Mail.ru Group paid another reward within the framework of the vulnerability search program with international platform HackerOne: the researcher received $40,000. The total amount that the company paid in bounties under the program exceeded $2 million.

Mail.ru Group's vulnerability search program has been operating on the HackerOne platform for cybersecurity experts since 2014. It helps researchers find security flaws and fix them before attackers find them. The large-scale program covers almost all projects of the VK ecosystem (developed by Mail.ru Group), allowing to fortify their security.

The reward for a discovered vulnerability depends on its severity. Bounties range from $150 to $40,000, and the most expensive vulnerability reported in the program is estimated at $55,000 – one of the highest rates on the market.

Mail.ru Group pays out rewards to researchers every week. Since launch, around 5,000 reports have been received from over 3,400 security researchers in total.

“The vulnerability search program is an important security tool that we actively use. This is similar to regularly undergoing medical examinations: the more often you go to experienced doctors, the higher the chances to catch all and any possible health problems at an early stage, avoiding a crisis. The best experts from all over the world are working with us. They help us detect the smallest security threats and receive a well-deserved reward for it – not only money but also recognition from the community. We work as quickly as possible to eliminate all discovered vulnerabilities, which allows us to maintain a high level of security for our products. This is the global standard,” Alexey Grishin, Head of the Vulnerability search program, Mail.ru Group, commented.

HackerOne is a popular platform among security experts that allows researchers around the world to report vulnerabilities to companies and get rewarded for doing so. Organizations such as PayPal, Twitter, Goldman Sachs, the Pentagon, and hundreds of others are participating in the program.

Mail.ru Group develops the VK ecosystem helping millions of people with their day-to-day needs online. More than 90% of the Russian internet audience use it every day. 

The ecosystem enables people to keep in touch (using social networks OK and VK, messaging apps and email service), play video games (via MY.GAMES), get and offer items and services, browse jobs and hire talent (via Youla and VK Jobs), order food and grocery delivery (via Delivery Club, Samokat and Local Kitchen), get a ride (with Citymobil and Citydrive), master new skills (at GeekBrains, Skillbox and other educational services), buy and sell at Aliexpress Russia and fulfill other needs.

The VK ecosystem features a number of shared elements bringing the services together. Users can sign in to different services with a single VK Connect account, pay and earn cash back with the VK Pay platform, get discounts and deals with VK Combo, access their favorite services via the VK Mini Apps platform — and the Marusya voice assistant can help with any task.

The company offers enterprises to employ its dynamic ecosystem to digitize their business processes, providing a range of solutions from online promotion and predictive analytics to corporate social networks, cloud services and enterprise automation.

1. Financial reporting: remuneration and dividend pay  

2. Environmental damage and climate change 

3. Diversity and Accessibility 

4. Good governance 

DealShare, India’s fastest growing social ecommerce startup known for pioneering the community group buying (CGB) model in India, has announced that they have raised $144 Million in their latest funding round. The round was led by Tiger Global and was co-led led by WestBridge Capital, Alpha Wave Incubation (a venture fund backed by ADQ, and managed by Falcon Edge Capital) & Z3Partners with participation from Partners of DST Global, Matrix Partners India, and Alteria Capital. This transaction marks the third funding for the company in a span of seven months, with the valuation increasing nine-fold on the back of high growth momentum. With the current round, the total funding raised by DealShare stands at $ 183 Million.

DealShare has built a new disruptive retail model for India with a focus on the affordability & price component for the mass consumers. It offers high quality, low priced essentials coupled with a gamified, fun and virality-driven vernacular shopping experience that makes it easy for first-time internet users to experience online shopping. Founded by Vineet Rao, Sourjyendu Medda, Sankar Bora and Rajat Shikhar, DealShare provides a sharp and curated assortment at highly competitive prices and has built an innovative community leader driven ultra-low-cost delivery mechanism collectively leading to best-in-class unit economics.

Commenting on the fundraising, Mr Vineet Rao, CEO and Founder, DealShare, said, “We believe India is a unique market with its highly diverse demographics and requires an indigenous model that is built based on first principles and differentiates itself from western and Chinese e-commerce models. DealShare has pioneered this model with innovations in app experience and technology, direct from factory procurement, gamified and viral demand generation and building a DealShare dost (community leader) network that enables DealShare to operate at the lowest cost operations in the world. We are proud to have a strong team of innovators who love to continually learn consumer behavior and solve hard business problems. This has enabled DealShare to rapidly grow to $200M GMV ARR.

We would be utilizing the funds primarily to invest in AI-driven innovations in our user experience leading to a highly personalized, fun-filled and gamified experience. Our monthly active users already use our app over 40 times a month making it the most engaging ecommerce app and we will continue to add more innovative capabilities and services to serve a wider range of user needs. We will also invest in improving and scaling up our operations rapidly. We expect our footprint to increase from current 20 warehouses across 5 states to over 200 warehouses across 10 states by end of this year”, added Mr Rao.

“We are excited to partner with DealShare as they grow the Indian E-commerce market. DealShare’s unique approach combines discovery-led social sharing, group buying, and a gamified shopping experience with a simple consumer interface. They are well positioned to power the next wave of Indian ecommerce growth”, said Griffin Schroeder, Partner at Tiger Global.

Sharing his views on the fundraising and the growth trajectory of the company, Mr Sourjyendu Medda, Founder, Chief Business Officer and Chief Finance Officer, DealShare, said, “The funds will be used to augment our current growth trajectory. In FY 20-21 fiscal, we grew 5X to reach $200 Million Annual GMV Runrate. In a short span of 2 years, we have serviced more than 3 million consumers and over 20 million orders. We are confident of hitting a $ 1 billion GMV Runrate by end of the year thereby building a strong 10 million customer base. We currently serve 40 cities and towns across 5 states and will increase our footprint to 100 cities & towns and 10 states by year end. 

Since the very first day, DealShare has been focused on developing indigenous brands across states and has enabled them to grow exponentially. We are the only retailer in the country building a unique and large network of local manufacturers in the grocery space enabling them to compete with large multi-national brands. We are truly aligned to further our country’s mission of Make in India and the cherry on the top is that we are very close to breakeven”, added Medda.

Mr Sandeep Singhal, Co-founder, WestBridge Capital said, “We are very impressed with the traction that DealShare has been able to achieve especially amongst first-time internet users in the hinterlands of the country. We are confident they will be able to scale up further with the new round of funding.”

“We currently have over 1000+ micro-entrepreneurs partners promoting the community group buying (CGB) model in the country thereby generating a massive amount of employment opportunities across all tiers of cities and towns. We plan to strengthen our network further and increase it to 5000+ by this year-end. Along with this, we are planning to fuel the growth by building State-of-the-art technology and infrastructure-related assets which will ensure efficiency”, added Mr. Sankar Bora, Founder, Chief Operation Officer, DealShare.

“We invested in DealShare in its seed days and have seen the company grow rapidly, while consuming minimal capital - a refreshing change in an industry plagued by heavy capital consumption. DealShare demonstrates best-in-class unit economics and capital efficiency (5.0x+), while delivering a compelling value proposition to its customers, value-conscious middle Indians in Tier 2 and 3 cities who crave local / regional products. DealShare is constantly iterating and improving its playbook of viral customer acquisition through group buying and gamification, while driving steady retention / cohort and unit economic improvements. DealShare’s best in class fulfilment capabilities allows it to deliver this value proposition at attractive unit economics. Today, DealShare is a business that expects to break-even in the next 12 months. The Company will also expand internationally, starting with the UAE and is establishing its first base in Abu Dhabi. We are thrilled to continue backing DealShare, across rounds”, added Mr. Navroz Udwadia, Co-Founder and CEO, Falcon Edge Capital.

Tarun Davda, Managing Director, Matrix India, commented: “Matrix has had the privilege of co-leading DealShare’s Seed & Series A rounds along with Falcon Edge. This fundraise is a testament to DealShare’s exponential growth and capital-efficient business model, which uniquely serves the needs of Tier 2/3 consumers that are embracing online grocery shopping like never before! We are delighted to be re-investing in the DealShare team once again and wish the team all the very best as they seek to transform the social-commerce landscape in India, and we welcome Tiger Global to the partnership.”

Rajat Shikhar, Co-founder, Chief Product Officer, DealShare, commented, “Building scalable technology amounts to solving some hard problems and technical challenges, that are posed by our unique target group of Bharat users. Key problems revolve around savviness, efficient logistics, and making shopping convenient, cost-effective and fun with social engagement, personalization and gamification. 

This round of investment would help us continue to build a top-notch team and build a highly performant platform by which we will scale to the next level of evolution as a company."

Avendus was the exclusive financial advisor for this transaction.

Cascades Financial Solutions Inc., a PureFacts company, and Flinks announced today a strategic partnership to provide financial services firms with a best-in-class retirement income planning experience. The collaboration will see the integration of Cascades’ decumulation planning engine with Flinks’ financial data aggregation and analytics platform.

Together, Cascades and Flinks believe in a world where the opportunity to create wealth is accessible to all. Both companies aim to build meaningful wealthtech solutions that empower Canadians to live their best lives. Since the 1960’s and 70’s, the financial advice industry has been focused on addressing one primary concern from their clients: “How much money do I need to retire?” Today, those same clients now have a different primary concern: “Will I have enough money to live and enjoy my retirement?”

Cascades’ mission is to help advisors give their clients the confidence to retire without the fear they will run out of money, and to provide the peace of mind that their estate values have been maximized for future generations. This strategic partnership furthers this goal by leveraging the Flinks platform to provide clients with a simple and secure way to share financial information with their advisors, greatly reducing the efforts required to generate practical and personalized value-add plans.

“Retirement income planning is an incredibly complex and nuanced endeavour. For advisors to deliver the insights their clients need, they must gather the relevant data from a wide variety of sources,” said Jonathan Kestle, co-founder, Cascades Financial Solutions. “Together with Flinks, advisors can now simply ask clients for their permission to collect the relevant financial data, streamlining the experience and getting more retirement income plans into the hands of Canadians.”

“Wealth management had a data challenge,” said Brock Leong, Director of Global Partnerships, Flinks. “Manual collection processes are time consuming, error prone, and never completely up to date. Flinks not only solves that challenge, but also makes sharing information the easiest part of the process. The combination of Cascades and Flinks enables advisors to see the whole picture, plan accordingly, and give their clients peace of mind over their financial future.”    

Additional long-term goals include helping to protect the crypto community, prosecute scammers, and return the lost funds to the token holders with the hopes of preventing these activities in the future and ensuring a safe environment for investment and innovation. Liti Capital will spend between 5 and 10% of its investment capital investigating and funding litigation against these crypto con artists and scammers. Join the company’s Telegram Channel, t.me/Liti_Capital_Official, for updates and live chats.

FDCTech, Inc. ("FDC" or the "Company," OTCQB: FDCT), a fully integrated financial technology company with a full suite of digital financial services solutions, today announced the Board of Directors of the Company increased the size of its Board from four to five directors and appointed Charles R. Provini, age 74, to the vacancy. Mr. Provini is considered independent under NYSE and NASDAQ listing standards. Accordingly, the Company will compensate Mr. Provini for his services on the Board in cash and stock-based equity. The Company has three non-executive directors – Warwick Kerridge, Chairman, Jonathan Baumgart, Director, and Charles R. Provini, Director. The two executive directors are Mitchell Eaglstein, Co-Founder, CEO, and Imran Firoz, Co-Founder, CFO.

"I am humbled to be invited to be part of such a fintech-driven entrepreneurial spirit and experienced management group. I am also eager to play an active role in continuing the growth and profitability of FDCTech, Inc.," said Charles R. Provini, newly appointed Director of the Company.

Mr. Provini has been the Chairman, CEO, and President of Natcore Technology Inc. since May 2009, a research and development company protected by 65 patents granted or pending. From November 1997 to October 2000, he was the President of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management and a Director of Ladenburg Thalmann, Inc., one of the oldest members of the New York Stock Exchange. He served as President of Laidlaw Asset Management and Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Howe & Rusling, Laidlaw's Portfolio Management Advisory Group, from November 1995 to September 1997. Mr. Provini served as President of Rodman & Renshaw's Advisory Services from February 1994 to August 1995. He was the President of LaSalle Street Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, from January 1983 to April 1985. Mr. Provini has been a leadership instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy, Chairman of the U.S. Naval Academy's Honor Board, and is a former Marine Corp. officer. Mr. Provini holds an undergraduate Engineering degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and a post-graduate degree from the University of Oklahoma.

"We are very honored and happy to welcome Mr. Provini to the Board of Directors. As a proven leader in his illustrious career, Mr. Provini has in-depth knowledge of providing oversight and governance to our Company. As we continue to execute our fintech-driven acquisition strategy, we look to work closely with Mr. Provini, who will oversee our strategic initiatives, audit, and risk management," said Mitchell Eaglstein, Co-Founder and CEO of the Company.

For additional information, visit our SEC filings or Company's website for more information on the full results and management's plan.

Retail sales see double-digit growth above 10%* compared to June 2019

Just as summer months bring warmer weather, U.S. retail sales continue to heat up, with June marking the ninth consecutive month of total retail sales growth*. According to Mastercard SpendingPulseTM, U.S. retail sales excluding automotive and gasoline increased +11.0% year-over-year in June and increased +10.4% compared to June 2019. E-commerce growth continued to hold steady +8.3% YOY/ +95.0% YO2Y, reflecting the ongoing shift to digital, driven by the pandemic. Mastercard SpendingPulse measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment.

Specifically, sales growth for Restaurants +55.1% YOY/ +16.8% YO2Y, Department Stores +67.4% YOY/ +11.8% YO2Y and Apparel +62.9.1% YOY/ +12.7% YO2Y are up as consumers continue to venture out more for meals and shop both online and in stores, refreshing their looks for summer camp, vacations and travel. Meanwhile, the Furniture & Furnishings sector experienced its first month of negative YOY growth -5.3% compared to last year's strong sales, when consumers were doing home projects in the midst of the pandemic, but sales remain elevated for the sector overall +16.6% YO2Y.

InTouch, an African payment solutions and digital services aggregator founded in Senegal in 2014, announced today a strategic partnership with CFAO Group. The move comes as part of a capital increase through which CFAO will co-invest in Touch with Mobility54, a corporate venture capital fund created in partnership with Toyota Tsusho Corporation in 2019 to focus on Africa's mobility sector.

Established InTouch investors TotalEnergies and Worldline have also reiterated their commitment to the Pan-African start-up.

InTouch is a leading provider of payment and digital services distribution systems across Africa. The company aims to make financial services available to asmany people as possible across the continent, and has developed a solution that offers over 230 digital services such as mobile money, agency banking, moneytransfers,airtime top-ups, and acceptance of all the payment methods available in the countries in which InTouch operates (mobile money, credit and debit cards,vouchers, digital cash, etc.) through a single platform available as an Android app, web interface or API. The fintech, which is present in 10 countries, now has over 30,000 merchant customers and 1,000 corporate customers, and offers its services through 1,200 TotalEnergies service stations. InTouch has over 250 employees, and is aiming to roll out its solutions in five more countries by the end of 2021, taking the total to 21 by 2024.

CFAO's investment reflects its drive to actively develop Africa's digital payments industry. The Group aims to help InTouch grow to become the leader in the sector. CFAO's long-standing presence in 38 African countries will also empower InTouch to extend its reach in the region.

InTouch founder Omar Cissé said: "We are very proud to team up with CFAO Group on this amazing adventure. This should significantly strengthen our presence and help make InTouch akey player in payments throughout Africa.”

Richard Bielle, CFAO Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer added: "The rapid growth of African economies and acceleration in the transformation will largely rely on financialinclusion. Since its inception, InTouch has been actively involved in this formative change for the continent. CFAO Group is delighted to join forces with two key players like TotalEnergies and Worldline in helping InTouch and its management team pursue their business development across Africa. ”

For Gilles Grapinet, Worldline’s Chairman and Chief Executive Office: "As a financial and industrial partner of InTouch since 2017, Worldline, Europe’s leading payment servicesprovider, is deeply committed to working alongside Omar Cissé and his staff to help him to fully realise the vision of this remarkable fintech, which intends to bring a unique paymentacceptance solution to Africa. This is why we are also particularly pleased to welcome CFAO Group as a new strategic partner to support the growth of InTouch and to boost itsdevelopment across the continent.”

Stanislas Mittelman, Head of Africa, Marketing & Services at TotalEnergies added: "We are pleased that CFAO, one of our major partners in Africa, is also joining the InTouchadventure. We continue to roll out the InTouch solution, which is very popular with our customers, to our service stations on the continent. ”

 Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR), a global Fintech leader, today announced that Keir Gumbs has been appointed Chief Legal Officer, effective July 27, 2021. Gumbs will succeed Adam Amsterdam, who will be retiring after nearly 30 years of leading Broadridge’s Legal function. As part of a long-planned transition, Amsterdam will step into a Senior Advisor role.

“I want to thank Adam for 30 years of dedication and his unwavering commitment to developing a world-class legal function that has been vital to enabling Broadridge to operate in an increasingly complex and dynamic legal and regulatory landscape,” said Tim Gokey, Broadridge’s Chief Executive Officer.

Gokey continued “As we continue to drive Broadridge’s evolution, I am excited to welcome Keir to Broadridge. His accomplishments and expertise in corporate governance are certain to be an asset to our company and our clients, and I am confident our leadership team will benefit from his impressive experience and vision.”

Gumbs will oversee the legal, compliance and physical security teams for Broadridge, will help lead Broadridge’s policy efforts and will serve as the primary legal advisor for senior management and the Board of Directors. Additionally, he will join the Broadridge Foundation Board, Risk Committee, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) committee.

Gumbs is a noted thinker and speaker on Corporate Governance issues. He was a Partner at Covington & Burling LLP for many years, where he represented a cross-section of clients in governance, securities, and transactional matters. Previously, he held positions with the Securities and Exchange Commission over six years, including serving as Counsel to an SEC Commissioner.

Gumbs joins Broadridge from Uber Technologies, where he served as Deputy Corporate Secretary and Deputy General Counsel, overseeing Uber’s Corporate Governance, Securities, ESG, Marketing, Payments, M&A, and Real Estate teams. He helped Uber transition to a public company, executing more than $18 billion in financing and M&A transactions, and helped build its ESG and corporate governance programs.