Deep FinTech Talent Added Across Multiple Areas as Company Continues Hyper Growth

Drawbridge, a premier provider of cybersecurity software and solutions to the alternative investment industry, today announced it has added three industry veterans to bolster its business development, strategy and operations teams. Drawbridge continues to invest in premier talent to drive exceptional customer service, meet new client and market requirements and continue to scale the business through a period of hyper growth.

2021 has been a breakthrough year for Drawbridge. The company secured a growth equity investment from Long Ridge Equity Partners in early 2021 and named FinTech industry pioneer Scott DePetris President & Chief Operating Officer (COO) and appointed him to the Board of Directors. Drawbridge also launched a new module in its flagship technology platform designed specifically for Private Equity (PE) funds to give them a single view to monitor the complete cyber risk profiles of their portfolio companies in real-time.  Throughout the year Drawbridge has continued to receive industry recognition for its innovative software, services and customer service, and was recently shortlisted for Hedgeweek’s Best Cybersecurity Provider, HFM’s Best Cyber- Security Service, Private Equity Wire’s Best Cybersecurity Provider and Alt Credit’s Best Cybersecurity Firm.

To support its continued global growth, Drawbridge has added key strategic hires across critical areas of the business.  New team members include:

• Art Murphy, who joins Drawbridge as Director of Business Development. Murphy brings more than fifteen years of extensive business development and technology experience to Drawbridge, where he will focus on developing new business opportunities. Prior to Drawbridge, Murphy served as Senior Vice President at BTIG.  Earlier in his career, Murphy held roles as a Security Specialist at SecureWorks and several senior positions at Managed Service Providers (MSPs).
• Jacob Cane brings twenty years of industry expertise to his role as Head of Strategy at Drawbridge. Cane will foster business and product development while expanding Drawbridge’s scope through new service avenues and partnerships to drive growth. Earlier in his career, Cane was founder and Managing Director of Proactive Technologies, which served Alternative Investment clients and was acquired by Abacus Group in 2019.
• Adam Menkes, Global Head of Operations, brings over twenty years of consulting experience in the Alternative Investment Industry to Drawbridge. Prior to Drawbridge Menkes served as Vice President at Goldman Sachs, and earlier in his career he held roles as Director at Credit Suisse and Vice President at Morgan Stanley. He will leverage his deep customer relationships and focus on enhancing operational infrastructure to ensure Drawbridge is best positioned for continued growth.

“2021 has been a milestone year for Drawbridge as we accelerate our rapid global growth and continue investing in our people, technology and services to best prepare our clients to combat the increasingly complex threat landscape,” said Scott DePetris, President & COO of Drawbridge. “We’re proud to add this exceptional strategic talent to the Drawbridge team to continuously provide our clients with the software and services they need to ensure they have the most robust cybersecurity programs available."

 Altada Technology Solutions (“Altada” or the “Company”), a global provider of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) solutions that solve real-world challenges to create measurable impact, announced today that Brian McElligott has been appointed Chief Intellectual Property Counsel. In this role, Brian will shape and deliver the Company’s Intellectual Property (“IP”) protection and exploitation strategy in the U.S. and Europe and lead the Company through anticipated and complex international AI regulatory frameworks, particularly in Europe.

“Brian’s extensive experience across global markets and his deep understanding of regulatory trends in AI and IP are critical assets to Altada and its clients,” said Niamh Parker, Altada Co-Founder and Chief Legal Counsel. “We’re excited Brian has joined our team and we look forward to navigating the dynamic world of AI regulation and IP together, as we continue to innovate cutting-edge, industry-leading AI solutions with privacy-by-design that our clients can be confident in while putting our ethical values and privacy-by-design at the forefront of everything we do.”

Brian McElligott, Altada Technology Solutions’ Chief Intellectual Property Counsel added: "Legally, the AI industry is relatively uncharted territory. When regulation is created in response to innovation, that can pose a significant challenge for organizations to navigate. I am thrilled to join Altada’s team, which has a strong reputation in uncovering opportunities behind AI and I look forward to helping support the Company’s clients.”

Prior to joining Altada, Brian was Partner at Mason Hayes & Curran, a leading Irish full-service business law firm where he specialized in IP and AI with a particular emphasis on international commercial and transactional matters. He also held positions focused on IP and technology matters and compliance at William Fry Solicitors and A&L Goodbody, two of Ireland’s other leading corporate law firms. Brian brings 15 years of experience as a practicing attorney and over a decade of expertise in the rapidly changing global technology and AI regulatory trends. Brian also has a strong technical background having received an undergraduate degree in Theoretical Physics from Trinity College Dublin. He is also a registered Irish and European trademark and design agent and a former Chair of the Licensing Executives Society of Ireland.

The appointment of a Chief Intellectual Officer is an important addition to Altada’s strong leadership team and will play a key role in advancing the Company’s continued growth trajectory.

“We are seeing an increase in the appetite for AI in the financial services sector and we know first-hand how important it is to instill confidence in our clients that they can deploy AI solutions without compromising their compliance standards. With Brian joining our team, we are in a strong position to optimize due diligence, underwriting and pricing capabilities while keeping in mind the new and existing regulatory dynamics in the space,” added Allan Beechinor, CEO and Co-Founder at Altada.

Other recent appointments include Denis Canty as Chief Technology Officer (“CTO”), Máire P. Walsh as Chief Commercial Officer and Trucle Nguyen as Chief Innovation Officer.

Altada was founded with a mission to make AI understandable and accessible to businesses and organizations that need to make better, faster and more reliable decisions informed by data and enabled by automation. Altada’s AI solutions empower companies to operationalize data and assert competitive advantage while efficiently allocating their resources.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, renewable capacity in 2020 expanded by 260GW, an increase of more than 45% from 2019. Looming renewable energy policy deadlines are likely to push this growth even further. Motivation amongst investors to join the trend for thematic investment strategies remains high. As one of the key players in the field of thematic investing, Global X ETFs is releasing two new ETFs at the same time that track companies advancing solar and wind energy technologies expected to fight against global warming. The two ETFs are the Global X Solar ETF (RAYS), and the Global X Wind Energy ETF (WNDY). Both ETFs track underlying Solactive indices and started trading at Nasdaq on 9th of September, 2021.

The Sun is at the center of the Solar System, radiating energy as a result of nuclear fusion. Solar energy is highly efficient and the most important energy source for life on Earth. According to the International Energy Agency’s forecast, around 145GW of new Photo Voltaic expansion is expected in 2021, reaching a total of 270 GW. The Solactive Solar Index tracks the 50 most relevant companies in the solar energy business. Only companies with at least 50% of their revenues in the following segments are eligible for the inclusion: Solar Energy Materials, Solar Energy Systems & Components, Solar Power Production, Solar Technology, and Solar Power Installation, Integration & Maintenance. An exclusion approach based on UN Global Compact principles will be applied after the screening.

The wind industry has likewise witnessed impressive growth in recent years. The Biden administration of the United States has set a 2030 plan for offshore wind energy infrastructure, which will push the demand of supplies to a new level. The global wind energy market was valued at USD 62.1 billion in 2019, and it is estimated that by 2027 the industry will be expanding at a growth rate of 9.3% each yeari. The Solactive Wind Energy Index tracks the top 25 pure-play wind energy companies which have at least 50% of their revenues from wind energy activities including: Wind Energy Systems, Wind Power Production, Wind Energy Technology, Wind Power Integration & Maintenance. An exclusion approach based on UN Global Compact principles will be applied after the screening.

Aquila, a division of Constellation Software Inc. [TSX:CSU], announced today that is has completed the acquisition of Infinity Enterprise Lending Systems (“Infinity Software”).

Founded in 2000, Infinity Software provides category-leading loan management systems to alternative credit lenders. Its flexible all-in-one platform makes it easy for lenders to process loans, grow their customer base and scale their business.

“We are thrilled to welcome Infinity into the Aquila family,” said Daniel Lee, CEO of Aquila. “As we continue to grow and invest in the alternative lending space, Infinity is a wonderful complement and strategic fit with our existing businesses.”

Lee added, “The Leyva family has shown unwavering commitment to the industry, their customers and their partners. They have built a great business, and we look forward to sharing Aquila’s operational best practices to support Infinity in their continued journey.”

Ryen Leyva, CFO of Infinity Software, noted, “We have absolutely loved working with all of our clients thus far. This is a tight industry with many close friendships. We are so happy to leave Infinity and our clients in the trusted hands of Aquila, who we believe will keep making this space better.”

Infinity Software will maintain their autonomy operating as an independent business unit of Aquila. With a permanent-hold worldview to acquisitions, Aquila looks forward to being a forever home for Infinity’s employees, clients and partners.

Deal anchored by Heliconia Capital provides exposure to fast-growing company XM Studios, that holds intellectual property licenses from global brands such as Marvel and DC Comics

Caption: XM Studios CEO Ben Ang (right) and ADDX CCO Oi Yee Choo (left), with XM's premium collectible statue Batman Shogun, from the Batman Samurai Line.XM Studios[1], a company backed by Heliconia Capital, announced a listing of exchangeable notes today on digital securities investment platform ADDX – formerly known as iSTOX. The deal raises S$4.5 million in fresh capital for the company producing premium art 

collectibles for global brands such as Marvel, DC Comics, and Hasbro[1]. The deal follows last week’s announcement of Heliconia as a new strategic investor in XM Studios[2]. Heliconia is an independently-managed wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings.

Founded in 2012, Singapore-based XM Studios has seen a strong increase in revenues along with an expanding network of licensing agreements. In 2020, revenues more than doubled to S$16.9 million from S$7.9 million the year before, while the company also recorded a net profit of over S$4.2 million in 2020.

To take full advantage of the benefits of digital securities, the entire offering was tokenised on the ADDX platform, with no parallel non-digital issuance. Heliconia anchored the deal with a S$1-million investment. Other international accredited investors[3] took part on the same terms as Heliconia, in an offering that was over 1.75-times subscribed based on the company’s fundraising target. To accommodate high demand from investors during the subscription phase, the size of the deal was increased from S$3 million to S$4.5 million. The raised capital will be used for the expansion of XM Studios’ premium and premium mass collectibles business in new markets and the acquisition of new intellectual property licenses, as well as for general working capital purposes 

The new offering took the form of exchangeable notes that are redeemable for shares in XM Studios at a significant discount under specific liquidity scenarios. If the exchangeable notes are not redeemed within 18 months, the notes will mature at an interest rate of 6% per annum. Due to the efficiency gains from digital securities, ADDX was able to broaden investor access by reducing the minimum investment size to S$10,000, down from the S$1-million minimum that is typical for such investments. Primary subscriptions have closed, and XM Studios tokens are now listed on the ADDX secondary exchange, where they can be traded by all accredited investors, including those who did not subscribe in the first instance.

The listing of exchangeable notes of XM Studios marks the first in a new line of equity-linked products by ADDX, expanding the suite of ADDX listings beyond funds and bonds. In line with its strategy of building a multi-asset platform to meet all private market needs of investors, ADDX plans to roll out other new product lines this year, including structured products and investments with exposure to cryptocurrencies.

XM Studios is a Singapore-based global design studio specialising in the creation of premium collectibles. Among the major intellectual property licenses it holds are Marvel, Star Wars, DC Comics, and Sanrio. Hand-crafted and hand-painted, these collectible statues are made with intricate attention to details such as fine zips and buckles. They also come with “switch out” parts to reflect how the

character would look in various settings and moods. Depending on complexity and size, the statue collectibles have prices ranging from under S$1,000 to as much as S$6,000 each. XM Studios makes the collectibles in collaboration with a team of international sculptors, illustrators and designers, and distributes them via a global network of 20 key distributors[1].

Ben Ang, Chief Executive Officer of XM Studios, said: “XM Studios has grown from a humble shop in Singapore’s Bras Basah Complex into a global brand. We could not have done this without the consistent support of our fans and collectors over the past decade. The fundraising on ADDX was designed to allow fractional access at a minimum investment of just S$10,000, because we wanted to provide long-time XM Studios fans with the chance to take part in the growth of the company. The new capital also enables XM Studios to seize opportunities in the next phase of our expansion – in new markets and new segments like premium mass collectibles, allowing fans to buy their favourite collectibles at a more affordable price range.”

Oi Yee Choo, Chief Commercial Officer of ADDX, said: “XM Studios is a superhero of a company, a home-grown Singapore start-up with an expanding global footprint. Even as it grows rapidly, the firm has succeeded in turning profitable, making it an attractive investment proposition. Over the past decade, XM Studios has built a loyal, cult-like following among comic fans through its well-made products and high-quality portfolio of licensing agreements. They started with Marvel in 2013, but did not rest on their laurels, announcing in this year alone licenses with the likes of Sanrio, Harry Potter, Looney Tunes, and The Great Gatsby, as they expand into the premium mass collectibles segment. Investors stand to benefit by exchanging into shares at an attractive discount to valuation under specific liquidity scenarios.”

Ms Choo added: “The new line of equity-linked products on ADDX offers investors a chance to diversify their portfolios through companies experiencing faster growth. Before these products are listed on ADDX, they go through a robust due diligence and listing committee process[2]. ADDX also strongly favours listings with reputable lead or anchor investors, such as Heliconia in this case. Furthermore, the fractional sizes enabled by digital securities empowers investors to take on just the right amount of any investment for their current portfolios.”

Digital securities, also known as security tokens or tokenised securities, are issued using blockchain and smart contract technology to automate processes and reduce dependence on intermediaries. Their digital nature enables self-executing corporate actions at various points in the life cycle of a security, including dividend and coupon payments, cap table management, as well as trading and settlement. Digital securities can be offered in fractional sizes to serve a wider segment of investors because they are efficient to administer. Issuers benefit from a larger pool of potential investors, lower issuance cost and a shorter lead time from the planning and structuring of a deal to its final issuance.

Founded in 2017, ADDX is an integrated issuance, custody and exchange platform for digital securities regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The financial technology company is backed by Singapore Exchange, Heliconia Capital and Japanese investors JIC Venture Growth Investments (JIC-VGI) and the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ)[1]. ADDX currently serves accredited corporate and individual investors in 27 countries, spanning Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Americas (excluding the US).

The AI-based engine plays a vital role in the company's tremendous growth

Super auto app Way.com's AI-driven dynamic pricing and listing engine has created millions in revenue for parking transactions, creating value for both customers and partners with the best rates possible and increased utilization.  

Through a constant influx of data, the technology's predictive engine optimizes pricing and anticipates supply and demand in the parking industry marketplace, down to every location Way.com serves within the United States.

"It's been an exciting journey building our AI-based pricing engine, which has played a vital role in our rapid growth," said Way's Senior Director of Product Rakesh Kanchamreddy. "It started with solving the usual suspects, such as a lack of clean historical data and identification of factors affecting price elasticity, in building our MVP version to enhance it to its current version of AI-powered algorithm, which can process huge amounts of complex data in real time."

Parking partners have benefitted greatly from Way's AI-driven engine. "Our partnership with Way has been extremely lucrative, adding over $500,000 in annual revenue just within the Flushing, New York, market alone," said Jeff Sanders, Regional Vice President of LAZ parking. "At LAZ, we are all about creating opportunities for our employees and value for our clients and Way.com has certainly contributed to that."

Launching with its popular parking platform in 2014, Way.com has added multiple strategic verticals alongside its successful flagship parking reservation app, including car washes and the ability to shop and purchase the best rates for auto, renters, motorcycle, and home insurance.

In August, Way.com's insurance vertical was ranked the #1 product quality insurance app by unitQ.

Consumer spend data expert analyzes shifts from pre-pandemic behavior, predicts upcoming patterns

Sensibill, the only customer data platform designed specifically for the financial services industry, shares this month’s Barcode Report on consumer spend related to panic-purchases, such as toilet paper and masks, leveraging customer spend data, including SKU-level data and transactions, to uncover the deepest and most relevant insights into consumer spending.

The Barcode Report transforms customer spend data derived from financial documents into consumable and actionable insights that organizations can leverage to better understand their spending habits and behaviors. Sensibill has amassed a database of transactions from 220,000 merchants worldwide, including 96% of the top 100 in the U.S. Of these merchants, the company has extracted more than 6 million unique SKUs across 32 different countries, developing more than 6,000 unique product categories. In this report, Sensibill analyzed millions of receipts from U.S. and Canadian consumers to determine consumers’ behavior and habits as the world reopens.

Key Highlights & Trends

● Consumer spend on toilet paper ranked No. 1 in predicting “panic-purchase” behavior when compared to other spend indicators.

●Online searches for toilet paper during the pandemic followed consumer spend in this category. Out of the 12 months analyzed, consumer spending trends influenced the following month’s online searches 75% of the time. An increase in average consumer spend on toilet paper was followed by a 6 to 7 fold increase in online searches.

o   In September 2020, the average consumer spend on toilet paper increased by approximately 9%, which was then followed by an 80% increase in online searches in October 2020. 

●Based on Sensibill’s  prediction models, the average consumer spend on toilet paper is expected to decrease at an approximate monthly rate of 10% in the next quarter, while the average consumer spend on masks is expected to grow 110% over the next quarter.

This month’s findings support trends highlighted in last month’s Barcode Report, which indicated consumer spending is returning to normal.  

Izabella Gabowicz, Chief Operating Officer at Sensibill, said, “Our deep analysis into everyday spending patterns, combined with data from Google, shows that consumers have left behind the panic-purchase mindset that persisted for months. Instead of purchases that reflect consumers hunkering down at home, the rise of mask purchases and growth of frozen food relative to fresh food suggest that consumers are preparing to spend more time out and about.”

Gabowicz continued, “Such knowledge can empower banks and credit unions to update offers and customer and member communications accordingly. For example, maybe it’s time to resume marketing local or experience-based loyalty offers or start strategizing around partnerships with hotels or events companies. Or even thinking about how to expand branch services. As consumers show they are adjusting to a new normal, many will be eager to eat out and see friends and family in person once again. Their trusted financial institution should be there to help them do so in the most cost-effective way possible.”

The Europe mobile wallet market is slated to witness considerable growth over the coming time period owing to digital disruption coupled with generational shifts in consumer behavior as millennials are readily embracing the convenience of digital payments, thereby avoiding the hassle of ATMs or physical bank branches. In fact, mobile wallets are being used more and more by present-day customers for shopping online as global e-commerce sector has proceeds to expand day-by-day.

The mobile wallet industry is also experiencing substantial market disruption with the growing inexpensive mobile penetration and the rising availability of VoLTE. It is projected that by the year 2025, smartphones are likely to account for around 77% of the devices connected to the internet. Consequently, banking establishments as well as technology players are developing several exclusive mobile wallet applications for smartphones, creating new opportunities for Europe mobile wallet market expansion.

With respect to type, the open mobile wallet segment is likely to grow at a respectable CAGR of 15% over the forthcoming time period. This anticipated growth is ascribed to the surging investments by telecom and banking sectors for developing open mobile wallets. The banking sector is witnessing frequent change owing to introduction of innovative product offerings and rapid digitalization. Various traditional banks are facing tough competition from novel Fintech startups and are actively focusing on the incorporation of mobile technologies to enable payments as well as to surge customer retention.

In terms of ownership, in 2019, the tech companies ownership segment held around 65% Europe mobile wallet market share and is likely to follow strong growth impetus over the forecast time period. This anticipated growth is ascribed to the large-scale investments made by tech firms in mobile wallet technology. With growing online engagement and increasing penetration of smartphones, tech companies are nudging consumers more closer toward mobile payments. It is projected that, by the end of 2023, around 63 million Europeans would use mobile wallets, this would be a nearly 22% increase from the 2019 numbers. Key technology players like Facebook, Google, Tencent, and Alibaba have developed wallets further creating new business opportunities in the segment.

Based on technology, the NFC segment is likely to grow at a respectable CAGR of more than 23% over the forecast time period owing to the surging use of contactless payment by subscribers across Europe owing to the simplicity of the technology. Mobile wallets empowered by NFC have an extra layer of security which is considered as the main driving factor accounting for the significant segment growth. NFC uses message authentication, which safeguards as well as establishes a safe communication channel between end-user devices and POS. This technology is enhancing customer satisfaction and business profits, thereby fueling the overall industry outlook.  

On the geographical front. In 2019, the UK held nearly 20% of the overall Europe mobile wallet market share and is likely to follow a healthy growth path over the coming years. With a greater number of people becoming aware of the benefits of digital-only banks as well as the varied range of services designed to make banking simple and much more transparent, traditional banks in the country are trying to copy their offerings.

This has further encouraged providers of mobile wallet services as well as traditional banking institutions across the UK to introduce their own mobile wallets. Over time, customers in the country have developed a lot of confidence in mobile payment system, and physical cash use is undergoing a significant drop.

Morgan Chase & Co., Apple Inc., American Express Company, PayPal Holdings, Inc., Visa Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., First Data Corporation, Skrill Ltd., Allied Wallet, Inc., Vodafone Group PLC, AT&T Inc., Google LLC, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Wells Fargo & Company, Barclays plc, Mastercard Incorporated, Ant Financial Services Group, Due Inc., and Tencent Holdings Limited among many others are some of the key players operating in the Europe mobile wallet market.

Molo Finance has cut rates across its 2 and 5-year mortgage products for both individual and limited company mortgages.

The UK’s first online mortgage lender aims to remove friction for property investors navigating the market. These pricing changes come at a time when the online lender is preparing to launch its residential mortgage products to first-time buyers and home movers.

The new rates include:

Individual buy-to-let price reductions

2-year fixed rate

●      2-year fixed-rate at 2.24%, with a 65% LTV

●      2-year fixed-rate at 2.39%, with a 75% LTV

5-year fixed rate

●      5-year fixed-rate at 2.29%, with a 65% LTV

●      5-year fixed-rate at 2.44%, with a 75% LTV

Along with the individual price drops, investors looking to purchase their next buy-to-let investment with a limited company will also benefit from a reduction in prices:

Limited company buy-to-let price reductions

2-year fixed-rate

●      2-year fixed-rate at 2.90% with a 65 LTV

●      2-year fixed-rate at 2.95%, with a 75% LTV

5-year fixed-rate

●      5-year fixed-rate at 3.10%, with a 65% LTV

●      5-year fixed-rate at 3.15%, with a 75% LTV

Molo CEO Francesca Carlesi said, “The mortgage market has never been so competitive. Lowering our prices gives landlords excellent options, whether they’re purchasing a property as an individual or a limited company.

“Our new rates, combined with an entirely digital approach for getting a mortgage, give investors more flexibility and allow them to go through the borrowing process at speed while saving money with Molo.”