Author: Newsdesk

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Rapid Robotics, creator of the first ready-to-work robotic machine operator, today announced $5.5M in seed funding from Greycroft and Bee Partners. With the first affordable robotics solution for executing simple machine operator tasks, Rapid is helping US manufacturers reduce costs and recapture billions of dollars of revenue currently flowing to offshore competitors. Rapid customers are saving an average of $110,000 per year for each robotic machine operator they install, achieving positive ROI in as little as three months.

Rapid’s announcement comes at a time when US companies are struggling to fill more than 600,000 open positions for machine operators, employees who run the machines that perform 80% of all factory tasks, such as injection molding, pad printing, heat stamping, pick-and-place and dozens of other standard tasks required for creating components across almost every manufacturing sector including medical devices, electronics, CPG, automotive and more.

US manufacturers can’t hire machine operators fast enough, and until now they’ve had no viable way to automate the jobs either. Traditional robotics solutions need to be programmed by specialized systems integrators. This makes automation too expensive for most contract manufacturers, who then can’t scale their operations, can’t bid competitively and have had to watch work go to facilities overseas.

Rapid Robotics has the solution: the Rapid Machine Operator, a pretrained robotic machine operator that understands how to perform common machine tasks without programming or systems integration. The Rapid Machine Operator is a complete software and hardware solution that combines proprietary machine vision and deep learning AI with proven robotic hardware to handle most machine operator jobs ‘out of the box.’

The Rapid Machine Operator becomes smarter as it works, sharing its experience through the cloud with the rest of the Rapid Robotics fleet, so that each robotic machine operator becomes more skilled—and more valuable—at no additional expense.

Manufacturers can ‘hire’ a Rapid robot machine operator for just $25,000 per year—or only about 10% the total cost of operation of competing solutions. Rapid Machine Operators can be up and running in less than a day, and can be easily moved between tasks or machines as needed. Employees who previously operated only one machine at a time can now manage numerous Rapid Machine Operators using a simple touchscreen interface, no robotics expertise required.

“We looked at automating machine operator tasks before, but as a custom injection molder, the costs were prohibitive,” said Tammy Barras, president of Westec Plastics. “Rapid’s solution was the first we’d seen that just worked, at a price that made sense for our business. We were pleased with how responsive the Rapid team is and were quickly able to start seeing value.”

This boost in productivity from the Rapid Machine Operator allows manufacturers to take on more projects, outbid foreign competitors and scale their business so they can redeploy human operators to more complex, more profitable and more rewarding jobs.

“Rapid Robotics has developed an ingenious solution to a problem with massive economic consequences,” said Michael Berolzheimer, Bee Partners Founder and Managing Partner. “Within this decade, Rapid’s robotic machine operators will bring the benefits of automation to thousands of US businesses and spark an unprecedented resurgence in onshore manufacturing.”

“Right now, billions of dollars of revenue are flowing offshore due to what I call ‘the automation gap’ for US contract manufacturers,” said Rapid Robotics CEO Jordan Kretchmer. “The need to automate simple tasks is incredibly high, but the ability to do so has been out of reach for a vast majority of manufacturers. The Rapid Machine Operator is the first robotic solution to close that gap, making US manufacturers more competitive and supply chains more resilient.”

Kretchmer and cofounder Ruddick Lawrence come to Rapid Robotics with a deep background in robotics and SaaS technology. Prior to Rapid Robotics, Kretchmer founded Livefyre, a popular SaaS engagement platform acquired by Adobe in 2016. Lawrence led the manufacturing software group for robotics for the da Vinci robot at Intuitive Surgical, the most-used surgical robot in the world.

About
Rapid Robotics

Rapid Robotics is the creator of the first affordable robotic machine operator designed for simple machine tasks. Available for just $25K a year and requiring absolutely no programming, systems integration, specialized hardware or robotics skills, the Rapid Machine Operator enables manufacturers to easily deploy a pretrained cobot in hours, moving it between tasks as needed and seeing ROI in months.

Rapid Robotics’ founding team combines robotics and manufacturing expertise with a SaaS business model to deliver affordable solutions to real-world industry problems. Investors include Greycroft and Bee Partners. The company is based in San Francisco, California.

Media contact

Chris Ulbrich
[email protected]
415 848 9175

TORONTO, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — New Commerce Split (The “Company”) declares its regular monthly distribution of $0.02500 per share ($0.30 annually), for Class I Preferred shareholders (YCM.PR.A), and $0.03125 per share ($0.375 annually) for Class II Preferred shareholders (YCM.PR.B). The Class I Preferred share dividends are paid at an annual rate of 6.00% based on the $5 repayment amount. Class II Preferred share dividends are paid at an annual rate of 7.50% based on their $5 repayment amount. Distributions are payable December 10, 2020 to shareholders on record as at November 30, 2020.

The Company invests in common shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a Canadian financial institution.

Distribution Details
Class I Preferred Share (YCM.PR.A)	$0.02500
Class II Preferred Share (YCM.PR.B)	$0.03125
Ex-Dividend Date:	November 27, 2020
Record Date:	November 30, 2020
Payable Date:	December 10, 2020

Investor Relations: 1-877-478-2372
Local: 416-304-4443
www.commercesplit.com
[email protected]

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Leaf Group Ltd. (NYSE: LEAF), a diversified consumer internet company that builds enduring, creator-driven digital brands in growing lifestyle categories, today announced the appointment of Jody Rones to the role of Senior Vice President, Brand Partnerships. Rones leads Leaf Group’s global sales team and will focus on developing innovative, multi-brand campaigns that drive results for advertising partners; he will report to Leaf Group’s COO, Brian Pike.

“Jody’s impressive career and proven track record of developing high-profile, multi-brand advertising campaigns makes him very well-suited for the role of Senior Vice President, Brand Partnerships, for Leaf Group,” said Sean Moriarty, CEO of Leaf Group. “The nature of our business and the leadership position of our portfolio of brands in high-passion lifestyle categories provides a great platform for a creative sales leader and we are confident that Jody will develop thoughtful, innovative advertising campaigns that drive our digital businesses forward.”

Jody Rones comes to Leaf Group from Thrillist, part of Group Nine Media, where he spent more than 10 years building the brand from the ground up, eventually serving as Chief Revenue Officer. In this role, Rones led all global revenue-related activities for the digital media brand, including cross-channel media, content development and experiential activations. He also led the team responsible for building advertising solutions across Group Nine and Discovery, Inc. and bringing them to market. Before joining Thrillist, Rones held sales roles at Weather.com, Zenith and Initiative Media. He has a proven track record of working collaboratively with editorial and marketing leaders to develop innovative results-driven advertising campaigns.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Leaf Group and working with such a talented team. Leaf Group combines mass reach, tons of 1st party data and some of the world’s top digital brands in today’s key categories of Fitness & Wellness and Home, Art & Design,” said Jody Rones. “I love creating unique and effective marketing partnerships and Leaf Group’s diverse set of offerings create the perfect platform to build imaginative, multi-brand campaigns that engage audiences and highlight the depth and expertise of the Company’s collection of brands.”

About Leaf Group

Leaf Group Ltd. (NYSE: LEAF) is a diversified consumer internet company that builds enduring, creator-driven brands that reach passionate audiences in large and growing lifestyle categories, including fitness and wellness (Well+Good, Livestrong.com and MyPlate App), and home, art and design (Saatchi Art, Society6 and Hunker). For more information about Leaf Group, visit www.leafgroup.com.

Media Contacts

Sharna Daduk
Vice President, Communications
[email protected]

TORONTO, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Dividend Select 15 Corp. (The “Company”) declares its monthly distribution of $0.05050 per Equity share. The distribution is payable December 10, 2020 to shareholders on record as of November 30, 2020.

Under the distribution policy announced in September 2014, the monthly dividend payable on the Equity shares is determined by applying a 10.00% annualized rate on the volume weighted average market price (VWAP) of the Equity shares over the last 3 trading days of the preceding month. As a result, Equity shareholders of record on November 30, 2020 will receive a dividend of $0.05050 per share based on the VWAP of $6.06 payable on December 10, 2020. The yield will remain stable at 10.00% (based on the VWAP) under this distribution policy.

Since inception, Equity shareholders have received a total of $7.73 per share inclusive of this distribution.

The Company invests in a portfolio of 15 Canadian companies selected from the following 20 company universe which are among the highest Canadian dividend yielding stocks.

Bank of Montreal	Great West Lifeco Inc.	TELUS Corporation
BCE Inc.	Husky Energy Inc.	The Bank of Nova Scotia
CIBC	National Bank of Canada	The Toronto-Dominion Bank
CI Financial Corp.	Power Corporation of Canada	Thomson Reuters Corporation
Enbridge Inc.	Royal Bank of Canada	TMX Group Inc.
EnCana Corporation	Loblaw Companies Limited	TransAlta Corporation
	Sun Life Financial Inc.	TC Energy Corporation

Distribution Details
Equity Share (DS)	$0.05050
Ex-Dividend Date:	November 27, 2020
Record Date:	November 30, 2020
Payable Date:	December 10, 2020

Investor Relations: 1-877-478-2372
Local: 416-304-4443
dividendselect15.com
[email protected]

TORONTO, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Income Financial Trust (“Income Financial”) declares its monthly distribution of $0.05458 per unit. The distribution is payable December 10, 2020 to unit holders on record as at November 30, 2020.

Under the distribution policy announced on November 18, 2013, the monthly distribution is determined by applying a 10.00% annualized rate on the volume weighted average market price (VWAP) of Income Financial’s units over the last 3 trading days of the preceding month. As a result, holders of record on November 30, 2020 will receive a dividend of $0.05458 per unit based on the VWAP of $6.55 payable on December 10, 2020. The yield will remain stable at 10.00% (based on the VWAP) under this distribution policy. 

Income Financial unitholders have received a total of $34.34 per unit in distributions since inception, inclusive of this distribution.

Income Financial invests in a portfolio of North American financial services companies including some of the strongest Canadian & U.S. banks, life insurance and investment firms.

Distribution Details
Trust Unit (INC.UN)	$0.05458
Ex-Dividend Date:	November 27, 2020
Record Date:	November 30, 2020
Payable Date:	December 10, 2020

Investor Relations: 1-877-478-2372
Local: 416-304-4443
www.quadravest.com
[email protected]

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Illumio, the leader in end-to-end segmentation, today announced it was named to Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the 500 fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America, now in its 26^th year. Illumio substantially grew its revenue and business during a three-year (2016-2019) period in order to receive this recognition.

Illumio’s co-founder and chief executive officer, Andrew Rubin, credits the team’s mission-driven focus and close customer partnerships with the company’s sizable growth. “Since our founding, we’ve been on a mission to realize a future without high profile breaches. Listening to our customers has and will continue to be a key element to our success, and it has allowed us to accelerate innovation and grow into new markets,” Rubin said. “It’s an honor to be named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and to be in such great company alongside other distinguished leaders in business.”

“For more than 25 years, we’ve been honoring companies that define the cutting edge and this year’s Technology Fast 500 list is proof positive that technology — from software and digital media platforms, to biotech — truly does permeate so many facets of our lives,” said Paul Silverglate, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and U.S. technology sector leader. “We congratulate this year’s winners, especially during a time when innovation is needed more than ever to address the monumental challenges posed by the pandemic.”

“Each year the Technology Fast 500 listing validates how important technology innovation is to our daily lives. It was interesting to see this year that while software companies continued to dominate, biotech companies rose to the top of the winners list for the first time, demonstrating that new categories of innovation are accelerating in the pursuit of making life easier, safer and more productive,” said Mohana Dissanayake, partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and industry leader for technology, media and telecommunications, within Deloitte’s audit and assurance practice. “We extend sincere congratulations to these well-deserved winners — who all embody a spirit of curiosity, and a never-ending commitment to making technology advancements possible.”

About Deloitte’s 2020 Technology Fast 500™

Now in its 26^th year, Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 provides a ranking of the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies — both public and private — in North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2016 to 2019.

In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company’s operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least $US50,000, and current-year operating revenues of at least $US5 million. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America.

About Illumio

Illumio enables organizations to realize a future without high-profile breaches by preventing the lateral movement of attackers across any organization. Founded on the principle of least privilege in 2013, Illumio provides visibility and segmentation for endpoints, data centers or clouds. The world’s leading organizations, including Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, Salesforce, and Oracle NetSuite, trust Illumio to reduce cyber risk. For more information, visit https://www.illumio.com/what-we-do and engage us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Deloitte

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the “Deloitte” name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Lauren Bogoshian
[email protected]  
669.800.5000

ATHENS, Greece, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TEN, Ltd. (TEN) (NYSE: TNP) (the “Company”) today reported the delivery of the last vessel in a four-series newbuilding program, consisting of two suezmaxes and two aframaxes in South Korea, with five-year contracts to an oil major. The minimum Time-Charter Equivalent (“TCE”) revenues expected from these four purpose-built vessels over their minimum five-year employment is $200 million. The Company continues its current growth program with the construction of two vessels in the specialized shipping sectors, namely DP2 shuttle tankers and LNG, both with long term employment.

“We are delighted to have successfully completed this latest phase of our growth program ahead of schedule and our congratulations go to the yard for their commitment and professionalism during these challenging times with the global pandemic. The caliber of the charterer along with the duration of the contract is a testament of TEN’s standing as a premier international energy transporter and highlights the Company’s long-established industrial model,” Mr. George Saroglou, Chief Operating Officer of TEN stated. “With one DP2 suezmax shuttle tanker and one LNG carrier still under construction, we are looking forward to further expanding TEN’s operational reach beyond conventional sectors and offer investors wider latitude on the fleet’s earnings generation capabilities,” Mr. Saroglou completed.

ABOUT TEN

TEN, founded in 1993 and celebrating this year 27 years as a public company, is one of the first and most established public shipping companies in the world. TEN’s diversified energy fleet currently consists of 68 double-hull vessels, including one LNG carrier and one suezmax DP2 shuttle tanker under construction, constituting a mix of crude tankers, product tankers and LNG carriers, totalling 7.6 million dwt.

ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted by such forward-looking statements. TEN undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

For further information, please contact:

Company

Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd.
George Saroglou
COO
+30210 94 07 710
[email protected]

Investor Relations / Media

Capital Link, Inc.
Nicolas Bornozis
Markella Kara
+212 661 7566
[email protected]

TORONTO, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Canadian Life Companies Split Corp. (The “Company”) declares its monthly distribution of $0.05417 for each Preferred share ($0.650 annually). Distributions are payable December 10, 2020 to shareholders on record as at November 30, 2020.

There will not be a distribution paid to the Class A Shares for November 30, 2020 as per the Prospectus which states no regular monthly dividends will be paid on the Class A shares in any month as long as the net asset value per unit is equal to or less than $15.00.

Since inception Class A shareholders have received a total of $7.45 per share and Preferred shareholders have received a total of $9.09 per share inclusive of this distribution, for a combined total of $16.54 per unit.

The Company invests in a portfolio of four publicly traded Canadian life insurance companies as follows: Great-West Lifeco Inc., Industrial Alliance Insurance & Financial Services Inc., Manulife Financial Corporation and Sun Life Financial Inc.

Distribution Details
Preferred Share (LFE.PR.B)		$0.05417
Ex-Dividend Date:		November 27, 2020
Record Date:		November 30, 2020
Payable Date:		December 10, 2020

Investor Relations: 1-877-478-2372		Local: 416-304-4443		www.lifesplit.com		[email protected]

PEMBROKE, Bermuda, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sompo International Holdings Ltd., a Bermuda-based specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, announced today the launching of a new brand campaign and tagline, “Promise. Trust. Protect. At the center of everything we do,” which reaffirms Sompo International’s increasing relevance in the International commercial P&C marketplace and visually emphasizes the ever-present platinum ring logo – a widely recognized symbol of commitment.

Mr. Chris Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer, Sompo International Commercial P&C, commented, “At Sompo International, we believe that core values drive success. In today’s world, more than ever, it is vitally important that we stand behind the promises we make to our clients, business partners and employees. The Sompo International ring is more than just a logo, it is a symbol of that promise.”

Mr. John Charman, Executive Chairman of Sompo International Holdings Ltd., and Chief Executive Officer of Overseas Insurance and Reinsurance Business, Sompo Holdings Inc., added, “Continuing to build brand awareness and sharing our story is a key element of our on-going transformation towards becoming a top 10 global insurance and reinsurance organization. We have launched this new campaign to represent the evolution of the Sompo International brand and I am extremely proud that Sompo International is trusted to deliver on its promises, protecting clients around the world every day. This campaign serves as a great reminder to stay focused on our commitments and keep our clients, business partners and employees at the center of everything we do.”

About Sompo International

Sompo International Holdings Ltd. (Sompo International) is a global specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, headquartered in Bermuda. Sompo International companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Sompo Holdings, Inc., whose core business encompasses one of the largest property and casualty insurance groups in the Japanese domestic market. Sompo International is a company driven by its core values, a carrier that holds promise, trust and the commitment to protect at the center of everything it does. We maintain excellent financial strength as evidenced by the ratings of A+ (Superior) from A.M. Best (XV size category) and A+ (Strong) from Standard and Poor’s on our principal operating subsidiaries. For more information about Sompo International, please visit www.sompo-intl.com.

Contact

Sompo International
Cara Gallagher
SVP, Marketing & Communications
Phone: + 1 917 421 4973
Email: [email protected]

Denver, CO, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — via NewMediaWire — Pure Harvest Corporate Group, Inc. (OTCQB: PHCG), a holding company focused on emerging markets, is excited to announce the sale of the assets of Solar Cultivation Technologies, Inc. (“SCT”) to DC Energy Group, LLC (“DCEG”) for cash and equity. The assets of SCT were acquired by the Company pursuant to an Asset Purchase Agreement on September 29, 2020.  The Company believes that the partnership between PHCG and DCEG to commercialize SCT’s technology represents an exceptional opportunity to enter an extremely fast growing industry and help businesses work to reduce the carbon footprint associated with their operations.

Under the terms of the agreement, PHCG is contributing all of the assets of SCT to DCEG in exchange for two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) and a forty percent (40%) membership interest in DCEG. The experienced management team at DCEG will be responsible for commercializing SCT’s technology and managing the day-to-day operations of the business. 

“The team at DCEG is extremely impressive and has a long history of operating successful businesses,” said Matthew Gregarek, CEO of Pure Harvest Corporate Group. “We believe that they are an incredible partner to help develop and scale the business and we are excited to work with them to grow this company into a national operation.”

“We are thrilled to continue developing the technology for solar powered micro-grids,” said David Lindsey, President of DCEG. “The technology we are currently working with has the potential to dramatically reduce the amount of carbon-based energy used by businesses across the country. As operators and regulators across the country start to focus on industry’s carbon footprint, we believe that DCEG will be perfectly positioned to help reduce the carbon emissions associated with commercial operations all over the US.”

About Pure Harvest Corporate Group

The Pure Harvest Corporate Group, Inc. (OTCQB: PHCG) is a publicly traded holding company operating in various segments of the cannabis and hemp-CBD industries. The PHCG team is committed to formulating, manufacturing, and distributing high-quality cannabis and hemp-CBD consumer products in markets where it is legal to do so. The Company has developed numerous retail brands and product lines that are currently available for purchase in select markets. Pure Harvest intends to grow its cannabis and hemp-CBD operations and expand globally as the laws regarding cannabis and hemp-CBD are reviewed and rewritten to repeal their prohibition.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933, are subject to Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are subject to the safe harbors created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Future events and results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements.

Investor Relations & Financial Media

Integrity Media Inc.

[email protected]

Toll Free: (888) 216-3595

www.IntegrityMedia.com