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World’s Fastest EVM Completes its First Hackathon

Telos Foundation

Telos Blockchain (ticker: TLOS), home to the world’s fastest, most inexpensive, energy efficient ( Net Zero ), non-congested, credibly neutral, truly decentralized and non-aiding and abetting ( No front running / MEV ) tEVM, is thrilled to announce the winners of the Telos Spark hackathon 2022! The entire team is ecstatic by the number of entries received for the first Telos Spark Hackathon. There were 156 entries and 26 published projects; The team is proud and truly inspired by the traction of this initiative. So many great projects that the team allocated another 20k TLOS to add two more finalists. The judging of these projects ended up being an incredibly challenging task for the team due to all the quality entries. Especially because they were all promising and unique. The most prevalent common denominator that all these great projects had in common was the dedication by each individual team. “These last couple of weeks have blown away all our expectations. Many quality projects are now growing deep roots within the tEVM, and they are loving it and we them. Lots of synergy here and lots of gravity to the speed, low fixed costs and credible neutrality of the tEVM. Telos is not just a hackathon chain. It is a perfect place to build high-performance, scalable and real-world-ready applications!” Justin Giudici, CEO of the Telos Foundation Please congratulate the Telos Spark Winners! ( Watch Video Here ) 1st place: Kluest - 100,000 TLOS 2nd place: Telos Spark Bridge - 50,000 TLOS 3rd place: Chedda - 10,000 TLOS 4th place: Refund - 10,000 TLOS 5th place: Telos.Build - 10,000 TLOS 6th place: VideoWiki - 10,000 TLOS 7th place: Shojiru. - 10,000 TLOS Take a moment and watch the initial video submitted by our first-place winner; From the entire Telos Team, Congratulations! A big thank you to ALL participants of the Hackathon, and please continue to build on Telos! There will be many more hackathons coming. Please continue to follow us on social media. Some inner thoughts: "The dedication, quality, and performance of the Kluest team lead the way. We are excited to see a hackathon project close to a genuine product and could be launched on Telos EVM very soon!" Kersten Wirth, Program Manager & Speaker of the Jury, Telos Core Development "Seeing these applications built in such a short time is exciting. I am always thrilled to see executed transactions on testnet and mainnet in our block explorers as proof that the teams created something that works!" Jesse Schulman, Lead Architect and TCO, Telos Core Development "We have been overwhelmed by the quality of applicants to the Spark Hackathon. The engagement process with applicant teams has been an inspiration, demonstrating the continued strong growth profile in our dApp ecosystem. We can't wait to have these projects built on Telos!" AJ Dinger - Head of Business Development, Telos Foundation "The proof that Telos EVM is ready to accept virtually any project and development and allows teams to build real solutions in such a short time frame is impressive. We are proud that our work enables the Ethereum communities to migrate and deploy on tEVM in a breeze." Douglas Horn,, Strategy and Vision, Telos Core Development On behalf of the entire Team, we want to also thank our friends at Taikai ( https://taikai.network ) for their outstanding support and incredible platform - built on Telos. Some take away notes from the dApps: The majority of these teams have built a dAPP on Telos for the first time. All were excited about easy deployment, fanatic technical support, super-fast transactions, overall performance, and extraordinary low cost. The Seven Telos Spark Finalists KluestApp – (Real World #Metaverse) Allows users to create, play, share & monetize interactive experiences using proven cutting-edge augmented reality & geolocation technologies. https://kluest.com/ Telos Spark Bridge - It is a seamless solution for users to access various dApps to effortlessly bridge their tokens between #Telos native and tEVM at a fraction of the cost and effort. https://spark-bridge.tswaps.com/ Chedda - A lending protocol with isolated lending pools and VE token mechanics allows the token holders to direct token emissions to lending pools. https://telos-hackathon.chedda.store/lend Refund - An expense management system for DAOs. The app tracks and files expenses such as fuel, travel, and meals. Refund makes it easier to track and reimburse all the expenses in your DAO. https://github.com/aleksandargolubovic/TelosSparkHackathon Telos Build - A fundraising platform exclusively for the Telos EVM. https://telos.build/about VideoWiki - Turn your Event Audience into #NFT Fan Clubs. Conduct audience drops for your townhalls, launch parties, and AMAs. https://video.wiki/ Shojiru - A proof-of-concept of a native Telos yield optimizer. A yield optimizer with improved tokenomics to provide a further yield to farmers. https://shojiru.netlify.app/ About Telos Live since 2018, Telos Blockchain (ticker: Tlos) is a third-generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts. Telos provides full EVM/Solidity support with fixed low-cost gas fees and no front running. Uniquely, Telos also offers a path to fee-less transactions via its robust native C++ smart contract support. Even while operating as a Net Zero Blockchain, the chain still sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produces blocks in 0.5 second intervals (on a first-in-first-out basis, eliminating front running on the network) and securely validates transactions via a credibly neutral and globally decentralized block producer network. The Telos Blockchain has the throughput needed to facilitate and scale the thriving Metaverse / Web 3.0 better than any other blockchain. Its performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, credible decentralization, and end-user fairness. Telos, harnesses its power by utilizing tight C++ on the frontend and a custom WASM runtime environment on the backend. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

April 22, 2022 04:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Telos Neutralizes its Past and Present Carbon Footprint - Net Zero

Telos Foundation

Telos Blockchain (ticker: TLOS) is thrilled to announce to the billion plus global citizens that proudly celebrate and embrace Earth Day that they now have a carbon-neutral smart contract option. Telos with the consulting aid of Plannet Zero, part of RedShaw Advisors Ltd, a leading carbon risk management and procurement firm, have committed to purchasing sequestration projects that will negate the emissions of the blockchain’s entire history. The offsetting is being performed in the form of biochar, which sequesters carbon (removes it from the atmosphere permanently), versus buying emission avoidance credits. Going Net Zero is the sweet spot that the Telos core developers have been striving to tap into for some time now. Up until now Telos’ energy consumption has been scaled down via decarbonization to bring the energy consumption down to less than 0.000002 kWh per transaction. This was monumental when compared to Bitcoins’ 2,258.49 kWh per transaction, Ethereum’s 238.22 kWh per transaction or even Visa’s ~0.00148 kWh per transaction where Telos is still a massive ~740x less. This was a great stride, and the team is very proud of this achievement, but it was still short of the goal of becoming environmentally invisible. Plannet Zero worked with Telos to calculate their carbon footprint by conducting an analysis to quantify the Telos blockchain’s energy consumption over the life of the chain. This analysis dated back to the first block ever generated, late 2018. Now, Telos is continuing to work closely with Plannet Zero to validate Telos’ emissions profile and carbon reduction purchases. Telos has also already allocated the funds needed to continue sequestering the equivalent release of carbon by the blockchain into the future. The commitment made was to first neutralize the carbon footprint of the past and then to continue neutralizing the carbon footprint as needed. As a result, Telos will now be a Net Zero Layer 1 blockchain that is still ludicrously fast, inexpensive, not congested, credibly neutral, decentralized, easy to deploy on and free of any front running / MEV. “dApps now running on the tEVM will be running carbon neutral smart contracts by default. The same neutrality umbrellas over all the end users minting and trading NFTs or coins on the Telos Blockchain. There is something bigger than all of us to be said about this achievement!” AJ Dinger, Telos Head of Business Development In addition to offsetting the blockchain’s carbon footprint, Telos in conjunction with Plannet Zero, is in the final stages of meeting all carbon neutral requirements for Scope 1, Scope 2 and operational scope 3 emissions for every aspect of Telos, including Telos Foundation and Telos Core Development staff. The carbon offset will be all encompassing and will be in full compliance with BSI PAS 2060 and will be verified by BSI. About Telos Live since 2018, Telos Blockchain (ticker: Tlos) is a third-generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts. Telos provides full EVM/Solidity support with fixed low-cost gas fees and no front running. Uniquely, Telos also offers a path to fee-less transactions via its robust native C++ smart contract support. Even while operating as a Net Zero Blockchain, the chain still sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produces blocks in 0.5 second intervals (on a first-in-first-out basis, eliminating front running on the network) and securely validates transactions via a credibly neutral and globally decentralized block producer network. The Telos Blockchain has the throughput needed to facilitate and scale the thriving Metaverse / Web 3.0 better than any other blockchain. Its performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, credible decentralization, and end-user fairness. Telos, harnesses its power by utilizing tight C++ on the frontend and a custom WASM runtime environment on the backend. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

April 22, 2022 09:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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SFAA Annual Meeting Highlights Landmark Legislative Wins and Accomplishments and Initiatives; Membership Elects Board

SFAA

The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA), a nonprofit, nonpartisan trade association representing all segments of the surety and fidelity industry, held its annual meeting last week with more than 175 members and guests attending. John Welch, SFAA chair and president and CEO, CNA Surety, and Lee Covington, SFAA president and CEO, presided over the event each providing updates on SFAA’s accomplishments from the past year and ongoing initiatives. Welch opened the meeting by emphasizing how amazing it was to finally be back in person after 2 years of “Zoom” meetings and thanked members for their leadership and contributions to SFAA’s work. The SFAA Membership then elected the Board of Directors, adding two new members to the Board: Steve Lubin, President, Surety Division, Crum & Forster and Stephen Ruschak, Executive Vice President, Arch Surety. Covington provided updates on SFAA’s advocacy accomplishments and goals, SFAA PAC, and SFAA’s Strategic Priorities, in addition to the results from the 2022-Member Survey, which showed a dramatic increase in SFAA’s effectiveness in all categories since the 2019 Member Survey. A “Year in Review” video celebrating SFAA’s accomplishments throughout 2021 was shared, which included the 97-0 Senate vote on the SFAA TIFIA-bonding amendment to the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The video also highlighted the successful launch of the SFAA and NASBP Contractor Bonding Education and Mentoring Program for minority and other disadvantaged or emerging contractors, as well as an update on a record year for the SFAA Foundation’s Intern and Scholarship Program for underrepresented college students, with 17 internships and scholarships awarded totaling $85,000. The winners of the 2021 Surety Industry Awards were announced via a celebratory video and those in attendance were invited to the stage to accept their award. Charlie Cook, a renowned political analyst, then took the stage and delivered an impactful keynote presentation, captivating the audience with his uncanny and deep insights into the current political landscape in Washington, D.C. and across the country. To end the meeting, two leading political and policy experts, Mike Nielson of CGCN Group and Kichelle Webster from Stewart Strategies, participated in an insightful “Inside the Beltway” panel discussion moderated by SFAA’s president and CEO Lee Covington. The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan trade association representing all segments of the surety and fidelity industry. Based in Washington, D.C., SFAA works to promote the value of surety and fidelity bonding by proactively advocating on behalf of its members and stakeholders. The association’s more than 425 member companies write 98 percent of surety and fidelity bonds in the U.S. For more information visit www.surety.org. Contact Details Peter Roth +1 703-401-0676 proth@surety.org Company Website https://surety.org/

April 21, 2022 12:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time

SFAA Elects Board of Directors, New Chair, and Officers

SFAA

The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA), a nonprofit, nonpartisan trade association representing all segments of the surety and fidelity industry, held its Annual Meeting and Board of Directors meeting on April 14 and 15, 2022. During the Annual Meeting on Wednesday, April 14 th the SFAA membership elected the SFAA Board of Directors and during the Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, April 15 th the Board elected the Officers and Executive Committee Members: Officers and Executive Committee Members Robert Murray, SFAA Chair, Head of Surety, Zurich North America Robert Raney, SFAA Vice-Chair, Head of Construction Surety, Travelers Companies John F. Welch, SFAA Past-Chair, President & CEO, CNA Surety Group Rick Ciullo, Chief Operating Officer, The Hartford Insurance Group Mike Keimig, President & CEO, Markel Surety Corporation Timothy Mikolajewski, President, Global Surety, Liberty Mutual Group Stephen Ruschak, Executive Vice President Surety, Arch Insurance Group Other Elected Board Members Antonio C. Albanese, Head of Surety, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company Ken Bearley, President – Bond Division, Great American Insurance Companies Ken Chapman, Executive Vice President – Surety, IAT Insurance Group Stephen M. Haney, Division President, North America Surety & CUO, Global Surety, Chubb Surety James Kawiecki, President of Surety, Hanover Insurance Group Matt Lubin, President, Surety Division, Crum & Forster Alan Pavlic, President/COO, Old Republic Surety Group Sarina Puccio, Head of Credit and Surety, Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. Michael Seff, Head of Surety, Intact Insurance Specialty Solutions Gary Stumper, National Surety Leader, Westfield Group Larry Taylor, President, Merchants Bonding Company Group The board welcomed newly elected board members Steve Lubin (Crum & Forster) and Stephen Ruschak (Arch Surety) and recognized outgoing board members Steve Anderson (Swiss Re) and Nancy Giordan-Ramos (Main Street America) for their outstanding service on the board and to the industry. The board also thanked John Welch for his leadership and contributions to the industry during his two years of service as SFAA Chair. The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan trade association representing all segments of the surety and fidelity industry. Based in Washington, D.C., SFAA works to promote the value of surety and fidelity bonding by proactively advocating on behalf of its members and stakeholders. The association’s more than 425 member companies write 98 percent of surety and fidelity bonds in the U.S. For more information visit www.surety.org. Contact Details Peter Roth +1 703-401-0676 proth@surety.org Company Website https://surety.org/

April 21, 2022 12:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Telos' Decentralization Rivals that of Bitcoin and Ethereum

Telos Foundation

Telos Blockchain (ticker: TLOS), the world’s most robust and decentralized ESG compliant layer 1 platform and home to the world's fastest, highest capacity EVM (tEVM), derives credible neutrality and decentralization from at least 42 equally distinct validating nodes compared to the much smaller number of major mining pools securing Bitcoin and Ethereum. After a thorough competitive analysis comparing Telos’ decentralization to the decentralization of many of the other top Layer 1 chains, the Foundation has confirmed its assumptions. Based on validator equality and crucial factors regarding architecture and finances, the team confirmed that Telos is indeed one of the leading chains regarding credible neutrality and decentralization. As mining pools lack equality, massive node counts become irrelevant: As depicted in the pie charts above, Telos, via its governance, has maintained an equitable distribution amongst all its active validators and Bitcoin and Ethereum have not. Instead, the mining pools of both Bitcoin and Ethereum have now become centralized. The hypothesis is that over the years the well-funded pools have overtaken the little ones. Despite the substantial number of nodes, to be a credibly neutral peer-to-peer network, the network must also sustain even splits in validator power / responsibilities. Without this equality, the insulating strengths of decentralized peer-to-peer networking becomes significantly degraded. A decentralized network made up of equitable validators adds a powerful layer of insulation against multiple scenarios. For example, a multi-government coalition could potentially implement disruptive regulations or restrictions on blockchain. If only a handful of validators / mining pools need to be targeted, it becomes much easier for those governments to impose their will and degrade the insulation that a peer-to-peer network is supposed to provide. In fact, an event far smaller than this could instantly interrupt some chains from operating as they intended. However, the problem is not just limited to government interference. It is also the potential of a coalition amongst the validator majority that threatens the decentralization and stability of a chain. Despite having many nodes, it appears that for Bitcoin it would take only ~5 large mining pools to form a majority, only ~4 for Ethereum and 22 for Telos (as depicted in the pie charts above). Aside from this significant (4x to 5x) difference, it is also worth noting that the community fairly votes the Telos validators into active slots vs Bitcoin / Ethereum in which the mining pool’s principles are anonymous and can simply buy their way into a majority position. Hence, the centralization and lack of credible neutrality that has now formed. Credible neutrality cannot exist in an environment in which control and influence is exerted by small groups of well-funded people. This move towards validator centralization also leads to neutrality questions that are impossible to answer. For example, are the validator majorities' ambitions in line with what is best for the chain or themselves? To put the potential gravity of this into perspective one needs to understand that the principal/s of a majority sized mining pool can easily be a crime syndicate, and no one would know about it due to the anonymity. In fact, all the major mining pools can hypothetically be owned by crime syndicates, and no one would ever know. In contrast to this, with chain-governed validator equality and ongoing fair community voting, these credibility and neutrality questions are simply non-existing issues. In fact, all these chain degrading scenarios are exactly what the Telos architecture and governance have insulated against. As a chain’s validator network becomes unequal in size; the more it will move towards centralization, the more its neutrality will become biased and the more these chain breakdown scenarios may become a reality. Insider allocation cost blockchain’s their credible neutrality: Being that Telos was a 100% bootstrap project (95% of the coins airdropped to the community, 5% were used as equal pay to the almost 150 contributors, no insider handouts, and no ICO), the team already knew that its insider allocation was at the same level as Bitcoin’s beginnings, zero. Telos is the only L1 chain besides Bitcoin to have ever reached this stage of maturity while still maintaining zero insider allocation. All the other L1 chains are believed to be centralized and unable to become credibly neutral public infrastructure due to their insider allocation (click here to see). With this being noted, these chains will most likely never be utilized by governments as a legal tender and dApps depending on this infrastructure will never be 100% insulated by the full power of credible neutrality and decentralization. Telos Decentralization: Since its inception, the validators of the Telos Blockchain are both equally sized and regionally / globally diversified. Plus, no ungoverned wallet is known to hold more than 2% of the chain. From chain architecture to finances, decentralization and neutrality are of the highest priority for the chain. Over the last 4 years, Telos has grown into a truly utopian blockchain option for both private and public infrastructure. It is ludicrously fast, very inexpensive, extremely energy efficient, credibly neutral, non-congested, super easy to deploy on and the only chain that fully insulates the public from the front running / MEV that is plaguing Ethereum. Decentralization Highlights: Telos is the only third generation layer 1 blockchain to have never done an ICO [initial coin offering] and this non-action alone insulates the chain greatly regarding insider collusion and the SEC security law suits. Telos, at its inception, electively chose to stay a bootstrap project and rise in the same fashion as Bitcoin. All other third generation layer 1 chains (including Ethereum) have done ICOs and will more than likely be forced to file with the SEC as securities. The former and current SEC Chairman have both expressed that every ICO [initial coin offering] they have seen are indeed securities, that they have jurisdiction, and that federal securities laws apply. The validating architecture of other networks might be structured via peer-to-peer architecture, but they are not credibly decentralized due to the distribution of monetary / voting / validating power. Again, insider allocation is non-existent and as you can see above in the pie charts depicting validator decentralization, Telos Validators are proportionally equal. Telos governance has the fairest voting system in existence, called Telos Decide. It is tamper-proof and secured by the Tlos coins that investors own. A coin holder can vote on behalf of the coins they hold and rely on outcomes that do not require any further human involvement. No other Layer 1 offers this level of automated community fairness. Especially because the Telos governance documents may be dynamically amended by the votes of the coin holders in a process that is entirely controlled by on-chain smart contracts. Governments, investors, dApp creators, and end users need not forget that the fundamental features which bring the most value to blockchain are credible neutrality and decentralization. With credible neutrality and decentralization the following attributes are all significantly enhanced: Utility Redundancy Security / Trust Individual Financial Independence dApp Sovereignty Fair Voting Legal Tender The actions and inactions of Telos are driven by the belief that the public and private sectors require credibly neutral blockchain infrastructure in a third-generation capable format. Credible neutrality, ludicrously fast speeds, energy efficiency, and super low-cost transactions make Telos the perfect crypto currency for the global internet and for the people. About Telos Live since 2018, Telos Blockchain (ticker: Tlos) is a third-generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts. Telos provides full EVM/Solidity support with fixed low-cost gas fees and no front running. Uniquely, Telos also offers a path to fee-less transactions via its robust native C++ smart contract support. Utilizing less than 0.000002 kWh per transaction, the chain can sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produce blocks in 0.5 second intervals on a first-in-first-out basis (eliminating front running on the network) and securely validate transactions via a credibly neutral and globally decentralized block producer network. The Telos Blockchain has the throughput needed to facilitate and scale the thriving Metaverse / Web 3.0 better than any other blockchain. Its performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, credible decentralization, and end-user fairness. Telos, harnesses its power by utilizing tight C++ on the frontend and a custom WASM runtime environment on the backend. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

April 20, 2022 10:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Agora Data Named as NIADA National Corporate Partner

Agora

Agora Data, whose suite of resources empowers independent auto dealers and finance companies to finance more non-prime customers, continues as a National Corporate Partner by the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association (NIADA). Agora is committed to leveling the playing field for non-prime auto loan originators, a market that has long been underserved and underbanked. The company plans to offer NIADA's 20,000 independent dealers the same advantages typically reserved for big franchise operations. For example, Agora made history with the first-ever crowdsourced subprime securitizations in the auto industry. They were completed in December 2020 and May 2021, and more securitizations are underway. Agora also recently unveiled the first-ever reducing interest rate line of credit. These new offerings pave the way to an unlimited borrowing capacity, the lowest interest rates, and the highest advances without requiring personal guarantees. The company combines its innovative financial solutions with a groundbreaking technology platform that calculates the book value of non-prime auto loans. Dealers and finance companies can now determine the value of their portfolios using Agora's patent pending predictive modeling. With this information, dealers can track the performance of their portfolios and optimize the capital they need to fuel growth by using a line of credit or by opportunistically selling a portion of their loans. "A single objective drives Agora - to remove the barriers dealers and finance companies face when attempting to access needed capital." said Steve Burke, CEO of Agora Data, Inc. "As a former Buy Here Pay Here dealer, I know firsthand how tough this industry can be for even the brightest entrepreneurs. It is amazing how auto loan originators can grow when the odds are stacked against them, so imagine what they can accomplish if these obstacles are removed." NIADA has been supporting independent dealers for 75 years, so it is the perfect fit for a strategic industry partner, says Burke. "NIADA built its reputation on connecting dealers with the most effective solutions providers in our industry. Agora is honored to continue being counted among those trailblazers." Agora Data will be attending and exhibiting at the upcoming NIADA Convention & Expo being held June 20-23, 2022, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. The company plans to announce and demonstrate many innovative advancements, all designed to fuel growth for dealers and finance companies. About Agora Data, Inc: Agora Data's platform delivers a suite of tools to empower independent auto dealers and finance companies to finance non-prime customers. Agora's family of auto finance products provides a wide range of critical funding paths so originators can obtain the cash they need to fuel growth, compete, and build wealth. Powered by patent pending technology, originators now have access to robust data analytics and planning resources to help optimize the performance of their portfolios. Agora Data made history by closing the first-ever crowdsourced subprime auto securitization in 2020 and followed that up with its second transaction in early 2021. For more information, visit agoradata.com or contact us at 877-592-4672. Contact Details Shelly Vandeven +1 682-282-4130 media@agoradata.com Company Website https://agoradata.com/

April 18, 2022 09:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Industrial Defender Unveils New Standalone OT Vulnerability Management Solution, Immunity by ID™

Industrial Defender

Industrial Defender, the leader in operational technology (OT) security, today announced the launch of Immunity by ID™, a new cloud-based offering that helps industrial security teams turn their OT asset inventory information into a risk-based vulnerability management program. The product is offered as a standalone solution or as an add-on within the Industrial Defender platform. Using current OT hardware and software inventory information from an asset visibility tool, CMDB or spreadsheet, this vendor-agnostic solution generates a prioritized list of vulnerabilities based on asset criticality and risk level, along with applicable patching data, to help keep critical infrastructure secure in the face of global cybersecurity threats. Immunity by ID is up and running in a matter of days, allowing users to begin their vulnerability management program immediately, and simple, transparent pricing lets them easily scale a subscription as they mature. “With the looming threat of a global cyber war, critical infrastructure organizations of all sizes are looking for straightforward solutions that rapidly deliver actionable intelligence to help them protect their essential systems,” said Peter Lund, CTO at Industrial Defender. “We created this tool to help companies better utilize the asset information they already have that may be nothing more than a data dump right now. Unlike other OT vulnerability management offerings on the market, ours is powered by an anonymized cloud, so as soon as a vulnerability is published, you'll know whether a device is at risk without waiting for the next software update.” Industrial Defender will be offering a free 14-day trial of Immunity by ID to qualified users at North American and European critical infrastructure companies through the end of May to support their efforts to shore up cybersecurity defenses. For more information, visit https://www.industrialdefender.com/immunity-by-industrial-defender/. About Industrial Defender Since 2006, Industrial Defender has been solving the challenge of safely collecting, monitoring, and managing OT asset data at scale, while providing cross-functional teams with a unified view of security. Their specialized solution is tailored to complex industrial control system environments by engineers with decades of hands-on OT experience. Easy integrations into the broader security and enterprise ecosystem empower IT teams with the same visibility, access, and situational awareness that they’re accustomed to on corporate networks. Learn more at www.industrialdefender.com. Contact Details Erin Anderson +1 617-675-4206 eanderson@industrialdefender.com Company Website https://www.industrialdefender.com

April 14, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Raw materials platform Zaraye raises $2.1m in Tiger Global’s first pre-seed investment in Pakistan

Zaraye

Karachi based business-to-business raw materials marketplace Zaraye raises $2.1mn in their pre-seed round from Tiger Global and Zayn Capital. Other investors include +92 Ventures, Alan Rutledge, Jack Rizvi, and current and former Careem employees holding key positions in their tenures. This is Tiger Global’s first pre-seed investment in Pakistan. Founded in late 2021, Zaraye helps manufacturing businesses procure raw materials and finance the working capital. It is currently serving clients across textile and construction industries, with over 300 partners and suppliers spread out in 20+ cities. Pakistan’s industrial manufacturing sector contributes to 20% of the country’s economy with a $35bn raw material market annually with raw materials contributing 60-65% of the total costs for the manufacturers. In conditions where net margins are thin, finding efficiency in costs becomes critical for these businesses to win orders and sustain against competition locally and globally. Additionally, SMEs have always found acquiring financing a huge battle for their businesses from financial institutions, and are forced to turn to informal markets with ~2.5x premiums. Ahsan Ali Khan, co-founder and CEO of Zaraye commented: “We aim to strengthen the backbone of the country’s economy by helping the entrepreneurs in finding avenues to optimize and scale. Zaraye will help our partners to compete locally and globally as they find more savings in time and money to create the best products. With the confidence of amazing investors in Zaraye, we are geared to supercharge our mission to reach millions of users”. Traditionally a manufacturer would connect with a handful of intermediaries or directly with the suppliers with a tedious process of going through multiple phone calls, and wait for them to furnish rates. This process is longer, tedious and brings very limited options for the buyers to make a decision. With Zaraye, buyers of raw materials can simply post their requirements for the required product and the relevant suppliers can furnish quotes in real time making the information for buying decisions vast and quick. At the same time, the suppliers can access consolidated demand volumes with the vast network of buyers on Zaraye’s platform. Faisal Aftab, Managing Partner & Co-Founder of Zayn Capital BitRate Fund commented: “Procurement in the manufacturing industry is a massive problem with similar models showing immense success in comparable markets. We believe in the Zaraye team and their capabilities in solving this problem in Pakistan. We’re super excited to be a part of their journey.” Zaraye is available across platforms with their iOS, android and web app. The platform helps buyers of raw materials connect with multitude of suppliers who furnish their quotes in real-time making the process faster and hassle free. Zaraye was founded by IBA class fellows Taha Iqbal Teli, Hashair Junaid Ahmedani and Ahsan Ali Khan who worked together at multiple instances throughout their academic and professional careers. Taha and Ahsan have been part of the tech ecosystem for the past 5 years with experience at giants like Careem and Swvl. Ahsan led Swvl’s Travel category for Pakistan in his last stint, while Taha led the TaaS product for Karachi before launching the Daewoo Adda, a logistics product for transportation’s leading player Daewoo. Meanwhile, Hashair after completing his post-graduate degree at the University of Bath, where studied with Taha he returned to Pakistan to join his family business in Karachi. Hashair soon found his passion in the hospitality industry introducing Czech and Levantian cuisine to Pakistan with two successful ventures while building an FMCG brand for imported coffee from Latin Amercia. Hashair Junaid Ahmedani, co-founder of Zaraye added: “Small and medium business owners have been trapped in a cycle of high competition and lack of financing options- Zaraye aims to help these businesses scale as they find the efficiencies in procurement and financing options to make better decisions for their businesses.” Taha Iqbal Teli, co-founder of Zaraye said “Our goal is to help these entrepreneurs focus on manufacturing and selling their products. Zaraye will handle the entire procurement process, all the way from getting quotes, assuring quality, delivering to their doorsteps with any after-sales assistance our partners might require. Our partners remain at the heart of all our endeavors and we believe this massive problem cannot be solved without a world class team. As we build great solutions for our customers, we are always on the lookout for great talent and I would encourage everyone who feels passionately about building solutions at scale that make lives easy and loved by customers to apply away.” Having worked together on multiple projects, the three came together to solve one of the biggest problems faced by the manufacturing industry in emerging markets. Hashair’s experience while working with his family business was critical in understanding the problems faced by the businessmen and how they operate. The team amalgamates context from legacy businesses and building modern solutions at scale. Zaraye has built a strong team with experience from Swvl, PWC UK chapter, Daraz and Louis Dreyfus and their tech team is led by Asif Ali, ex-CTO Cheetay. About Zaraye Founded in late 2021, Zaraye helps manufacturing businesses procure raw materials and finance the working capital. It is currently serving clients across textile and construction industries, with over 300 partners and suppliers spread out in 20+ cities. Zaraye is available across platforms with their iOS, android and web app. The platform helps buyers of raw materials connect with multitude of suppliers who furnish their quotes in real-time making the process faster and hassle free. About Tiger Global Management Tiger Global Management is an investment firm focused on public and private companies in the global internet, software, consumer,and financial technology industries. Tiger Global has been an investor in companies such as Facebook, Stripe, Uber, Coinbase, Byju’s, Instacart, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, Postmates, Quora, Spotify and others. About Zayn Capital Zayn Capital is an investment firm providing debt and equity financing to start-ups in Pakistan with occasional opportunistic bets in the region. It was founded by Faisal Aftab and Faisal Chowdhry who both serve as managing partners of the Venture Capital firm. Zayn Capital has made 20 investments with lead investments in Nayapay, Bagallery, Krave Mart and Bookme.pk among others. Their team is made up of seasoned executives, investors, founders, and operators who partner and support startups in Pakistan. For more information, please visit https://www.zayn.capital/ Contact Details Zaraye Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website http://www.zaraye.co/

April 14, 2022 07:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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NAMEPA receives grant from Cargill to implement program for educating students to become Marine Environment Protectors

North American Marine Environment Protection Association

The North American Marine Environmental Protection Association (NAMEPA) has received funding from Cargill to implement an afterschool enrichment program for youth in grades 6-8 in underserved communities in the greater Miami area with a goal to educate and activate students to be “Marine Environment Protectors”. The project will help “Save Our Seas” by encouraging this generation to become responsible stewards of the marine environment through hands-on educational programs and projects. NAMEPA’s Marine Environment Protectors program increases ocean literacy among underrepresented youth, highlights workforce development in marine fields, allows for long-term scientific research, and creates a framework for similar projects to expand across North America. “Cargill believes in being strong community partners and actively supports valuable programs that protect and promote our planet,” explained Jan-Willem van den Dijssel, Cargill’s Americas Lead for Ocean Transportation. “We are partnering with NAMEPA to help foster ocean literacy amongst students of today and steer them to become ocean ambassadors of tomorrow. This program supports this goal and will drive lasting positive change.” NAMEPA Co-Founder and Executive Director Carleen Lyden Walker commented, “ NAMEPA is grateful to Cargill Cares Community Fund for providing opportunities for organizations such as NAMEPA to engage with students in local communities to be better overall stewards. Marine Environment Protectors will provide hands-on educational programming by utilizing the natural environment, scientific instrumentation, and immersive classroom instruction. This funding allows NAMEPA to continue our educational outreach toward the goal of activating communities to ‘Save Our Seas’.” CARGILL - Cargill’s 155,000 employees across 70 countries work relentlessly to achieve our purpose of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. Every day, we connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients, and people and animals with the food they need to thrive. We combine 157 years of experience with new technologies and insights to serve as a trusted partner for food, agriculture, financial and industrial customers in more than 125 countries. Side-by-side, we are building a stronger, sustainable future for agriculture. NAMEPA - The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) is a marine industry-led organization of environmental stewards preserving the marine environment by promoting sustainable marine industry best practices and educating seafarers, students and the public about the need and strategies for protecting global ocean, lake and river resources. Visit us at www.namepa.net. Contact Details NAMEPA Carleen Lyden Walker +1 203-260-0480 executivedirector@namepa.net Company Website https://namepa.net/

April 12, 2022 03:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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