Owlet Reports First Quarter 2021 Financial Results and Corporate Update

Owlet Reports First Quarter 2021 Financial Results and Corporate Update

  • Net revenues of $21.9 million, up 47% year-over-year
  • Gross margin of 58%, an increase of 1,100 basis points year-over-year
  • Announcements of three new board members: Zane Burke, former CEO of Livongo; Laura Durr, former EVP and CFO at Polycom; and John Kim, President of Platform and Marketplaces at Expedia
  • In February, Owlet entered into a business combination agreement with Sandbridge Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: SBG), which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021

LEHI, Utah–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Owlet Baby Care Inc. (“Owlet” or the “Company”), the connected nursery ecosystem that delivers data-driven technology to modern parenting, reported today on its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021.

“The first quarter of 2021 exceeded our internal growth expectations, as we achieved both record revenue and gross margins,” said Kurt Workman, Owlet CEO and Co-Founder. “Adoption of our connected nursery technology among consumers continues to expand. Along these lines, we’ve continued to bolster our team to support our strong growth with key executive hires and board appointments that are integral to our compelling pipeline of innovative products and services.”

Owlet’s record revenues in the first quarter of 2021 were driven by robust year-over-year sales volume growth in both the Owlet Smart Sock and Owlet Monitor Duo. The first quarter also had stronger-than-anticipated sales via e-commerce and our retail partners, as well as continued international expansion, primarily in Europe.

Gross margin of 58% for the first quarter exceeded the Company’s internal expectations, driven by improved logistics costs that had risen in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and continued benefit from lower costs associated with the 3rd Gen Owlet Smart Sock that launched in mid-2020.

“With strong business fundamentals in place, Owlet is now focused on getting its innovative products into the homes of more families around the world,” said Owlet Board Chair and Eclipse Ventures Founding Partner Lior Susan. “The Company’s proprietary products and services, along with its successful e-commerce strategy, have been key to Owlet’s continued impressive growth.”

Owlet reported a net loss of $7.9 million and EBITDA loss of $7.2 million for the first quarter 2021, as the Company invested in connected products and services development to drive long-term growth, hired senior executive talent, and accelerated sales and marketing initiatives. The Company also incurred certain one-time transaction-related costs.

Management Presentation

A recorded presentation by Kurt Workman, Owlet Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, and Kate Scolnick, Chief Financial Officer, reviewing the first quarter results will be available on the Owlet website at 8:30 a.m. EST on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. To access the recording, visit https://owletcare.com/pages/investor-relations.

About Owlet

Owlet was founded by a team of parents in 2012. Owlet’s mission is to empower parents with the right information at the right time, to give them more peace of mind and help them find more joy in the journey of parenting. Owlet’s digital parenting platform aims to give parents real-time data and insights to help parents feel calmer and more confident. Owlet believes that every parent deserves peace of mind and the opportunity to feel their well-rested best. Owlet also believes that every child deserves to live a long, happy, and healthy life, and is working to develop products to help facilitate that belief.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

In February, Owlet entered into a definitive merger agreement with Sandbridge Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: SBG) (“Sandbridge”), a special purpose acquisition company.

Sandbridge has filed with the SEC a Registration Statement on Form S-4, which includes a proxy statement/prospectus, that will be both the proxy statement to be distributed to holders of Sandbridge’s Class A common stock in connection with its solicitation of proxies for the vote by Sandbridge’s stockholders with respect to the business combination and other matters as may be described in the registration statement, as well as the prospectus relating to the offer and sale of certain securities to be issued in the business combination. After the registration statement is declared effective, Sandbridge will mail a definitive proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents to its stockholders. This press release does not contain all the information that should be considered concerning the proposed business combination and is not intended to form the basis of any investment decision or any other decision in respect of the proposed business combination. Sandbridge’s stockholders and other interested persons are advised to read, when available, the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus included in the registration statement and the amendments thereto and the definitive proxy statement/prospectus and other documents filed in connection with the proposed business combination, as these materials will contain important information about the Company, Sandbridge and the proposed business combination. When available, the definitive proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant materials for the proposed business combination will be mailed to stockholders of Sandbridge as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed business combination. Stockholders of Sandbridge will also be able to obtain copies of the preliminary proxy statement, the definitive proxy statement and other documents filed with the SEC, without charge, once available, at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, or by directing a written request to: Sandbridge Acquisition Corp., 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 2088, Los Angeles, California 90067.

Participants in the Solicitation

Sandbridge and its directors and executive officers may be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies from Sandbridge’s stockholders with respect to the proposed business combination. The names of those directors and executive officers and a description of their interests in Sandbridge are contained in the proxy statement/prospectus for the proposed business combination.

Owlet and its directors and executive officers may also be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of Sandbridge in connection with the proposed business combination. A list of the names of such directors and executive officers and information regarding their interests in the proposed business combination are included in the proxy statement/prospectus for the proposed business combination.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements, estimates, targets, and projections in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events. For example, statements regarding Owlet’s expected future operating and financial performance and the expected timing of its transaction with Sandbridge are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may”, “should”, “expect”, “intend”, “will”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “predict”, “potential” or “continue”, or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Sandbridge and its management, and Owlet and its management, as the case may be, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: the regulatory pathway for Owlet products and responses from regulators, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and similar regulators outside of the United States; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the evolution of the markets in which Owlet competes; the ability of Owlet to implement its strategic initiatives and continue to innovate its existing products; the ability of Owlet to defend its intellectual property and satisfy regulatory requirements; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Owlet’s business; the limited operating history of Owlet; and other risks and uncertainties set forth in the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in Sandbridge’s registration statement on Form S-4 and other documents to be filed with the SEC by Sandbridge.

Nothing in this press release should be regarded as a representation by any person that the forward-looking statements set forth herein will be achieved or that any of the contemplated results of such forward-looking statements will be achieved. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Neither Sandbridge nor Owlet undertakes any duty to update these forward-looking statements.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to its results determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”), Owlet believes the non-GAAP measure of EBITDA is useful in evaluating its operating performance because it provides consistency and comparability with past financial performance and may be helpful in comparing with other companies, some of which use similar non-GAAP information to supplement their GAAP results. EBITDA is calculated as GAAP net loss excluding income tax provision, interest expense, interest income, and depreciation and amortization. The non-GAAP financial information included in this press release is presented for supplemental informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from similarly-titled non-GAAP measures used by other companies. A reconciliation table of the most comparable GAAP financial measure to the non-GAAP financial measure of EBITDA is included at the end of this press release.

Owlet Baby Care Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

(unaudited)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assets

 

March 31, 2021

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

Current assets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

$

12,811

 

 

$

17,009

 

Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $390

and $201

 

 

12,769

 

 

 

10,525

 

Inventory

 

 

10,583

 

 

 

7,912

 

Capitalized transaction costs

 

 

3,160

 

 

 

522

 

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

 

1,612

 

 

 

1,646

 

Total current assets

 

$

40,935

 

 

$

37,614

 

Property and equipment, net

 

 

1,599

 

 

 

1,718

 

Intangible assets, net

 

 

590

 

 

 

605

 

Other assets

 

 

189

 

 

 

181

 

Total assets

 

$

43,313

 

 

$

40,118

 

Liabilities, Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock, and Stockholders’

Deficit

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts payable

 

 

19,341

 

 

 

16,379

 

Accrued and other expenses

 

 

10,440

 

 

 

10,592

 

Deferred revenues

 

 

1,573

 

 

 

1,643

 

Line of credit

 

 

12,500

 

 

 

9,700

 

Current portion of related party convertible notes payable

 

 

7,019

 

 

 

6,934

 

Current portion of long-term debt

 

 

3,563

 

 

 

2,024

 

Total current liabilities

 

$

54,436

 

 

$

47,272

 

Deferred rent, net

 

 

301

 

 

 

322

 

Long-term deferred revenues, net of current portion

 

 

152

 

 

 

159

 

Long-term debt, net

 

 

8,416

 

 

 

10,180

 

Preferred stock warrant liabilities

 

 

7,601

 

 

 

2,993

 

Other long-term liabilities

 

 

13

 

 

 

13

 

Total liabilities

 

$

70,919

 

 

$

60,939

 

Commitments and contingencies

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redeemable convertible Series A and Series A-1 preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 23,030,285 shares authorized; 22,596,929 shares issued and outstanding (liquidation preference of $9,702 and $14,245 for Series A and Series A-1, respectively)

 

 

23,652

 

 

 

23,652

 

Redeemable convertible Series B and Series B-1 preferred stock, $0.0001

par value, 7,507,073 shares authorized; 7,507,071 shares issued and outstanding (liquidation preference of $19,000 and $3,745 for Series B and Series B-1, respectively)

 

 

23,536

 

 

 

23,536

 

Stockholders’ deficit:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 52,000,000 shares authorized; 10,951,730 and 10,772,774 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.

 

 

1

 

 

 

1

 

Additional paid-in capital

 

 

4,780

 

 

 

3,708

 

Accumulated deficit

 

 

(79,575

)

 

 

(71,718

)

Total stockholders’ deficit

 

 

(74,794

)

 

 

(68,009

)

Total liabilities, redeemable convertible preferred stock, and stockholders’ deficit

 

$

43,313

 

 

$

40,118

 

Owlet Baby Care Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

(unaudited)

 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Revenues

 

$

21,911

 

 

$

14,871

 

Cost of revenues

 

 

9,228

 

 

 

7,831

 

Gross profit

 

 

12,683

 

 

 

7,040

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

General and administrative

 

 

5,981

 

 

 

2,672

 

Sales and marketing

 

 

6,118

 

 

 

3,812

 

Research and development

 

 

3,432

 

 

 

2,433

 

Total operating expenses

 

 

15,531

 

 

 

8,917

 

Operating loss

 

 

(2,848

)

 

 

(1,877

)

Other income (expense):

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest expense, net

 

 

(417

)

 

 

(289

)

Preferred stock mark to market adjustment

 

 

(4,608

)

 

 

 

Other income, net

 

 

21

 

 

 

38

 

Total other expense, net

 

 

(5,004

)

 

 

(251

)

Loss before income tax provision

 

 

(7,852

)

 

 

(2,128

)

Income tax provision

 

 

(5

)

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$

(7,857

)

 

$

(2,128

)

Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

 

 

(0.73

)

 

 

(0.20

)

Weighted-average number of shares outstanding used to compute net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

 

 

10,828,882

 

 

 

10,613,286

 

 

Owlet Baby Care Inc.

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measure

(In thousands)

(unaudited)

 

 

 

Three Months Ended March 31,

 

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Net loss

 

 

$

(7,857

)

 

$

(2,128

)

Income tax provision

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

Interest expense

 

 

 

418

 

 

 

321

 

Interest income

 

 

 

(1

)

 

 

(32

)

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

 

249

 

 

 

163

 

EBITDA

 

 

$

(7,186

)

 

$

(1,676

)

 

Owlet Baby Care Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(In thousands)

(unaudited)

 

 

Three Months Ended March 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

2020

Cash flows from operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$

(7,857

)

 

$

(2,128

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

249

 

 

 

163

 

Amortization of debt issuance costs

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

Amortization of debt discount

 

 

14

 

 

 

6

 

Loss (gain) on disposal of property and equipment

 

 

1

 

 

 

(11

)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

828

 

 

 

181

 

Write-down of inventory to net realizable value

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

Provision for losses on accounts receivable

 

 

189

 

 

 

22

 

Change in fair value of preferred stock warrant liability

 

 

4,608

 

 

 

 

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts receivable

 

 

(2,433

)

 

 

(165

)

Prepaid expenses and other assets

 

 

(2,612

)

 

 

28

 

Inventory

 

 

(2,675

)

 

 

853

 

Accounts payable

 

 

2,873

 

 

 

604

 

Accrued and other expenses

 

 

(152

)

 

 

114

 

Deferred related party convertible notes payable interest

 

 

85

 

 

 

85

 

Deferred revenues

 

 

(77

)

 

 

113

 

Deferred rent

 

 

(22

)

 

 

(10

)

Net cash used in operating activities

 

 

(6,976

)

 

 

(140

)

Cash flows from investing activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purchase of property and equipment

 

 

(19

)

 

 

(237

)

Purchase of intangible assets

 

 

(8

)

 

 

 

Net cash used in investing activities

 

 

(27

)

 

 

(237

)

Cash flows from financing activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

Proceeds from line of credit

 

 

4,332

 

 

 

7,385

 

Payments on line of credit

 

 

(1,532

)

 

 

(8,237

)

Payments on financed insurance premium

 

 

(239

)

 

 

(66

)

Proceeds from exercise of common stock options

 

 

244

 

 

 

50

 

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

 

 

2,805

 

 

 

(868

)

Net change in cash and cash equivalents

 

 

(4,198

)

 

 

(1,245

)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

 

 

17,009

 

 

 

11,736

 

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

 

$

12,811

 

 

$

10,491

 

Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash paid for interest

 

$

145

 

 

$

120

 

Cash paid for income taxes

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplemental disclosure of non-cash financing activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unpaid purchases of property and equipment

 

$

98

 

 

$

254

 

Unpaid purchases of intangibles

 

$

12

 

 

$

26

 

 

Investor Relations

Mike Cavanaugh

Westwicke, an ICR company

[email protected]

(617) 877-9641

Media Relations

Cammy Duong

Westwicke, an ICR company

[email protected]

(203) 682-8380

Jane Putnam

Owlet Baby Care

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States North America Utah

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Parenting Baby/Maternity Consumer

MEDIA:

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Intercontinental Exchange Makes Strategic Investment In BondLink

Intercontinental Exchange Makes Strategic Investment In BondLink

Provides expanded data and analytics to the municipal bond issuer community

ATLANTA & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology and market infrastructure, today announced it has made a strategic investment in BondLink, a financial technology company that provides cloud-based debt management software solutions to governments financing infrastructure in the $4 trillion municipal bond market. The Series B investment is designed to accelerate BondLink’s growth and product development, including providing a variety of ICE’s market-leading data sets to municipalities as they prepare to issue bonds.

With approximately 75% of all public infrastructure in the U.S. financed by local governments and public utilities, the municipal bond market is critical to the nation’s economic growth, quality of life and safety. It is also very broad with an estimated 60,000 unique issuers, making it challenging and opaque for bond investors of all sizes.

“With issuers spread out across the U.S., the municipal bond market remains very fragmented, and is in need of transparency. Better access to information, data and analytics are essential,” said Lynn Martin, President of Fixed Income and Data Services at ICE. “Our investment in BondLink and the distribution of ICE data directly to the issuer community will provide municipalities with new tools to help efficiently manage the full lifecycle of debt issuance.”

BondLink’s online network connects municipal issuers with bond investors, advisors and other essential market participants. Its issuer platform helps governments engage and attract investors more efficiently, using digital channels to share financial reports, bond financing data, and other information in one central location. BondLink tools also help issuers gauge both market conditions and investor demand as they prepare for a bond sale. These resources will be enhanced with the ICE investment, allowing it to provide its users with critical data such as interest rate yield curves, secondary market trading data, changes in bond evaluations, and other analytics to help inform their debt financing decisions.

“Technology is transforming the bond market, and it’s providing the biggest impact for governments who are under-resourced and need it the most,” said Colin MacNaught, CEO & Co-Founder of BondLink. “We’re moving the bond market forward by working with issuers to help drive their bonds sales, and our technology brings cost efficiencies and additional transparency to the market. We are thrilled to work with ICE and the ICE team. By providing critical market data to issuers, they can better manage their bond programs and be more prepared as they finance new roads and bridges and schools.”

The transaction will not be material to ICE’s earnings or have an impact on capital allocation plans.

About BondLink

Led by founders Colin MacNaught, CEO, and Carl Query, CTO, BondLink’s cloud-based debt management software is the $4 trillion municipal bond market’s first fully-integrated operating platform for public sector CFOs to raise capital from institutional and retail investors. BondLink clients issued nearly $50 billion in 2020, and its network of issuers expands across more than 30 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Headquartered in Boston, BondLink is backed by top investors, including Franklin Templeton Investments, one of the largest municipal bond fund managers in the country. For more information, please visit www.bondlink.com.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 company that designs, builds and operates digital networks to connect people to opportunity. We provide financial technology and data services across major asset classes that offer our customers access to mission-critical workflow tools that increase transparency and operational efficiencies. We operate exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, and clearing houses that help people invest, raise capital and manage risk across multiple asset classes. Our comprehensive fixed income data services and execution capabilities provide information, analytics and platforms that help our customers capitalize on opportunities and operate more efficiently. At ICE Mortgage Technology, we are transforming and digitizing the U.S. residential mortgage process, from consumer engagement through loan registration. Together, we transform, streamline and automate industries to connect our customers to opportunity.

Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located here. Key Information Documents for certain products covered by the EU Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation can be accessed on the relevant exchange website under the heading “Key Information Documents (KIDS).”

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 — Statements in this press release regarding ICE’s business that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the SEC on February 4, 2021.

SOURCE: Intercontinental Exchange

ICE-CORP

ICE Media Contact:

Damon Leavell

[email protected]

212-323-8587

[email protected]

ICE Investor Contact:

Mary Caroline O’Neal

[email protected]

770-738-2151

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States North America New York Georgia

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Professional Services Finance

MEDIA:

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Independent Study Shows LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution Drives More Than 340% Return on Investment for Marketers

Independent Study Shows LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution Drives More Than 340% Return on Investment for Marketers

Global Adoption of ATS Cements its Position as Leading Post-Cookie Solution in Ecosystem, Surpassing 400 Publishers and 70 Platforms

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–LiveRamp® (NYSE: RAMP) the leading data connectivity platform, today announced its Authenticated Traffic Solution (ATS) has been adopted by hundreds of publishers, brands and platforms across the globe, including in the US, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Australia and Japan. More than 70 demand and supply platforms and over 400 publishers, including 70% of the Comscore 20 and 65% of the Comscore 50, have adopted ATS to offer marketers a more efficient way to reach their customers and measure campaign outcomes without third-party cookies or device identifiers.

“The digital industry is undergoing massive shifts with the end of third-party cookies and mobile device identifiers. We set out to create the neutral and interoperable infrastructure for this new era, and the incredible, worldwide adoption of ATS proves we’ve done just that,” said LiveRamp CEO Scott Howe. “Simply put, ATS places publishers and marketers in control of their data. It generates better results for marketers, higher yields for publishers and provides the opportunity for greater transparency. Over 100 brands use ATS, including clients through agency partnerships, and we expect this number only to grow.”

Publishers

Publishers are leveraging ATS to enable people-based inventory and improve monetization, including Microsoft Advertising, the world’s second-largest publisher, which has seen a larger than 40% increase in CPMs on authenticated impressions. The breadth of ATS adoption across the globe reveals that a variety of publishers see LiveRamp’s solution as not only viable to their business, but vital in serving their unique, diverse audiences. Other notable publishers who have adopted ATS include: Realtor.com, CafeMedia, Tubi, and The McClatchy Company in the US; Dennis Publishing, eBay Classifieds Group UK, and IDG in the UK; Burda Community Network in Germany; and Cricket Australia, the first in-app publisher signed, among many others.

  • “TV viewers are now well-integrated into streaming environments, which are fragmented across a wide variety of device platforms for advertisers. This makes the marketer’s challenge of reaching and measuring a target audience multi-dimensional, and having a people-based identifier is important to ensure that advertising campaigns are relevant across channels and devices,” commented Mark Rotblat, Chief Revenue Officer at Tubi. “LiveRamp helps enable authenticated, first-party relationships with our viewers so we can continue to deliver impactful experiences, at scale.”
  • “Becoming an early-adopter of LiveRamp’s ATS solution in Europe has only strengthened our relationship with our valued publisher partners,” added Mandy Schwab, Director Digital Media at Burda Community Network (BCN). “Since integrating LiveRamp’s ATS solution one year ago, we’ve enabled media brands to successfully unlock the opportunity to better monetize media inventory through privacy-conscious, people-based identity.”
  • “Together with LiveRamp, we are putting power back in the hands of publishers,” said Paul Bannister, CSO of CafeMedia. “We’re enabling our thousands of media brands to grow revenue by activating first-party data in a safe and privacy-centric manner, without having to worry about data leakage, particularly because of LiveRamp’s robust publisher data control technology. Already, we’re seeing authenticated audiences generate much higher yields than when using third-party cookies.”

Brands

A new Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study, commissioned by LiveRamp, found advertisers who use LiveRamp’s ATS can achieve 343% ROI over three years with payback within only six months of initial investment.

Worldwide, over 100 brands across verticals have already recognized the urgency to find an alternative to data deprecation, embracing ATS as a durable and valuable solution for seamless activation, measurement and attribution across display, mobile in-app, connected TV and OTT. Compared to campaigns using third-party cookies, marketers saw significant improvement with LiveRamp, including:

  • 403% increase in travel bookings for a leading international hotel chain
  • 85 – 95% Video Completion Rate (VCR) for a leading social health non-profit
  • 84.3% average increase in sustained ROAS from multiple brands over the last year

Enabling hundreds of brand advertising campaigns in the first quarter of 2021 alone, ATS powers a people-based approach to connecting with audiences across all channels, making consumer interactions relevant, addressable and measurable. As brands and their agencies pivoted quickly during the past year, they turned to LiveRamp to activate segments within technology platforms and publishers to reach real people—not cookies or device IDs.

  • “Even before the phasing out of third-party cookies, we have been leveraging alternative identifiers to deliver more relevant marketing and improve marketing outcomes, especially in online video campaigns as consumers increase time spent with video,” said Manuel Cimarosti, Director of Media Analytics & Data Strategy at Danone. “In the first test alone, ATS delivered a 4% increase in video completion rate on top of 40% more efficient cost metrics when compared to the cookie. These results are invaluable as we continue growing our first-party relationship with consumers across more touchpoints, and reinvest the savings to increase our reach.”
  • “Our industry has reached a crossroads where we can move forward with a transparent, privacy-conscious approach to user authentication, or risk the same faults we saw with the cookie,” added Liane Nadeu, SVP and head of precision media and investments at Digitas North America. “Our advice to clients is to take advantage of the time left before third-party cookies leave the ecosystem, and test and invest in authenticated solutions that will maintain consumer trust moving forward.”

Platforms

Garnering widespread platform support since its entry into the marketplace, the identifier is live with all major global supply-side platforms, including Index Exchange, Magnite, OpenX, PubMatic, and most recently, Xandr. ATS is also live on all major demand-side platforms, such as Amobee, Beeswax, Criteo, MediaMath, Roku and The Trade Desk.

“ATS is designed to stand the test of time, conscious of future privacy regulation and ensuring consumers are offered a value exchange,” added Travis Clinger, LiveRamp SVP of addressability and ecosystem. “It’s indisputable that authentications translate into higher-value inventory and better performance. Those who adopt an authentication strategy now will gain a significant competitive advantage in replacing mobile IDs, cookies and other problematic identifiers that do not prioritize consumer privacy.”

More information about ATS may be found at liveramp.com/authenticated-traffic-solution.

About LiveRamp

LiveRamp is the leading data connectivity platform for the safe and effective use of data. Powered by core identity resolution capabilities and an unparalleled network, LiveRamp enables companies and their partners to better connect, control, and activate data to transform customer experiences and generate more valuable business outcomes. LiveRamp’s fully interoperable and neutral infrastructure delivers end-to-end addressability for the world’s top brands, agencies, and publishers. For more information, visit www.LiveRamp.com.

Michelle Millsap on behalf of LiveRamp

[email protected]

619-857-2384

KEYWORDS: Europe United States North America Asia Pacific California

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Software Networks Marketing Advertising Data Management Communications Technology Security

MEDIA:

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Orion Group Holdings, Inc. Announces Contract Awards of Approximately $38 Million

Orion Group Holdings, Inc. Announces Contract Awards of Approximately $38 Million

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Orion Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ORN) (the “Company”) a leading specialty construction company, today announced two contract awards totaling approximately $38 million.

The Company’s Marine segment has been awarded a contract valued at $28.5 million to perform demolition and construction to establish a new aquatic habitat to benefit juvenile salmon in the Puget Sound area of Washington. Construction on the project will begin during the second quarter this year and is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2023.

In addition, the Company has also been contracted for the design and construction of a private marine facility in the Tampa, Florida area. Valued at approximately $9 million, this work will commence in the second quarter of this year and be completed by mid-2022.

“We are pleased to be a part of the Puget Sound project to benefit the local environment,” said Mark Stauffer, Orion’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Additionally, the private sector project in Florida represents the type of opportunities we expect to see more of as the economy emerges from the pandemic.”

About Orion Group Holdings

Orion Group Holdings, Inc., a leading specialty construction company serving the infrastructure, industrial and building sectors, provides services both on and off the water in the continental United States, Alaska, Canada and the Caribbean Basin through its marine segment and its concrete segment. The Company’s marine segment provides construction and dredging services relating to marine transportation facility construction, marine pipeline construction, marine environmental structures, dredging of waterways, channels and ports, environmental dredging, design, and specialty services. Its concrete segment provides turnkey concrete construction services including pour and finish, dirt work, layout, forming, rebar, and mesh across the light commercial, structural and other associated business areas. The Company is headquartered in Houston, Texas with regional offices throughout its operating areas.

Forward-Looking Statements

The matters discussed in this press release may constitute or include projections or other forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the provisions of which the Company is availing itself. Certain forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” or “anticipates,” or the negative thereof or other comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy, plans, objectives, intentions, estimates, forecasts, outlook, assumptions, or goals. In particular, statements regarding future operations or results, including those set forth in this press release and any other statement, express or implied, concerning future operating results or the future generation of or ability to generate revenues, income, net income, profit, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, or cash flow, including to service debt, and including any estimates, forecasts or assumptions regarding future revenues or revenue growth, are forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements also include estimated project start date, anticipated revenues, and contract options which may or may not be awarded in the future. Forward looking statements involve risks, including those associated with the Company’s fixed price contracts that impacts profits, unforeseen productivity delays that may alter the final profitability of the contract, cancellation of the contract by the customer for unforeseen reasons, delays or decreases in funding by the customer, levels and predictability of government funding or other governmental budgetary constraints and any potential contract options which may or may not be awarded in the future, and are the sole discretion of award by the customer. Past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future results. In light of these and other uncertainties, the inclusion of forward-looking statements in this press release should not be regarded as a representation by the Company that the Company’s plans, estimates, forecasts, goals, intentions, or objectives will be achieved or realized. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release whether as a result of new developments or otherwise.

Please refer to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on February 28, 2020, which is available on its website at www.oriongroupholdingsinc.com or at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, for additional and more detailed discussion of risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations, estimates or forecasts.

Orion Group Holdings Inc.

Francis Okoniewski, Vice President Investor Relations

(346) 616-4138

[email protected]

www.oriongroupholdingsinc.com

Robert Tabb, Executive Vice President & CFO

(713) 852-6500

www.oriongroupholdingsinc.com

KEYWORDS: Washington Florida Texas United States North America

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Commercial Building & Real Estate Urban Planning Manufacturing Construction & Property Other Transport Building Systems Maritime Transport Other Manufacturing Engineering Other Construction & Property

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SPOT Partners With Desert Vets Racing

SPOT Partners With Desert Vets Racing

COVINGTON, La.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
SPOT LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globalstar, Inc. (NYSE American: GSAT) and leader in satellite messaging and emergency notification technologies, today announced its partnership with Desert Vets Racing, an off-road racing organization founded by military veterans for veterans and active duty personnel. As part of the partnership, SPOT is providing the organization with goods and services to enable communication and driver safety while off-roading in areas without terrestrial connectivity.

Founded in 2017, Desert Vets Racing (DVR) is a 501 c3 non-profit that provides opportunities for team building, vocational skills, and mental health support access through the sport of racing. The organization maintains an open invite to any veteran or active-duty personnel, additionally covering the cost of travel and lodging for race participants.

“The partnership with Desert Vets Racing is a great fit for SPOT as we are able to provide reliable communication and connectivity,” said Dave Kagan, CEO of Globalstar, Inc. “The organization has a great mission and SPOT is proud to help keep these impressive individuals safe while they are doing something to help better their lives while having a lot of fun.”

“Our team members race in some of the most demanding and desolate terrain in the world and having SPOT as a sponsor partner ensures we can provide the safest racing experience possible,” said Adam Carr, Chief Operations Officer of Desert Vets Racing. “Military service engrains the need of having redundant communications options and SPOT fills and exceeds that need!”

Designed to provide satellite powered connectivity for adventure enthusiasts the SPOT family of products include:

  • SPOT X with Bluetooth – Message friends and family, track and access S.O.S. search and rescue in the event of an emergency.
  • SPOT Gen4 – With a sleek new look, the Gen4 provides a critical, life-saving line of communication with an S.O.S option. Additional, check-in functionality, tracking and custom messaging allow users the ability to stay connected.
  • SPOT Trace – Offers advanced tracking for anything. Mapping in real-time allows users the ability to see when an asset is moved or moving, utilizing satellite technology to communicate from remote locations.

To date, nearly 7,500 rescues have been attributed to SPOT technology, with many occurring in the motor vehicle category. With more and more individuals seeking socially distant and safe recreational activity, the need for a life saving device like SPOT is essential.

For more information, including a complete list of retailers carrying SPOT products, visit FindMeSpot.com. Special commercial pricing and services are also offered through SPOT Business Solutions.

About SPOT:

SPOT LLC, a subsidiary of Globalstar, Inc., provides affordable satellite communication and tracking devices for recreational and business use. SPOT messaging devices use both the GPS satellite network and the Globalstar satellite network to transmit and receive text messages and GPS coordinates. Since 2007, SPOT has provided peace of mind by allowing customers to remain in contact with family, friends and co-workers, completely independent of cellular coverage and has helped initiate over 7,500 rescues worldwide. For more information, visit FindMeSPOT.com.

Note that all SPOT products described in this press release are the products of SPOT LLC, which is not affiliated in any manner with Spot Image of Toulouse, France or Spot Image Corporation of Chantilly, Virginia. SPOT Connect is a trademark of Spot LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About Desert Vets Racing:

OFF-ROAD RACING FOR VETERANS BY VETERANS – Providing a unique approach to helping our US Military Veterans of all generations through off-road racing.

OUR MISSION

Desert Vets Racing (DVR) is determined to provide immediate team building, vocational skills, and mental health support access through the sport of racing to US military veterans and active-duty personnel – in order to facilitate healthy transitions into civilian life and lower the risk of suicide and substance abuse dependencies.

OUR VISION

We believe that the growth of locally oriented grassroots activities that involve a combination of technical skills, adrenaline, team effort, and business/marketing skills will ultimately provide a missing piece to the “veteran puzzle” in minimizing the mental health and substance-related struggles we see today.

For more information about Desert Vets Racing, please visit desertvetsracing.org.

Media Contact:

Denise Davila

Corporate Communications Manager, Globalstar

[email protected]

985-335-1655

KEYWORDS: Louisiana United States North America

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Mobile/Wireless Audio/Video Defense Other Technology Telecommunications Other Defense Software Contracts Networks Hardware Data Management Consumer Electronics Satellite

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Charles River Associates (CRA) Expands Forensic Services Practice

Charles River Associates (CRA) Expands Forensic Services Practice

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Charles River Associates (NASDAQ: CRAI), a worldwide leader in providing economic, financial and management consulting services, today announced Daniel Roffman has joined as a vice president in the Company’s Forensic Services Practice.

“We’re excited to have Dan on board,” said CRA’s President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Maleh. “He will enhance our strong team of experts who regularly lead high-stakes cyber and theft of trade secret investigations, and who credibly testify about their findings when required.”

Forensic Services Practice Leader Kris Swanson added, “As our clients’ information security risks continue to grow exponentially, we are thrilled to be able to add Dan’s global expertise to our team.”

Mr. Roffman joins CRA with over 20 years of digital forensics and information security consulting experience, helping clients protect their most valuable information and investigating allegations of trade secret theft and cyber incidents. He has extensive experience testifying on behalf of plaintiffs, defendants, and has served as a court-appointed neutral expert on trade secret cases. He has also testified on a range of other digital forensic subjects including software piracy, cyber investigations, and electronic document authenticity issues.

Prior to joining CRA, Dan was a senior managing director at an international consulting firm, where he supervised the firm’s digital forensic staff and oversaw operations at their U.S. forensic laboratories. Mr. Roffman previously worked in the High Technology Investigations Unit of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mr. Roffman is a recognized thought leader in the industry, a frequently requested speaker at conferences, an author of numerous articles and white papers, and an innovator in developing unique solutions for his clients. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems from the University of Maryland, as well as the EnCE Certified Examiner certification for complex computer investigations and analysis, and has been recognized seven times by Who’s Who Legal.

CRA’s Forensic Services Practice

CRA’s Forensic Services Practice assists companies in independently responding to allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, misconduct, and non-compliance, deploying cross-trained teams of experienced forensic professionals to deliver deep and timely insights. The Practice – including our state-of-the-art digital forensics, eDiscovery and cyber incident response labs – has been certified under International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001:2013 requirements as part of our industry-leading commitment to our clients and their information security.

About Charles River Associates (CRA)

Charles River Associates® is a leading global consulting firm specializing in economic, financial and management consulting services. CRA advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings, and guides corporations through critical business strategy and performance-related issues. Since 1965, clients have engaged CRA for its unique combination of functional expertise and industry knowledge, and for its objective solutions to complex problems. Headquartered in Boston, CRA has offices throughout the world. Detailed information about Charles River Associates, a registered trade name of CRA International, Inc., is available at www.crai.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

Statements in this press release concerning the addition of Daniel Roffman, the Forensic Services practice, future business Daniel Roffman may generate for CRA and statements using the terms “enhance”, “expand” or similar expressions are “forward-looking” statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon management’s current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties. Information contained in these forward-looking statements is inherently uncertain, and actual performance and results may differ materially due to many important factors. Such factors that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements made by CRA include, among others, the failure to generate engagements for us; dependence on the growth of our litigation or strategy consulting practice, the potential loss of clients; the demand environment; global economic conditions; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; and intense competition, as well as other potential factors that could affect our financial results are included in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those under the heading “Risk Factors.” We cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievement. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date of this press release, and we do not intend to do so.

Media Relations

CRA International

[email protected]

617-425-6453

Nicholas Manganaro

Sharon Merrill Associates, Inc.

[email protected]

617-542-5300

KEYWORDS: United States North America Massachusetts

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Professional Services Consulting

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LucidLink, Innovator in Cloud File Services, Closes $12 Million Round

Headline Leads the Round, Adobe Joins as a Strategic Investor

San Francisco, May 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LucidLink, an innovator in cloud file technology, announced it raised $12 million in Series A funding to support accelerated growth and continue to provide a market-leading customer experience. The round was led by Headline, a global venture capital firm whose portfolio includes notable companies like Segment, SEMrush, and Gopuff. Also in the round is strategic investment from Adobe who invests in startups developing innovative technologies aligned with their strategic goals. Conrad Chu, Partner, from Headline will join LucidLink’s board of directors. The round includes participation from Baseline Ventures and Bright Cap Ventures.

 

“When we met LucidLink, we knew we had found the perfect fit of founders and disruptive technology,” said Conrad Chu, Partner, Headline. “We discovered Filespaces as a user and immediately recognized that there is nothing else like it out there. With incredible traction in the Media and Entertainment industry as well as Architecture, Engineering, and Construction, LucidLink is hitting it out of the park with this next-generation cloud file system.”

 

LucidLink invented Filespaces, a truly unique way of transforming the cloud into a local storage system or a cloud-to-edge NAS, by providing direct access to files stored in the cloud and streaming them to applications on demand.

 

With the global shift to remote and hybrid work, companies and individuals are restructuring how they do business, and working out of the cloud is playing a pivotal role. LucidLink addresses the pain point of providing shared storage for collaboration, enabling users access to shared data from multiple remote locations. With LucidLink, users have immediate access to data from anywhere in the world, as an extension of their local drive, making cloud services much more accessible, scalable, and affordable.

 

“We couldn’t be more pleased to work with such visionary investors,” said Peter Thompson, CEO, and co-founder, LucidLink. “The team at Headline knows how to drive global adoption of forward-thinking technology, and our partnership with Adobe presents a perfect opportunity to easily enable remote production teams with the entire suite of Adobe Creative Cloud products.”

 

Today’s funding starts off a strong year for LucidLink. The company continues to be recognized in the industry, winning the Cloud Storage Product of the Year from TechTarget for two consecutive years, 2019 and 2020. It has also been identified as one of the Coolest Data Management companies by CRN in its 2021 Storage 100 list and included in the 9 Enterprise Storage Startups to Watch by Network World.

 

About LucidLink

LucidLink offers an innovative cloud-native file service designed specifically for extensive data access over distance. LucidLink Filespaces provides best-in-class security and high-performance scalability to run file-based workloads on object storage for maximum efficiency and productivity. The service is compatible with Azure Blob and any S3 compatible object storage provider that utilizes the cloud, on-prem, or hybrid storage. It supports all major operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and macOS. Investors include Baseline Ventures, Headline, Adobe, Bright Cap Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, S28 Capital, and Fathom Capital. LucidLink is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco, California, with offices in Bulgaria, Europe, and Australia. For more information about LucidLink, please contact [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and visit us at www.lucidlink.com.

 



Julie O'Grady
LucidLink
16502699989
[email protected]

mPhase Technologies Announces Fiscal Third Quarter Financial Results and Provides Corporate Update

Company Reports Fifth Consecutive Quarter of Profitability
; Fortifies Balance Sheet to Pursue 5G
and EV Charging Opportunities

Gaithersburg, MD, May 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — mPhase Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: XDSL) (“mPhase” or the “Company”), a technology company specializing in EV charging and consumer engagement, announced financial results for the fiscal third quarter ended March 31, 2021 and provided a corporate update.

Fiscal Third Quarter 2021 Financial
Highlights
:

  • Revenue in the fiscal third quarter of 2021 increased to $7.7 million, compared to $7.6 million in the same year-ago quarter
  • Gross profit margin increased 90 basis points to 26.5%, compared to 25.6% in the same year-ago quarter
  • Operating income of $1.2 million was consistent with the $1.2 million generated in the same year-ago quarter
  • Net income totaled $0.3 million and represented the Company’s fifth consecutive profitable quarter
  • Fortified balance sheet with financings totaling $7.0 million with institutional investors to support near-term growth initiatives targeting 5G and EV charging

Management Commentary

“Our strategy to find experts in Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics, and other software-based disciplines to create a team with the skill sets to support global technology deployments is beginning to unfold,” said Anshu Bhatnagar, Chief Executive Officer of mPhase. “Leveraging this strategy we are now layering on additional technology platforms—such as our AI-based itinerary planner ‘Travel Buddhi’ and recently announced acquisition of ‘CloseComms’—we are now rolling out a robust and tested consumer engagement platform.

“To that end, we are now working to bring our mobile consumer platform to the next level by solving a major issue for retailers—creating foot traffic via proximity-based and directed promotional consumer engagement. We believe our version will add vertical elements that will resonate with both consumers and retailers, alike, while simultaneously integrating our planned entry into the 5G and EV charging industries, which will occur through acquisitions and partnerships.

“To roll out these consumer engagement initiatives, we recently hired industry veteran Ed Rinker to lead our international sales, who brings over 25 years of experience in creating consumer and sales channel programs for Fortune 500 brands across a broad spectrum of fields. His experience goes beyond consumer products and covers multiple categories that will fit neatly within our expanding consumer engagement ecosystem. Our initial goal is to develop a nationwide footprint in the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) sector, but we are layering on new technology that can significantly expand our reach into additional markets.”

Mr. Bhatnagar, concluded: “As we move throughout the remainder of the year, we will remain focused on monetizing world-class Software as a Service (SaaS) and Technology as a Service (TaaS) businesses when consumers are mobile. Our TaaS strategy begins with the equipment and service on the front end, supplemented by SaaS retail, consumer product brand promotions, and other sources of revenue that can be both recurring and transactional. Ultimately, we believe the steps we are taking today will build sustainable shareholder value over the long-term.”

About mPhase Technologies

mPhase is a technology driven, innovative development company that creates and commercializes products and applications that impact everyday people. The Company has assembled industry-leading teams specializing in artificial intelligence, machine learning, software, consumer engagement, and other advanced technologies. Additional information can be found at the mPhase website, www.mphasetech.com; and at www.learningtrack.com. Please follow us on twitter: @mPhase_Tech for the latest updates.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are identified by the use of the words “could,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “expect,” “may,” “continue,” “predict,” “potential,” “project” and similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these plans, objectives, expectations or intentions will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience and present expectations or projections. Actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements and the trading price for our common stock may fluctuate significantly. Forward-looking statements also are affected by the risk factors described in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Investor
Relations:

Brian M. Prenoveau, CFA
MZ Group – MZ North America
1-561-489-5315
[email protected]
www.mzgroup.us



Sera Prognostics and Anthem, Inc. Announce Commercial Partnership Leveraging Innovative Biomarker Test to Reduce Risk of Preterm Birth

– The PreTRM® Test Is Designed to Build a Foundation for Healthy Communities One Baby at a Time

SALT LAKE CITY, May 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sera Prognostics, Inc., The Pregnancy Company® (“Sera”), focused on improving maternal and neonatal health by providing innovative pregnancy biomarker information to doctors and patients, today announced a novel strategic commercial partnership with Anthem, Inc.

Anthem, whose health plans cover more than 10% of U.S. pregnancies annually, will make PreTRM® tests available to pregnant members as part of a multi-year contract with Sera. Anthem is the nation’s second largest health insurer with more than 40 million members nationwide.

Through this collaboration, a significant number of physicians and patients in the U.S. gain access to early and accurate predictions of preterm birth to enable more informed decision-making during pregnancy.

“Prematurity is a significant threat to the health and well-being of both mother and baby,” said Elizabeth Canis, Vice President Emerging Businesses & Partnerships at Anthem. “By working with Sera to make this test available to our pregnant members, we can identify potential problems before they become lifelong challenges. Our goal is to positively improve the lives of our youngest members before they are even born. Anthem’s strong community presence and provider partnerships enable Sera to make this important test available to more physicians and patients.”

Ten percent of all births in the U.S. are preterm, but traditional methods fail to detect approximately 80% of pregnancies in which spontaneous preterm deliveries occur. The PreTRM test alerts expecting mothers and their physicians of the risk of preterm birth so they can explore clinical interventions and protocols that may extend the pregnancy, and potentially result in better health outcomes for both mother and baby.

“We are excited about this strategic partnership with Anthem to address the ongoing U.S. healthcare crisis of prematurity, to accelerate delivering pivotal information to physicians with the goal of improving the health of pregnant women and newborns, and simultaneously improving the economics of healthcare,” said Gregory C. Critchfield, M.D., Chairman and CEO of Sera Prognostics. “We will work to extend the impact of our strategy through broader adoption of the PreTRM test by other payers over time.”

About Anthem, Inc.

Anthem is a leading health benefits company dedicated to improving lives and communities and making healthcare simpler. Through its affiliated companies, Anthem serves more than 107 million people, including approximately 43 million within its family of health plans. We aim to be the most innovative, valuable and inclusive partner. For more information, please visit www.antheminc.com or follow @AnthemInc on Twitter.

About Sera Prognostics, Inc.

Sera Prognostics is the leading health diagnostics company dedicated to improving the lives of women and babies through precision pregnancy care. Sera delivers pivotal information in early pregnancy to physicians, enabling them to improve the health of their patients, resulting in reductions in the costs of healthcare delivery. Sera has a robust pipeline of innovative diagnostic tests focused on the early prediction of preterm birth risk and other complications of pregnancy. Sera’s precision medicine PreTRM® Test reports to a physician the individualized risk of premature delivery in a pregnancy, enabling earlier proactive interventions in women with higher risk. Sera Prognostics is located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About Preterm Birth

Preterm birth is defined as any birth before 37 weeks’ gestation and is the leading cause of illness and death in newborns. The 2020 March of Dimes Report Card shows that of approximately 3.8 million babies born annually in the United States, more than one in ten is born prematurely. Prematurity is associated with a significantly increased risk of major long-term medical complications, including learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, chronic respiratory illness, intellectual disability, seizures, and vision and hearing loss, and can generate significant costs throughout the lives of affected children. The annual health care costs to manage short- and long-term complications of prematurity in the United States were estimated to be approximately $25 billion for 2016.

About the PreTRM® Test

The PreTRM® Test is the only broadly clinically validated, commercially available blood-based biomarker test that provides an early, accurate and individualized risk prediction for spontaneous preterm birth in asymptomatic singleton pregnancies. The PreTRM® Test measures and analyzes proteins in the blood that are highly predictive of preterm birth. The PreTRM® Test permits physicians to identify, during the 19th or 20th week of pregnancy, which women are at increased risk for preterm birth, enabling more informed, personalized clinical decisions based on each woman’s individual risk. The PreTRM® Test is ordered by a medical professional.

Contact

Erich Sandoval, Lazar FINN
[email protected]
+1 917 497 2867



Verint Showcases Cloud Platform Innovations at its Engage21 Conference Powering Real-Time Work

Verint Showcases Cloud Platform Innovations at its Engage21 Conference Powering Real-Time Work

Sessions Focus on Defining the Components and Strategies to Support the Real-Time Work Imperative to Address Increasing Customer Engagement Demands and Complexity

MELVILLE, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Engage21 Verint® (NASDAQ: VRNT), The Customer Engagement Company,today announced it is showcasing the latest innovations leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics to support the real-time work imperative at its customer conference, Verint Engage21, taking place May 19-21.

These solutions – Real-Time Agent Assist, Contextual Knowledge, and Verint IVA for Agent Assist – are all powered by Verint DaVinci AI and Analytics. Verint Da Vinci AI and Analytics infuses advanced machine learning models, natural language processing, intent models, sentiment models and analytics engines into the Verint Customer Engagement Cloud Platform and solutions portfolio, leveraging an applied AI approach to drive improved business outcomes.

While AI has historically been a black-box technology managed exclusively by IT, it has moved from the data center to the farthest reaches of the enterprise to fulfill its role of empowering employees, embedding AI in human activity to support better, faster decision making in real-time. This is critical to empower organizations to handle increasing customer engagement demands and complexity in the post-COVID era.

“Our research finds that agents spend 14% of their time seeking information they need to help customers,” said Omer Minkara, Aberdeen vice president and principal analyst in the Aberdeen report, The ROI of Real-Time Agent Guidance: How AI Helps Align Agent Performance With Customer Expectations.1 “Providing automated real-time guidance allows agents to find what they need and boost productivity. Organizations using these AI capabilities enjoy 2.4 times greater annual increase in agent productivity and 11.5 times greater annual improvement (a decrease) in service costs.”

Taking AI from Breakthrough Science to High-Impact Solutions

Key innovations in the Verint Cloud Platform featured on the main stage at Engage21 are:

Real-Time Agent Assist combines in-the-moment AI analysis of customer interactions and agent desktop activities – and in real-time, automatically detects unique moments of truth such as customer complaints, escalations, positive and negative sentiment, long silences, interruptions, compliance risks, coaching opportunities and more. Agents and managers receive real-time guidance, alerts and coaching with next best action and insights on how to improve interactions.

Contextual Knowledge uses patented AI to create a more automated, natural and effective way to connect people to answers. AI-infused contextual knowledge can be surfaced automatically and in real time so that agents and managers can respond with the right answer avoiding long searches for knowledge.

Verint Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) for Agent Assist provides human agents with AI-powered continuous support during calls and chats and allows agents to improve average handle time, response accuracy and compliance, training ramp time, and customer experience. The solution eliminates escalations to managers, and manual searches for answers as it learns each business and its respective processes to intelligently support the workforce.

“Customers and employees need answers at the speed of now, and that’s why real-time work solutions and strategies are a huge focus of our Future of Work theme at our customer conference this year,” says Verint’s Celia Fleischaker, chief marketing officer. “As organizations seek to resolve the Engagement Capacity Gap, they need solutions to help with understanding and acting on rapidly changing customer behaviors, while managing the growth in volume of customer interactions — the two biggest challenges voiced by respondents in our survey conducted in November-December 2020. As well, they are empowering employees to be successful in the modern workforce, where rapid innovation in AI and analytics is shaping the Future of Work in customer engagement.”

About Verint

Verint® (Nasdaq: VRNT) helps the world’s most iconic brands – including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies – build enduring customer relationships by connecting work, data and experiences across the enterprise. The Verint Customer Engagement portfolio draws on the latest advancements in AI and analytics, an open cloud architecture, and The Science of Customer Engagement to help customers close the engagement capacity gap.

Verint. The Customer Engagement Company. Learn more at Verint.com.

1 Source: Aberdeen Strategy & Research, The ROI of Real-Time Agent Guidance: How AI Helps Align Agent Performance With Customer Expectations, August 2020.

This press release contains “forward-looking statements,” including statements regarding expectations, predictions, views, opportunities, plans, strategies, beliefs, and statements of similar effect relating to Verint Systems Inc. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and they are based on management’s expectations that involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. For a detailed discussion of these risk factors, see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2021, and other filings we make with the SEC. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and, except as required by law, Verint assumes no obligation to update or revise them or to provide reasons why actual results may differ.

VERINT, THE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT COMPANY, BOUNDLESS CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT, THE ENGAGEMENT CAPACITY GAP and THE SCIENCE OF CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT are trademarks of Verint Systems Inc. or its subsidiaries. Verint and other parties may also have trademark rights in other terms used herein.

Media Relations

Amy Curry

[email protected]

Investor Relations

Matthew Frankel

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KEYWORDS: New York United States North America

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Software Technology Other Technology Data Management

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