NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2024 — Meme Kombat ($MK) has raised nearly $8 million for its battling iGaming ecosystem, which will see meme characters go toe-to-toe in its battling arena.

The Web3 gaming platform is a first-of-its-kind offering as far as meme battling goes. But the innovation doesn’t stop there. Meme Kombat will also enable players to wager on the outcome of the bouts, in a novel twist that is already proving that it appeals to a wide crypto audience.

Meme Kombat has a hard cap target of $10 million, which explains why the fundraising is picking up such a strong head of steam at this juncture. In the last stage of the presale, contributors are now in a race against time to secure their stake in the future of crypto gaming.

Native token $MK is on sale at the cheap price of $0.279 as the ICO approaches the finishing line. The rate at which funds have been amassed has grown at a rate of more than 2,500% over the past eight weeks alone.

iGaming, wagering and meme coins constitute a triumvirate of perhaps the most closely watched and lucrative sectors of the crypto industry.

Helping to encourage contributions is news from the Meme Kombat team, promising a forthcoming $25k giveaway – not that any further encouragement is required judging by the way fundraising is powering ahead.

https://x.com/Meme_Kombat/status/1753278770922803378

Meme Kombat is a one-of-a-kind project that hits all the bases

Meme Kombat allows token holders to deposit their tokens in order to take part in the battling and wagering. From their activity on the platform, players can secure various rewards in addition to their winnings from wagering on the outcome of the meme character fights.

There is nothing else quite like Meme Kombat on the market today, which is no doubt its core appeal to the ICO’s contributors. The project will launch with an 11-character Season 1, to be followed up with Season 2 at a later date.

Meme Kombat’s Season 1 will be available after the presale is sold out and the project is launched. There are 11 meme characters you can battle with in Season 1: Milady, Baby Doge, Doge, Floki, Kishu, Mong, Pepe, Pepe2, Shiba, Sponge and Wojak.

Season 2 meme characters will be out just before Season 1 wraps up. But the story doesn’t end there for Meme Kombat. There are ambitious plans in the works, as hinted at in its marketing materials.

For instance, according to the Meme Kombat website, “the project has plans for further expansion, potentially adding new game modes, partnerships, and other exciting developments.”

https://x.com/Meme_Kombat/status/1747560275664949488

How Meme Kombat is the perfect fit for crypto enthusiasts

Meme coins continue to attract buyers who clearly are sold on its vision, and in particular the potential of a decentralized application that could have wide appeal across the multi-billion dollar meme coin space and beyond.

Increasingly, crypto investors are homing in on projects with real-world use cases that can attract a large and engaged customer base – Meme Kombat does exactly that. To reiterate, the project targets three of the hottest segments in crypto: gaming, betting and meme coins.

Data from listings site CoinGecko values the GameFi sector in market cap terms at $20.7 billion. Another key metric shows that gambling tokens are valued at circa $700 million and growing.

Meanwhile, CoinGecko estimates the worth of the meme coins sector at around $20 billion. Meme Kombat has the perfect market fit for this total addressable market that can be measured in tens of billions of dollars.

https://x.com/Meme_Kombat/status/1752904512631677106

Meme Kombat’s total token supply is 120,000,000, of which thirty percent is allocated for staking and battle rewards, 10 percent for community rewards, and ten percent for decentralized exchange liquidity. Fifty percent of the total token supply is on sale in the ICO.

Prospective contributors to the presale will be comforted to hear that Meme Kombat‘s smart contract is fully security audited and no major issues have been detected.

Another thing Meme Kombat has going for it is the quality of its art, as shown on its social media properties. Meme coins live and die by the vibrancy of their communities – irreverent humor and engaging artwork are key parts of making that pitch to new community members.

All the signs indicate that the project’s polished and professional team of designers (and developers) has got a handle on the meme zeitgeist, as you can see from the X postings above.

Ultimately then, Meme Kombat is in the enviable position of appealing to all types of meme coin communities. So whether followers of Pepe, Shiba Inu or Sponge, there’s something for everyone at Meme Kombat. 

Media contact: [email protected]

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2333133/meme_kombat_AI_art.jpg

SOURCE Meme Kombat

Furno Makes Cement Production Agile, Scalable and Carbon Neutral

GREENWICH, Conn., Feb. 2, 2024 — O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC (“OSV”), a family office that invests in ambitious seed and pre-seed startups, announced today that it has invested in Furno Materials Inc. (“Furno”).

Founded in 2020 by Gurinder Nagra, Furno is building modular cement plants that are more carbon-efficient, cheaper to build, and less space-intensive than traditional plants.

Cement is the second most-consumed commodity in the world (behind water), and it produces 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Traditional cement plans are large and must be custom-built. Furno’s modular cement plants burn natural gas instead of coal. This means they release less carbon dioxide than traditional cement plants and can be heated and cooled more efficiently. Furno’s plants are designed to fit inside a shipping container, meaning they are portable and take up minimal space, which is ideal for building in developing markets.  

OSV’s founder, Jim O’Shaughnessy, commented; “While it may not get as much attention as other technologies, commodity production plays a critical role in building the world around us. As developing economies continue to build and developed nations update their infrastructure, cement will only become more important. We are excited to partner with Gurinder and the Furno team to ensure our future includes cleaner, more efficient, and generally smarter cement production.”

“We are proud to welcome OSV as a key seed investor in Furno Materials,” said Furno founder and CEO Nagra; “OSV’s dedication to positive-sum outcomes resonates with our values and our commitment to building a more sustainable and green future. With OSV’s support, we can accelerate our journey toward creating a lasting impact on the cement industry and beyond.” 

About O’Shaughnessy Ventures

OSV is a family office that invests in ambitious seed and pre-seed startups. Founded by Jim O’Shaughnessy, a pioneer in quantitative investing, founder of O’Shaughnessy Asset Management, and author of four books on investing, OSV aims to provide financial support and to partner in growing the next life-changing ideas. For more information, visit https://www.osv.llc/.

Media Contact:
Ena Gong
O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC
(917) 355-7420
[email protected] 

SOURCE O’Shaughnessy Ventures

Avation’s Vivally® System, the only FDA-cleared, non-invasive, closed-loop, at-home wearable, changes the way urinary incontinence and urgency caused by overactive bladder syndrome is treated

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 1, 2024 — Avation Medical, an innovative neuromodulation and digital health company with a mission to make wearable peripheral neuromodulation accessible to patients across a variety of clinical conditions, announced more than $22 million in equity financing in its oversubscribed Series C round, led by new investors ShangBay Capital and Asahi Kasei, which included Angelini Ventures, JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund, and others. Additional investments were also provided by multiple existing investors, including Arboretum Ventures, Tonkawa, Medtronic, and Avestria Ventures. The funding in the round, which remains open, will be used for the U.S. launch of the company’s Vivally System.

The Vivally System is the only non-invasive, FDA-cleared, wearable neuromodulation system for home use that delivers closed-loop, autonomously adjusted electrical stimulation to treat patients with urge urinary incontinence (UUI) and urinary urgency caused by overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome, which affects more than 46 million people in the U.S. Using proprietary algorithms and electromyographical sensors, the System detects and calibrates to the level of energy being delivered to the tibial nerve during stimulation to ensure optimal, customized therapeutic output in a true real-time, closed-loop operation. Worn on the ankle, Vivally is used at home for therapy sessions lasting only 30 minutes, as little as once per week. Unlike other implantable neuromodulation approaches for bladder treatment, Vivally requires no surgery and no drugs.

Avation Co-Founder and CEO Jill Schiaparelli confirms, “This new capital will jump-start the highly anticipated launch of Vivally, which sets a new standard for OAB care. We are thrilled to welcome new investors and grateful for the unwavering support of existing investors who share our belief that non-invasive wearable neuromodulation therapy will significantly benefit patients and clinicians.  We could not ask for a stronger group of institutional investors as we accelerate our efforts to bring this innovative technology to market.” Schiaparelli noted that representatives from Asahi Kasei and Angelini Ventures will now join Avation Medical’s board of directors.

A surgery- and drug-free at-home wearable neuromodulation system represents a huge advancement in the treatment of OAB. While neuromodulation has traditionally been effective in treating OAB symptoms, to date it has required in-office visits or invasive surgical procedures, relegating it to less than 10 percent of patients seeking treatment. Vivally can be used earlier in the care pathway to treat the approximately nine million people seeking treatment annually for their symptoms. In two multi-center clinical trials, the Vivally System was shown to significantly reduce daily void, incontinence, and urgency episodes and improve patient quality of life. Additionally, the System facilitated an 88-percent therapy compliance rate. Symptom reduction was demonstrated out to one year, even with a decrease in therapy frequency.  Full details of the study were recently published in the journal Urology.

“Avation Medical’s Vivally technology, with its excellent efficacy and unprecedented safety profile, proven in two multi-center clinical trials, is designed for patients who don’t want surgery or drugs,” stated William Dai, managing partner of ShangBay Capital, Palo Alto. “We are pleased to partner with Avation’s leadership team to drive the successful commercialization of this beneficial therapy.”

“Angelini Ventures is honored to support Avation Medical in redefining OAB treatment,” said Thomas Thestrup, PhD, principal at Angelini Ventures, the venture capital firm of Angelini Industries, Rome, Italy. “OAB a prevalent medical condition that hasn’t seen breakthrough innovation in 25 years. A patient-friendly, at-home wearable has a significantly larger market opportunity to reach patients than existing invasive neuromodulation options, especially when you consider that this product will allow clinicians who are not surgically trained to provide relief to their patients.” 

“Arboretum Ventures led Avation’s Series B round because of our strong belief that a new treatment approach for OAB was being sought by both patients and physicians,” commented Dr. Thomas Shehab, managing partner of Arboretum Ventures and Avation Medical board chair. “After witnessing the strength of the Avation team and the excellent clinical outcomes of the Vivally System, we were ready to increase our investment in Series C.”

Avation Medical is launching the Vivally System, which is available with a prescription, in key markets in early Spring 2024.

About Avation Medical and the Vivally System

Avation Medical is an innovative neuromodulation and digital health company with a mission to make wearable peripheral neuromodulation accessible to patients across a variety of clinical conditions. The Company’s Vivally System is the only FDA-cleared, closed-loop, at-home wearable neuromodulation device system. Combined with a companion mobile application, Vivally offers a comprehensive therapy and support system for patients suffering from urge urinary incontinence and urinary urgency caused by overactive bladder syndrome (OAB). Vivally is prescribed by a clinician following a brief clinical evaluation which includes personalized calibration. Personalization establishes an EMG target and range of neuromodulation energy associated with the detection of an EMG signal to indicate nerve activation. Vivally delivers clinically effective therapy in just 30 minutes, as little as once per week. Vivally is available by prescription in select geographies in the United States.   Learn more at Avation.com.

For more information, contact
Beth LaBreche
[email protected]
612-578-2834

SOURCE Avation Medical

ATLANTA, Feb. 1, 2024 — MYAVANA, the beauty-tech company founded by black female tech entrepreneur, Candace Mitchell Harris, announces a new experiential partnership with Ulta Beauty, coupled with strategic investments from Prisma Ventures, the beauty retailer’s digital innovation fund, and the BrainTrust Fund.

As a key component of the strategic partnership,Ulta Beauty has proudly unveiled a new Virtual Hair Analysis tool, which integrates MYAVANA’s HairAI™ technology and empowers guests to gain a comprehensive understanding of their hair type and receive personalized product recommendations.The tool will seamlessly integrate within Ulta Beauty’s e-commerce virtual try-on experiences, revolutionizing the way customers explore and select hair care products.

“Through Prisma Ventures, Ulta Beauty’s digital innovation fund, we’re always looking to support and invest in technologies that will pave the path forward for the world of beauty – especially those with like-minded values aiming to innovate the space through an inclusive lens,” said Agustina Sartori, Senior Director of Digital Innovation at Ulta Beauty & Managing Director of Prisma Ventures, “Candace’s visionary approach to digitizing beauty experiences for all hair types, including textured hair, is incredibly unique, and we’re thrilled to collaborate with MYAVANA on their mission to open new doors for more guests through hair analysis technology.”

Additionally, BrainTrust Fund, which invests in breakthrough brands led by at least one Black founder that serves the majority, also made a strategic investment in MYAVANA alongside Prisma Ventures. The funds will go towards their enterprise retail expansion, including salon channels and global product distribution leveraging the company’s consumer intelligence across the hair industry. “Myavana is emerging as a leader in beauty AI because its hair strand analysis super-serves every customer in this valuable marketplace, from the shopper seeking a personalized diagnosis, to retailers and stylists wanting to sell the right products to shoppers the first time,” say BrainTrust Fund General Partners Kendra Bracken-Ferguson and Lisa Stone. “We’re looking forward to working with Candace and her team as the brand continues to accelerate.”

“In the beginning at MYAVANA, we set out on a mission to transform the hair industry through science and technology and I am ecstatic to partner with Ulta Beauty to begin this digital transformation in retail. Through our personalized hair care technology that will innovate and elevate our shopping experiences, we’re excited to bring to market better identification and understanding of our unique hair strands and unique hair journeys while partnering with the nation’s largest beauty retailer that prioritizes innovation and inclusion” says Candace Harris, CEO & Founder of MYAVANA.

Candace Harris founded MYAVANA in 2012, leveraging 17 years of experience in computer science to develop AI haircare technology that analyzes the variables of hair strands and hair products to produce personalized hair care plans that support healthy hair and hair growth. She is a pioneer within a space that is overwhelmingly homogenous and non-inclusive, carving out solutions for BIPOC women, a group often ignored.

About MYAVANA
MYAVANA is a Black female-owned, and operated beauty tech company backed by over a decade of research, development and data. MYAVANA is disrupting the multi-billion dollar, textured hair care market as a pioneer of HairAI™ (Artificial Intelligence Hair Strand Analysis) technology and HairSI™ (Scientific Hair Strand Analysis). MYAVANA Labs has analyzed over two billion hair strands, making it the world’s largest database of textured hair care data. MYAVANA couples its personalized, scientific hair analysis with the company’s prescriptive, data-driven hair product recommendation suite of over 3000 commercially available hair products on the market. All product recommendations have been performance tested and validated by MYAVANA for effectiveness on textured hair types and conditions. The MYAVANA suite of products forms a transformational hair care solution for consumers and an elevated data driven service as well as retail opportunity for industry professionals.

By partnering with MYAVANA’s Consumer Intelligence Data Insights, Hair Product Manufacturers can gain insights into textured hair conditions to inform product development needs. As a B2C and B2B solution, MYAVANA’s Personalized Consumer Intelligence Data is poised to radically change how hair product purchasing decisions are made by consumers – through data personalization, and illuminate the massive data validated opportunity for more targeted textured hair relevant products and solutions by the hair care industry. With MYAVANA’s Recommendation Intelligence, Retailers can license the hair analysis technology to offer personalized hair product recommendations to shoppers online and in-store.

MYAVANA will become a force multiplier for 5th generation technology jobs creation in the beauty space – where some AI tech is predicted to replace traditional jobs like in customer service, tech support, accounting, manufacturing, etc.

About the founder
Candace Harris founded MYAVANA in beta in 2012 researching and developing proprietary AI hair care technology that analyzes the variables of hair strands and hair products to produce personalized hair care plans that support healthy hair and hair growth. As a graduate of Georgia Tech, she brings over 17 years of experience in computer science to MYAVANA. Candace is the 2023 BeautyMatters Innovator of the Year, Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, WWD Top 50 Beauty Innovator, BET Honors STEM Award winner, Sephora Accelerate fellow, and recent Georgia Tech Computing Hall of Fame inductee. Candace’s work has been featured nationally on CNN, Marie Claire, ESSENCE, Inc. Magazine, Black Enterprise, Business Insider, and more.

For more information, visit MYAVANA.com or follow @MYAVANAHairCare

Media contact: For media inquiries email [email protected].

SOURCE MYAVANA

New framework deepens relationship between the utility industry’s most active corporate venture investor and parent company National Grid to scale energy innovations faster.

LOS GATOS, Calif., Feb. 1, 2024 — National Grid Partners (NGP), the corporate venture capital and innovation arm of one of the world’s largest utilities, today announced a streamlined leadership structure and refreshed investment focus to accelerate progress toward net zero and scale innovation across global energy networks.

Led by Steve Smith, recently appointed president of NGP, these efforts bring National Grid’s strategy, innovation and startup investing together under one umbrella. The new structure is designed to maximize impact and further build on the parent company’s transformational work to provide a clean, fair and affordable energy transition.

“Utilities must move faster to scale innovations that can slash emissions, support soaring energy demand and create the utility of the future,” said Smith, a veteran utility regulator and financial industry innovator who joined the British energy giant in late 2021 as group head of Strategy, Innovation and Market Analytics. “National Grid Partners already offers critical financial resources and expert advice to some of the most exciting companies in climate tech and beyond. Our new structure connects entrepreneurs even more closely with our world-class innovation teams to bring essential technologies to market at industry leading speed.”

The new structure will draw on the NGP team’s combined 225 years of venture investing and utility operations experience to help startups scale new technologies in months, not years. Smith has made the following appointments and promotions to lead this charge:

• Vice President, Investments – Pradeep Tagare: With a decade-long track record in venture and startups – including 13 years at Intel Capital – Pradeep will run the investing function of National Grid Partners, identifying technologies poised to make the greatest impact on the energy transition. He previously had been Vice President, Corporate Venture Capital and will now lead NGP’s full investment team.
• Vice President, Business Development – Brett Chandler: Brett has more than 14 years of experience bridging utility and startup cultures to embed innovation into utilities. His team engages startups with National Grid’s core business units to generate mutual strategic and financial value. Brett has served in this role in an acting capacity since early 2023.
• Vice President, Innovation and Venture Acceleration – Gerard Kelly: A former startup founder and CEO, Gerard has helped design and oversee innovation projects across National Grid with the potential to generate more than $1 billion in impact over the next 10 years. He will now manage innovation and venture acceleration efforts across the U.S. and U.K., which includes overseeing the NextGrid Alliance, a first-of-its-kind network of more than 100 electric utilities around the world.

NGP also has sharpened its investment strategy to focus on four pillars. Derived from conversations with startup founders, utilities and other innovation leaders to identify the most pressing challenges in the clean energy transition, the pillars include:

• Future Electric Networks: Upgrading and rebuilding the grid to boost renewable energy, increase reliability and meet new electric demand while reaching net-zero.
• Customer First: Delivering solutions to help customers manage a fair and affordable energy transition.
• Efficiency Through Innovation: Deploying artificial intelligence, cloud and edge computing, and other emerging technologies to improve operational performance.
• Decarbonizing Gas: Delivering innovative technologies to reduce leakage and decarbonize our networks.

To integrate more closely with Silicon Valley, NGP is moving to Menlo Park’s celebrated Sand Hill Road, the global epicenter of the venture capital industry.

National Grid Partners has invested more than $400 million in 43 companies since its 2018 launch, with seven successful exits and an industry leading percentage of portfolio “unicorns” valued at more than $1 billion. The organization has been named the utility industry’s most active corporate venture investor by Bloomberg NEF, and it recently unveiled a unique evaluation framework for measuring the impact of its portfolio companies on carbon emissions.

In addition, NGP has delivered a step change to National Grid’s innovation strategy by introducing hundreds of startup technologies, identifying future challenges, and developing prototypes and business models to meet those challenges.

About National Grid Partners
National Grid Partners (NGP) is the venture investment and innovation arm of National Grid plc., one of the world’s largest investor-owned energy companies. NGP invests for strategic and financial impact across four pillars: Future Electric Networks; Decarbonizing Gas; Customer First; and Efficiency Through Innovation. By providing corporate venture capital, business development counsel and direct integration with National Grid’s innovation team, NGP is accelerating the energy transition and helping innovators reach critical scale faster. We also convene the NextGrid Alliance (www.ngalliance.energy), an innovation network of senior executives from more than 100 worldwide utility companies. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, NGP has offices in Boston, London, and New York. Visit ngpartners.com or follow us on Twitter (@ngpartners_) and LinkedIn.

SOURCE National Grid Partners

DALLAS, Feb. 1, 2024 — Harbor, a pioneering company in infant care technology, announces the successful completion of a $3.7MM seed round led by Trust Ventures joined by Morrison Seger and Capital Factory. This follows Trust Ventures pre-seed investment in September 2022. Additional notable participants for the seed round include former NFL quarterback Tim and Demi-Leigh Tebow, retired US Professional Tennis player John and Madison Isner, NFL punter Thomas and Lauren Morstead, and entrepreneurs Sam and Sara Sodine Parr.

The idea of Harbor was conceptualized after a personal experience co-founder and CEO Kevin Lavelle, founder and Chairman of the Board of menswear brand Mizzen+Main, had with the leading baby camera on the market. One morning, Lavelle woke up to realize the camera in his infant’s nursery had lost connection to his phone’s app, and upon further research found that app-based systems cannot be relied upon to be a true baby monitor. Lavelle partnered with co-founder and CPO Charlie Hill to begin an intensive product development cycle to revolutionize key attributes that had been overlooked in the infant monitoring space.

Harbor’s revolutionary baby monitor, launching in May 2024, offers key features like local and remote access that streams with or without internet, a high-quality camera that streams in 2k, best-in-class data privacy assurance, split screen capabilities to monitor up to four children, and Smart Audio, a more considered and helpful alerting system. They will also be launching a revolutionary new Remote Night Nanny service, making all night, eyes on expertise and coaching from professionally trained infant experts available to families for a fraction of the cost of traditional night nannies and infant care programs. This is complemented by additional telehealth services at accessible pricing.

“This investment helps us launch to the world. Our mission is to create happier parents and healthier families, one restful night at a time. We’re democratizing access to sleep expertise and improving family wellness,” says co-founder Kevin Lavelle. “Technology should make our lives better. Today’s solutions increase anxiety in an already overwhelming and difficult time where we should be able to focus on our little ones. Parents and kids deserve a secure, reliable, quality baby monitor, and since none exist, Harbor has built just that.”

Harbor’s mission of creating happier parents and healthier families stems from the belief in the power of safe and good sleep while providing accessible and innovative sleep technology and democratized telehealth services. By partnering with Pediatric Sleep Experts as Remote Night Nannies, Harbor’s remote nanny services will become available for $20/night compared to the traditional $400–$700/night fees. Other telehealth services will include lactation and postpartum counseling, and sleep and wellness coaching. 

“Lauren and I care deeply about raising a happy, healthy family, and we’re thrilled to back what the team at Harbor is doing. We’ve experienced so much raising our kids and know Harbor will make a huge difference for parents everywhere,” says investor, Thomas Morstead.

Starting in February 2024, Harbor will launch a waitlist campaign to offer early access to its innovative device and services.

About Harbor

Harbor is on a mission to transform the way we take care of young children and their families. Harbor is creating a revolutionary baby monitor with capabilities that include Remote Night Nannies, Health Tech Services (infant and postpartum care), and comprehensive attributes that will enable parents to get much-needed sleep and infant care expertise for a fraction of traditional costs.

SOURCE Harbor

• Canyon Star TV acquired over 900 family-friendly titles at no cost through deep relationships in the media and entertainment industry.
• Canyon Star announced its first round of institutional capital, one year after launching its AVOD streaming platform in January 2023 and organically capturing more than 18,485 viewers.
• Upon securing funding, Canyon Star plans to begin the production of five original titles, sign at least three content licensing contracts, and onboard 20K new viewers through marketing strategies during 2024.

“We have created a network that is for everyone. I am proud of the programming and welcome the opportunity to see it reach its full potential with the help of more investors that believe in our family-friendly programming and the joy of shows that make you happy and entertained,” highlights president and co-founder Kelly Kantz, an executive with over 30 years in the media and entertainment industry.

Joey Canyon, founder and CEO, shares his vision for this capital raising initiative and its impact on the future of Canyon Star TV, “I believe that there are strategic investors out there that still believe in the morals and standards that Canyon Star TV lives by. Investors that understand our vision and would like to join us and make a significant contribution in keeping Canyon Star TV a safe haven for families everywhere.”

In addition to its co-founders, the Canyon Star TV team includes industry veteran Carolyn Crawford as Senior Media Advisor and serial entrepreneur, author, and humanitarian Terri Schmidt as Senior VP of Canyon Star Shopping.

Funds for the $2 million round of seed capital will be used to accelerate growth to produce five original titles in 2024, marketing, improve the user interface, and license quality, wholesome, family-friendly programming.

To learn about participating in this round of capital, email [email protected]

About Canyon Star Television Network:

Canyon Star TV (CSTV) is a family-friendly television network led by Joey Canyon and Kelly Kantz. CSTV officially launched globally in early 2023 and offers the world wholesome family programming that celebrates traditional country and Americana music as well as a full spectrum of entertainment with unique and original content. Subscribers can use any streaming device to access a broad range of exclusive programming anytime, anywhere, including everything from popular movies and classic TV shows to shopping, travel, sports, lifestyle, food, and history programs to live performances by some of the best country music artists around. Canyon, Kantz, and the extended CSTV team bring together their love for all aspects of the entertainment industry while providing viewers with new, exciting, and enriching content for the whole family.

To explore potential content partnerships with Canyon Star TV, contact [email protected].

Media Contacts:
Jeremy Westby, [email protected], +1-833-537-2911, 800
Scott Sexton, [email protected], +1-833-537-2911, 802

SOURCE Canyon Star TV

Eggscape Entertainment is a new venture founded by the creative minds behind 3DAR, an animation powerhouse out of Buenos Aires, Argentina. They are best known for Little Dicky’s viral music video EARTH with over a decade of creating immersive VR experiences like Gloomy Eyes featuring Colin Farrell, and Paper Birds featuring Edward Norton. Co-founders German Heller, Federico Heller, and Jorge Tereso are on a mission to deliver a new class of mixed-reality games to consumers. The Eggscape team recently welcomed co-founder Brandon Maseda, who brings extensive startup experience in building breakthrough consumer experiences with new hardware technologies.

Eggscape is designed as a playful and social experience where players explore vibrant interactive environments integrated with the real world. The game also packs humor and exciting gameplay that appeals to gamers of all ages. Ensuring infinite replayability for Eggscape and the continued expansion of the Eggverse, players get access to an innovative world-building tool that allows for creating and sharing new creations with friends.

“Mixed reality is the perfect medium to bring fun, social gaming experiences to life. It adds a layer to reality where the imagination has no limits. It’s key to be able to play with friends online or side by side, without isolating oneself from the world outside. You’ll see fun, animated characters running around and surviving wacky situations overlaid on your actual surroundings. It was important for us to create a game with an equal level of innovation and a sense of humor. From the character design to the story, the animation style, and the world; they all share the same tone of absurdity, playfulness, and a sort of happy insanity,” said German Heller, CEO.

“Eggscape isn’t just a single game; we believe that the Eggscape team is helping define the future of social gameplay for mixed reality,” said Andrew Sheppard, a partner at Transcend Fund. “The fusion of mixed reality, Pixar quality animation, and social interactions that Eggscape brings to the table create a new gaming experience we have not seen before. We are beyond excited to support Eggscape Entertainment in this venture.”

“Entertainment in mixed reality requires a fresh and novel approach to combine spatial awareness with fun and engaging gameplay. The Eggscape team has already demonstrated a compelling vision to build such a platform” said Tipatat Chennavasin, co-founder and General Partner at The Venture Reality Fund.

With multiple expansion packs already under development, like Zombie Castle, Rally Racer, and World Cup, the Eggverse is constantly growing, offering players endless possibilities to extend the gameplay and engage the brand. With this new investment, Eggscape Entertainment is set to deliver something new to the world of mixed reality gaming.

About Eggscape Entertainment

Eggscape Entertainment is a mixed reality game studio founded by animation and immersive entertainment veterans from 3DAR. We want to bring fun and entertaining social games to the world, leveraging new technologies like AI, mixed reality, spatial computing, and beyond. www.eggscape.com

About the Transcend Fund

Transcend Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm that partners with some of the most ambitious and talented founders in the game industry to collaboratively build the future of digital entertainment. www.transcend.fund

About The Venture Reality Fund

The Venture Reality Fund (The VR Fund) is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments in the Future of the Internet driven by innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). As a founding member of the Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance (VRVCA), The VR Fund invests globally in startups in both consumer and enterprise sectors. https://www.thevrfund.com/about

SOURCE Eggscape Entertainment Inc

Surpasses $1M revenue in first 18 months, secures $1M SBA funding

SpiritMedia.us

RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 1, 2024 — Spirit Media, a full-service publishing, branding and marketing company, is poised for rapid growth in 2024 and beyond thanks to the organization’s international business dealings and new funding secured through the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The company’s robust financial position within its first 18 months of operations paired with its international business reach helped secure $1 million of SBA funding and puts the company on target to become profitable in 2024. The new funding, which closed Dec. 7, 2023, is part of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 7a Government Guaranteed International Trade Export Loan Program. The money will primarily be used in 2024 to build a robust sales team including seven new, full-time marketing specialists.

“Spirit Media’s international presence and proven track record, in addition to projected growth and desire to achieve, resulted in a significant loan that will lead to new jobs and business growth, both domestically and abroad,” said Chet Schultz, vice president, and SBA relationship manager for SouthState Bank.

In 2023, Spirit Media published over 100 books and websites, secured $1 million in funding, increased its team from 21 to 46 individuals, and marked $1 million in revenue with only two sales team members. Momentum created by initial funding from friends and family in 2022, led Spirit Media to represent authors in Canada, Australia, India and Ukraine, as well as the United States, during its first year. 

“I believe Spirit Media is on the cusp of something revolutionary,” said Kevin White, chief executive officer of Spirit Media. “Our ultimate goal as a faith-led business is to deliver God’s message to all 195 nations worldwide, and early financial success is crucial to fulfilling that mission.”

Spirit Media turns writers into micro publishers, equipping and empowering them to establish their own businesses by which to sell their books. The company also publishes websites, social media posts, live podcast shows, digital marketing ads, and magazine articles. Through its distinctive storytelling marketing strategy and elevated SEO techniques, Spirit Media accelerates sales and scales profits for clients while providing them with measurable results. It is currently developing its own proprietary database featuring verified contacts from 350,000 American churches.

The company has earned the trust of such businesses and nonprofits as Brad and Susanne Dacus of Pacific Justice Institute, MedPsych Integrated, iAdvantage Software, Fellowship of Companies for Christ International, and more.

“When I evaluated the publishing landscape for a faith-based publisher that could ‘do it all,’ options were scarce,” said Pastor Chase Gardner. “That’s why we signed with Spirit Media—they do it all, but they do it all in alignment with their mission to carry forth the gospel, and they do it with excellence.”

Spirit Media currently has nearly 50 books in production. Each book is published in paperback, hardback, ebook and audiobooks formats. English books are translated into the top 20 spoken languages, expanding their market and impact to 75 percent of the world. The company serves 73 marketing clients monthly, 32 of which are non-literary businesses.

The company has moved into a new, larger office in Brier Creek Corporate Park in Raleigh, N.C., Feb. 1, 2024.

For more details, please see Spirit Media’s media kit here.

About Spirit Media
Spirit Media is a full-service publishing, branding and marketing company. The organization aims to spread God’s message to all 195 nations worldwide, a commission fulfilled with a commitment to its threefold focus on publishing, branding, and marketing. Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., the results-driven, international company includes individuals from the U.S., India, Ukraine, Lithuania, the Philippines and Nigeria. As an authority in church marketing, Spirit Media has published over 100 books and websites working with nearly 75 clients worldwide. For more information, visit SpiritMedia.us or follow @spiritmedia.us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or Instagram.

About Kevin White, Spirit Media CEO 
Kevin White is a serial entrepreneur, international bestselling author, pastor, and international speaker. Throughout his career, White has helped to start hundreds of businesses, NPOs, and churches around the world. After becoming an author he was confronted with the void between publishing and marketing. White founded Spirit Media in 2022 to address large gaps in the publishing industry related to measurable results. Through creating accelerated book sales, audience growth and increased profits for clients, White continues to apply his giftings and skill sets at Spirit Media and in his roles as a volunteer board member for organizations like Global Hope India and SM Gives.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Lorin
1-888-800-3744
[email protected]

SOURCE Spirit Media Inc.