Author: Newsdesk

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Farmstead, the first online grocer to offer fresh, high-quality groceries, delivered for free, at better prices than local supermarkets, announced today that it has raised a $7.9M Series A round of funding to accelerate its national expansion and recruiting. This brings Farmstead’s total funding to date to $14.5M.

Farmstead’s business has grown swiftly in 2020, driven partially by shoppers’ preference for delivery over going to the store during the pandemic. Now, with stay-at-home orders lifting, Farmstead has found that the vast majority of customers are continuing to use delivery. 75 percent of Farmstead customers are on its free weekly recurring program, ensuring that they have a regular delivery slot each week, plus access to discounts on staples.

In October, Farmstead announced that it will be opening its first expansion market: Charlotte, NC. On Nov. 17, Farmstead announced its second expansion market: Raleigh-Durham, NC. Additionally, in September, Farmstead launchedGrocery OS, to help traditional grocers take delivery in-house, and go head-to-head against Amazon’s national expansion. A Top 3 U.S. grocer has already implemented Grocery OS, and Farmstead is in talks with many others, including several of the nation’s Top 10 grocers.

Farmstead is known for leveraging proprietary AI technology and a dark store model – delivery-centric warehouses that serve a 50-mile radius, delivering many thousands of orders per day – to maximize efficiency and reduce costs. As a result, Farmstead offers consumers prices comparable to or lower than most supermarkets, but with free delivery to doorstep. The company is growing quickly, with plans to expand nationwide to a primarily mid-market audience.

Farmstead’s dark grocery store strategy greatly eases entry into new geographies, reduces food waste by 3-4x and helps eliminate food deserts by making fast, inexpensive delivery available to a wider area. Most of all, Farmstead meets customers’ desire for perfect orders with no stockouts, delivered free, with no markups.

“In order to fix grocery delivery and make it profitable, Farmstead took the bold approach of breaking the traditional model and starting completely from scratch, while opening up Grocery OS to other retailers,” said Tim Reynders of Aidenlair Capital. “There is an inevitable path to growing an impactful and powerful company, and we see that potential with Farmstead – we’re excited to work with Pradeep, Kevin and team to grow the company nationwide.”

“The Farmstead team worked hard in 2020 to perfect the dark store model and the underlying proprietary technology that makes Farmstead so incredibly efficient,” said Pradeep Elankumaran, Co-founder and CEO of Farmstead. “We are laser focused on expanding Farmstead’s national brand, and adding more partnerships with grocery chains, helping them increase their daily delivery capacity while driving long sought-after profitability with each order. This industry has been stagnant for long enough – customers demand change and we are building the foundation for sustained e-commerce growth in grocery while exceeding their expectations.”

About Farmstead

Farmstead is the first online grocer to offer fresh, high-quality groceries, delivered for free, at better prices than local supermarkets. Using AI technology, Farmstead has reinvented the grocery buying experience and rewired how food moves across the country, to significantly reduce food waste and fulfill its mission of making high quality, locally sourced food accessible to everyone. Visit https://www.farmsteadapp.com or follow @farmsteadapp.

Media Contact:

Michelle Faulkner
+1 617-510-6998
[email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eb6038e3-e6b1-45ac-bc44-ebdff5e0f4af

ALPHARETTA, Ga., Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Despite global business challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, results of an exclusive new study reveal that food and beverage companies and influencers continue to invest in digital technologies that advance productivity, efficiency, sustainability and food safety. In terms of inhibitors to more digital adoption, 51% of industry respondents cited knowing how to use and integrate technology as being the biggest barrier. Lack of budget was also a major factor identified in the report, with 50% of respondents selecting the issue as one of their top three barriers.

The study—commissioned by Aptean, a global provider of mission-critical enterprise software solutions, and conducted on a blind basis in the U.S. and UK by international news and media organization Reuters Events—polled over 300 C-suite food and beverage executives and thought leaders in the field. The results were exclusively presented at Aptean’s inaugural Food and Beverage 2020 Global Symposium last week.

Quantitative research from the study indicates that over three-quarters of food and beverage industry respondents are currently increasing or maintaining their investments in digitalization. Not only are they investing in digitalization, 64% reported seeing good or advanced progress in the move to digital.

“While there is a significant move to digital technologies across the food and beverage industry, it’s interesting to see that companies hesitating to invest found know-how to be even more critical than budget,” said TVN Reddy, CEO of Aptean. “In part, the data shows delayed decisions are due to lack of internal knowledge about how to integrate new technologies with existing processes. For these companies, partnering with the right provider that’s deeply focused on improving manufacturing operations through technologies specifically built for their industry is a critical step to ensuring success throughout a digital transformation journey.”

Vonnie Estes, Vice President of Technology at the Produce Marketing Association, explained, “The problem of integration has been one of the biggest barriers to more adoption, but technological evolution is changing this for the better. Businesses struggle with interoperability and tons of data that doesn’t mesh. Now, companies like Aptean are coming along and saying, ‘let me gather all that stuff for you into one graph on a dashboard—we’ll train you and show you the way.’”

The research also indicates that there are clear areas where digital technologies are already having a strong impact across the food chain. Supply chain operations emerged as offering the highest reward, with 51% of respondents choosing it as one of the top business functions where they are benefiting from technology. Other areas in which digital transformation is creating impact are in data capture (38%) and reporting and business analytics (37%).

Additional key findings and success drivers that will help businesses understand the state of the industry while enabling strategic technology and planning investments for now and the future are available in Aptean’s “Global Food & Beverage Industry Trends Report,” published today and co-authored with Reuters Events.

About Aptean

Aptean is one of the world’s leading providers of industry-specific software. Our enterprise resource planning and supply chain solutions are uniquely designed to meet the needs of specialized manufacturers and distributors in over 20 industries, while our compliance solutions serve specific markets such as finance and life sciences. In total, Aptean’s solutions are used by over 6,000 customers around the world. With both cloud and on-premise deployment options, Aptean’s products, services and unmatched expertise help businesses of all sizes to scale and succeed. Aptean is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. To learn more about Aptean and the markets we serve, visit www.aptean.com.

Aptean is a trademark of Aptean, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

For Media Inquiries Please Contact

Nicole O’Rourke
Chief Marketing Officer
[email protected] 
(770) 715-0362

NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mediaocean, the mission-critical platform for omnichannel advertising, today announced a new set of tools designed to modernize local TV planning and optimization. Available in Mediaocean’s industry-leading Prisma product and integrated with the company’s broader media management and finance solutions, these new capabilities make it easier to apply historical and predictive intelligence to improve local TV investments.

“For most brands and agencies, local TV remains a unique channel driven by specialized teams of buyers and planners. With all the convergence underway across TV and video, it’s our role to standardize workflow across channels and enable truly omnichannel advertising strategies,” said Anupam Gupta, Chief Product Officer at Mediaocean. “The same forces driving innovation and automation in national broadcast are coming for local, and we’re excited to help planners and buyers improve efficiency and performance today while preparing for that imminent future.”

“We’ve worked with Mediaocean over 20 years, they are essential for our local team’s planning and buying workflow,” said Nicole Torres, SVP, Managing Director of Local Audio Video Investment at Havas Media. “We are super excited for the new planning and automation tools in Prisma and look forward to Mediaocean’s continued evolution of its cross-channel media management.”

All Mediaocean clients using Spectra or Prisma will have access to two new major capabilities for local TV:

Pre-buy: Historically tasks like gathering avails and negotiating rates with stations, optimizing schedules across brands or promotions, and comparing various plan scenarios have been performed manually. In recent years buyers have started to leverage point solutions that are disconnected from buying and billing systems, creating more fragmentation and challenges for buyers. Mediaocean helps buyers automate manual pre-buy tasks, leverage historical and predictive intelligence, and integrate planning with buying and billing.

Performance Management: Buyers also spend hours of time every week manually posting predicted vs. actual performance. And because final numbers are based on Nielsen’s reporting, buyers have traditionally had little transparency into how buys are performing while the campaign is still running. Mediaocean automates the posting process, pulling air times from WideOrbit and PremiumMedia360, then marrying them with Nielsen overnight data to show buyers how their spots are pacing on a daily basis.

About Mediaocean

Mediaocean is the mission-critical platform for omnichannel advertising. Processing $150 billion in annual media spend, Mediaocean provides foundational software to connect brands, agencies, media, technology, and data. With AI and machine learning technology to control marketing investments and optimize business outcomes, Mediaocean enables end-to-end management of campaigns from planning, buying, and selling to analysis, invoices, and payments. Mediaocean employs 1,200 people across 20 global offices and is part of the Vista Equity Partners portfolio. Visit www.mediaocean.com for more information.

Contact
Mona Khaldi
[email protected] 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MineralTree, an Accounts Payable (AP) and payments automation solution provider, has been named to Deloitte’s 2020 Technology Fast 500™ for the second consecutive year. The Fast 500 is 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. MineralTree placed #292 on this year’s list.

“Middle-market businesses have made the automation and digitization of financial processes like AP and AR a strategic priority in recent years due to the substantial operational and cost efficiencies that come with it,” said Micah Remley, CEO of MineralTree. “We’ve been able to meet that need with modern, secure, and feature-rich AP Automation and payables solutions that integrate easily with their existing financial systems and offer very fast time to value.

“We’re very pleased to have our performance recognized by Deloitte. It’s really a credit to our team and the superb job they have done introducing the market to our solutions and helping our clients take quick advantage of all their benefits.”

MineralTree Resources:

News: MineralTree Caps Record Quarter
Industry Report: The State of AP 2020: A Research Report
Product Overview: End-to-End AP Automation – How it Works

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 MineralTree

MineralTree provides modern, secure, easy-to-use, end-to-end Accounts Payable (AP) Automation solutions that reduce costs by more than 75%, increase visibility and control, and mitigate fraud and risk, while improving cash flow. More than 3,000 mid-market and mid-enterprise companies, as well as more than 30 financial institutions rely on MineralTree to digitize and optimize the entire AP Automation and Payments process, preserving control over the complete invoice-to-payment workflow, improving vendor relationships, maximizing ROI, and transforming the finance function from a cost center to a profit center. For more information, visit https://www.mineraltree.com.

20% fewer people visiting U.S. malls this year vs. last year, while 59% more people visiting malls since the height of COVID-19 restrictions

28% increase in use on payment sites versus last year

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Verizon Business today announced the Verizon Business Retail Trends Report, now in its seventh year. Verizon’s data finds holiday shopping surging early this year and confirms how COVID-19 restrictions and concerns could be linked to an increase in online shopping this holiday season.

According to the Verizon Business Retail Trends Report, online retailers are booming. A sampling of traffic to 20 of the top 100 retailers, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), comparing the first week of November 2019 to the first week of November 2020, shows:

• 82% increase in data traffic for the first week of November year-over-year.

Separately, according to Verizon’s latest network data report, mobility traffic to and around the U.S.’s largest malls has decreased dramatically from last year. According to Verizon’s data handoff metrics comparing the first week of November 2019 to the first week of November 2020 (the times when a data session moves from one cell site to another as users walk or drive around):

• People are moving to and around malls 20% less than they did last year during early November
• People are moving to and around malls 59% more than they were when pandemic restrictions were at their peak in April of 2020.
• 28% increase in use on payment sites versus last year

“Our report confirms what we expected to be true, significant shifts continue from in-person, brick and mortar shopping to online shopping,” said Michele Dupre, VP of Sales Vertical Markets, Retail and Hospitality for Verizon Business. “What’s surprising and promising for retail stores is while mobility around U.S. malls is down from last year, it’s up significantly at 59% since the height of the pandemic. Online retailers will need to continue to invest in creative and innovative customer experiences, to capture revenue and offset lost sales from in-person shopping.”

Verizon is working with retail partners to develop new solutions and revolutionize the retail industry.

Retail patterns and habits have changed throughout the years due to the availability and sophistication of online retailing. With the advent of 5G technology and Mobile Edge Compute, Verizon is exploring the continued evolution of the retail industry as retailers seek next-gen technology to drive sales and improve customer interaction including:

• Holograms – Using holograms as emotive, life-like digital customer service representatives to play a part in company/store communications and advertising.
• Augmented reality – Gaining essentially instant access to product information for consumers through an augmented reality (AR) application on their smartphone or other compatible device.
• Creating Virtual Reality (VR)-powered dressing rooms – Allowing customers to try on clothing from their homes.
• Virtual Reality – Providing the ability for consumers to shop on-the-go using AR and VR experiences that offer detailed product visualization.
• Foot Traffic Analysis – Providing the ability to analyze foot traffic and areas in which shoppers linger in physical retail locations in real-time to enable dynamic floor plans and displays that maximize the positioning of products.
• Expanding computer vision and sensors – Allowing brick-and-mortar stores to digitally process and track inventory in real time.
• Creating rich digital signage for retail environments – Providing updates in real-time.
• Using real-time data processing – Maximizing efficiency from point-of-sale to product delivery.

“To survive and grow in these rapidly changing times, it’s essential for retailers to embrace new ways of interacting with their customers and driving their operations. We are working with retailers to push the boundaries of what’s possible using the power of Verizon’s 5G network, which will shape the future and the way we do business,” said Dupre.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) was formed on June 30, 2000 and is celebrating its 20th year as one of the world’s leading providers of technology, communications, information and entertainment products and services. Headquartered in New York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon generated revenues of $131.9 billion in 2019. The company offers voice, data and video services and solutions on its award-winning networks and platforms, delivering on customers’ demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity, security and control.

Media Contact:

Claudia Russo
201-400-5325
[email protected]

NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Attorney Advertising — Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC reminds investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against the following publicly-traded companies. You can review a copy of the Complaints by visiting the links below or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Investor Relations Analyst, Yael Hurwitz of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484. If you suffered a loss, you can request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff.  Your ability to share in any recovery doesn’t require that you serve as a lead plaintiff. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the litigation. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice. An investor’s ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. 

Fluidigm
Corporation
(
NASDAQ:
FLDM
)

Class Period: February 7, 2019 – November 5, 2019
Deadline: November 20, 2020
For more info:www.bgandg.com/fldm
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Fluidigm was experiencing longer sales cycles; (2) as a result, Fluidigm’s revenue was reasonably likely to decline; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

Wrap Technologies, Inc.
(
NASDAQ:
WRTC
)

Class Period: April 29, 2020 – September 23, 2020
Deadline: November 23, 2020
For more info:www.bgandg.com/wrtc
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the Company had concealed the results of the LAPD BolaWrap pilot program, which demonstrated that the BolaWrap was ineffective, expensive, and sparingly used in the field; and (2) as a result, Defendants’ public statements were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

Contact:
Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC
Peretz Bronstein or Yael Hurwitz
212-697-6484 | [email protected]

Berkeley, California, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As You Sow today released two scorecards on the 250 largest companies in the S&P on their racial justice policies/practices and workplace equity disclosures. These benchmarks of underlying injustice embedded in corporate governance will help to distinguish leaders from laggards on these material issues. The data includes 31 key performance indicators on workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) disclosure and 18 key performance indicators on racial justice.

The data is presented in two interactive tools enabling sorting and comparisons by sector, market cap, number of employees, and geographic location. Each company is scored against its peers and any three companies can be overlaid for comparison. The information is designed to identify best practices, encourage corporate leadership, inform shareholder advocacy, and expose laggards in the transition to a more economically just society.

“Workplace diversity and racial justice are critically important material issues for every company,” As You Sow’s CEO Andrew Behar said. “The two scorecards show that investors need more granular disclosure in order to establish best practices that will illuminate a path to authentic transformation. This is the first step on the path to build a just and diverse culture to eradicate systemic racism. This transformation will have a positive material impact on corporate brands and on society as a whole.”

Key findings of the scorecards include:

• Alphabet and BlackRock are the only companies among the S&P250 that scored in the top 10 for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) disclosure and racial justice.
• In the financial sector, Goldman Sachs is in the top 10 on DEI disclosure compared to American Express and Prudential, which both scored a zero and are in the bottom 10. U.S. Bancorp is in the top 10 for racial justice.
• Soft drink giants Pepsi and Coca-Cola are in the top 10 when the scorecards are combined while competitor Monster Beverage is in the bottom 10.
• Five information technology companies Intel, Autodesk, Apple, and Salesforce are in the top 10 for DEI disclosure; Microsoft is in the top 10 for racial justice.
• In consumer staples, Walmart is in the top 10 while SYSCO, Hormel, and Colgate-Palmolive all scored zero in bottom 10 for DEI disclosure.
• ExxonMobil is a standout as the only energy company in the bottom 10 on both scorecards.
• Only 16 companies have released any inclusion data on Black employees. Compared with the 189 companies that have made racial justice statements, this is a paltry 8.5%.

Discrimination in the workplace and systemic racism are pervasive. These issues are intertwined and together present a material risk and an unprecedented opportunity for every publicly traded corporation. The horrifying death of George Floyd shocked our nation into confronting these issues; the ongoing uprising has brought voice to an overwhelming call to re-evaluate our most fundamental beliefs and institutions.

“It took the televised murder of a Black man under the knee of a policeman to jolt corporate America out of its complacency,” said Olivia Knight, As You Sow’s racial justice initiative coordinator. “The corporate statements range from expressions of horror and vows to promote change, to statements lauding existing policies of diversity and inclusion, with promises to ‘do better.’ The racial justice scorecard is intended to make corporations accountable for addressing systemic racism as part of corporate culture. This requires a long-term commitment with measurable goals and publicly accessible data to track progress.”

This work is based on the belief that it is critical to translate the recent protests and outrage into tangible and lasting change for all corporations. Despite the well-documented material benefits that companies gain through strong workplace diversity as well as in more just societies, they have been slow to realize the critical role they play in perpetuating systemic racism.

“Companies disclose anecdotal stories of happy employees, but are hesitant to publish diversity and inclusion metrics,” said Meredith Benton, workplace equity initiative manager for As You Sow and principal at the consultancy Whistle Stop Capital. “That’s not how investors work; with material issues, we want to see data — the numbers. We have tracked 31 metrics that help show which companies are leading with meaningful disclosure, and which are leading with their PR teams.”

America is becoming a more diverse country; census data shows that by 2045, People of Color will be the majority of the population. This change will affect the labor market as well as consumer needs and interests. Companies must be in tune with these changing demographics in order to remain competitive. Companies need to be reflective of their communities to remain relevant and viable. An appreciation of the value of diversity and inclusion and a clear understanding of current barriers to racial equity will enable corporate growth as demographic changes occur. With companies acknowledging George Floyd’s death as a catalyst for change, they should be expanding their diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, training to create antiracist organizational goals, and reporting on the effectiveness of their efforts.

# # #

As You Sow

is a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building and innovative legal strategies. Click here to see As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.