CONCORD, Calif., March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AssetMark, a leading provider of wealth management and technology solutions for financial advisors, today announced the launch of a new program for advisors, Ascent. The program is aimed at helping advisors face the challenges of succession planning by providing education and guidance throughout the entirety of their career.
Succession planning has become an increasingly urgent issue for financial advisors as a growing number of them approach retirement, while fewer new entrants are joining the industry. According to data from Cerulli, 72% of new advisors leave the profession shortly after entering, raising concerns about the sustainability of financial advisory practices. The demographic shift within the advisor population is particularly striking, with an estimated 110,000 advisors expected to retire in the next decade. In stark contrast, only 9% of advisors are under the age of 35, while 45% are 55 or older.
In response to this challenge, AssetMark developed Ascent to support advisors at various stages of their careers. The program offers tailored training and resources designed to help them plan for succession and ensure the continuity of their businesses. The Ascent program features a range of training mediums, mentorship opportunities, and events, structured across three key stages:
Embark for Future Advisors: A six-month program for advisors who are new to the industry.
Advance for Successor Advisors: A year-long program for next-gen advisor leaders and successors.
Summit for Established Advisors: A four-month program for advisors who own their practice and those approaching exit.
“AssetMark works with thousands of financial advisors who bring up succession planning time and time again as an area where they need greater support,” said Matt Matrisian, Head of Client Growth at AssetMark. “This is why we developed Ascent – to help advisors start their careers with succession planning in mind while providing guidance to more experienced advisors ready to exit their practice, ensuring a smooth process through the entire lifecycle.”
The program’s structure makes it possible for advisors to make succession decisions that not only assure the continuity of their business but also align with their personal goals and retirement plans. The program’s training provides advisors with a variety of skills – from allowing future advisors to learn about client experiences, to coaching seasoned advisors through overcoming emotions often tied to letting go of their practice.
“The launch of Ascent is AssetMark’s latest step in our mission to continuously enhance and grow the capabilities that we provide to today’s financial advisors,” said Michael Kim, CEO of AssetMark. “The job of an advisor continues to evolve, so naturally, their expectations of a service partner platform do too. I’m proud of how the AssetMark team continues to meet these expectations in areas that are most important and challenging to advisors, such as succession planning.”
About AssetMark
AssetMark operates a wealth management platform whose mission is to help financial advisors and their clients. AssetMark, together with its affiliates AssetMark Trust Company, Voyant, and Adhesion Wealth Advisor Solutions, serves advisors at every stage of their journey with flexible, purpose-built solutions that champion client engagement and drive efficiency. Its ecosystem of solutions equips advisors with services and capabilities to help deliver better investor outcomes by enhancing their productivity, profitability, and client satisfaction.
With a history going back to 1996, AssetMark has over 1,000 employees, and its platform serves over 10,700 financial advisors and over 317,000 investor households. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had over $139 billion in platform assets. AssetMark is a Registered Investment Adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, please visit www.assetmark.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.
Media: Vesselina Davenport Public Relations & Communications vesselina.davenport@assetmark.com
LONDON, U.K. – 18 March 2025 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a pioneer for connected device experiences, hosts ‘World of Samsung’ from this Tuesday, 18th March, in Frankfurt, Germany. The event spotlights Samsung’s latest AI-powered innovations across televisions, audio, smart home, digital appliances, gaming, and mobile, showcasing how AI is transforming technology into a seamless extension of everyday life.
[Left to Right – Charlie Bae, Director of Product Business Management (TV and AV), Diana Diefenbach, Senior Manager of Technical Product for DA, Stephanie Chosen, Brand and Product Marketing for MX, Benjamin Braun, Chief Marketing Officer for Samsung Europe]
“At Samsung, we’re committed to making all the devices you use smarter and more connected” said Benjamin Braun, Samsung Europe’s Chief Marketing Officer. “World of Samsung is not just about showcasing products – it’s about demonstrating how AI can make daily life better. Whether it’s Vision AI[1] optimising your TV settings for the best viewing or sound experience, or AI-powered mobile and home appliances that adapt to your habits, we’re showing how technology can feel more personal and tangible than ever before.”
Bringing together media and partners, World of Samsung offers a hands-on experience with the latest AI innovations – showing that the connected home of the future is no longer a concept, but a reality. From entertainment and productivity to effortless daily convenience, Samsung is redefining how people interact with technology in ways that are both meaningful and tailored to their unique lifestyles.
Transforming Home Entertainment
For 19 consecutive years, Samsung has been the world’s number one selling TV brand[2], continuously pushing the boundaries of innovation to deliver exceptional picture quality and cutting-edge AI capabilities. Additionally, for the past 11 years, Samsung has also been the number one selling brand for sound bars[3], ensuring an immersive audio experience that complements its industry-leading displays. Samsung believes that every viewer deserves a screen tailored to their space and lifestyle. That’s why, in 2025, Samsung is offering cinema-quality viewing across a range of screen sizes – from 24 inches all the way up to an expansive 115 inches – without compromise.
Samsung’s 2025 TV line-up introduces the next evolution of AI-powered picture and sound. The latest Neo QLED, OLED, and QLED models, including The Frame and The Frame Pro, integrate advanced AI technologies to redefine the way we experience content. For example, AI Picture Optimiser enhances every frame in real time, using deep learning to intelligently adjust brightness, contrast, and colour for a more lifelike viewing experience.
Meanwhile, Colour Booster Pro, powered by Samsung’s real Quantum Dot technology, expands the colour volume for richer, more vibrant visuals. As a leader in display innovation, Samsung’s Quantum Dot technology utilises ultra-fine semiconductor particles to achieve unbeatable colour accuracy and brightness. Since pioneering no-cadmium Quantum Dots in 2015, Samsung has continued to lead the industry, delivering stunning, true-to-life visuals across its QLED and QD-OLED displays, enhanced by Samsung’s use of indium-based Quantum Dots for exceptional colour purity.
For art lovers, Samsung showcases its biggest Art Store ever, with over 3,000 pieces from 70 world-renowned museums and institutions, now available across all 2025 microLED, Neo QLED and QLED models. Strengthening its commitment to digital art, Samsung is also expanding its partnership with Art Basel, bringing museum-quality artwork directly into customers’ homes. Plus, with Q-Symphony, users can enjoy an immersive audiovisual experience, seamlessly connecting up to three devices with their TV to produce cinematic sound.
Beyond stunning visuals, Samsung is making sure its TVs stay smart and secure for years to come, with 7 years of One UI Tizen updates, backed by Samsung Knox Matrix, ensuring a future-proof and protected entertainment experience.
Samsung is redefining gaming with AI-driven innovations, from AI Auto Game Mode, which optimises visuals and response times for competitive play, to Samsung Gaming Hub, offering seamless access to top cloud gaming services. Coming soon to Europe, the Odyssey OLED G8, the world’s first 27” 4K OLED gaming monitor, delivers ultra-high 166 PPI density and a 240Hz refresh rate for stunning detail and smooth gameplay. Also launching soon, the 49″ Dual QHD Odyssey G9 boasts an impressive 1ms response time and 1000R curved screen for a more immersive experience.
AI Home: Smarter Living, Seamlessly Connected
World of Samsung also showcases how Samsung is bringing AI-powered intelligence to the heart of the home with its latest Bespoke AI appliances and SmartThings connectivity. With SmartThings as the backbone of this ecosystem, Samsung continues to enhance AI Energy Mode[4], helping users reduce electricity costs by charging your Jet Bot AI during non-peak hours or washing a smaller load in cooler temperatures while automating everyday household tasks. Whether optimising energy consumption, providing real-time home insights, or enhancing daily routines, Samsung’s AI-powered solutions are redefining what’s possible in the connected home.
Age of Accelerated Mobile Experiences
At World of Samsung, the Galaxy S25 series takes centre stage, marking a new era of AI-powered mobile experiences. With Galaxy AI, Samsung is making everyday tasks faster, smarter, and more intuitive, whether through Live Translate[5], which enables seamless real-time call translations, or Generative Edit[6] and Drawing Assist[7], which bring AI-driven creativity to photo editing. Additionally, the Now Bar[8] keeps users effortlessly informed with real-time updates on messages, calendar events, and more, directly from the lock screen.
Also showcased is the Galaxy Book5 series, bringing next-level AI computing with AI Select and Samsung Studio, making image, video, and document editing more efficient than ever. Samsung’s mobile innovations go beyond individual devices, integrating seamlessly into the AI-powered ecosystem. With SmartThings Home Insight, users can monitor everything from their pet’s well-being via JetBot to their home’s energy consumption, all from their Galaxy device.
For more information on Samsung’s full range of AI-enhanced products, visit: https://www.samsung.com/uk/
[1] Available features may vary by model.
[2] Samsung TV has been ranked No.1 selling TV Brand for 19 consecutive years by Omdia- Samsung Electronics Marks 19 Consecutive Years as the Global TV Market Leader – Samsung Newsroom U.K.
[3] Samsung has been ranked No.1 selling soundbar brand for 11 consecutive years by FutureSource Consulting- Samsung Soundbar Tops Global Sales for 11th Consecutive Year – Samsung Newsroom U.K.
[4] Available on Android and iOS devices. A Wi-Fi connection and a Samsung account are required.
[5] Live Translate requires a network connection and Samsung Account login. Live Translate is only available on the pre-installed Samsung Phone app. Certain languages may require language pack download. Service availability may vary by language. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed.
[6] Generative Edit feature for Photo Assist requires a network connection and Samsung Account login. Editing with Generative Edit may result in a resized photo. A visible watermark is overlaid on the image output upon saving in order to indicate that the image is generated by AI. The accuracy and reliability of the generated output is not guaranteed.
[7] Drawing assist feature requires a network connection and Samsung Account login. A visible watermark is overlaid on the image output upon saving in order to indicate that the image is generated by AI. The accuracy and reliability of the generated output is not guaranteed.
[8] Some functional widgets may require a network connection and/or Samsung Account login
In 2025 Britain is marking the 200th anniversary of the modern railway. Many will be quick to celebrate the legacy of steam engines and the old red lion railway logo, but there’s one bit of Britain’s railway that perhaps doesn’t get enough praise – British Rail. Abbreviated to BR, the brand is 60 this year.
BR officially began trading in 1965 and ended with the privatisation of the railways in 1997. But despite the brand coming to the end of the line, many of its iconic elements remain on the railways today. These include the “double arrow” logo, the font known as Rail Alphabet and a whole palette of colours and styles.
State-owned Great British Railways, which is replacing Network Rail as the operator of most of Britain’s rail infrastructure as well as taking over the privatised franchise system, will unveil a logo in May. This may well incorporate the double arrow. The messaging is about the hope of “restoring pride” in Britain’s rail network.
BR as an organisation, on the other hand, has an often controversial legacy. Those who remember it are quick to complain of late-running trains, high fares and a poor standard of service – including the soggy British Rail sandwich. This legacy is often politicised. One could equally argue that it was a cutting-edge business that served the people in times of dire economic crises, with recessions in the 1970s and 80s as well as the decline in manufacturing that led to widespread unemployment.
The railways were nationalised under the 1947 Transport Act and managed by “British Railways”. Back in the 1950s, the railway had a poor reputation. As one survey respondent described, the railway was a “big, monolithic institution, not at all concerned with the welfare of the individual”.
Trains were often late and dirty, the result of a lack of investment combined with the dying days of the steam era. Coupled to this, British Railways was hesitant about outside intervention, whether from managers, government officials or even passengers. Efforts to improve the railway began with the 1955 modernisation plan, which made a number of strategic recommendations. But by 1960 it had failed to deliver any financial benefits.
For all nationalised industries in Britain, the 1960s were different. With the release of a government white paper in 1961, all the state-owned industries including gas, electricity and airways were set financial targets.
One of the outcomes of this for the railways was Dr Richard Beeching’s Reshaping of British Railways plan published in 1963. It included a number of changes, including slashing the number of unprofitable routes.
My recent research has examined BR marketing in the 1960s and 1970s, and found that this period represented one of great change in the history of marketing the railways.
This included the introduction of the “British Rail” brand, with the publication of a corporate identity manual in July 1965. This represented management slowly opening up to recruit marketing and PR experts from the private sector, including from consumer giants like L’Oréal.
Compared to other operators in Europe, BR received one of the lowest government subsidies. Over its operational life, BR fought hard to innovate in the market with the support and resources it had.
It used new methods to locate and identify consumers, targeted advertising and services, and teamed up with private-sector giants like Kellogg’s and Persil with offers for discounted tickets. It also created new pricing structures, including Awaydays, Weekend Returns and Railcards.
A fierce competitor
As a nationalised railway, it might be easy to assume that BR had a monopoly and therefore did not have to compete. But this couldn’t be further from the reality. The car business was booming, with cheaper, more reliable models on offer. And, thanks to government infrastructure policy, more roads, car parks and fuel stations were being built.
Other domestic transport like coaches (the National Bus Company was formed in 1968) applied constant pressure. And British Airways launched its domestic “shuttle” services between London and other UK cities in 1975, promising passengers they could just “turn up and go” without the need to book.
This also marked a point at which marketing experts shifted their focus from places to people, identifying not only who wanted to travel but why. This included focusing on specific market segments by gender.
In the 1970s, BR’s InterCity launched a TV campaign with the slogan “Travel Inter-City Like the Men Do”, which focused efforts on middle-aged women looking to travel to get away from their domestic duties.
Rail travel could be a feminist issue too.
Similarly, messaging for business travellers tightened. Before the 1960s, business travel was about luxury. Now it was about economic efficiency, where businessmen could work, eat and sleep on the train in advance of their meetings (none of which you could do if you were driving to a meeting).
In the 1980s, before his horrifying crimes came to light, BR brought in TV star Jimmy Savile as the face of rail travel. Although hard to believe today, given what the public now knows about Savile, it was a coup at the time because of his media and business profile.
But today, the railways are at a turning point. The government’s plans to nationalise railway franchises has prompted excitement from organisations like passenger group Bring Back British Rail.
Let’s be clear: nationalisation on its own is not a silver bullet, though the BR case shows that it should be possible to have a nationalised industry that can serve the public interest and compete within the wider economy. Crucially, BR was an innovative marketer. What follows next should endeavour to be the same.
Lewis Smith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
TEL AVIV, Israel, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pillar Security, a pioneering company in AI security, discovered a significant vulnerability affecting GitHub Copilot and Cursor – the world’s leading AI-powered code editors.
This new attack vector, dubbed the “Rule Files Backdoor,” allows attackers to covertly manipulate these trusted AI platforms into generating malicious code that appears legitimate to developers.
This newly discovered attack vector exploits hidden configuration mechanisms within these tools, enabling attackers to inject malicious code suggestions that blend seamlessly into legitimate AI-generated recommendations and bypass human scrutiny and conventional security checks.
Unlike traditional code injection attacks that target specific vulnerabilities, “Rule Files Backdoor” represents a significant risk by weaponizing the AI itself as an attack vector, effectively turning the developer’s most trusted assistant into an unwitting accomplice.
“This new attack vector demonstrates that rule files can instruct AI assistants to subtly modify generated code in ways that introduce security vulnerabilities while appearing completely legitimate to developers,” said Ziv Karliner, CTO & Co-Founder of Pillar Security. “Developers have no reason to suspect their AI assistant is compromised, as the malicious code blends seamlessly with legitimate suggestions. This represents a fundamental shift in how we must think about supply chain security.”
Key Findings and Implications:
Widespread Industry Exposure: The vulnerability affects Cursor and GitHub Copilot, which collectively serve millions of developers and are integrated into countless enterprise development workflows worldwide.
Minimal Attack Requirements: Execution requires no special privileges, administrative access, or sophisticated tools–attackers need only manipulate configuration files within targeted repositories.
Undetectable Infiltration: Malicious code suggestions blend seamlessly with legitimate AI-generated code, bypassing both manual code reviews and automated security scanning tools.
Data Exfiltration Capabilities: Well-crafted malicious rules can direct AI tools to add code that leaks sensitive information while appearing legitimate, including environment variables, database credentials, API keys, and user data–all under the guise of “following best practices.”
Long-Term Persistence & Supply Chain Risk: Once a compromised rule file is incorporated into a project repository, it affects all future code generation, with poisoned rules often surviving project forking, creating vectors for supply chain attacks that affect downstream dependencies.
Who is Affected? A 2024 GitHub survey found that nearly all enterprise developers (97%) are using Generative AI coding tools. According to Pillar, because these rule files are shared and reused across multiple projects, one compromised file can lead to widespread vulnerabilities. The research identified several propagation vectors:
Developer Forums and Communities: Malicious actors sharing “helpful” rule files that unwitting developers incorporate
Open-Source Contributions: Pull requests to popular repositories that include poisoned rule files
Project Templates: Starter kits containing poisoned rules that spread to new projects
Corporate Knowledge Bases: Internal rule repositories that, once compromised, affect all company projects
Mitigation
To mitigate this risk, we recommend the following technical countermeasures:
Audit Existing Rules: Review all rule files in your repositories for potential malicious instructions, focusing on invisible Unicode characters and unusual formatting
Implement Validation Processes: Establish review procedures specifically for AI configuration files, treating them with the same scrutiny as executable code
Deploy Detection Tools: Implement tools that can identify suspicious patterns in rule files and monitor AI-generated code for indicators of compromise
Review AI-Generated Code: Pay special attention to unexpected additions like external resource references, unusual imports, or complex expressions
Following responsible disclosure practices, Pillar alerted both Cursor (February 26) and GitHub (March 12), who responded that users bear responsibility for reviewing AI-generated code suggestions.
“Given the growing reliance on AI coding assistants within development workflows, we believe it’s essential to raise public awareness about potential security implications. We have reached an era where AI coding assistants must be regarded as critical infrastructure,” said Karliner.
Pillar is a unified, end-to-end AI security platform that accelerates AI initiatives by establishing robust security foundations across the entire AI lifecycle. By embedding security from development through runtime, Pillar enables organizations to ship AI-powered applications and agents with confidence while managing critical business risks.
The platform’s comprehensive capabilities—including AI fingerprinting, asset inventory, and deep integration with development and data platforms—create a secure foundation that prevents data breaches and ensures compliance. Through tailored adversarial AI testing and adaptive guardrails aligned with industry standards, Pillar removes security bottlenecks, allowing teams to innovate and deploy AI faster without compromising on security.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Square on Novikov Street, Balaklava, Sevastopol
Since the reunification of Crimea with Russia in 2014, a large-scale comprehensive work on infrastructure development has been carried out on the peninsula, aimed at creating comfortable living conditions for people and sustainable socio-economic development of the regions. Modern housing, roads, social institutions, housing and communal services facilities are being built, and public spaces are being improved, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin reported.
“Today we celebrate 11 years since the Crimean Peninsula returned to Russia. During this time, the peninsula has been transformed almost beyond recognition. The state program of socio-economic development, national projects and targeted support instruments have allowed us to create and update the peninsula’s infrastructure at an accelerated pace. This work has yielded results. I would like to note the good pace of housing construction. In particular, effective regional development instruments have contributed – infrastructure budget and special treasury loans (IBK and STK). The projects implemented since 2022 with their help have stimulated the commissioning of 215.5 thousand square meters of housing and attracted more than 22.1 billion rubles of private investment to the local economy,” said Marat Khusnullin.
Thus, with the involvement of IBC and SKK funds, six housing and communal services facilities were commissioned in the Republic of Crimea. Among them are the reconstructed Moinaki electrical substations in Yevpatoria, Foton and Severnaya in Simferopol. They made it possible to ensure a stable and uninterrupted power supply to thousands of consumers, and also, due to the increase in capacity, to form a reserve for connecting new facilities to the power grid. In addition, the reconstruction of Mramorny Lane, leading to a developing residential area in Simferopol, was completed, and a kindergarten for 250 children was built in the city of Saki. At the expense of IBC, the construction of a kindergarten for 280 children in Yevpatoria and Antichny Prospekt in Sevastopol continues.
When creating comfortable living conditions for people, much attention is also paid to the improvement of populated areas. This work was successfully carried out within the framework of the national project “Housing and Urban Environment”.
“Since 2019, about 500 public areas and courtyards have been renovated in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. Moreover, the opinions of local residents are taken into account when choosing priority locations. Last year, more than 213 thousand residents of the peninsula took part in the voting for improvement sites. Now, work on creating a comfortable urban environment continues within the framework of the national project “Infrastructure for Life”. In 2025, it is planned to improve 100 public areas: 77 in Crimea and 23 in Sevastopol,” said Minister of Construction and Housing and Public Utilities Irek Fayzullin.
For example, the central city square in Yalta was improved. A light and music fountain was installed there, an amphitheater was arranged, navigation systems, shaded areas, and places for tourist groups to gather appeared for the convenience of vacationers. Now this square can host small events and open-air film screenings.
A promising mechanism for the high-quality renewal of cities, the formation of a comfortable environment for life, work and recreation of citizens is the integrated development of territories. This tool allows for the renewal of housing stock, modernization or creation of the necessary social, communal and transport infrastructure, and the involvement of inefficiently used areas in municipalities in circulation.
“By the decision of the Government, the Territorial Development Fund, with the involvement of a subsidiary, is implementing the KRT project in the village of Privetnoye in the urban district of Alushta. The total area of the territory to be developed is 480.6 hectares. It is planned to build more than 3.2 million square meters of real estate there. The implementation of the project will contribute to the socio-economic development of the Republic of Crimea, create a year-round resort with beaches and berths for small vessels, as well as with modern infrastructure for comfortable living, increase the tourist flow and attract additional investment to the region. Currently, urban development documentation is being developed, support measures for the construction of infrastructure facilities are being worked out,” said Ilshat Shagiakhmetov, General Director of the Territorial Development Fund.
In addition, large social facilities are being built on the peninsula. Thus, on the instructions of the President, the Federal Children’s Rehabilitation Center is being built in Yevpatoria. The work is being carried out under the supervision of the public-law company “Single Customer in the Sphere of Construction”.
“The first stage of the center’s construction is currently being completed. A consultative and diagnostic building and a hospital building with 300 beds have already been erected. They are currently being equipped with new technological and medical equipment. The administrative building was previously put into operation. The construction of a boarding house for accommodating young patients with their parents and a dormitory for medical workers is also ongoing,” said Karen Oganesyan, General Director of the Unified Customer PPC.
Construction and reconstruction of facilities is underway on the territory of the Kiparisny and Solnechny camps of the International Children’s Center Artek. The infrastructure for the Krymsky training center in Alushta is actively developing – a new sports complex with a swimming pool and a hotel are already ready, and reconstruction of the incline-cross track is ongoing.
Also in Sevastopol, on Cape Khrustalny, a large cultural cluster with a total area of 150 thousand square meters will appear. The Academy of Choreography has already opened and is working. The museum complex, in which the Russian State Art Gallery will open, is at a high level of readiness.
The work on the development of the peninsula is aimed not only at updating the infrastructure, but also at creating a favorable investment climate. The growth of the economy of Crimea and Sevastopol is also facilitated by the free economic zone, which has been operating since 2015, and which provides for a special legal regime for doing business. In 2024 alone, its participants invested 58.2 billion rubles in the economy. Today, there are 1,526 participants in the free economic zone, thanks to which 6.4 thousand infrastructure facilities have been commissioned and 111.5 thousand jobs have been created, and 481.2 billion rubles have been invested in the economy of the peninsula, including 272.4 billion rubles in capital investments.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
JOHNSTON, Iowa, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Growers Edge, a technology firm that provides modern financial products and data-driven tools for agricultural retailers, manufacturers and lenders, today announced a new partnership with Evergreen Bank Group and Compeer Financial.
Faced with low profit margins and high interest rates, agricultural retailers and manufacturers have embraced in-house input financing programs to increase wallet share and better serve their grower customers. In-house input financing helps retailers and manufacturers retain sales opportunities and valuable data, unlike other lines of credit (like local operating loans), which can be used elsewhere.
Together, Compeer Financial, Evergreen Bank Group and Growers Edge provide funding liquidity and a partner branded SaaS platform that simplifies the application, credit decisioning, and loan management process. By empowering agricultural retailers and manufacturers to provide growers with instant financing decisions at competitive rates, the partnership helps growers manage risk and defer payment on new, innovative crop inputs.
“Given the current state of the ag economy, input financing is a powerful sales tool,” said Andy Flores, Business Development Director at Growers Edge. “Our customer agronomists report that financing conversations are often initiated by growers. They’re willing to try new inputs, but they need their retailer partners to help mitigate the risk.”
Aligned in their missions of supporting rural communities, Compeer Financial, Evergreen Bank Group and Growers Edge will also partner in the development of other financial products and new digital tools that help growers maximize output, achieve peace of mind and secure their economic futures.
“This partnership brings financing options to farmers when and where they need it,” said Kelly Miller, Director of AgTech at Compeer Financial. “Growers Edge and Evergreen Bank Group understand the importance of making it easier for clients to do business in their local communities and Compeer Financial is proud to provide a cutting-edge option to do just that.”
The landmark partnership follows a series of major achievements for Growers Edge. In addition to serving four of the top ten largest retailers in the country with the Crop Plan Warranty, Growers Edge has partnered with organizations like Nutrien, PepsiCo, Mondelez and Helena Agri-Enterprises to boost sustainable agriculture practices.
In 2024, Growers Edge acquired AQUAOSO Technologies, which offers its services under the Agcor brand and provides mapping, data, and analytics software for agricultural lenders, and expanded its farmland valuation tool to cover more than 144 million acres of land across nine states. Earlier this year, Growers Edge announced it protected over 1 million acres of American farmland from downside risk through its crop plan warranty program.
To request an input financing platform demo from Growers Edge and request a term sheet, go demo at Growers Edge.
About Growers Edge
Growers Edge provides modern financial products and data-driven tools that help forward-thinking agriculture retailers, manufacturers, and lenders reduce their growers’ risks and costs when adopting newer innovative solutions and practices. The company’s crop plan warranties and input financing solutions are trusted by dozens of retailers and manufacturers to assist hundreds of growers affordably purchase their products and guarantee yields on over one million acres of cropland.
About Compeer Financial
Compeer Financial is a member-owned Farm Credit cooperative serving and supporting agriculture and rural communities. The $33.1 billion organization provides loans, leases, risk management and other financial services throughout 144 counties in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Based in the Upper Midwest, Compeer Financial exists to champion the hopes and dreams of rural America, while providing personalized service and expertise to clients and the agriculture industry.
About Evergreen Bank Group
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Oak Brook, IL, Evergreen Bank Group is a leading tech-savvy community bank serving the greater Chicago area and beyond. In addition to its retail and commercial banking services, Evergreen is a national leader in niche lending markets, including collector car, powersports, and manufactured housing loans. With a focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences through innovative digital platforms, Evergreen is redefining community banking for the modern era.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Stephen Norris, Professor of History; Director of the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies, Miami University
‘Atlases,’ Victoria Lomasko’s mural at Miami UniversityUsed by permission of Victoria Lomasko
Victoria Lomasko, a graphic artist and muralist, has spent her career documenting how authoritarianism took hold in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. What she has illustrated – as well as the personal journey she has taken – affords a chance to see how dictatorship can develop and strengthen across a decade.
In 2019, I invited Lomasko – who goes by Vika for short – to Miami University, where I teach Imperial Russian and Soviet history. The Havighurst Center for East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies was holding a semester-long series on “Truth and Power” that also included two other Russian dissidents: Leonid Volkov, then chief of staff for opposition leader Alexei Navalny; and Mikhail Zygar, who helped found the independent news station TV Rain in 2010.
I asked Lomasko to paint a mural illustrating the consequences of telling the truth in Putin’s Russia – a theme she has explored in all her works. Her completed mural, “Atlases,” depicted the struggle individuals face between desires to protest or to turn inward under authoritarianism.
Taking action
Lomasko first gained acclaim for “Other Russias,” which was published in English in 2017. The book is a collection of what she terms “graphic reportage”: comic-style art combined with current events.
In it, she covered Russians who are largely invisible: activists, sex workers, truckers, older people, provincial residents, migrants and minorities. She wanted to represent them as “heroes” in their own lives, giving them agency and visibility.
Her heroes came into the public spotlight in 2011 and 2012, when mass protests began in Russia after fraudulent elections and Putin’s return to the presidency. Lomasko attended the protests and sketched the participants. The rallies of 2012 seemed to signify that Russian citizens from a wide range of backgrounds could unite to resist creeping authoritarianism.
A protester in Moscow asks a police officer, ‘Are the police with the people?’ in an illustration from ‘Other Russias.’ Used by permission of Victoria Lomasko
In addition to publishing her drawings, Lomasko also exhibited her work in Moscow and St. Petersburg – a seeming sign that censorship could not prevent an artist or ordinary citizen from voicing their frustration.
This hope did not last long. Over the next few years, the Kremlin passed a series of laws that designated organizations, then media outlets and eventually individuals as “foreign agents” if they received any funding from abroad.
Led by then Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, who was appointed by Putin in 2012, the Russian state also began to demand “patriotic” culture supporting the government, and label anyone who resisted as “unpatriotic.”
In these years, Lomasko documented how protests shrunk to local levels – truckers who decried a new tax, Muscovites who lamented the destruction of local parks, and urban activists who protested plans to tear down Soviet-era apartments. She still depicted participants as everyday heroes, yet she also noticed how protesters’ brief sense of power through collective action faded into disillusionment after the Kremlin went ahead with its plans.
An illustration from ‘Other Russias’ of a truckers protest camp in 2016 in Khimki. Used by permission of Victoria Lomasko
Changing tack
“Other Russias” introduced Lomasko to a worldwide audience. By the time the book came out in 2017, however, she began to question the very basis of her graphic reportage.
Was it enough for an artist to document social change? Lomasko concluded that the answer was no – art should offer solutions. She decided to paint murals that would move beyond graphic reportage.
This new trajectory informed her Miami University project. By the time she arrived in March 2019, Lomasko had completed her first two murals: one for a gallery in England and a second in Germany.
The first, “The Daughter of an Agitprop Artist,” featured her father, who had worked as a propaganda poster artist in her hometown of Serpukhov in the 1980s. In the mural, her father gazes at his work, the rituals of government-sponsored marches, and Lenin posters plastered everywhere. Young Vika stands with her back to her father, holding a red balloon. She stares at her future self, a woman covering the grassroots protests of 2012.
Victoria Lomasko’s mural at the Arts Centre HOME in Manchester, England. Used by permission of Victoria Lomasko
“Our Post-Soviet Land,” her second mural, depicted the ways some former Soviet states, particularly Ukraine, were distancing themselves from their communist past after independence – while others, particularly Russia itself, seemed to be increasingly nostalgic for the Soviet era.
Two paths
Lomasko spent two weeks on campus at Miami University here in Ohio, completing a mural that built on these themes.
The central feature are two figures representing contemporary versions of Atlas, the titan who held up the world in Greek mythology. One faces left, toward a group of people praying in front of an Orthodox icon of Jesus. Here Lomasko depicts one path Russians took in response to the oppressive nature of Putinism: turning inward, retreating to a spiritual life.
The second Atlas gazes upward, holding an artist’s brush. Below this figure a series of people take to the streets, protesting. They hold flags and banners representing a number of causes, including the 2011 “Occupy” movement in the United States. Lomasko’s message seems clear: This is a second path to take to resist authoritarianism – one that might succeed if participants see themselves connected across borders.
Victoria Lomasko stands with her mural ‘Atlases’ at Miami University. Stephen Norris
Art in exile
After unveiling “Atlases,” Lomasko mentioned that she was still trying to retain hope for her country and for humanity. Once again, it did not last long.
During the first two terms of Putin’s presidency, and that of Dmitry Medvedev, the government had largely left citizens’ speech alone, though it controlled information through state media. In 2018 and 2019, however, Russia passed laws that clamped down on internet access and mobile communication.
Lomasko could no longer exhibit her work in Russia and was increasingly unable to find paid work as an artist. As she told me, the state considered her unvarnished depictions of ordinary Russians to be distasteful, while publishers and gallery owners considered her works politically dangerous.
When the country began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, these changes allowed the government to criminalize opposition. Lomasko made the difficult decision to flee Moscow. She took her cat and as many artworks as she could carry, but she had to abandon most of her possessions. She documented this new journey the only way she knew: through a series of art panels titled “Five Steps.”
“Isolation” encapsulates how Lomasko and dissidents like her grew ever more cut off from the rampant patriotism espoused by Putin. “Escape” shows her leap into the unknown, fleeing her country because she feared arrest, while others are caught up in war and political repression.
“Exile” depicts Lomasko starting anew in a different country. “Shame,” the most powerful, seeks to capture her emotions at having to flee, as well as the shame she felt for what Russia was doing to Ukraine. “Humanity” retains the artist’s attempt to preserve her optimism – her sense that humans have more in common than they have differences, and that seeing oneself within a larger, global community might give power to the invisible.
‘Humanity,’ by Victoria Lomasko. Used by permission of Victoria Lomasko
Tens of thousands of Russians have left the country since the start of the war, many of them artists and activists. Zygar and Volkov – the two other Russian citizens on campus for our university’s 2018-19 series – have also had to flee.
Lomasko’s art helps trace how authoritarianism took hold in Russia across the past decade. I believe her responses to Putin’s dictatorship, including her decision to flee her homeland, offer us all something to ponder.
Stephen Norris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
ATLANTA – Governor Brian P. Kemp today announced that TriNet is planning to create 750 new jobs at a new corporate center in Dunwoody over the next five years, representing an estimated $15.4 million in investment in DeKalb County.
“As the No. 1 state for business, one of the key drivers of our success is our metro Atlanta area that continues to attract a strong ecosystem of job creators like TriNet,” said Governor Brian Kemp. “TriNet’s services for small businesses will further that network while creating meaningful jobs and investment for the Dunwoody and DeKalb County community.”
TriNet provides comprehensive HR solutions, technology, expertise, and access to world-class benefits that enable small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to attract and develop top-tier talent.
“We look forward to opening a new TriNet office in metro Atlanta and becoming a part of this vibrant and growing business community,” saidMike Simonds, TriNet President and CEO. “We are excited to partner with Atlanta’s strong universities and thriving small business ecosystem as we expand our local team and establish a hub where TriNet colleagues from across the country can come together for training, development, and collaboration to better serve our customers.”
“At TriNet, our people are the heart of everything we do, and we are thrilled to expand our team here in metro Atlanta,” said Catherine Wragg, TriNet Chief People Officer. “This new office will help us attract top talent, foster our strong culture of collaboration and making an impact, and further invest in the professional growth of our colleagues. We are committed to creating a workplace where our colleagues can thrive and look forward to making a positive impact in this community.”
TriNet’s new approximately 150,000-square-foot space will be located in Dunwoody. The company will immediately begin hiring for technology, HR consulting, client management, and sales roles, with plans to leverage its increased presence to grow its regional Atlanta and Southeast customer base. To learn more about TriNet, including where interested individuals can apply for jobs, visitwww.trinet.com/about-us/careers.
“Dunwoody provides the ideal setting for TriNet, offering unparalleled access to the region’s talented workforce and a vibrant, mixed-use environment surrounded by top-tier restaurants, shops, and entertainment,” said Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch. “We are thrilled to welcome TriNet, whose investment will bring hundreds of new jobs to our community. This is another example of a growing company choosing Dunwoody.”
“TriNet’s investment in DeKalb County is a testament to the strength of our workforce, our infrastructure, and our commitment to fostering a thriving business environment,” said DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson. “The creation of 750 new jobs will bring invaluable opportunities to our residents while reinforcing DeKalb as a premier destination for corporate growth and innovation. We proudly welcome TriNet to our community and look forward to the positive impact this expansion will have on our local economy and workforce.”
“TriNet’s investment in DeKalb County will create jobs, drive innovation, and strengthen our economy,” said Katie Kirkpatrick, President and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber. “With direct access to a pipeline of emerging talent from metro Atlanta’s renowned universities, TriNet is uniquely positioned to connect businesses with the next generation of HR and business professionals.”
Assistant Director of Statewide Projects John Soper represented the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s (GDEcD) Global Commerce team on this project in partnership with the City of Dunwoody, Decide DeKalb, Metro Atlanta Chamber, University System of Georgia, and Georgia Power.
“TriNet’s decision to locate in Georgia reflects the confidence companies have in the state as a hub for innovation, talent, and long-term success,” said GDEcD Commissioner Pat Wilson. “Strong partnerships between industry, communities, and higher education drive economic growth. We’re excited about the opportunities this investment will bring and congratulate Dunwoody and DeKalb County on this milestone. Welcome to Georgia, TriNet!”
About TriNet
TriNet provides small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with HR solutions and offers access to human capital expertise, benefits, risk mitigation, compliance, and payroll services, all enabled by industry-leading technology. TriNet’s suite of products also includes services and software-based solutions to help streamline workflows by connecting HR, benefits, employee engagement, payroll, and time and attendance. Rooted in more than 30 years of supporting entrepreneurs and adapting to the ever-changing modern workplace, TriNet empowers SMBs to focus on what matters most – growing their business and enabling their people. For more information, visit TriNet.com.
MAPLE GROVE, Minn., March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TopLine Financial Credit Union, a Twin Cities-based member-owned financial services cooperative, visited Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., March 2 to March 5, 2025, as part of the annual America’s Credit Unions Governmental Affairs Conference, the credit union industry’s largest advocacy event.
During the conference, TopLine executives and officials, along with over 6,000 other credit union professionals, board members and Minnesota Credit Union Network (MnCUN) staff members, discussed several top credit union issues with key legislative staff members. The group met with U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith as well as members of the U.S. House and their staff. Meetings focused on expanding credit union’s opportunities to serve more Minnesotans, emphasizing the importance of preserving our not-for-profit financial cooperative tax status, fighting back on efforts to disrupt the interchange system, and maintaining an independent credit union regulator – all are very important to the health of the credit union industry.
TopLine spent valuable face time meeting with lawmakers and sharing members’ stories on how TopLine provides safe and affordable financial services to help members with all of their financial needs, from buying cars and homes, saving for retirement and investing in small businesses. These conversations emphasized the importance of preserving the tax status of credit unions, which allows credit unions to continue to do what they do best: focus on serving members and communities instead of chasing profits. Credit unions advocates shared with lawmakers that any limitation or curtailment of the tax status would have a dramatic impact on the $950 million in direct financial benefits Minnesota credit unions provide their members and over $4 billion in economic output in the state.
“The Governmental Affairs Conference united credit union champions from across the nation to discuss key policies, engage with legislators on Capitol Hill, and reinforce to lawmakers and regulators why credit unions are America’s best financial partner—prioritizing people over profits, strengthening communities, and enhancing financial well-being for all,” said Mick Olson, President and Chief Executive Officer at TopLine Financial Credit Union. “TopLine representatives had meaningful discussions with our state lawmakers, emphasizing the importance of preserving our not-for-profit financial cooperative tax status. This fundamental aspect of our structure enables us to build a stronger, healthier financial future for the consumers we serve.”
America’s Credit Unions is the premier national trade association serving America’s credit unions. The not-for-profit trade group is governed by volunteer directors who are elected by their credit union peers. To learn more, visit www.americascreditunions.org.
TopLine Financial Credit Union, a Twin Cities-based credit union, is Minnesota’s 9th largest credit union, with assets of over $1.1 billion and serves over 70,000 members. Established in 1935, the not-for-profit financial cooperative offers a complete line of financial services from its ten branch locations — in Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Champlin, Circle Pines, Coon Rapids, Forest Lake, Maple Grove, Plymouth, St. Francis and in St. Paul’s Como Park — as well as by phone and online at www.TopLinecu.com or www.ahcu.coop. Membership is available to anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or volunteers in Anoka, Benton, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Pine, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Washington and Wright counties in Minnesota and their immediate family members, as well as employees and retirees of Anoka Hennepin School District #11, Anoka Technical College, Federal Premium Ammunition, Hoffman Enclosures, Inc., GRACO, Inc., and their subsidiaries. Visit us on our Facebook or Instagram. To learn more about the credit union’s foundation, visit www.TopLinecu.com/Foundation.
CONTACT: Vicki Roscoe Erickson Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer TopLine Financial Credit Union verickson@toplinecu.com | 763.391.0872
NEW YORK, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — HUMAN Security, Inc., a leading cybersecurity company committed to safeguarding every step of the customer’s online journey by defending against bots, fraud, and digital risk, announced today HUMAN Sightline, an innovative suite of capabilities that detects, isolates, and tracks individual bot profiles. HUMAN Sightline enables security teams to conduct faster investigations and optimize their response to evolving threats in the era of AI. This fundamentally transforms bot management by delivering never-before-seen insights into automated traffic.
“The bot mitigation landscape is swiftly evolving with the proliferation of AI-generated threats, and the industry can no longer rely on last-gen methods to detect and investigate next-gen threats,” said Christos Kalantzis, CTO of HUMAN. “Bots are becoming more sophisticated, and organizations must respond with advanced detection techniques to protect their business and drive security optimization strategies at scale. With HUMAN Sightline, we are putting data-driven investigation tools straight into the hands of our customers and their security teams.”
With HUMAN Sightline, customers can isolate individual attacker profiles and uncover what each one is doing in granular detail. HUMAN’s secondary detection engine analyzes all automated activity on an application and segments it into distinct profiles, going beyond simple anomaly detection or basic signature mapping. Using sophisticated data modeling, HUMAN Sightline identifies and tracks nuanced shifts in bot behavior as they occur. This enables security analysts to see the activity of individual bot profiles over time, as well as their sophistication, capabilities, and the specific factors that distinguish them from humans and other bots on the application.
“The responsibility of security is making decisions, and HUMAN Sightline helps us make decisions,” said Omri Lotan, Site Reliability Engineer at Fiverr. “Of course, we want to block bots, but when a tool just blocks bots without explaining why, I still have to investigate it. HUMAN Sightline gives me all the details I need to understand what exactly a bot was doing and why it was blocked. I can zero in on specific threat behaviors and turn these learnings into targeted mitigation strategies.”
HUMAN Sightline offers three key benefits that revolutionize bot management:
Focus and accelerate investigations: Surfaces distinct bot activities, attack paths, and changing behaviors, such as bots targeting specific products or visiting select pages at a glance. Security teams can then uncover hidden patterns and zero in on key attacks, transforming their investigative capabilities.
Translate attack data into a board-ready threat narrative: Allows teams to present business-level visualizations of bot behavior and show the effect of their actions over time. This empowers security teams to lead with data-backed authority, bridging the gap between deep technical analysis and business actions.
Optimize your security strategy for your unique threats: This enables security teams to gain unprecedented clarity on each attacker’s actions and intent to define threat priorities. This real-time adaptability empowers security teams to proactively identify new threat patterns, respond faster, and stay agile against evolving risks.
“HUMAN Sightline completely transforms how the industry thinks about bot management,” said Bryan Becker, Senior Director of Project Management at HUMAN. ”In an industry used to anomaly detection as the only way to measure bot attacks, HUMAN Sightline isolates each bot profile to give security practitioners unprecedented visibility into the behavior of specific threats on their application.”
HUMAN Sightline insights will be available through a new set of dashboards in HUMAN’s Application Protection package. They will also be available in Account Takeover Defense and Scraping Defense at no additional cost.
About HUMAN HUMAN is a leading cybersecurity company committed to protecting the integrity of the digital world. We ensure that every digital interaction, transaction, and connection is authentic, secure, and human. Our Human Defense Platform safeguards the entire customer journey with high-fidelity decision-making that defends against bots, fraud, and digital threats. Each week, HUMAN verifies 20 trillion digital interactions, providing unparalleled telemetry data to enable rapid, effective responses to even the most sophisticated threats. Recognized by our customers as a G2 Leader, HUMAN continues to set the standard in cybersecurity. To ensure your digital connections are trusted, visit www.humansecurity.com
Contact information: Masha Krylova, Director of Communications masha.krylova@humansecurity.com
People say they prefer a short story written by a human over one composed by artificial intelligence, yet most still invest the same amount of time and money reading both stories regardless of whether it is labeled as AI-generated.
That was the main finding of a study we conducted recently to test whether this preference of humans over AI in creative works actually translates into consumer behavior. Amid the coming avalanche of AI-generated work, it is a question of real livelihoods for the millions of people worldwide employed in creative industries.
To investigate, we asked OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4 to generate a short story in the style of the critically acclaimed fiction author Jason Brown. We then recruited a nationally representative sample of over 650 people and offered participants US$3.50 to read and assess the AI-generated story. Crucially, only half the participants were told that the story was written by AI, while the other half was misled into believing it was the work of Jason Brown.
After reading the first half of the AI-generated story, participants were asked to rate the quality of the work along various dimensions, such as whether they found it predictable, emotionally engaging, evocative and so on. We also measured participants’ willingness to pay in order to read to the end of the story in two ways: how much of their study compensation they’d be willing to give up, and how much time they’d agree to spend transcribing some text we gave them.
So, were there differences between the two groups? The short answer: yes. But a closer analysis reveals some startling results.
To begin with, the group that knew the story was AI-generated had a much more negative assessment of the work, rating it more harshly on dimensions like predictability, authenticity and how evocative it is. These results are largely in keeping with a nascent but growing body of research that shows bias against AI in areas like visual art, music and poetry.
Nonetheless, participants were ready to spend the same amount of money and time to finish reading the story whether or not it was labeled as AI. Participants also did not spend less time on average actually reading the AI-labeled story.
When asked afterward, almost 40% of participants said they would have paid less if the same story was written by AI versus a human, highlighting that many are not aware of the discrepancies between their subjective assessments and actual choices.
The potential implications for the future of human-created work are profound, especially in market conditions in which AI-generated work can be orders of magnitude cheaper to produce.
Our research raises questions whether these labels are effective in stemming the tide.
What’s next
Attitudes toward AI are still forming. Future research could investigate whether there will be a backlash against AI-generated creative works, especially if people witness mass layoffs. After all, similar shifts occurred in the wake of mass industrialization, such as the arts and crafts movement in the late 19th century, which emerged as a response to the growing automation of labor.
A related question is whether the market will segment, where some consumers will be willing to pay more based on the process of creation, while others may be interested only in the product.
Regardless of how these scenarios play out, our findings indicate that the road ahead for human creative labor might be more uphill than previous research suggested. At the very least, while consumers may hold beliefs about the intrinsic value of human labor, many seem unwilling to put their money where their beliefs are.
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
ATLANTA, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Fullstory, a leading behavioral data company, today announced several milestones the company reached in the second half of its fiscal year, including customer growth in key market segments, co-developed partner solutions, and certification for responsible AI.
Following a strong first half, Fullstory’s momentum carried through the remainder of its year, and the company continues to see an increasing appetite for digital behavioral data. Its recent research findings highlighted the significant opportunity for enterprises to improve customer experiences and anticipate buyer needs through AI-driven personalization, a task that hinges on nuanced customer behavioral insights made available only through this unique data source.
Customer and Partner Momentum Fullstory continues to see noteworthy growth in its enterprise customer base. Large accounts have been its fastest-growing customer segment for the past six consecutive quarters, with sustained double-digit growth for the past 14 consecutive quarters. In the second half of its fiscal year, Fullstory added several large and well-respected organizations to its customer portfolio, including: one of the largest crowdfunding platforms; a top 10 airline; one of the largest cruise lines; a Fortune 100 technology company; a high-end fashion house; a prominent online retail styling service; a Fortune 500 bank; a luxury women’s retailer; and one of the largest online gaming and sports betting companies in North America.
Its inaugural customer awards, announced in January 2025, included winners across industries. The winners were Autodesk—Customer Experience Champion; Chipotle—Analytics In Action; LTK—AI Innovator; NOBULL—Fastest Time To Value; Patagonia—Data-Driven Innovator; PepsiCo—Cross-Platform Creator; and Pizza Hut—Digital Transformation Leader.
Fullstory also continued to deepen its relationship with key partners across the ecosystem, activating its digital behavioral data in unique ways to deliver value to customers. In the fall of 2024, Fullstory and Google launched a number of Innovation Solutions that address specific mission-critical use cases across industries:
Fullstory, alongside NVIDIA and Palo Alto Networks, will present additional top-of-mind use cases, like monetizing AI agents, at Google Cloud Next in April 2025.
Chief Customer Officer: Adam Spisak, who has nearly two decades of experience and a depth of knowledge in customer success, was appointed Chief Customer Officer.
Chief Revenue Officer: Phil Simpson, a longtime Fullstory employee and former Salesforce sales executive, was appointed Chief Revenue Officer.
Industry Recognition Fullstory continued to lead and innovate by being the first in the digital behavioral data analytics space to receive ISO/IEC 42001, the accredited certification for responsible AI.
“We are honored to be not only the first in our industry but also amongst some of the largest and most trusted companies in the world to receive ISO/IEC 42001 certification,” said Mark Stanislav, vice president of security engineering & governance, risk, and compliance at Fullstory. “The power of AI must be matched with responsible, early security diligence to allow exciting new solutions to meet the expectations that customers should place on their vendors.”
About Fullstory Fullstory is on a mission to help technology leaders make better, more informed decisions by injecting behavioral data into their analytics stack. The company’s patented technology unlocks the power of quality behavioral data at scale by transforming every digital visit into actionable data and insights. With Fullstory, enterprises can get closer to their customers’ true sentiments and intentions to predict what they want, create personalized experiences, and drive conversion, loyalty, and revenue. Fullstory is headquartered in Atlanta, USA, with regional teams across North America, EMEA, and APAC. For more information, visit www.fullstory.com.
Fullstory Media Relations Alexandra King Director of Communications pr@fullstory.com
NEW YORK, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, Esusu, the innovative fintech platform transforming lives through rental data and credit building, announced a partnership with Amazon to help residents living in Amazon-funded affordable housing units across the Puget Sound, National Capital, and Nashville regions build their credit scores through on-time rental payments.
The partnership furthers Esusu and Amazon’s shared commitment to uplift underserved communities by driving economic equity and financial stability. Residents in these communities will also gain access to Esusu’s industry-leading platform for renter financial health, which encompasses access to financial coaching, financial education, rent relief, tax filing support, and a variety of other tools. This collaboration follows Amazon Housing Equity Fund’s $3.6 billion commitment to preserve and create more than 35,000 affordable homes for individuals living in the communities that Amazon calls home.
“Together, Amazon and Esusu are setting a new standard for the role of institutions in the communities they operate in. We are proud to partner with Amazon to provide access to transformative opportunities for renters, enabling them to improve their financial well-being and ultimately unlock wealth creation,” said Esusu co-founders and co-CEOs Samir Goel and Wemimo Abbey. “We are committed to strengthening the economic and social fabric of our neighborhoods in partnership with Amazon and creating better outcomes for families nationwide.”
To date, the Esusu platform has enabled hundreds of thousands of renters to establish a credit score for the first time while unlocking approximately $50 billion in credit activity. On average, renters see a positive credit score increase of 45 points, providing them access to better-quality financial products and lower interest rates. When paired with Esusu’s comprehensive financial coaching, integration with local social services, and marketplace of vetted financial resources, it provides a holistic safety net for renters across the country.
“We created the Amazon housing fund to help address the increasing need for affordable housing in the communities Amazon calls home, helping families improve their quality of life,” said Senthil Sankaran, Managing Principal, of the Amazon Housing Equity Fund. “Through this partnership, we hope to make a transformative difference for tens of thousands more people by enabling renters to build their credit scores by making on-time rent payments.”
“This initiative not only enhances individual financial stability and strengthens communities, but it also benefits property owners and investors by fostering more financially secure residents, ultimately improving retention and long-term asset performance,” said Clear Blue Company CEO Nick Ogden. “It’s a powerful example of how the private sector can drive meaningful change in affordable housing while creating shared value.”
About Esusu Esusu is the leading financial technology platform that leverages data solutions to empower residents and improve property performance. Esusu’s rent reporting platform captures on-time rental payment data and reports it to credit bureaus to boost credit scores. This allows renters to build and establish their credit scores while helping property owners mitigate against initiating evictions, powered by differentiated data and insights. Founded in 2018, Esusu reaches over 4 million rental units across all 50 states in the United States. Learn more at www.esusu.com and follow us on Instagram @myesusu and on X @getesusu.
About Amazon Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
VIENNA, Va., March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Urgent.ly, Inc. (Nasdaq: ULY) (“Urgently”), a U.S.-based leading provider of digital roadside and mobility assistance technology and services, today announced a new multi-year customer partner contract with an innovative provider of on-demand towing and roadside assistance. When the partnership officially launches this month, Urgently will begin providing light duty towing, technology and related services to on-demand roadside customers of the new customer partner across the U.S. and Canada.
Under the customer parter contract, Urgently’s connected assistance platform will power the customer partner’s services, enhancing their roadside assistance offerings with streamlined operations and exceptional assistance experiences. As a tech-forward company, Urgently will deliver its comprehensive technology stack and capabilities, to meet demand for safe, quick and reliable assistance on the road.
This collaboration is expected to grow Urgently’s volume and related revenue, and enable the new customer partner to elevate its customer experience with access to Urgently’s network of trusted service providers. By expanding its footprint in North America, Urgently continues to solidify its position as an industry leader committed to delivering exceptional roadside experiences powered by technology.
“We are thrilled to launch this new partnership with an organization that shares Urgently’s deep commitment to providing the highest quality customer service,” said Matt Booth, Chief Executive Officer of Urgently. “Through this partnership, we will combine our shared strengths in the use of innovative technology and on-demand roadside assistance. We believe this collaboration will create tremendous value for customers, and allow us to continue expanding our presence across North America.”
Urgently is focused on helping everyone move safely, without disruption, by safeguarding drivers, promptly assisting their journey, and employing technology to proactively avert possible issues. The company’s digitally native software platform combines location-based services, real-time data, AI and machine-to-machine communication to power roadside assistance solutions for leading brands across automotive, insurance, telematics and other transportation-focused verticals. Urgently fulfills the demand for connected roadside assistance services, enabling its partners to deliver exceptional user experiences that drive high customer satisfaction and loyalty, by delivering innovative, transparent and exceptional connected mobility assistance experiences on a global scale. For more information, visit www.geturgently.com.
Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains or may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or Urgently’s future financial or operating performance. Such statements are based upon current plans, estimates and expectations of management of Urgently in light of historical results and trends, current conditions and potential future developments, and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. The inclusion of forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation that such plans, estimates and expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking terms such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “potential,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “project,” “predict,” “target,” “believe,” “continue,” “estimate” or “expect” or the negative of these words or other words, terms and phrases of similar nature are often intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. All statements, other than historical facts, including, without limitation, statements regarding Urgently’s new customer partner contract and the expected growth in Urgently’s volume and related revenue, are based on the current assumptions of Urgently’s management and are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve a significant number of factors that may cause our actual performance or achievements to be materially different from any future performance or achievements stated or implied by the forward-looking statements. For factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, please see the risks and uncertainties detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, which was filed with the SEC on March 14, 2025, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other filings and reports that we may file from time to time with the SEC. All forward-looking statements reflect Urgently’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. Urgently undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
LAS VEGAS, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As spring kicks off and the season for home improvement gets underway, homeowners are focusing on upgrades that enhance efficiency, resilience, and sustainability. Jackery, a leader in reliable and innovative renewable energy solutions, is set to exhibit at the National Hardware Show 2025 in Las Vegas, showcasing cutting-edge essential home backup solutions designed to make homes smarter, stronger, and better prepared for any emergency.
With extreme weather events and power disruptions becoming more frequent, Jackery continues to innovate, ensuring people have high-capacity, easy-to-use backup power solutions that not only provide peace of mind during outages, but also support long-term energy efficiency upgrades. Whether people are looking to modernize their energy systems, reduce electricity costs, or prepare for the unexpected, Jackery offers the perfect seasonal home upgrade for 2025.
At the show, Jackery will showcase its industry-leading solar generator lineup, designed to power essential home functions during blackouts, storms, and emergencies. These plug-and-play, solar-compatible solutions keep refrigerators running, lights on, and communication devices charged—ensuring uninterrupted comfort and security when the grid goes down.
Jackery’s Latest Innovations on Display
Jackery’s 5000 Plus Essential Home Backup Kit – A Smarter Approach to Backup Power
The modern alternative to whole-home energy storage systems. Designed for seamless, automatic backup, this high-capacity solar generator integrates with a Smart Transfer Switch to instantly restore power to essential appliances—keeping refrigerators, lights, WiFi routers, and other electronics running without interruption. Unlike traditional backup systems, the 5000 Plus is modular, allowing homeowners to expand their energy storage over time—a flexible, cost-effective solution that grows with their needs.
This smart system makes it possible to save more with every charge. With the ability to prioritize solar charging and schedule charging during off-peak hours, users can optimize energy usage and cut electricity costs by up to 30% per month. When battery levels are above a set threshold, Jackery’s 5000 Plus Essential Home Backup Kit prioritizes solar charging; if they drop below, it seamlessly switches to hybrid solar + AC charging. Scheduled charging shifts energy consumption to lower-cost nighttime rates, maximizing savings.
Plus, when not in use for essential home backup, the 5000 Plus transforms into a portable solar generator, perfect for job sites, DIY projects, and outdoor adventures.
Jackery Solar Roof – The Future of Aesthetic, Integrated Solar Energy
For homeowners investing in energy efficiency and cost-saving upgrades, the Jackery Solar Roof seamlessly combines form and function. The first-ever and only curved solar tiles available in the U.S., this sleek innovation blends into modern and traditional architecture while delivering industry-leading solar efficiency of over 25%. Designed to withstand extreme weather conditions, the Jackery Solar Roof helps homeowners future-proof their energy consumption and lower electricity bills, all while maintaining the architectural integrity of the home.
Jackery HomePower 3000 – The Essential Home Backup for Every Household
As homeowners look to spring and summer home upgrades that enhance reliability, efficiency, and resilience, the Jackery HomePower 3000 stands out as a must-have essential backup solution for any home. With a massive 3,072Wh capacity and 3,600W output (7,200W peak), it delivers seamless power to critical appliances, ensuring uninterrupted comfort and security during blackouts, storms, and emergencies. Designed for effortless plug-and-play use, it requires no installation, making it a versatile and cost-effective alternative to complex whole-home backup systems. With an ultra-fast UPS (≤20ms switching), the HomePower 3000 instantly detects and responds to power outages, keeping refrigerators, lights, and communication devices running without interruption. Its solar-ready compatibility also allows users to harness renewable energy for long-term savings and sustainability. Built with a durable, long-lasting LiFePO4 battery, the HomePower 3000 is engineered for safety, reliability, and all-season performance—making it a smart and practical home upgrade for those preparing for unpredictable weather, rising energy costs, and the need for greater energy independence.
Upgrade Your Home This Season with Jackery – Visit Booth #W1001
Spring and summer aren’t just about cosmetic upgrades—they’re the perfect time to invest in practical improvements that enhance home efficiency, resilience, and comfort. Jackery’s Essential Home Backup solutions offer energy independence, affordability, and peace of mind, ensuring people are prepared for outages while reducing reliance on the grid.
Attendees at National Hardware Show 2025 can visit Booth #W1001 for a hands-on experience and to gain expert insights on integrating Jackery’s portable solar power solutions into their emergency preparedness and home upgrade plans.
For more information about Jackery and its lineup of solar generators, visit www.jackery.com.
About Jackery:
Founded in California in 2012, Jackery is a leader in innovative solar generators and renewable energy solutions. Offering a diverse range of products from compact 100W units to robust 123kWh energy storage systems for whole-home backup, Jackery combines cutting-edge technology with a steadfast commitment to sustainability. Dedicated to providing reliable, renewable energy solutions, Jackery prioritizes convenience, trust, energy independence, and environmentally responsible practices. With over 150,000 five-star reviews, Jackery has earned the trust of customers worldwide. As of mid-year 2024, Jackery solar panels sold have saved 760 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and reduced carbon emissions by 758,000 tons—equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of a medium-sized city. To learn more, check out Jackery on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
NEW YORK, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FE International, a leading global M&A advisor for technology businesses, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Cloud Orca, a leading a UK-based Salesforce Summit Partner, by Cooper Parry, a next-gen accountancy and business advisory firm.
Founded by two entrepreneurs with backgrounds in sales and military service, Cloud Orca specializes in cloud-based CRM, marketing automation, and revenue management solutions. As a fast-growing Salesforce Summit Partner, Cloud Orca has successfully completed 400+ Salesforce projects since its inception and holds 25 Salesforce certifications. The company serves clients across industries such as financial services, high-tech, retail, and life sciences, delivering tailored digital transformation solutions that enhance business operations.
Cooper Parry, a UK-based accountancy and business advisory firm with a strong presence in digital transformation, backing Cloud Orca will enhance the organization’s ability to support the financial operations of their clients. This acquisition positions Cooper Parry at the forefront of CRM-driven business solutions, as Salesforce continues to lead the CRM software market with a 23% market share. This also means that the firm will be introduced to a new sea of partnerships while providing advanced technical infrastructure and expertise in Salesforce implementation, training and development, support and maintenance, and custom development.
“This Cloud Orca deal is a massive leap forward in our tech offering. It ticks tons of the right boxes: market reputation, powerful culture, huge growth, and a passion for sustainability. The fit is spot on. As we create the UK’s next-gen accountancy firm, the landing of such an impressive anchor firm in the digital and tech space is brilliant news. What a way to start the new financial year! And the great thing is, there’s plenty more on the horizon.” said Ade Cheatham, CEO of Cooper Parry, in their press release.
A key aspect of this transaction is Cooper Parry’s commitment to preserving Cloud Orca’s operational autonomy. Ed Rowland, CEO of Cloud Orca, and Tony Di Carlo, COO, will continue to lead the company, ensuring that clients receive the exceptional service they have come to expect.
FE International executed a competitive sale process, garnering multiple offers from industry-leading buyers. “Cloud Orca’s impressive growth and expertise in Salesforce made this a highly sought-after opportunity. At FE International, we are deeply familiar with the Salesforce ecosystem, allowing us to successfully execute a competitive sale process that aligned Cloud Orca with the right strategic partner,” said Jake Olivieri, Partner at FE International.
For more information about FE International and its role in technology M&A, visit www.feinternational.com.
About FE International
Founded in 2010, FE International is a globally recognized M&A advisor specializing in SaaS, e-commerce, and digital media businesses. With over 1,500 transactions completed and a total deal value exceeding $50 billion, FE International has been named one of The Americas’ Fastest Growing Companies by the Financial Times from 2020 to 2024 and is a four-time Inc. 5000 company.
About Cloud Orca
Cloud Orca is a leading Salesforce consultancy that specializes in digital transformation through CRM solutions, marketing automation, and revenue management. As a Salesforce Summit Partner, Cloud Orca delivers tailored solutions to businesses looking to optimize their operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive sustainable growth. The company is dedicated to providing expert guidance and innovative technology solutions that empower businesses to maximize their Salesforce investment. For more information, visit www.cloudorca.com
About Cooper Parry
Cooper Parry is a UK-based accountancy and business advisory firm that is redefining the industry with its innovative and people-first approach. Specializes in providing disruptive financial and business advisory services, with a strong focus on digital transformation, IT integration, and technology-driven solutions. Cooper Parry partners with ambitious businesses to help them scale, optimize financial performance, and navigate complex digital landscapes. For more information, visit www.cooperparry.com
Derby City Council is excited to announce the first lineup of traders set to move into the revitalised Derby Market Hall, marking another milestone in the transformation of the historic Grade II-listed building.
Following a £35.1m restoration, the Market Hall will reopen its doors to the public on Saturday 24 May, marking a new era for Derby’s independent shopping, dining, and entertainment scene.
A curated mix of traditional and contemporary traders will be in place when the Market Hall reopens its doors, creating a vibrant hub in the heart of the city and blending the Market Hall’s rich history with a modern experience.
A legacy continues:
Amongst the first confirmed traders is one that has traded throughout the refurbishment works – Bailey’s Fishmongers. Derby’s last remaining fishmonger has been a trader in the Market Hall for 65 years and will continue to operate in their current location in the lock-up yard area. As a family-run business with over 100 years of experience, Bailey’s Fishmongers was originally founded by Stuart Bailey’s father, with Stuart working in the trade for more than 64 years. Fresh fish and seafood products will be on offer for customers and businesses alike.
A world of local and international flavours:
Bringing a taste of Italy to Derby Market Hall, Caffé Prosecco is set to offer an elegant and modern take on Italian hospitality. Born out of a collection of award-winning bars, including venues that have claimed the Derby Food & Drink Award three years in a row, Caffé Prosecco is renowned for its service and premium selection of drinks. Offering a wide range of Proseccos and fine wines, the independent café promises a refined yet relaxed experience where customers can enjoy freshly brewed coffee, freshly baked croissants, indulgent cakes, and a selection of Pinchos and Cicchettis (traditionally enjoyed in Spanish and Italian bars). Gluten-free and alcohol-free options will also be available.
Locally sourced produce will be at the heart of the revitalised Market Hall, with Derbyshire’s Own, run by Derby Uncovered CIC, set to champion the best of Derby and Derbyshire’s history and heritage. With a sole mission to provide residents and visitors with a wide and varied selection of groceries sourced exclusively from suppliers in Derby and Derbyshire, Derbyshire’s Own will support the local economy whilst promoting sustainability. Customers will also enjoy a wide range of locally produced food and drink.
Bold international flavours will be offered by Colombo Street, a multi-award-winning street food vendor offering visitors an authentic taste of Sri Lankan cuisine. Holding prestigious awards such as Sri Lankan Restaurant of the Year at the Nation’s Curry Awards 2024, the National Asian Food Awards 2023, and more, they are set to offer their signature Kottu dishes alongside a selection of flavourful Sri Lankan specialities.
Nico’s Gelato & Coffee is set to bring a taste of Italy to Derby. The Derby-based business will offer artisan gelato, hot drinks, and Italian pastries to residents and visitors. The business was founded by Nico, who began making gelato after moving from Italy to Derby, inspired by his memories of Italian summers. After over a decade of creating the perfect gelato recipes, Nico now sells gelato across the city.
Sustainably fashion forward:
With over 10 years of experience, vintage fashion trader Mardy Ducks will offer a selection of handpicked, on-trend, and affordable vintage clothing, including brands such as Carhartt, Ralph Lauren, Patagonia, and The North Face. At the heart of the brand’s mission is to extend the life cycle of clothing, reduce waste, and promote sustainability.
Also joining the fashion offer will be The Oddities Store (TOS), an award-winning luxury fashion brand. TOS specialise in made-to-order collections and deconstructed fashion pieces, transforming second-hand luxury materials into one-of-a-kind designs. As a Black-owned business, TOS uses its Afrocentric influences to blend timeless elegance with contemporary design, carefully handcrafting each individual garment.
Councillor Nadine Peatfield, Leader of Derby City Council and Cabinet Member for City Centre, Regeneration, Strategy and Policy, said:
I am incredibly excited to announce the first traders who will be moving into Derby Market Hall when it reopens its doors on Saturday 24 May. From international street food to sustainable fashion, the new –and old- traders each have something truly special to offer to every resident and visitor.
I am particularly excited to welcome the public into the revitalised Market Hall at a time when we are entering a new era for Derby’s independent shopping, dining, and entertainment scene. I am certain that the carefully curated set of traders will be met with much anticipation and will be a massive success for the Market Hall’s incredible offer.
Located at the heart of the city centre, linking Derbion and St Peter’s Quarter with the Cathedral Quarter and Becketwell, the redeveloped Market Hall will play a key role in widening the diversity of the city centre and is expected to generate £3.64m for the local economy every year.
More traders are set to be announced in the coming weeks.
Bessie Margolin was not born to privilege; she was left at the Jewish Orphans Home of New Orleans at four. She was fortunate to have a foundational education at the Newman School. She was admitted to Tulane Law School, the only woman in her class, and graduated with a liberal arts degree and a law degree, with honors, in 1930. The strong recommendations that she had from Tulane got her admitted to Yale Law School, where she worked as a research assistant and earned the Sterling Fellowship, the first woman to be awarded that honor. She graduated from Yale with a J.S.D. in May 1933. She immediately began working as a researcher for the Inter-American Commission of Women, mainly writing and conducting her research at the Library of Congress during that summer. (Trestman, 38.)
Her first permanent post-degree position was at the new agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), at a time when women formed only 2% of the legal profession. (Trestman, 41.) While at the TVA, where again she was the first female lawyer, she worked on several key cases, including a few that challenged the TVA’s existence, such as Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley KF26 .L3 1963eUnited States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. Equal Pay Act of 1963.
Earl Warren papers, box 832, Remarks, Dinner Marking Retirement of Bessie Margolin, Washington Hilton Hotel, January 28, 1972.
JK671.C52 Civil Service Journal.
KF3306 2016The Employment Law Sourcebook / Eleanor L. Grossman, J.D., and Robert B. McKinney, J.D., of the staff of the National Legal Research Group, Inc., editors.
DALLAS, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, at an event hosted by Nasdaq with Governor Greg Abbott, Ross Perot Jr., and top leaders across Texas, Nasdaq will affirm its deep commitment to Texas and its place as an epicenter of growth and innovation across the globe. Nasdaq will also announce plans to make additional investments in the state, designed to enhance the liquidity, transparency, and integrity of the financial ecosystem. These investments will support the broad range of Nasdaq’s clients in the region, including corporate issuers, financial institutions, asset managers and asset owners.
Nasdaq currently generates over $750 million in revenues in Texas and the Southeast region of the U.S., partnering with over 2,000 clients, approximately 800 of which are based in Texas. Nasdaq is home to over 200 listed companies headquartered in the state, representing $1.98 trillion in market capitalization as of December 2024. As part of its continued investment in the region, Nasdaq will open a new regional headquarters in Dallas. The space will be a hub for Nasdaq clients and the wider community and will serve as a premium convening space to celebrate the leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators that call the Lone Star State home.
“Nasdaq is deeply ingrained in the fabric of the Texas economy, and we look forward to maintaining our leadership as the partner of choice for the state’s most innovative companies,” said Adena Friedman, Chair and CEO of Nasdaq. “Beyond our listings franchise, we are proud to support a wide network of clients who trust us to help solve their most complex challenges. With our regional headquarters in Dallas, we look forward to further deepening our relationships with clients and supporting the continued success of the Texas Miracle.”
Nasdaq has a longstanding history of advocating for clients by minimizing the complexity associated with navigating the public markets. Its efforts for corporate issuers encompass addressing issues such as the SEC’s proposed climate disclosure rules, cyber disclosure rules, proxy advisory reform, AI regulation, PCAOB reforms, and emerging growth company timelines.
“Under the leadership of Governor Abbott, the Texas Miracle has made Texas synonymous with innovation-led growth and smart regulation,” said Ed Knight, Executive Vice Chairman of Nasdaq. “We share his commitment to these principles and will continue to advocate passionately on our clients’ behalf. As a result, we will take any action needed to ensure our clients enjoy the same benefits as all other companies in the state.”
Further remarks will be made at an event held later today to celebrate the legacy of Ross Perot Jr. and to discuss strategies for the state’s continued economic prosperity. Nasdaq will present Mr. Perot, Chairman of Hillwood and the Perot Companies, with the inaugural Nasdaq Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes Mr. Perot’s unparalleled contributions to the Texas economy and his lasting impact on innovation, technology, economic prosperity, and community development.
About Nasdaq Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is a leading global technology company serving corporate clients, investment managers, banks, brokers, and exchange operators as they navigate and interact with the global capital markets and the broader financial system. We aspire to deliver world-leading platforms that improve the liquidity, transparency, and integrity of the global economy. Our diverse offering of data, analytics, software, exchange capabilities, and client-centric services enables clients to optimize and execute their business vision with confidence. To learn more about the company, technology solutions, and career opportunities, visit us on LinkedIn, on X @Nasdaq, or at www.nasdaq.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking information that involves substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. When used in this communication, words such as “will” and “look forward” and other words and terms with similar meaning and any other statements that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to planned investments and their potential results. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond Nasdaq’s control. These risks and uncertainties are detailed in Nasdaq’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q which are available on Nasdaq’s investor relations website at http://ir.nasdaq.com and the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Nasdaq undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
New York, NY, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Diamond Equity Research, a leading equity research firm with a focus on small capitalization public companies has released update note on uCloudlink Group Inc. (NASDAQ: UCL). The update note includes information on uCloudlink Group Inc.’s financial results, management commentary, recent developments, outlook, risks, and our revised valuation estimates.
•UCL Announced Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Results – uCloudlink reported total revenues of $26.0 million, up 19.5% year over year, compared to our estimate of $25.3 million. The increase was primarily due to a 60.9% YoY increase in product sales from an expanded product offering driven by the surging demand for the company’s data-related products. Overall gross margin was 43.0%, compared to 52.0% in Q4 2023. Total operating expenses grew from $12.1 million to $14.1 million, of which S&M expenses increased by 52.6% over the year as the company increased its investment in promotion and brand building in the B2C arena to gain exposure for its newly launched products. UCL’s net loss for Q4 2024 was $1.5 million, or $0.04 per basic and diluted ADS, compared to a net loss of $1.8 million, or $0.05 per basic and diluted ADS a year ago. For the fiscal year 2024, UCL continued its growth momentum with total revenues reaching $91.6 million, up 7.1% from $85.6 million in 2023, thanks to increased product sales as the company diversified its product offerings to meet market demand. Overall gross margin for 2024 was 48.4% vs. 49.0% in 2023, while total operating expenses increased from $37.9 million to $42.0 million, leading to a net income of $4.6 million, or $0.12 per basic and diluted ADS. UCL’s top-line growth was in line with our expectations. We see the company has the potential to continue this momentum by further diversifying its revenue streams through an expanded product range, while the increased investment in sales and marketing targets improved visibility and market share.
•PetPhone, eSIM TRIO, and Further Innovations – uCloudlink showcased its latest innovations in connectivity at MWC 2025, including PetPhone, eSIM TRIO, CloudSIM Kit, and HyperConn® mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, which represent huge market opportunities. PetPhone, which is considered the world’s first pet smartphone, enables pet communication through AI-powered live calls, advanced safety through 6-tech global positioning, and tracking through AI health monitoring to achieve interaction between pets and their owners. eSIM TRIO, combining OTA SIM, eSIM, and CloudSIM provides improved connectivity with global coverage. CloudSIM Kit is a plug-and-play IoT solution delivering connectivity for IoT and smart devices. HyperConn® mobile Wi-Fi hotspot (MeowGo G50 Max), backed by HyperConn® technology, offers connectivity across broadband, Wi-Fi, 4G, 5G, and satellite networks. We view these innovations targeting large markets as potentially unlocking new revenue streams for UCL and driving sales by expanding its user base and strengthening its market presence.
•Valuation Update – Our valuation for UCL remains $10.00, combining discounted cash flow and comparable company analysis, which is contingent on the company maintaining its successful execution.
About uCloudlink Group Inc.
uCloudlink operates as an innovative mobile technology company that offers the world’s first and leading mobile data traffic sharing marketplace to users globally, with aggregated mobile data allowances from over 391 MNOs (mobile network operator) globally. Leveraging its integral cloud SIM technology, it allows users to enjoy a smooth mobile connectivity experience without limitation to one MNO. uCloudlink was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Hong Kong.
Diamond Equity Research is a leading equity research and corporate access firm focused on small capitalization companies. Diamond Equity Research is an approved sell-side provider on major institutional investor platforms.
Diamond Equity Research LLC is being compensated by uCloudlink Group Inc. for producing research materials regarding uCloudlink Group Inc. and its securities, which is meant to subsidize the high cost of creating the report and monitoring the security, however the views in the report reflect that of Diamond Equity Research. All payments are received upfront and are billed for research engagement. As of 03/18/25 the issuer had paid us $140,000 for our research services, consisting of $20,000 for an initiation report and $15,000 for six update notes in the first year of coverage and $35,000 in the second, third and fourth year of coverage for update notes during the term, which commenced 06/01/2021 and is renewable annually. Diamond Equity Research LLC may be compensated for non-research related services, including presenting at Diamond Equity Research investment conferences, press releases and other additional services. The non-research related service cost is dependent on the company, but usually do not exceed $5,000. The issuer has not paid us for non-research related services as of 03/18/2025. Issuers are not required to engage us for these additional services. Additional fees may have accrued since then. Although Diamond Equity Research company sponsored reports are based on publicly available information and although no investment recommendations are made within our company sponsored research reports, given the small capitalization nature of the companies we cover we have adopted an internal trading procedure around the public companies by whom we are engaged, with investors able to find such policy on our website public disclosures page. This report and press release do not consider individual circumstances and does not take into consideration individual investor preferences. Statements within this report may constitute forward-looking statements, these statements involve many risk factors and general uncertainties around the business, industry, and macroeconomic environment. Investors need to be aware of the high degree of risk in small capitalization equities, including the complete loss of their investment. Investors can find various risk factors in the initiation report and in the respective financial filings for uCloudlink Group Inc. Please review the update report attached for the full disclosure page.
MORRISVILLE, N.C., March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ: LQDA), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies for patients with rare cardiopulmonary disease, today announced that it has entered into a sixth amendment to its agreement with HealthCare Royalty (“HCRx”) to provide for up to an additional $100 million of financing in three tranches (the “Sixth Amendment”), subject to certain closing conditions including the funding conditions discussed below. Liquidia intends to use the proceeds to fund ongoing commercial development of YUTREPIA™ (treprostinil) inhalation powder for the potential treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD), continued development of YUTREPIA in other clinical trials, including but not limited to trials for pediatric patients and trials further evaluating the use of YUTREPIA in WHO Group 1 and WHO Group 3 patients, clinical development of L606 and for general corporate purposes.
Under the terms of the Sixth Amendment, Liquidia will receive $25.0 million at closing with the potential to receive two additional tranches of funding: $50.0 million upon the first commercial sale of YUTREPIA following receipt of final FDA approval for the treatment of PAH and PH-ILD, so long as no injunction has been issued prohibiting Liquidia from commercializing YUTREPIA for either or both of PAH and PH-ILD, and $25.0 million upon the mutual agreement of the parties after achieving aggregate net sales of YUTREPIA in excess of $100 million at any time on or prior to June 30, 2026.
Michael Kaseta, Liquidia’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, said: “We appreciate the trust and commitment demonstrated by HCRx during the past several years. We are optimistic that the combination of the proceeds resulting from the Sixth Amendment, and a successful launch of YUTREPIA following the expiration of regulatory exclusivity in May 2025, could lead to Liquidia reaching profitability without the need for additional capital.”
Clarke Futch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HCRx added: “We continue to look forward to Liquidia’s potential receipt of final FDA approval of YUTREPIA. We strongly believe in YUTREPIA’s ability to address unmet medical needs in patients with PAH and PH-ILD, and we are eager for patients to have access to a new therapeutic option that has demonstrated great clinical promise.”
As consideration for the additional $25.0 million funded at closing, Liquidia has agreed to a fixed payment schedule that terminates in 2032. Payments on the last two tranches, when funded, would also follow a fixed payment schedule. The aggregate payments to HCRx are capped at 175% of the total amounts advanced by HCRx, but also include a potential true-up payment to be made by Liquidia if HCRx’s internal rate of return is less than a minimum rate of return on the date the cap is reached. The minimum rates of return for the three new tranches are 16%, 13% and 12%, respectively.
About Liquidia Corporation Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies for patients with rare cardiopulmonary disease. The company’s current focus spans the development and commercialization of products in pulmonary hypertension and other applications of its proprietary PRINT® Technology. PRINT enabled the creation of Liquidia’s lead candidate, YUTREPIA™ (treprostinil) inhalation powder, an investigational drug for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD). The company is also developing L606, an investigational sustained-release formulation of treprostinil administered twice-daily with a next-generation nebulizer, and currently markets generic Treprostinil Injection for the treatment of PAH. To learn more about Liquidia, please visit www.liquidia.com.
About HealthCare Royalty HealthCare Royalty is a leading royalty acquisition company focused on commercial or near-commercial biopharmaceutical products. With offices in Stamford, Conn., San Francisco, Boston, London and Miami. HCRx has invested $5+ billion in over 90 biopharmaceutical products since inception. For more information, visit https://www.hcrx.com. HEALTHCARE ROYALTY® and HCRx® are registered trademarks of HealthCare Royalty Management, LLC.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, our strategic and financial initiatives, our business strategy and plans and our objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements, including statements regarding clinical trials, clinical studies and other clinical work (including the funding therefor, anticipated patient enrollment, safety data, study data, trial outcomes, timing or associated costs), regulatory applications and related submission contents and timelines, including the potential for final FDA approval of the NDA for YUTREPIA, which may occur after the expiration of the exclusivity period of TYVASO DPI, if at all, the timelines or outcomes related to patent litigation with United Therapeutics in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, litigation with United Therapeutics and FDA in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia or other litigation instituted by United Therapeutics or others, including rehearings or appeals of decisions in any such proceedings, the issuance of patents by the USPTO and our ability to execute on our strategic or financial initiatives, the potential for future advances by HCRx, our anticipated use of net proceeds funded under the HCR Agreement, our estimates regarding future expenses, capital requirements and needs for additional financing, and potential revenue and profitability of YUTREPIA, if approved, involve significant risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied herein. The favorable decisions of courts or other tribunals are not determinative of the outcome of the appeals or rehearings of the decisions. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “would,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks discussed in our filings with the SEC, as well as a number of uncertainties and assumptions. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment and our industry has inherent risks. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future events discussed in this press release may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Nothing in this press release should be regarded as a representation by any person that these goals will be achieved, and we undertake no duty to update our goals or to update or alter any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
MIAMI, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Captivision Inc. (“Captivision” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CAPT), a pioneering manufacturer and global LED solution provider, today announced the appointment of Richard “Ric” Clark to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Mr. Clark will serve as Chair of the Company’s Compensation Committee and also join the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, bringing decades of executive leadership and corporate governance expertise to the Company.
Mr. Clark has nearly four decades of real estate, M&A and capital markets experience. He is founder of Burnside Investments, a private investment company, co-founder of WatermanClark, a real estate investment partnership, and a board member of public and private companies in industries including retail, sports and entertainment. Previously, he spent three decades at Brookfield Corp. and its predecessors, serving in various leadership roles, including Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Property Group, Brookfield Property Partners and Brookfield Office Properties. Under his leadership, Brookfield’s real estate group grew its assets under management from $5 billion to more than $200 billion and expanded globally across the property spectrum.
“We are delighted to welcome Ric to Captivision’s Board of Directors,” said Gary Garrabrant, Chairman and CEO of Captivision. “Ric brings an unparalleled experience building and leading one of the world’s largest and most respected real estate companies. His accomplishments as an entrepreneur are equally distinguished as well as his relationships with decision makers globally.”
Mr. Clark holds a Bachelor of Science from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
About Captivision
Captivision is a pioneering manufacturer of media glass, combining IT building material and architectural glass. The product has a boundless array of applications including entertainment media, information media, cultural and artistic content as well as marketing use cases. Captivision can transform any glass façade into a transparent media screen with real time live stream capability. Captivision is fast becoming a solution provider across the LED product spectrum.
Captivision’s media glass and solutions have been implemented in hundreds of locations globally across sports stadiums, entertainment venues, casinos and hotels, convention centers, office and retail properties and airports. Learn more at http://www.captivision.com/.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to expectations for future financial performance, business strategies, or expectations for the Company’s respective businesses. These statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of the management of the Company. Although the Company believes that its plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that it will achieve or realize these plans, intentions or expectations. These statements constitute projections, forecasts, and forward-looking statements, and are not guarantees of performance. Such statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. When used in this press release, words such as “believe”, “can”, “continue”, “expect”, “forecast”, “may”, “plan”, “project”, “should”, “will” or the negative of such terms, and similar expressions, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.
The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (1) the ability to raise financing in the future and to comply with restrictive covenants related to indebtedness; (2) the ability to realize the benefits expected from the business combination and the Company’s strategic direction; (3) the significant market adoption, demand and opportunities in the construction and digital out of home media industries for the Company’s products; (4) the ability to maintain the listing of the Company’s ordinary shares and warrants on Nasdaq; (5) the ability of the Company to remain competitive in the fourth generation architectural media glass industry in the face of future technological innovations; (6) the ability of the Company to execute its international expansion strategy; (7) the ability of the Company to protect its intellectual property rights; (8) the profitability of the Company’s larger projects, which are subject to protracted sales cycles; (9) whether the raw materials, components, finished goods, and services used by the Company to manufacture its products will continue to be available and will not be subject to significant price increases; (10) the IT, vertical real estate, and large format wallscape modified regulatory restrictions or building codes; (11) the ability of the Company’s manufacturing facilities to meet their projected manufacturing costs and production capacity; (12) the future financial performance of the Company; (13) the emergence of new technologies and the response of the Company’s customer base to those technologies; (14) the ability of the Company to retain or recruit, or to effect changes required in, its officers, key employees, or directors; (15) the ability of the Company to comply with laws and regulations applicable to its business; and (16) other risks and uncertainties set forth under the section of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F entitled “Risk Factors.”
These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release and the Company’s management team’s current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of the Company and its directors, officers, and affiliates. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company management team’s views as of any subsequent date. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update, add or to otherwise correct any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events, inaccuracies that become apparent after the date hereof or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
Demonstrators participate in a rally in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 17, 2025. On Monday, tens of thousands of people gathered in a massive rally in Sanaa, protesting against U.S. airstrikes in northern Yemen that have led to dozens of deaths. [Photo/Xinhua]
The U.S. military launched a new wave of airstrikes on Yemen, targeting several sites in and around the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah Monday evening, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV said.
“One airstrike targeted the Al-Arj area in Bajil district, east of the city, while another series of airstrikes hit and destroyed the Al-Habashi iron factory in the Salif district, northwest of the city,” the TV channel reported.
Residents described the airstrikes as extremely violent with explosions heard from miles away.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or the extent of the damage.
On Monday, thousands of people gathered in a massive rally at Sabeen Square in the Houthi-held Yemeni capital Sanaa, protesting against U.S. airstrikes in northern Yemen that have led to dozens of deaths.
Demonstrators, with many carrying snipers and Kalashnikov rifles, chanted slogans denouncing the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which ordered the airstrike campaign on Houthi targets starting Saturday evening.
“Death to America, death to Israel,” protesters cried at the square decorated by huge billboards showing the group’s leader, and other leaders from what the group called the “resistance axis.”
Addressing the crowd, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the group’s supreme revolutionary committee, said the group views the U.S. operations as “aggression and terrorism, and we will confront escalation with escalation.”
Over the past two days, dozens of Houthi-controlled military sites, as well as dozens of residential houses, have been targeted and bombed by U.S. fighter jets across Sanaa, and several other northern and western provinces under Houthi control.
Many families have fled the capital for fear of their lives.
According to the latest statement from the Houthi-run Health Ministry, the death toll from the U.S. airstrikes has increased to 53, including five children and two women. Search operations under the rubble of residential buildings were still ongoing.
In a televised speech Sunday, Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi threatened to launch attacks targeting U.S. naval and commercial ships if the U.S. military continued to conduct airstrikes on Houthi-held areas.
The White House on Sunday said in a televised statement that the U.S. military targeted and killed several senior Houthi leaders during the airstrikes. The Houthi group has yet to comment.
The U.S. airstrikes began Saturday evening as Trump vowed to continue air attacks until the Houthis stopped attacking international shipping lines and ships.
He also warned the Houthis that if they do not stop their attacks “starting today … hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before.”
The renewed conflict comes after Israel halted the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza on March 2, coinciding with the end of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
On Tuesday, the Houthi group announced that it would resume launching attacks against any Israeli ship in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab al-Mandab Strait until the crossings of the Gaza Strip are reopened and aid allowed in.
From November 2023 to Jan. 19, the Houthi group launched dozens of drone and rocket attacks against Israel-linked ships and Israeli cities to show solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. The attacks later expanded to include U.S. and British ships after the U.S.-British navy coalition started to intervene, launching air raids and missile strikes against Houthi targets to deter the group.
GREENWICH, Conn., March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Stardust Power Inc. (NASDAQ: SDST) (“Stardust Power” or the “Company”), an American developer of battery-grade lithium products, today announced that it will release its year end 2024 financial results after market close on Thursday 27 March, 2025.
Roshan Pujari, Founder and Chief Executive Officer and Uday Devasper, Chief Financial Officer will host a conference call at 5:30pm ET on Thursday 27 March, 2025 to discuss the Company’s results.
Participants may access the call by clicking the participant call link to ask questions:
Participants should log in at least 15 minutes early to receive instructions.
About Stardust Power Inc.
Stardust Power is a developer of battery-grade lithium products designed to bolster America’s energy leadership by building resilient supply chains. Stardust Power is developing a strategically central lithium refinery in Muskogee, Oklahoma with the anticipated capacity of producing up to 50,000 metric tons per annum of battery-grade lithium. The Company is committed to sustainability at each point in the process. Stardust Power trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “SDST.”
The AI-first open work platform joins the ranks of Waymo, Nvidia, Duolingo, and more
SAN JOSE, Calif., March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zoom Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM), has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2025 for the second year in a row. This year’s list shines a spotlight on businesses that are shaping industry and culture through their innovations to set new standards and achieve remarkable milestones in all sectors of the economy. Alongside the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies, Fast Company recognizes 609 organizations across 58 sectors and regions.
“Inclusion on the 2025 Fast Company List of the Most Innovative Companies for the second year in a row is a recognition of the vision, leadership, and dedication of our teams to continually advance Zoom’s AI-first open work platform to enable human connection, ” said Smita Hashim, chief product officer at Zoom. “At Zoom, we are reshaping the way people collaborate with AI at the core. This recognition is a testament to the speed and scale of our innovation as we meet our customers where they are, helping them work smarter, collaborate better, and achieve more.”
Zoom has evolved from a video meetings company into an open AI-first work platform built for human connection, helping customers accelerate their productivity, reimagine teamwork, and create seamless customer experiences with Zoom Workplace and Zoom Business Services.
Just yesterday at Enterprise Connect, Zoom announced the expansion of AI Companion across its entire platform with agentic skills, agents, and models to deliver high-quality results and help users improve productivity, get more work done, and strengthen relationships.
Additionally, Zoom continues to enhance its Zoom Business Services suite for marketing, customer care, and sales, which includes AI-first solutions that are tightly integrated with Zoom Workplace and designed to help customer-facing employees strengthen customer relationships and improve customer experiences.
The World’s Most Innovative Companies stands as Fast Company’s hallmark franchise and one of its most anticipated editorial efforts of the year. To determine honorees, Fast Company’s editors and writers review companies driving progress around the world and across industries, evaluating thousands of submissions through a competitive application process. The result is a globe-spanning guide to innovation today, from early-stage startups to some of the most valuable companies in the world.
“Our list of the Most Innovative Companies offers both a comprehensive look at innovation today and a playbook for the future,” said Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan. “This year, we recognize companies that are harnessing AI in deep and meaningful ways, brands that are turning customers into superfans by overdelivering for them, and challengers that are introducing bold ideas and vital competition to their industries. At a time when the world is rapidly shifting, these companies are charting the way forward.”
The full list of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies honorees can now be found at fastcompany.com. It will also be available on newsstands beginning March 25.
Fast Company will host the Most Innovative Companies Summit and Gala for honorees on June 5. The summit features a day of inspiring content, followed by a creative black-tie gala including networking, a seated dinner, and an honoree presentation.
About Zoom Zoom’s mission is to provide one platform that delivers limitless human connection. Reimagine teamwork with Zoom Workplace — Zoom’s open collaboration platform with AI Companion that empowers teams to be more productive. Together with Zoom Workplace, Zoom’s Business Services for sales, marketing, and customer care teams, including Zoom Contact Center, strengthen customer relationships throughout the customer lifecycle. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ: ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Get more information at zoom.com.
ABOUT FAST COMPANY Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow business publication Inc. For more information, please visit fastcompany.com.
Zoom Public Relations Bridget Moriarty press@zoom.us
Historians and neuro-scientists show there are well-established psychological patterns that explain how personal fear fosters anger that leads to a need for action to eliminate the fear.
This dynamic has been evident in much of my 40 years of experience and research on public protests, including my doctorate on public order policing and subsequent ongoing analysis.
Google Trends offers a scientifically valid rating of global search engine topics rated on a weighted scale of 100. In the U.S. on March 10, 2025, for example, the search topic “I am so angry all the time” hit the top of the 100 index, the highest in more than 20 years.
In the powerful 1976 movie Network, actor Peter Finch — playing a volcanic TV newscaster — goes berserk, rises from his desk and yells, “I’m a human being, goddamn it! My life has value … I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” In response, thousands go to their windows and scream his rallying cry.
A clip of the famous scene in Network when Peter Finch proclaims ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!’
In perhaps a similar vein, leaders at the Pentagon, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Energy recently instructed federal workers not to reply to a weekend email from the Office of Personnel Management with the subject line: “What did you do last week?”
The fear-anger-action dynamic is now unfolding in America.
“If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it’s ‘Please put a dose of compassion in this. These are real people. These are real lives …. It’s a false narrative to say we have to cut, and you have to be cruel to do it, as well. We can do both.”
The response from Musk and Trump to the outrage follows a proven pattern of action and anti-action my colleagues and I have termed the “4-D defense” of deny, divert, delay and destroy. We discovered this pattern through many years of research on public activism for both industry and government agencies, and it was the focus of my PhD dissertation.
We analyzed the content of thousands of traditional news stories, public opinion surveys and the socio-demographics of fearful groups that were angry they were being impacted by actions that were unfair, unlawful, dangerous and arbitrary.
We found that the defensive 4-D reaction works like this:
First deny there’s a problem.
When proven true, then divert the cause to someone else.
When proven you’re the cause, agree to remedies but delay the process as long as possible through promises and endless consultations.
When this is unacceptable, then destroy those protesting by besmirching their credibility and reputations with erroneous and confusing counter-facts and entangled lawsuits.
Trump prefers the ‘destroy’ part
Trump is quick to jump to the “destroy” part of 4-D defense through threats that have included bullying and crushing tariffs.
Another example of this Trump tendency was a recent heated Truth Social post in which he vowed to “imprison or deport students who participate in certain protests” against his attacks on education.
Musk responded on his social media site, X, that reactions by frightened and angry employees to arbitrary firings was “EXTREMELY troubling that some parts of government think this is TOO MUCH!! What is wrong with them?”
Musk appears to be embracing the 1911 “scientific management” style of Frederick Taylor, an American inventor and engineer who is known as the father of scientific management. He argued that the “greatest evil” in the workplace was lazy employees who were simply “replaceable cogs on a wheel.”
When Musk asks “what is wrong with them?” in reference to the fear, anger and demands for protective action from hundreds of thousands of federal employees, he should perhaps watch Network.
It seems they’re “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.”
Eli Sopow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
News story
Members of the Committee on Fuel Poverty reappointed
Caroline Flint (chair), Gordon McGregor, Belinda Littleton and Anthony Pygram have been reappointed to the Committee on Fuel Poverty (CFP).
Caroline Flint has been reappointed to the Committee on Fuel Poverty (CFP) in the role of Chair. This reappointment took effect from 31 January 2025 and will last for 3 years.
Belinda Littleton, Anthony Pygram and Gordon McGregor have also been reappointed to the Committee. Gordon McGregor’s reappointment takes effect from 17 May 2025 for 2 years. Belinda and Anthony’s reappointments each take effect from 3 May 2025 for 3 years.
The Committee on Fuel Poverty advises on the effectiveness of policies aimed at reducing fuel poverty and encourages greater co-ordination across the organisations working to reduce fuel poverty.
Biographies
Caroline Flint
Caroline has a wealth of experience in politics as a Labour MP for Don Valley, from 1997-2019. She was the first woman MP for Don Valley and a Minister in 5 government departments, developing legislation and leading major policy initiatives, before serving in Her Majesty’s Opposition Shadow Cabinet from 2010 to 2015. During her significant political career, she led the Smoke Free England legislation, led Opposition strategy on energy market reform and climate change, has contributed to multiple All-Party Parliamentary Groups and committees, including the Commons Public Accounts Committee and Intelligence and Security Committee.
Caroline was appointed chair of Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust in 2021 and has been re-appointed for a second term. She was a member of the UK Commission on COVID Commemoration which reported to the government on how our collective experience of the pandemic should be remembered. Caroline is an Advisory Board member for the thinktank Reform, works with Dods delivering training on how government and Parliament works and is a broadcaster and commentator on news and current affairs. She won Celebrity Mastermind in 2021 with her specialist subject the movie ‘Alien’ raising money for the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACOA). She lives in Doncaster.
Belinda Littleton
Belinda Littleton works for National Grid and is currently Head of Asset Engineering Assurance, Electricity Transmission. She is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology. Belinda’s work at National Grid has included:
leading a team of specialists to deliver appropriate system upgrades that provide value to the consumer during the clean energy transition
focusing on enabling a net zero future that doesn’t leave anyone behind
setting out National Grid’s strategic perspective on the decarbonisation of transport
Previously working as an economist at Ofgem, Belinda looked at the impact of the smart meter rollout on vulnerable customers.
Belinda has also previously worked at PwC. During this time she worked with the former Department of Energy and Climate Change to develop their Household Energy Efficiency Strategy considering the carbon reduction contribution that could be made by households.
Belinda is passionate about designing inclusivity into future policy that delivers against net zero commitments within the UK.
Anthony Pygram
Anthony Pygram is a regulatory expert. He was the Director of Conduct and Enforcement at Ofgem (where, amongst other things, he oversaw the development of Ofgem’s Consumer Vulnerability Strategy). He was subsequently a specialist adviser to the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee for its Ofgem and net zero inquiry, and more recently a Senior Manager at the Payment Systems Regulator.
Anthony is Lay Vice President and a member of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, a Lay Member of the Regulatory Board of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, and the independent Chair of the Code Change Committee for the non-household water market.
Gordon McGregor
Gordon has worked for over 3 decades in the energy and utilities sector. He has a depth of experience working in retail, distribution, generation and corporate management. Most recently, he has helped lead a number of highly innovative companies that have a strong focus on energy efficiency, renewables and clean technology.
Gordon was a founding member of the Electricity Association Taskforce on Fuel Poverty, working on how energy regulation and industry structures could improve energy efficiency and affordability. Throughout his career, he has helped design energy efficiency programmes, developed affordable payment approaches, created social action initiatives and has helped design tariffs that help priority and vulnerable customers. He has also been involved in market design and managed the implementation of regulations to support new renewable targets. As a director of a vertically integrated utility, he helped lead the transition from a largely fossil fuel based portfolio towards a lower carbon alternative.
Gordon is Chief Sustainability and Digital Officer for Sweco UK & Ireland, a leading European engineering and architecture consultancy. Gordon also sits on the Natural Environmental Research Council and is a member of the UKRI Advisory Board for Building a Green Future.
The Isle of Wight Council Library Service is making exciting changes to its online service provisions, making it even easier for customers to access free e-newspapers and e-magazines using their library card.
Borrowbox, the app that provides eBooks and eAudiobooks for the library service, has extended its offerings to include magazines and newspapers in a new category called ePress.
From 1 April, Isle of Wight library customers will be able to meet all their digital service needs in one convenient app using just their library card number and four-digit PIN.
Customers who currently access e-newspapers and e-magazines through Pressreader and Libby apps will simply need to install the Borrowbox app on their device and start enjoying the fantastic range of publications there instead.
The Pressreader subscription will end on 1 April, while users of the Libby app can continue using it until November.
Louise Emery, development librarian, said: “While this change to our online service provision may cause a slight disruption to customers in the short term, we believe that the convenience of providing our eBooks, eAudio, and now ePress in a single app will significantly improve our service in the long term.
“It will make it easier for new and existing customers to make the most of our full range of services.”
Councillor Julie Jones-Evans, Cabinet member responsible for libraries, added: “This initiative is a fantastic step forward in making our library services more accessible and user-friendly.
“By consolidating our digital offerings into one app, we are simplifying the process for our residents and ensuring they have easy access to a wealth of information and entertainment.”
Library staff are always happy to help demonstrate how to use the app, and queries can be emailed to libraries@iow.gov.uk
Residents from the Smithdown community are coming together for a vibrant celebration of music, food, and culture, creating a welcoming space to share and celebrate heritage.
The event will be held at Picton Children’s Centre, Earle Road, L7 6HD on Saturday, 22nd March at 12 – 2:30pm.
Led by Liverpool City Council’s Neighbourhoods team, Picton Children’s Centre and in collaboration with local businesses and support services, this event aims to bring neighbours closer, foster connections, and celebrate diversity.
Food will be provided by the charity Asylum Link, with takeaway boxes available for Muslim residents who are fasting during Ramadan.
In addition to the festivities, there will be services offering advice and support in areas such as housing, health, and leisure.
The Smithdown community celebrates its diversity sending a clear message that division and hate have no place in Liverpool. This upcoming event builds on that spirit of solidarity, reinforcing the commitment to unity.
Cllr Laura Robertson-Collins, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, Neighbourhoods and Streetscene said: “This event is a celebration of unity, culture, and the power of community. Everyone is welcome to join and be part of this meaningful day.
Liverpool remains a place where people from different ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds come together, embracing their differences and building lasting friendships.”
Cllr Liz Parsons, Centre Coordinator for Picton and Kensington Children’s Centres, highlighted the importance of building a strong and inclusive community. She stated: “We’re really excited to be bringing everyone together but we know that supporting community unity goes beyond one event, it’s about fostering a lasting sense of belonging and pride in our local area.
“By embracing and celebrating diversity, we strengthen connections, build meaningful relationships, and create a more resilient, united community.”
Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
The natural and historical parks “Serebryany Bor” and “Moskvoretsky” invite those who know how to see beauty and bring it to life on screen. Now filmmakers have the opportunity to book picturesque locations for filming by submitting an application through platform “Moskino”. Parks can be used to create film projects that combine the beauty of nature, the memory of historical heritage and modern technologies.
Previously, film producers sent requests to the Moskino film commission or contacted the owners of the sites themselves to conduct filming. Now, thanks to a specialized online service — the Moskino film platform — it is possible not only to submit an application to the film commission, but also to view a catalog of available filming locations, get advice, and much more.
Picturesque landscapes
Serebryany Bor has always attracted creative people: artists, poets, musicians. Today the park offers three filming sites available for online booking. One of them is a forest area (4th line of Khoroshevsky Serebryany Bor). The artificial island “Serebryany Bor” was formed after the construction of the Khoroshevsky shipping canal in 1937. The forest is connected to the city by a bridge built according to the design of architect Iosif Fridlyand and engineer Apollon Belogolovy.
The island reserve (Tamanskaya Street, Building 55, Block 5, Building 5) is located on an area of about 328 hectares. Its territory is divided into several zones: walking, recreational, administrative and security. Here you can find rich flora and fauna, as well as picturesque landscapes.
In the depths of Serebryany Bor on the bank of the Moskva River is the Veteran Park (Tamanskaya Street, Building 110), created in the mid-1950s on the site of drained swamps. Today it occupies about 10 hectares. Such quiet areas attract Muscovites and guests of the capital with the opportunity to relax from the city noise. The Great Victory Day is also traditionally celebrated here.
The Moskvoretsky Natural and Historical Park is located on the banks of the Moskva River. This place is suitable for both active recreation enthusiasts and those who want to enjoy the silence. Comfortable infrastructure here is combined with a variety of landscapes – from spacious meadows to tennis courts in the forest and picturesque coastlines.
In addition, the site “Park Zvezd” (between Krylatskaya Street and Marshal Zhukov Avenue) is available for booking on the website of the film platform “Moskino”. In 1999, famous actors, musicians and cultural figures planted trees along the right bank of the Moscow River, naming them in their honor. On the territory of Park Zvezd there are both convenient pedestrian and bicycle paths, as well as paths winding among majestic old pines. Wooden decks with viewing platforms and picturesque views are perfect for location filming.
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