection against device, network, phishing and malicious app attacks. For more information, visit www.zimperium.com.

Zimperium and Ping Identity Extend Zero Trust Controls to the Most Vulnerable Endpoint: Mobile

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