Squid, built on Axelar, has built the first native-to-native cross-chain solution, replacing bridges with 1-click cross-chain swaps

ZUG, Switzerland , Jan. 31, 2023 — Squid, a routing protocol that enables users and developers to easily access cross-chain liquidity, has raised a $3.5m seed round led by North Island Ventures.

Leading crypto investment firms Distributed Global, Fabric Ventures, Galileo, Chapter One, and Node Capital also participated in the round. Angels included Waikit Lau, Stani Kulechov, Zaki Manian, Dean Eigenmann, 7, Ashleigh Schap and others. Axelar is also participating in the round as a strategic investment. In addition to this seed funding, Squid was one of the first projects to receive funding following the Axelar Developer Grants cohort.

Sergey Gorbunov, co-founder of Axelar, said: “Failure of centralized trading platforms has highlighted the need for secure decentralized alternatives. Squid powers this future by enabling decentralized, secure, and simple to use cross-chain swaps. The Squid team has extensive experience in the space and we’re excited to see them build on the Axelar Network.”

Squid inherits its speed and security from Axelar’s secure cross-chain communication platform alongside General Message Passing, meaning that Squid’s contracts enable further cross-chain logic. Squid can be used to buy NFTs on any chain with any asset, deposit into a margin account on a decentralized derivatives exchange, build payments to any chain, or to turn wallets chain-agnostic.

Squid supports 25 blockchains, including EVM and Cosmos chains. Since its app chain thesis became a reality, Cosmos has experienced immense growth and adoption. Squid offers the easiest path for onboarding to new Cosmos chains from any ecosystem. Squid has received four audits from Ackee Blockchain and Consensys Diligence.

Travis Scher of North Island Ventures said: “We believe the future of crypto is multi-chain and cross-chain, and are extremely excited to back the great team at Squid, which is building critical infrastructure to bring this vision to fruition.”

DEXs including QuickSwap, Pangolin, SpookySwap, StellaSwap, and Trisolaris and wallets such as Ledger and BitKeep are the first projects who have announced their integration with Squid to give users access to native tokens on a wide range of other chains.

Recent events highlight the importance of decentralized applications as a secure, transparent alternative to centralized systems. Squid’s mission is to help build a future that ensures the integrity of financial transactions and allows users control over their assets.

Twitter: @squidrouter
Medium: https://medium.com/@squidrouter
Discord: http://discord.0xsquid.com/ 
Website: https://0xsquid.com
App: app.squidrouter.com
Christina Rud | +44 (0)7598 988 212

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1993095/Squid_Investors.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1993096/Squid_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Squid

• The Be Kind Tech Fund’s investment will support Polemix in its goal to build and scale the first Web3-based platform facilitating discussion of important causes
• The Be Kind Tech Fund also announced that Spanish venture capital firm Seaya and London-based entrepreneurial organization E2E have joined the Fund’s partner ecosystem

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 31, 2023 — Globant (NYSE: GLOB), a digitally native company focused on reinventing businesses through innovative technology solutions, announced today that its Be Kind Tech Fund has invested $1 million in Polemix, the first platform to introduce Web3 technology to the world of ideas and opinions. The startup’s mission is to upgrade how people support and oppose opinion leaders, disrupting the echo chambers cultivated by traditional social media platforms.

The Polemix platform enables influential opinion leaders across subject matter areas (including human rights, freedom of speech, feminism, animal rights, populism, and more) to create short videos sharing their opinion on hot-button issues. Supporters can buy Proof of Support tokens (POSU) of the opinion leader’s idea, which can also provide benefits such as special access to the leader. Proceeds of the POSU sales can be used to fund the opinion leader’s work or support a foundation promoting the leader’s cause, but portions of the sales can also be used to reward users who disagree respectfully on the platform’s comment section.

Polemix disrupts echo chambers by automatically showing fans different viewpoints on their leader’s opinion, and financially rewarding detractors who engage in smart and civilized debate. These kinds of interactions foster respect for opposing views and facilitate educated discussion of essential topics, while creating monetary benefits for opinion leaders and generating support for important causes.

“At a time when access to information and misinformation has become continuous and widespread, Polemix offers users a wide range of opinions on important topics, supported by reputable leaders and influencers,” said Guibert Englebienne, Globant Co-Founder and President for Globant X. “NFTs benefit artists, musicians, and other celebrities; however, most key opinion leaders today are not being compensated for sharing their opinions, educating audiences, and generating critical debates. Polemix offers a way to promote a respectful discussion encouraging users to consider both sides of an argument.”

“History happens when technology evolutions are harnessed to change behaviors. Today, Web3 is the new frontier of technology, and Polemix will leverage its innovations to change how people connect with the world’s most influential opinion leaders. Our platform will change how people support a leader’s ideas – instead of just liking a post, they can go further by owning and collecting those ideas, and be rewarded for their support. Polemix will also change how people oppose a leader’s ideas by creating financial incentives for respectful, intelligent replies,” said Ian Sielecki, Founder of Polemix. “For the opinion leaders themselves, it will be a game-changing tool to gather support for their work and channel the passion they generate into a new value proposition.”

Iconic opinion leaders who will be creating tokens of their main ideas on the Polemix platform initially include: Cornel West, bestselling author of “Race Matters” and social justice icon; Steven Pinker, celebrity experimental psychologist and bestselling author of books about human progress; Kishore Mahbubani, former president of UN Security Council and author of “Has China Won?”; Peter Singer, animal rights activist and Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University; and Shashi Tharoor, prominent Indian politician and former under-Secretary General of the United Nations.

Polemix is now available upon sign-up for all users, and membership levels are available in two tiers: standard-tier makes you an official supporter of the cause and gives you passive access to exclusive Zoom calls with the leader; gold-tier makes you the unique digital sponsor to that idea, provides access to intimate calls and the right to speak, ask questions and actively interact with the leader during those calls.

The Fund also announced new partners joining its ecosystem, including Seaya, the leading European and Latin American venture capital fund behind unicorns such as Wallbox, Glovo, and Cabify, and E2E, an ecosystem of groundbreaking entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, and entrepreneurial non-execs.

In 2021, Globant founded the Be Kind Tech Fund, the first and only corporate venture fund focused on supporting startups that seek to mitigate the misuse of technology. Since its launch, the Be Kind Tech Fund has invested in ping, a U.S.-based voice platform company that helps enterprises eliminate distracted driving, and established partnerships with The George Washington University and MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund, as well as investors including Riverwood Capital, IDB Lab, Nazca, and entrepreneurial organizations such as Endeavor, LAVCA, and Newlab. The Center for Humane Technology also joined the Fund as an advisor.

For more information about the Be Kind Tech Fund or to join the ecosystem, please visit www.bekindtechfund.com. For more information about Polemix, please visit www.polemix.io

About Globant 
We are a digitally native company that helps organizations reinvent themselves and unleash their potential. We are the place where innovation, design and engineering meet scale.

• We have more than 26,500 employees and we are present in more than 20 countries working for companies like Google, Electronic Arts and Santander, among others.
• We were named a Worldwide Leader in CX Improvement Services by IDC MarketScape report.
• We were also featured as a business case study at Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. 
• We are a member of The Green Software Foundation (GSF) and the Cybersecurity Tech Accord.

For more information, visit www.globant.com.

About Be Kind Tech Fund 
Launched in 2021, the Be Kind Tech Fund is a $10 million USD corporate venture fund administered by Globant Ventures. The fund seeks to assist global startups looking for support in developing apps, products, and platforms that are focused on mitigating the negative effects of technology, such as online harassment and abuse, data privacy and security, AI bias, screen time abuse, and information bubbles and polarization.

If you are an entrepreneur or startup focused on mitigating the negative impacts of tech, or are interested in knowing more about the Be Kind Tech Fund, please visit www.bekindtechfund.com and join the revolution.

Contact: Morena Monteiro, [email protected]

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1993010/news.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/959011/Globant_logo_actualizado.jpg 

SOURCE Globant

The Singapore-based company also announces the appointment of two strategic advisors

SINGAPORE , Jan. 31, 2023 — Kempus, an online community where students can connect and share reviews anonymously, has raised a seed round investment pre-launch from Bithumb Korea, to encourage verified students to anonymously share reviews with full transparency, to strengthen the student body without fear of reprisal.

Students in the United States, especially in the post-pandemic world, are falling victim to censorship, and find themselves silenced as they try to express themselves and their concerns. The extent of free speech is also being questioned, as the impact of civic education has lessened. This plants the seeds of doubt, confusion, tension, and a pervasively hostile environment for students who are eager to connect and improve their university experience.

The Singapore-based Kempus, today has launched its online community, starting with students based in the United States, to help bridge these gaps. This is done by encouraging communication in a secure digital environment, with moderators to ensure that it is free of toxicity, with a familiar and easy-to-use interface. The company aims to become the go-to online community for all students  attending universities and colleges worldwide.

Additionally, Kempus has appointed two world class strategic advisors to their board of advisors: Hillel Fuld, and Andrew Nystrom.

Fuld is an American Israeli technology tech blogger/vlogger/podcaster, startup marketer, leading online influencer, and public speaker. His work and insights have been featured on CNBC, Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur, TechCrunch, and other respected tech publications. He collaborates with companies such as Google, Oracle, and Microsoft to help entrepreneurs and their products scale. He also does keynotes on tech and marketing to audiences worldwide.

Nystrom is an American entrepreneur who led digital for Nike’s most successful brand campaign during the World Cup, boosted Red Bull Media House virality to stratospheric levels, and crafted digital strategy for USA’s fastest growing news brand. Most recently, he was Chief of Staff to the CMO at ŌURA, a leading direct-to-consumer growth brand.

On the seed round and strategic appointments, Jae Lee, the CEO of Kempus says, “We have raised a total of $3M USD from Bithumb Korea to fulfill our mission to inspire positive change by empowering students to truly use their voice, and openly engage with their peers anonymously in a safe environment. We are also thrilled to have onboarded two strategic advisors to support Kempus’ go-to-market strategy, and marketing initiatives in the United States. There is so much in store!”

About Kempus

Kempus (Be Unbound Pte. Ltd.) is an online community for verified students to anonymously connect and share reviews on their course and university experience—without fear of reprisal. With Kempus, students can access up-to-date reports on components of the university experience at a glance, and are further encouraged to dive into deeper discussions within Kempus’ platform. The Kempus community is one that strengthens its members at the individual level, to facilitate the most optimal and delightful university experience that is as unique as the students themselves. For more information about Kempus, visit www.kempus.com

Contact
[email protected]

SOURCE Kempus (Be Unbound Pte Ltd)

KIHEI, Hawaii and LOS ANGELES, Feb. 1, 2023 — Orthogonal Thinker Inc., a socially conscious holding company, is pleased to announce the opening of its latest Regulation D fundraising round to raise up to $10 million USD to expand its exposure into new and existing verticals and to accelerate its liquidity pathway.

Orthogonal plans to use the funds to continue to scale its operations and strategic partnerships into its main verticals: Wellness, Web 3.0, FinTech, and Space.

“Since founding the company, we’ve built Orthogonal’s interests into over three dozen companies—each with a unique team and offering,” explains cofounder and CEO David Nikzad. “The crazy thing is, we’re just getting started. Thanks to depressed market conditions, we see more opportunity now than ever to continue building our global Ohana (family).”

Orthogonal Thinker was founded on the shores of Hawaii and has since expanded into the U.S. mainland and abroad. “Orthogonal has always been a socially conscious holding company. We accelerate the growth of our companies through strategic capital infusion, mentorship, and access to our community as well as other business resources,” explains co-founder and COO Jason Hobson. “This Regulation D offering is another way for us to continue to build from a position of strength and to allow our investors diversified exposure to our current and future holdings.”

Orthogonal plans to continue exploring various paths to liquidity for shareholders. “Some of our shareholders have been part of our ohana since the early days. As the business continues to grow and evolve, we want to explore various pathways to liquidity options for those that have supported our mission,” Nikzad concludes.

For investors in previous financing rounds, those investments have been converted into shares of Orthogonal Thinker at a share price of $23.27.

Powered by the industry leading funding platform, KoreConX, this Regulation D financing round is only open to accredited U.S. investors. The raise is being done at a $222 million valuation via a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity).

To be considered an accredited investor, one must meet one of the following criteria:

• An annual income exceeding $200,000 ($300,000 for joint income) for the last two years.
• A net worth exceeding $1 million either individually, or jointly with their spouse

Interested parties can find more information at https://www.orthogonalthinker.com.

About Orthogonal Thinker

Orthogonal Thinker Inc. is a socially conscious holding company that creates strategic alliances with companies in verticals it feels strongly about. These verticals include Wellness, Web 3.0, Fintech and Space. The current Orthogonal Thinker portfolio includes more than three dozen strategic partnerships as Orthogonal continues to embrace its ethos of becoming the leading socially conscious holding company in the world.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer

The offering materials may contain forward-looking statements and information relating to, among other things, Orthogonal Thinker, its business plan and strategy, and its industry. These forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of, assumptions made by, and information currently available to the company’s management. When used in the offering materials, the words “estimate”, “project”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “expect” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which constitute forward looking statements. These statements reflect management’s current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause Orthogonal Thinker actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Orthogonal Thinker does not undertake any obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after such date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Contact:
Sevag Manoukian
808-210-6988
[email protected]

SOURCE Orthogonal Thinker Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 31, 2023 — Today, Teal Health announces its seed round, raised to build a women’s health platform focused on solving some of the most pressing issues in women’s health – starting with cervical cancer.

Teal Health’s at-home cervical cancer screening includes a novel self-collection device that will make it simple for a woman to collect a cervical cancer screening sample from the comfort, convenience, and privacy of her home. It’s designed to increase a woman’s confidence and adherence to screen for primary HPV and Pap cytology triage. The Teal Health platform will enable conversation and engagement with medical professionals to support users, from collecting a sample to understanding results, including any follow-up actions.

“The current cervical cancer screening, a critical piece of women’s health, is notoriously unpleasant and uses a speculum. Despite medical and technological advancements, including adding the primary HPV test to the screening guidelines, the screening experience hasn’t been updated since the 1940s,” said Kara Egan, Chief Executive Officer at Teal Health. “At Teal we are working to increase access to this important screening by coupling at-home self-collection with a health-tech platform that ensures women are encouraged, supported, and understood in the process.”

If caught early, 93% of cervical cancers are preventable. Following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, cervical cancer screening in the United States dropped by 94% and remained 35% below pre-pandemic levels even after stay-at-home restrictions were lifted. New research shows that late-stage cervical cancers are on the rise in American women. In contrast to more than 90% of cervical cancers being preventable when caught early, a late-stage diagnosis has an approximate 5-year survival rate of only 18%.

Teal Health has raised an $8.8 million seed round from investors, including Emerson Collective, Serena Ventures, Metrodora Ventures, and Felicis Ventures. Of the decision to invest in Teal Health, Serena Williams, Managing Partner at Serena Ventures, said, “For far too long women have been disenfranchised by their current healthcare experiences, with women of underrepresented communities feeling an increased strain on their access and options surrounding healthcare. We’re excited to partner with Teal to increase equity and access to this life-saving screening by removing the barriers such as awareness, time, and fear; while also empowering women to reconnect and take control of their health.”

Teal Health’s funding will enable the company to expedite product development, clinical testing, and FDA approval, facilitating access to the 88 million women within recommended screening age. Teal aims to reverse the rise of late-stage cervical cancer and get millions of women up to date on their screenings.

“Solving massive and critical health issues, including adherence to a national cancer screening, requires innovative solutions with expertise across the entire healthcare landscape,” shared Chelsea Clinton, Managing Partner at Metrodora Ventures. “Teal understands this complexity and is well positioned to take on the challenge through its dynamic team and strategic partner base, which spans health policy, cancer research, technology, consumer brands, and more.”

Teal Health’s clinical study is underway at leading institutions and women’s health organizations such as The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. Early data found that 89% of women said that if Teal’s at-home collection were available, they would get screened on time. The self-collection option is preferred by 91% of study participants when compared to a clinical collection with a speculum.

Teal Health is accepting waitlist additions for those who wish to be the first to know about the product launch. To sign up, please visit www.getteal.com.

About Teal Health

Teal Health is on a mission to provide women with the tools and resources they need to make empowered and informed decisions regarding their health—starting with cervical cancer screenings. By allowing a woman to collect her own sample for cervical cancer screening from the comfort of her home, Teal can increase access to this critical screening and work to eradicate cervical cancer. To learn more, visit www.getteal.com or follow Teal on Twitter at @tealhealth.

SOURCE Teal Health

Cleary’s approach helps companies create a holistic employee experience while saving on cost, eliminating unnecessary point solutions as remote and hybrid work show staying power.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 31, 2023 — Cleary, the digital employee experience platform for distributed teams, has closed a $4.5m seed funding round led by Moonshots Capital, with participation from Liberty City Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Seachange Fund, and Quiet Capital, among others. This seed round follows an initial capital raise of $3m as part of Cleary’s pre-seed fundraise.

Already serving as the digital employee experience platform for companies such as Flexport, DoorDash, Cadre, Favor, Dandy, and Shippo, Cleary will look to expand its footprint to meet the immense need for optimized employee journeys in the modern workplace.

“With over one billion knowledge workers worldwide and a rapidly-expanding need for cohesive employee experience amongst hybrid workforces, we’re thrilled to announce this fundraise as a step towards bringing these capabilities to more companies who view their people as their greatest asset,” says Thomas Kunjappu, CEO and co-founder, Cleary.

“The tailwinds of the COVID pandemic continue to shift workplace expectations among knowledge workers, and companies that provide essential tools for remote work will thrive in the years to come. In addition to a superior product, Cleary has extraordinary leadership from founders with deep domain expertise, and that’s what ultimately leads to success and why we are so excited to partner with Thomas and Ryan,” says Kelly Perdew, General Partner at Moonshots Capital.

Cleary streamlines the employee journey through its Internal Communications, Culture, and productivity features. “Cleary is truly an all-in-one solution that improves all employee touchpoints at our company,” said Andrew Weiss, Director of Internal Communications, Dandy. “From onboarding to culture-related internal content, Cleary has enabled us to seamlessly operate as a distributed team while eliminating several other tools from our HR technology stack, reducing app fatigue and minimizing operational costs.”

Specific capabilities of Cleary include company news and updates, org charts, cross-functional team management, an internal wiki, internal search, events, and public recognition, among others. Cleary also enables customizable employee journeys for onboarding, department transfers, and more, helping People teams save time and provide a cohesive experience for employees. 

“With a sizable portion of our employees participating in hybrid work, we needed ways for employees, especially new hires, to connect with one another and feel a sense of belonging. Cleary has enabled us to remain connected and engaged as a company, even when people are not seeing each other in person every day. It creates a bit of a home base,” said Rita Ramakrishnan, Chief People Officer, Cadre.

Before starting Cleary, co-founders Thomas Kunjappu and Ryan O’Donnell led the development of internal people tools at Twitter. Inspired by the success of these applications and their centrality to the digital employee experience there, they founded Cleary to bring this approach to companies of all sizes, not just large enterprises. With this latest round of funding, Cleary aims to completely disrupt the legacy intranet market through further optimization of its modern approach to employee engagement technology.

To learn how your company can get started with Cleary, please visit gocleary.com/start.

About Cleary

Cleary’s mission is to inspire more productive, connected, and engaged employees. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in San Francisco, Cleary is driving the future of work through experience platforms for distributed teams. For more information or to get started with Cleary, please visit www.gocleary.com.

SOURCE Cleary

Nexus is Building the Platform that Powers Support-a-Creator Programs for Live Service Games and the Content Creators who Play Them

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 31, 2023 — Nexus, a platform powering Support-a-Creator programs for live service video games, has today announced it has secured $10 million in funding in a round led by Griffin Gaming Partners, one of the world’s largest venture funds specializing in gaming, with participation by Sony Innovation Fund and Valhalla Ventures, and existing Nexus investors including Pace Capital, and S3 Ventures. This round is also joined by world-class content creators including CohhCarnage and Berleezy, whom Nexus is proud to have on board.

Nexus’s in-game software enables video game developers to build fully native Support-a-Creator programs into their games – via API-driven sales attribution and referral systems – letting development teams focus on perfecting their game while Nexus manages global payouts, taxes as well as performance data and analytics. Nexus is also in lockstep with the game’s marketing and influencer relation teams to provide support on establishing influencer relationships, marketing, and activations.

“This investment will allow us to continue building out the self-service side of the Nexus platform, which will enable rapid implementation of Support-a-Creator programs – helping publishers and content creators succeed in the ever-evolving video game industry,” said Justin Sacks, CEO of Nexus. “We are grateful for the support of our investors and are excited to use this funding to bring even more value to our creator and game dev partners.”

The round of funding comes on the heels of a number of newly launched Support-a-Creator programs for publishers like Capcom and Hi-Rez Studios and in games like Bloons TD 6 (Ninja Kiwi), Fangs (Hidden Leaf Games), Splitgate (1047 Games), among others. Since launching, these publishers have shared data that speaks to the overwhelming efficacy of their Support-a-Creator programs like increased playtime, improved conversion of non-purchasers, re-engagement of players who had stopped spending, and increased spending of regular purchasers.

“We’re excited to back Justin and the team at Nexus bringing the best of performance marketing to gaming influencers. We see Nexus’ technology and know-how as best-in-class at enabling creator programs for games. These programs can make all the difference in reaching players authentically in an increasingly crowded marketplace,” shared Nick Tuosto, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Griffin Gaming Partners.

“We believe creators and influencers are core to the future of entertainment, particularly in areas like live service games. We are thrilled to support Nexus as they strengthen the relationship between publishers, content creators, and gamers by streamlining services to align all three critical parties,” said Joseph Tou, Managing Director-US, Sony Ventures.

About Nexus

Nexus, launched in 2020, is building Support-a-Creator software for video game developers. Its’ platform-agnostic API enables the implementation of a suite of sales attribution and referral systems in which their interests are aligned with that of content creators; leading to improved content creator relationships, a more engaged player base, and fully trackable and lower marketing costs. The team is composed of longtime industry members (Curse, Fandom, Amazon, Twitch) and is working with a diverse set of live service video game Publishers from across the industry to introduce Support-a-Creator programs in their games.

About Griffin Gaming Partners

Griffin Gaming Partners is a leading venture capital firm, focused on the global gaming and web3 markets, with over $1 billion in assets under management. The firm was founded by Peter Levin, Phil Sanderson, and Nick Tuosto, with LionTree as a strategic partner to the Fund. GGP invests in seed through growth stages at the intersection of content, infrastructure, social platforms, and game-related web3 companies.

About Sony Ventures Corporation

Sony Ventures Corporation manages Sony Innovation Fund (SIF), which invests in all stages of emerging technology companies as well as in startups solving global environmental challenges.  SIF engages with pioneering startups to help fuel the development of disruptive technologies, launch new businesses, and contribute to the environment while seeking return on investment.  Sony Ventures Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, is headquartered in Japan.

Contacts
Justin Sacks
[email protected]

A press kit for Nexus can be found here.
To apply for open roles at Nexus, please visit here.

SOURCE Nexus

STEINBACH, MB, Jan. 31, 2023 — RocketRez, a leading ticketing and business operations software platform powering mid-market tours and attractions, today announced the close of a US$15 million Series B funding round with Level Equity, a New York City-based growth investor focused on best-in-class software pioneers. Charles Chen from Level Equity will join the RocketRez Board of Directors as part of this transaction, joining Blueprint Equity from its previous funding round.

With this funding, RocketRez will accelerate its ability to provide incredible end-to-end guest experiences in new market verticals, and extend the capabilities for leading tours and attractions already in its portfolio such as Maui Ocean Center, Xtreme Xperience, Aquarium of the Bay, and Governors Island. Beyond engineering and software development, this new investment will enable RocketRez to continue adding key leadership positions and expand its sales capabilities as it looks to new vertical markets and geographies. RocketRez will also continue to develop its partnerships and integrations.

Overcoming economic challenges builds confidence among investors

Over the past two years, and during the global COVID-19 pandemic, RocketRez more than doubled its growth including its portfolio of clients, dollars transacted through its platform, employee count, and geographic reach. This acceleration in growth when the travel and tourism industry was facing existential challenges caught the attention of Level Equity.

Together, RocketRez and Level Equity will bring data-focused enterprise-level ticketing and business intelligence to mid-market tours and attractions. As tours and attractions transition from legacy technology toward digital maturity, RocketRez enables operators to leverage data from every touchpoint along the customer journey to enhance their on-site guest experience.

“We believe in RocketRez’s vision and their high-growth potential as demonstrated by the marquee clients they’ve onboarded and retained during these challenging times,” said Charles Chen, Partner at Level Equity. “Global tourist attractions have weathered the storm in part due to the innovative solutions provided by RocketRez. They understand that technology and data are what will power their vision for the ultimate guest experience.”

Funding
will
enabl
e 
more
innovative guest experiences driven by customer data

“The ability to capture data from multiple digital touchpoints gives operators more robust insights into customer behavior that cannot be achieved with disconnected sets of technology services,” said RocketRez CEO John Pendergrast. “Level Equity’s investment into RocketRez will help us accelerate more fulsome digital solutions that will deliver even better guest experiences for our customers and will enable us to expand our geographic reach.”

“Online and on-site ticket purchases, mobile ticket scanning, retail and food and beverage purchases, email and SMS communication, and various other interactions are all part of a single customer journey. With that information, an operator can make faster, smarter decisions about how to deliver a better guest experience, based on each visitor’s preferences. Large operators have built their own platforms but for mid-market operators they need to buy an all-in-one software platform and that’s what RocketRez delivers,” continued Pendergrast. 

RocketRez is an all-in-one ticketing and operations platform geared toward mid-market tours and attractions with revenues of $2 million to $200 million which includes functionality for online and on-site ticketing through ecommerce, Point-of-Sale and contactless kiosk channels, revenue management, business intelligence, customer management as well as retail and food and beverage sales.  It also includes partnerships with industry leading services for payments, hardware, channel management and peripheral software services that add value to the platform and customers.

About RocketRez

RocketRez powers mid-market tours and attractions and enables data-driven guest experiences with an all-in-one cloud ticketing and operations software platform. RocketRez maintains its company headquarters in Canada, where its engineering, operations, and marketing teams are based, and has a distributed salesforce throughout North America and expanding into Europe. RocketRez primarily serves mid-market clients in several key industries: boat tours and ferries, zoos and aquariums, attractions and theme parks, and museums and galleries.  For more information about RocketRez, visit www.rocketrez.com.

About Level Equity

Level Equity is a private investment firm focused on providing capital to rapidly growing software and technology-driven businesses. Level provides long term capital across all transaction types in support of continued growth. The firm has raised $3.0 billion in committed capital, has backed over 100 companies since inception, and has offices in New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, and Greenwich, CT.  For more information about Level Equity, visit www.levelequity.com.

Sarah Coombs for RocketRez, 416-729-8550, [email protected]

SOURCE RocketRez, Inc.

Investment underscores OneSignal’s continued innovation in omnichannel customer messaging and engagement technology 

SAN MATEO, Calif., Jan. 31, 2023 — OneSignal, the world’s leading customer engagement platform, today announced a new strategic investment from ServiceNow Ventures, extending the company’s recent $50M Series C investment announced in September 2022. The additional funds will be used to accelerate OneSignal’s go-to-market initiatives with a focus on omnichannel messaging and orchestration capabilities. The investment highlights ServiceNow Ventures’ commitment to nurturing companies creating next-generation software solutions that address key enterprise challenges.

“A strong multi-channel presence is one of the most effective strategies for businesses to engage their stakeholders – buyers, users, employees – anyone who is a critical part of the enterprise value chain,” said George Deglin, CEO and co-founder, OneSignal. “The investment from ServiceNow Ventures allows us to continue scaling our automated omnichannel messaging platform even further so we can integrate more use cases and expand our global footprint to help organizations engage better.”  

In OneSignal’s State of Customer Messaging 2022 Report, nearly two-thirds of organizations surveyed said that mobile push notifications are currently the most important customer engagement channel for their business. Moreover, the ability to personalize notifications results in a 259% higher engagement rate than notifications that don’t use personalized content. OneSignal offers self-service engagement and personalization capabilities across push notification, email, SMS, and in-app channels to enable users to gain a competitive edge and better compete in today’s market.

“Changes in today’s market landscape have made it tougher and more expensive to acquire new customers and retain talent,” said Terence Chesire, vice president of customer and industry workflows at ServiceNow. “OneSignal addresses both challenges with use cases that help organizations engage more effectively with internal and external stakeholders, such as employees and customers. We look forward to supporting their growth as they continue to develop innovative solutions that unlock business potential and help deliver seamless customer and employee experiences.”

ServiceNow has also recently selected OneSignal as its SMS and push notification provider for its Knowledge 2023 event, adding to OneSignal’s more than 6,000+ customer list.

Company Updates  

Following OneSignal’s initial Series C investment, the company has continued to invest in its platform to bring more multi-channel customer engagement capabilities to market. Earlier this year, OneSignal introduced Journeys, an easy-to-use visual workflow builder to provide customized user experiences.

In September 2022, OneSignal announced a strategic partnership with Google Cloud Platform, allowing developers and marketing teams to easily create a customer engagement experience native to the Google Cloud environment and purchase OneSignal services through the Google Cloud Marketplace, leading to increased brand awareness and new audiences.  

Industry Accolades  

The ServiceNow investment comes on the heels of an incredibly successful 2022 where OneSignal achieved a 3-year growth percentage of 648.8%, earning the company a spot on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies and the 2022 Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ lists. The company was also named the winner of the 2022 App Growth Awards in the App Engagement Platform category, San Mateo start-up of the year by Hackernoon and a winner of the 2022 Saas Awards for the best SaaS product for loyalty and retention. OneSignal is a leader across the categories of Push Notification, Marketing Automation, and Mobile Marketing on G2.com, and is recognized as the Market Leader in the Push Notification Software category for the Fall 2022 Customer Success Report published by FeaturedCustomers.

To learn more, please visit OneSignal.com.  

About OneSignal 

OneSignal is the market-leading customer engagement solution, powering omnichannel customer journeys across mobile and web push notifications, in-app messaging, SMS, and email. The powerful and easy-to-use platform enables over a million businesses to deliver 11 billion messages daily. OneSignal supports 500,000 mobile applications – nearly 15% of all apps – enabling companies in 140 countries, including Zynga, USA Today, Bitcoin.com, Upwork, Tribune, and more. OneSignal was founded in 2014 as a mobile app development company by Y Combinator alums George Deglin and Long Vo, and is venture-backed by SignalFire, Rakuten Ventures, Y Combinator, HubSpot, and BAM Elevate. The company is based in San Mateo, California, with offices in London and Singapore. 

Media Contact 
Dex Polizzi 
[email protected] 

SOURCE OneSignal