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Volatus Aerospace to Acquire MVT Geo-Solutions Inc., a Quebec-based Geomatics Service Company

Volatus Aerospace Corp.

Volatus Aerospace Corp. (TSXV: VOL) (“Volatus”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MVT Geo-Solutions Inc. (“MVT”), a Quebec, Canada-based leader in geomatics innovations. MVT’s team of geomatics scientists, engineers, and other professionals combine the technologies and knowledge necessary for the acquisition and processing of various types of data used to study Earth, its phenomena and its resources. Services include data collection, processing, and analysis to a variety of industries including civil engineering, transport, hydrography, natural resource management, forestry, and public safety. MVT had unaudited revenues of C$1.4M in 2021 including geomatics services, equipment sales and training with a net profit margin of 12%. Key Highlights of the Transaction: Expands Volatus footprint in Quebec, one of the largest markets in Canada Increased expertise in geomatics Scalable relationships with some of Canada’s largest companies Established agreements with key equipment manufacturers can be scaled across the Volatus network “Volatus has long seen MVT as the leader in geomatics and drone services in the Quebec market. Adding their capabilities and regional market presence is an important step for Volatus and consistent with our mission to lead consolidation in the markets we serve,” stated Glen Lynch, CEO of Volatus. “Under the continued leadership of its CEO Maude Pelletier, our objective is for MVT to propagate its expertise across Volatus and leverage our scale to expand existing customer relationships from regional to national and international.” “Since its beginning in 2016, MVT has built strong relationships by delivering innovative geomatics services throughout Quebec and Eastern Canada,” said Maude Pelletier. “Joining Volatus provides the resources, scale and market presence to help accelerate MVT’s growth and contribute to the overall capabilities of Volatus.” The total consideration payable in connection with the acquisition of 100% of MVT shares is $1,200,000 CAD, which will consist of: (i) $850,000 CAD paid in cash; and (ii) the balance in common shares of Volatus having a value of $350,000 CAD, calculated based on the last closing price of the Volatus common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange prior to the closing of the acquisition. The acquisition is expected to accelerate growth through MVT’s leverage of the Volatus sales and marketing resources, North American pilot network, and Volatus’ strengths in agriculture, façade inspections, and cargo solutions. Volatus intends to leverage MVT’s geomatics capabilities, and technical strengths, particularly with respect to LiDAR, throughout its existing operations. This transaction is subject to a number of customary conditions including TSX Venture Exchange approval and due diligence. The scheduled closing date is February 28 th. About Volatus Aerospace: Volatus Aerospace Corp. is a leading provider of integrated drone solutions throughout Canada, the United States, and Latin America. Operating a vast pilot network, Volatus serves commercial and defense markets with imaging and inspection, security and surveillance, equipment sales and support, training, and design, manufacturing, and R&D. Through its subsidiary Volatus Aviation, Volatus carries on the business of aircraft management, charter sales, and cargo services using piloted, remotely piloted, and autonomous aircraft. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Corporation with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” (or other variations of the foregoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information includes information regarding (i) the expectation that the acquisition described will close; (ii) the anticipated benefits to Volatus and its stakeholders from the acquisition; (iii) the effects of the acquisition on the business of Volatus and MVT and (iv) the business plans and expectations of the Corporation. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans, strategies or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. For instance, conditions to the closing of the proposed acquisition may not be satisfied and closing may not occur within the anticipated time frame, if at all and anticipated benefits to the acquisition may not materialize. Readers are referred to the risk factors associated with Volatus’ business described in Volatus’ management information circular dated November 14, 2021, and filed on www.SEDAR.com on November 16, 2021. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Source: Volatus Aerospace Corp. TSXV: VOL Contact Details Volatus Aerospace Corp. Rob Walker, Chief Operating Officer +1 514-447-7986 rob.walker@volatusaerospace.com Company Website https://volatusaerospace.com

February 01, 2022 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Customer Experience Equally Important as Price for Today’s Modern Consumer

imimobile

Good customer service is a key driver of repeat business, according to 75% of respondents 61% are willing to pay more for a better experience and 55% would change brands to receive better customer service Different generations have varying levels of comfort for different service needs, such as 19% of both Gen Z and young millennials would use social media to ask questions about a product/service compared to 4% of Baby Boomers, and 71% of Gen Z respondents would use a digital channel to manage orders, reservations and appointments compared to only 32% of Baby Boomers 47% of respondents say they believe good customer service is more important now than it was 12 months ago, pointing to integrated paths of communication in the physical and digital worlds being critical.To learn more about the findings, download the full report here. Customer experience (CX) has become as pivotal as price when it comes to purchasing decisions, demonstrating its importance to business success and a conversation that must break into the boardroom, according to research published today by global cloud communications software and solutions provider, imi mobile, part of Webex. The findings indicated a growing challenge for brands to balance and deliver three customer experience elements across all customer touchpoints – resolution, customer rapport and relevance, which imi mobile has designated the “CX Trilemma” and points to CX as a major business imperative. The inaugural “ 2022 CX Trilemma Report,” surveyed 2,000-plus U.S. and U.K consumers about qualities for good customer experience and presents findings that uncover shifting consumer preferences. Specifically, the report reveals preferences for how and when respondents want to engage and communicate with their favorite brands and businesses. Some key highlights: “Customers expect brands to meet them through their preferred channel, at their desired time with the information they require, and businesses who aren’t scaling to deliver against this increasing customer expectation will fade away,” said Jay Patel, VP & GM, Webex CPaaS. “The good news is that world-class CX can now be delivered by cloud-based technology. There are easy-to-use, multi-channel cloud communication platforms that enable businesses to orchestrate and automate their customer interactions on one, central platform, enabling the ability to resolve issues quickly, build rapport with customers and drive relevant experiences. Improving customer experience is the key business priority for 2022 that can directly impact the bottom line.” The CX Trilemma Report reveals that organizations truly committed to solving the CX challenge must support multiple channels and navigate new technology and innovation to not only meet but exceed customer expectations, especially for the Gen Z and millennials who are increasingly using more digital channels. For organizations serving multiple demographics or offering a diverse set of services, one channel simply can’t give every customer a satisfying journey. Resolution: Resolving customer problems, queries, and complaints, while being proactive with updates on products and services remain a cornerstone of a great customer experience. Respondents identified simplicity (79%), consistency (78%), speed (76%) and convenience (73%) as fundamental to resolution. Furthermore, 75% of respondents said quick resolutions influence repeat transactions. Rapport: Those surveyed called out brands for displaying a lack of empathy, transparency, and honesty as well as an inability to understand frustrations as reasons for a poor customer experience and dissuades them from using a brand or business altogether. Of this, 64% cited repeating information to different teams and having to proactively chase agents as leading factors for poor customer experience, which can also lead to negative word-of-mouth, reviews, and a tarnished reputation. Relevance: In a post-pandemic era, relevance is becoming an increasingly important part of the customer experience mix – communicating with customers on the channels they want to use, meeting them where they are and at the most convenient time (67%) while also delivering relevant, personalized communications are key for successful customer engagement (60%). What’s more, the findings unveil that every generation, industry, and region have varying preferences in regard to channels, when to be contacted and personalization of communications. “Finding the right communications mix for your customers requires a deep, nuanced understanding of them and your processes, and they are very different to those of just two years ago. To reach them in the right way, businesses need communications that work best for everyone, and this requires technical capabilities and expertise to orchestrate end-to-end customer journeys across multiple channels.” stated Patel. While you can support multiple communications channels manually, technologies such as Enterprise CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) make it easier to manage multiple channels, comply with regulations, and deliver a consistent, connected customer experience. About imimobile imimobile, part of Webex, provides cloud communications software and services that manage business-critical customer interactions at scale. We believe that customer experience is the key competitive advantage for consumer businesses. So, we’re creating a world where enterprises can stay constantly connected to their customers. A world where every touchpoint, on every channel, is an opportunity to deliver rich, engaging, intuitive experiences. Our API and low-code Communications Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) offering enables large enterprises to automate, orchestrate and monitor their customer interactions all on one platform. This helps businesses to lower costs, reduce complexity and accelerate IT roadmaps. Our innovative platform and applications are being used at scale today by blue-chip global enterprises and leading public-sector organizations to deliver smarter customer interactions, such as AA, Best Buy, BT, Capitec Bank, Centrica, EE, IHG, Mercedes, Orange, O2, Vodafone and Walgreens. The business was acquired by Cisco Systems in February 2021 and has global offices across the UK, USA, Canada, India, and South Africa. www.imimobile.com. Contact Details Kite Hill PR Michael Kocher +1 704-960-2295 michael@kitehillpr.com

February 01, 2022 12:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

Minuteman Press Franchise in Winter Park, FL Celebrates 25 Years and Shares Secrets to Longevity and Growth

Minuteman Press International Inc

In 1996, Linda Sang decided to leave the corporate world and join the Minuteman Press franchise family, and she is now celebrating 25 years in business. Linda’s daughter Darcy has been along for the ride, saying in a recent newsletter, “It was a world that none of us knew anything about, but would quickly learn as every available hand was recruited to answer phones, hand collate and staple jobs and market the business for our intrepid leader. And we have been doing it ever since.” Being in business for over 25 years, Linda shares her biggest keys to longevity and growth. She says, “We keep pushing to get new customers in various methods. The pandemic initially cut down on the door-to-door marketing that has always been successful in the past for us. We currently do more social media, thanks to my daughter, Darcy, and some direct mail campaigns targeting local businesses and new businesses.” Linda continues, “We are also very attentive to our customers, keeping them informed and helping them find solutions/options for their needs. We respond to emails almost instantly and turn quotes around as quickly as possible, generally the same day if there isn’t a lot of research involved. When we make deliveries, each customer gets a ‘goody bag’ with notepads and other branded items. Many customers get excited about our deliveries, sometimes even more so for our giveaways rather than their finished jobs.” Over the past two years, Linda and her team have utilized various digital and print marketing tools available to them. She says, “We have gotten more into social media than in the past and have worked on getting high Google ratings, as customers do look at reviews. We do find that we are getting a lot of requests from Google and the Minuteman Press Internet Marketing program. We also test out the suggested methods from Minuteman Press corporate (such as the lumpy mailer and direct mail campaigns) and see what works best for us and our customer base. Otherwise, we are simply doing what we have always done through the years… provide solid customer relations.” What’s next for Minuteman Press in Winter Park? Linda says, “We hope to grow this year by reaching out to new prospective customers and generate more referrals.” Lastly, Linda reflects on the family business and says, “In our case, Darcy and I work together well and have the same goals and work ethic. My husband, Kelly, is semi-retired and helps out when we need him. When you have this situation, you don’t have to worry about someone showing up to work or leaving for other opportunities. There is always loyalty. We also find it key to treat our employees as if they are family as well. Not only does it create a pleasant working environment, but loyalty builds as well. We work lean and mean, which makes for some long days, but when you trust your employees and family, it is truly a joy.” For more information on Minuteman Press in Winter Park, FL, visit https://minuteman.com/us/locations/fl/winter-park. For Minuteman Press products and services, visit https://minuteman.com. Learn more about #1 rated Minuteman Press franchise opportunities and read Minuteman Press franchise reviews at https://minutemanpressfranchise.com. Contact Details Minuteman Press International Chris Biscuiti +1 631-249-1370 cbiscuiti@mpihq.com Company Website https://minutemanpressfranchise.com

January 31, 2022 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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National Contract Management Association and Public Spend Forum to Collaborate

National Contract Management Association

The National Contract Management Association (NCMA) has entered a partnership with the Public Spend Forum (PSF) to support small business and new entrants to government contracting. “The Public Spend Forum team has been a powerful supporter of the Federal mission with data, coaching, and training,” said Kraig Conrad, NCMA CEO. "The timing of this partnership is perfect given Executive Orders and strong drives to expand traditional and non-traditional entrants." PSF, a provider of comprehensive AI-enabled market data, will share information on entrants so NCMA can provide learning and networking for those new to government contracting. The NCMA community of local chapters will use this information to welcome new entrants and help them on their journey in support of the Federal mission. PSF will further support this effort by making available their leading content aimed at reducing barriers of entry. “PSF’s mission is to arm public sector buyers and emerging/diverse suppliers with AI-enabled Market Intelligence, collaboration tools, and expert-driven market advice so they can discover each other and work together to deliver impact on critical public missions," said Raj Sharma, PSF CEO and Co-Founder. “I’m personally excited to partner with NCMA to connect and support buyers and suppliers. The National Contract Management Association (NCMA), which was founded in 1959 and is the world’s leading association in the field of contract management. The organization, which has over 18,000 members, is dedicated to the professional growth and educational advancement of procurement and acquisition personnel worldwide. NCMA strives to serve and inform the profession and industry it represents and to offer opportunities for the open exchange of ideas in neutral forums. To find out more, please visit www.ncmahq.org. Contact Details Jennifer Knowlton +1 571-382-1127 jennifer.knowlton@ncmahq.org Company Website https://www.ncmahq.org/

January 31, 2022 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

Personalization and Customization Are an Increasing Part of Customer Experience Strategies in Data-Rich Industries, According to Dash Research

Dash Network

Given the wide range of options for the digital and physical ordering, fulfillment, and after-service care available to both consumers and businesses, a one-size-fits-all approach to customer experience (CX) is not only outdated, but a recipe for driving customers away. According to a new report from Dash Research, that is why providing a personalized and optimized CX remains a widespread goal of both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) companies seeking to create deeper, more customer centric interactions that are the hallmark of driving customer loyalty and a higher amount of repeat business. Providing such a personalized and optimized experience requires a multifaceted approach, which involves understanding each customer’s specific preferences and desires, assessing their typical customer journey from initial contact through post-sales interactions, and ensuring that the organization has unfettered access to the data and software tools to create and nurture these one-to-one experiences. Dash Research’s analysis concludes that the systems and processes required to support this level of tailored experience will drive revenue growth in the global market for CX personalization and optimization software and services from $7.0 billion in 2020 to $11.6 billion by 2026, representing a 65% increase in market size during that forecast period. According to principal analyst Keith Kirkpatrick, “many companies are faced with challenges delivering on their personalization and optimization efforts, often due to the presence of data silos, which prevent applications and agents from easily accessing the information that can limit their ability to identify the preferences, triggers, and processes that are most preferred by customers. Further, an overuse of personalization can negatively impact the CX if customers are questioning how certain personal information was captured, and whether its use feels overly intrusive or even creepy.” Kirkpatrick adds that the growing use of personalization and optimization to improve CX is driven by several internal and external factors, including: A shift to digital sales and marketing efforts has increased the amount of data available for use in personalization Customers increasingly expect personalized and optimized experiences across all channels Personalized offers are driving revenue growth Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) allow more efficient optimization and personalization More organizations are shifting from a traditional sales model to a customer-centric loop approach But despite the demand for increasingly personalized and optimized CX, Dash Research finds that organizations often run into challenges that impact their ability to provide more individual and friction-free experiences, including: Balancing personalization and optimization against feelings of intrusion Data quality issues Data governance, privacy, and security concerns Challenges with shifting sales and marketing approaches from a sales loop to a customer engagement (CE) model Dash Research’s report, “CX Personalization and Optimization”, focuses on the market drivers and barriers to the adoption and use of platforms, applications, and services that enable greater personalization and optimization across all facets of CX. The report also details several B2C and B2B case studies and includes best practices for deploying personalization and optimization within an organization. Market forecasts covering the 2019 to 2026 period for software and services that provide personalization and optimization functionality are provided, covering 20 industries and 5 geographic regions. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the firm’s website. Dash Research, the market intelligence arm of Dash Network, provides in-depth research and insights on the worldwide CX market including a comprehensive assessment of technology solutions, business issues, market drivers, and end-user dynamics across industry sectors. Dash Research’s global market coverage combines qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to provide a complete view of emerging business opportunities surrounding contact center technologies, customer data & analytics, customer data platforms, customer insights & feedback, customer relationship management, personalization & optimization, and employee experience. For more information, visit www.dashresearch.com or call +1.720.603.1700. Contact Details Dash Research Clint Wheelock +1 720-603-1700 press@dashnetwork.com Company Website http://www.dashnetwork.com

January 31, 2022 07:10 AM Eastern Standard Time

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ClickHouse infrastructure provider ChistaDATA raises US$3m as it builds Open Source function

ChistaDATA

ChistaDATA, which aims to build the fastest and the most scalable managed ClickHouse implementations in the world, has raised USD 3 million in a pre-Series A round of funding from Sequoia Capital India. The startup plans to use the funds raised to develop a fully-open source ClickHouse server among other orchestration tools that address automation and DevOps for enterprise-grade ColumnStore solutions. It will also focus on developing ChistaDATA Cloud - a completely autonomous and self-healing cloud-native ClickHouse offering that can be provisioned and paid for by data volume and without requiring customers to think about servers and DevOps. The funds raised will also be used to strengthen the team with research, engineering, marketing, and brand hires. Data powers the modern economy and every enterprise today is making data-driven decisions, based on sophisticated business intelligence to create value for stakeholders across the ecosystem. This has led to a huge demand for cloud data warehouses (CDW) that are typically closed-source and have a high total cost of ownership (TCO). Adding to this, the ever-growing analytics bills predicated on usage-based pricing, complete vendor lock-in (given the sheer volume of critical business data stored and analyzed on these platforms), and compromised platform configurability, which is entirely dependent on the vendor’s product strategy, have emerged as pain points. Notably, the data analytics market is expected to create a value chain of USD 300 billion in the consumer facing internet economy by 2025. The current ecosystem is dominated by the cloud giants and/or closed source solutions, and customers are clamoring for an open-source solution (that preserves their optionality and freedom) that is autonomous and self-managed. Enter ChistaDATA, which is committed to building free and open source enterprise-class ClickHouse for both on-premise and cloud. The startup was founded in 2021 by serial entrepreneur Shiv Iyer who is one of the world’s foremost database experts with over 22 years of experience in open source database systems (both transaction processing systems and ColumnStores) with core expertise in performance, scalability and database reliability engineering. Shiv has worked with some of the largest internet companies like Twitter, Pinterest, Garmin, PayPal, managing approximately 100 PB (consolidated database infrastrastructure size) of data. His passion for database systems performance engineering has driven him to build an open source database systems company for planet-scale internet businesses. ChistaDATA is building the world’s first fully-autonomous ClickHouse server on cloud for data analytics ecosystem with automatic provisioning, scaling, tuning, security, fault tolerance and failover, backup, patching, and more. Interestingly, the ChistaDATA team has forked the original ClickHouse codebase developed by Yandex, a Russian search giant, and re-written it to a great extent, creating their own version called ‘ChistaDATA server for ClickHouse,’ which delivers higher and better performance benchmarks at a lower cost of operation. This implementation, which is entirely compatible with the classic ClickHouse, is ~4X faster through implementation of high performance LSM stores. The 100% open source ClickHouse distribution from ChistaDATA is owned by ChistaDATA Foundation (a not-for-profit committed to building enterprise-class open source ClickHouse and other orchestration tools) and thus, ChistaDATA’s customers will always have access to the open source ChistaDATA ClickHouse server, retaining customers on the back of superior service and ROI, and not on vendor lock-in. "Building a fully open source deep-tech ColumnStore business around ClickHouse for both on-premises and cloud platforms involves long-term commitment to community contributors and other stakeholders of the ecosystem like customers, partners, etc. This also means the core team of ChistaDATA and investors should understand the culture of this business, value creation and impact our platforms make in data-powered economies. When I decided to start ChistaDATA Corporation, my first phone call was to Anandamoy from Sequoia Capital India, he quickly helped us structure the formation of the company. The firm is also a hands-on investor committed to supporting on both, strategic and tactical needs." Shiv Iyer, Founder and Principal of ChistaDATA Inc. “When Shiv told us of his intention to create a managed service around ClickHouse, it represented the confluence of a massive technology trend with a special founder. We’re excited to work with Shiv to build what we believe is a compelling 100% OSS company to emerge from our part of the world.” Anandamoy Roychowdhary, Principal, Sequoia India Some of the world’s largest companies like Orange Telecommunications, Applied Materials, DHL, Netflix, National Geographic, BBC etc. depend on ChistaDATA ClickHouse Support and Managed Services for building optimal, scalable and highly reliable Database Infrastructure Operations for web-scale analytics platforms. As businesses start to scale more dramatically than in the past, managed services are an increasingly popular option for them. managed services provide very strong up-time SLA’s (service level agreements). These are fulfilled by the MSP’s performance and troubleshooting team. ChistaData aims to build the best and most reliable Clickhouse in the cloud with the highest up-time guarantees in 2022 so that its customers will have automatic, adaptive, and relevant diagnostic data collection for any application and automated problem detection, troubleshooting and improvement recommendations. About ChistaDATA ChistaDATA is a full-stack ClickHouse infrastructure operations consulting, support and managed Services provider with core expertise in performance, scalability and data SRE. Headquartered in the US, California, the team is also based in Canada, UK, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Australia, Singapore and India to deliver 24/7 enterprise-class consultative support and managed services. ChistaDATA users include the largest and planetscale internet properties like PayPal, Garmin, Honda cars IoT project, Viacom, National Geographic, Nike, Morgan Stanley, American Express Travel, VISA, Netflix, PRADA, Blue Dart, Carlsberg, Sony, Unilever among others. About Sequoia Capital India Sequoia helps daring founders build legendary companies, from idea to IPO and beyond. Sequoia India operates in Southeast Asia and India where we actively partner with founders from a wide range of companies, across categories, including BYJUs, Carousell, Druva, Gojek, OYO Rooms, Tokopedia, Truecaller, Zilingo, Zomato and more. We spur founders to push the boundaries of what's possible. In partnering with Sequoia, startups benefit from 48 years of tribal knowledge and lessons learned working with companies like Airbnb, Alibaba, Apple, Dropbox, Google, LinkedIn and Stripe early on. From the beginning, non-profits have been the backbone of our LP base, which means founders' accomplishments make a meaningful difference. The majority of our profits are returned to great causes, like the Ford Foundation, Mayo Clinic and MIT. For more information on Sequoia's work in India and SE Asia, visit sequoiacap.com/india Contact Details ChistaDATA Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://chistadata.com/

January 27, 2022 09:15 AM Eastern Standard Time

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SuperOps.ai Raises $14m funding round as it boosts the Managed Service Providers industry

SuperOps.ai

SuperOps.ai, a unified Professional Services Automation ( PSA ) and Remote Monitoring and Management ( RMM ) platform, announces $14 million raised in new funding, enabling the company to disrupt the stagnant Managed Service Providers (MSP) market and take on legacy vendors with its newly launched AI-powered PSA-RMM platform. In beta since May 2021, SuperOps.ai now reveals the launch of its full-service platform, having already worked with over 30 clients to build a platform that meets the needs of MSPs. The Series A fund raise was led by Addition and Tanglin Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors, Matrix Partners India and Elevation Capital, as well as angel investors, Giovanni Sanguily (CEO of Honey CRM), Sidharth Malik (CEO of CleverTap), Noel Wax and Lisa Woods (CEO and COO of Groundswell Group), and Abhi Kumar (Partner at M12 Ventures). As the MSP industry has seen little innovation over the last few decades, customers have been forced to work with clunky, outdated, and slow software. SuperOps.ai has entered the market to change the status quo, providing a unified PSA-RMM platform that is incredibly fast, powerful, intuitive and sleek – a stark contrast to the alternative – primarily on-premise software, known to be disjointed, slow and outdated. According to Arvind Parthiban, SuperOps.ai Co-founder and CEO, “The MSP space is in desperate need of innovation and modern software to replace the existing legacy solutions. Customers have been stuck with bloated and extremely outdated on-premise tools. SuperOps.ai is here to modernize the industry and provide users with smart, AI-powered, cloud-based software that is more efficient and effective. With our AI-powered PSA-RMM platform, clients can now focus on the core business and leave the old hurdles behind.” Multiple surveys and studies have shown that MSPs face several challenges, such as increasing complexity in the tech demands of clients, difficulty in finding capable talent, customer acquisition issues, and struggles of managing multiple tools and platforms. MSPs currently use PSA and RMM tools that were not built to work together and require additional tools and plugins for requirements like IT Documentation or Project Management. SuperOps.ai is a unified PSA-RMM platform, so everything is seamless. All the tools an MSP needs, including IT Documentation or Project Management, is available within the platform. Most importantly, SuperOps.ai is built entirely on the cloud, so MSPs can deploy their services through a tool built with today’s technology and capabilities. In addition, SuperOps.ai boasts a number of features, automations, workflows, and runbooks in ticketing that enable an MSP to proactively deal with their client’s IT issues and be on top of operations. SuperOps.ai has launched Intelligent Alerting to further improve MSP productivity, cutting through the noise and highlighting the alert that is most critical to ensuring happy clients. SuperOps.ai has built their platform by identifying the numerous downfalls of legacy technology. In doing so, they have revealed enormous opportunities for growth and innovation to be realized. The global managed services market is projected to grow from $243.33 billion in 2021 to $557.10 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 12.6% in the forecast period of 2021-28. The MSP industry is estimated to have over 150,000 players—a majority of them SMB businesses employing just a handful of technicians. SuperOps.ai’s investors have also recognized this opportunity and applaud the company’s pioneering efforts in challenging the status quo. “We’re excited to support SuperOps.ai as they bring about a much-needed change in the MSP space, a field that has not yet benefited from the pace of technological innovation seen across most other industries. SuperOps.ai’s vision of bringing AI and automation to MSPs is being driven by an impressive and solutions-focused team, and we look forward to partnering with them as they lead the digital transformation of the MSP market,” said Lee Fixel of Addition. In speaking to these realities, Tarun Davda, Managing Director at Matrix India, remarked, “Arvind and Jayakumar are experts on the MSP market and over the last few months, the SuperOps.ai team has built a category redefining product with exciting customer feedback. We're delighted to be doubling down on our investment in SuperOps.ai as they transform how MSPs operate and welcome Addition and Tanglin to the partnership.” Akarsh Shrivastava, Principal at Elevation Capital, said, “PSA and RMM software form the backbone of MSP operations. Current products used by IT MSPs were created years, if not decades, back. SuperOps.ai has reimagined these products for MSPs, which not only make it extremely easy and seamless for MSPs but also equips them to handle challenges that come with tailwinds like cloud migration and remote work. We have always been fascinated by Arvind and Jay’s understanding of the space and the team they have built. Super excited to double down on our partnership.” The unwavering trends of cloud-first environments, as well as the increased demands and nuances of remote workforce realities, further demonstrate the need for modern technologies that support distributed organizations. SuperOps.ai is now capable and ready to be the innovative force that adapts the industry—improving the effectiveness and efficiency of MSPs and IT delivery service providers globally. About SuperOps.ai SuperOps.ai is a PSA-RMM platform powered by AI and intelligent automation, built for modern MSPs. The company was founded in 2020 by serial entrepreneur Arvind Parthiban and Jayakumar Karumbasalam, who have a combined experience of over 35 years in the IT industry. CEO, Arvind, created the leading marketing automation software—Zarget, which was acquired by Freshworks. Jayakumar, the CTO and CPO, has worked with Zoho, Optus, and Freshworks, where he was heading and building data platforms. Now, both have entered the MSP space to transform the industry, introducing the modern alternative - SuperOps.ai - pioneering a bright future in the market. About Matrix Partners India Matrix Partners India is an investment firm with approximately $1 billion under management. Founded in 2006, the firm invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer and enterprise market at the seed, early, and early growth stages. Matrix India has invested in several market-leading companies such as Ola (mobility), Dailyhunt (mobile local language platform), Razorpay (payments), OfBusiness (B2B Commerce, fintech), Five Star Business Finance (SME lending), Ola Electric (electric vehicles), DealShare (social commerce platform), Stanza Living (tech-enabled student housing platform), OneCard (mobile-first credit card), Country Delight (D2C dairy & fresh foods brand), GoKwik (e-commerce enablement platform), Captain Fresh (seafood marketplace), Bijnis (B2B platform for factories), MoEngage (intelligent marketing cloud platform), Mswipe (mobile POS), Zupee (leading skill-based gaming app) Rockelane (B2B SaaS startup) and Itilite (corporate travel SaaS platform) among others. Matrix India has advisory offices in Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai. Matrix Partners has a global network of funds investing in the US, China, and India, with approximately $5 billion under management. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in. To know more about our investment philosophy & ideologies, check out the #MatrixMoments podcast series. About Elevation Capital Elevation Capital is a leading venture capital firm which provides seed and early stage capital for emerging companies in India. Elevation Capital has been investing in India since 2002 and is currently investing out of its seventh pool of capital. The firm is led by Co-Managing Partners Ravi Adusumalli and Mukul Arora, along with three Managing Directors Mridul Arora, Deepak Gaur and Mayank Khanduja. The firm has invested in over 150 companies across Consumer Internet, SaaS, Fintech, D2C, Edtech, Healthtech and Web3/Crypto, and has offices in Bengaluru, Gurgaon and Salt Lake City. Contact Details SuperOps.ai Radhika P Nair pr@superops.ai Company Website https://superops.ai/

January 27, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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The Customer Experience Market Ecosystem is Being Transformed by a High Level of Consolidation and Investment Activity, According to Dash Research

Dash Network

The customer experience (CX) market ecosystem is a broad web of solutions and technologies aimed at smoothing out a customer’s journey from start to finish and providing a personalized and engaging experience. On the technology provider side, these solutions aim to increase loyalty and satisfaction, optimize revenue, and allow for better targeting and retention. According to a new report from Dash Research, this market landscape has been developing at a rapid pace for more than a decade, however recent shifts in industry priorities and business models are now creating a period of significant change as mergers & acquisitions, investment activity, and new business formation reshape the constellation of market participants. Dash Research’s analysis indicates that COVID-19 in particular has resulted in an abrupt, but sustained move to digital, causing a large increase in the digital customer data stream and a greater focus on housing, analyzing, and interpreting this data. In addition, customers have grown to accept and even look for increased personalization during their customer journey touchpoints, allowing this deluge of data to be leveraged by companies aiming for deeper relationships and more engagement. “The CX market itself encompasses large players, such as Oracle or Adobe, as well as smaller companies carving out a niche in areas like personalization or customer feedback,” says senior analyst Sherril Hanson. “There are pure play companies included in the ecosystem, but many companies span multiple market segments both within and outside of CX.” Hanson adds that even established market participants are in the midst of significant change. For instance, contact centers have needed to pivot their technology and workflows to account for increased omnichannel usage and remote agents. And tied to these new demands is a greater focus on employee experience (EX), as support employees and others in the labor force have needed to respond to fast-changing models. Driven by these changes and other emerging trends, Dash Research anticipates that continued consolidation, repositioning, and investment will all continue to make the CX market a rapidly evolving ecosystem for at least the next few years. Dash Research’s report, “CX Market Ecosystem”, outlines six segments in the CX ecosystem: customer data & analytics, personalization & optimization, customer insights & feedback, contact center, customer relationship management (CRM), and employee experience (EX). The report provides an overview of the market in general and includes a brief discussion of industry trends in each segment. Dash Research has included profiles on 150 companies in the CX space. There is an additional list of 100 other industry participants included in the report, as well as an Excel-based summary of key facts and figures for the companies. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the firm’s website. Dash Research, the market intelligence arm of Dash Network, provides in-depth research and insights on the worldwide CX market including a comprehensive assessment of technology solutions, business issues, market drivers, and end-user dynamics across industry sectors. Dash Research’s global market coverage combines qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to provide a complete view of emerging business opportunities surrounding contact center technologies, customer data & analytics, customer data platforms, customer insights & feedback, customer relationship management, personalization & optimization, and employee experience. For more information, visit www.dashresearch.com or call +1.720.603.1700. Contact Details Dash Research Clint Wheelock +1 720-603-1700 press@dashnetwork.com Company Website http://www.dashnetwork.com

January 27, 2022 08:15 AM Eastern Standard Time

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First United States Open Registry to be Launched in Washington, DC

COPE

A landmark Revitalization Plan for US Maritime Trade, Commerce and Strategic Competition to support and assist in resolving America’s supply chain crisis, ensure maritime sovereignty and security, and revitalize maritime commerce will be launched at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on February 1, 2022, at 1:30PM with remarks by Ambassador John D. Negroponte, the first U.S. Director of National Intelligence and former Deputy Secretary of State; the Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Honorable Albert Bryan, Jr.; and President Eric R. Dawicki of the Northeast Maritime Institute. Highlights of the Plan include the formation of the first U.S. open registry, and other maritime initiatives designed to make the United States more competitive and propel it into a stronger leadership position as a maritime nation. Governor Bryan and President Dawicki will participate in the signing of a historic agreement between the U.S. Virgin Islands and Northeast Maritime Institute which features the collaboration on the development of the first open U.S. registry. Following initial remarks outlining the Revitalization Plan, there will be a panel discussion moderated by Jeremy Greenwood, a Federal Executive Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Strobe Talbott Center on Security, Strategy, and Technology. Panel participants include Stephen Flynn, PhD, Founding Director of the Center for Global Resilience at Northeastern University, leading Homeland Security advisor under the Bush and Obama administrations, and global expert on supply chain resilience; Admiral James Watson, Northeast Maritime Institute Trustee and former Director of Prevention Policy for Marine Safety, Security and Stewardship at the United States Coast Guard and the first Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement at the US Department of Interior; Captain Anuj Chopra, Co-Founder & CEO of FNI ESGPlus; Carleen Lyden Walker, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the North American Marine Environment Protection Association, and Captain John Konrad, Founder and CEO of gCaptain. Additional commentary will be provided by Nishan Degnarain, former Chairman of the World Economic Forum – Global Agenda Council on Oceans; Jonathan Kempe, Verifai Australia; and Dr. Sal Mercogliano, PhD, Campbell University. Remarks from all are expected to cover topics such as decarbonization of shipping, capital investment in new technologies, supply chain security, transparency in shipping, economic growth opportunities, the status of the U.S. maritime industry, U.S. national security interests, and more. The event will outline how implementation of the Revitalization Plan for US Maritime Trade, Commerce and Strategic Competition will provide economic stability and environmental protection, as well as revitalize the position of the United States as a major competitor in international maritime trade and commerce while enhancing national security, both domestically and internationally. A Revitalization Plan for US Maritime Trade, Commerce and Strategic Competition was developed by a team of Distinguished Fellows at the Northeast Maritime Institute – Center for Ocean Policy and Economics (COPE) and advised by an array of leading thinkers in the maritime industry. Key elements of the plan include: Formation of the U.S. Virgin Islands’ open international ship registry—the first, and only, international U.S. open ship registry. Development of a short sea transshipment hub in the Caribbean to alleviate supply chain congestion by moving a portion of east coast distribution from land to sea and increasing the number of ports importing ever-increasing quantities of goods from overseas. Build public/private/international partnerships to address strategic maritime issues, increase transparency and enforce legal and ethical standards. Establish and implement a green shipping strategy, including decarbonization of the U.S.-flagged fleet. Establishing a Maritime Venture Capital Fund to finance commercially advanced technologies that solve maritime and ocean industry problems with a focus on environmental vulnerabilities. Modernization of the maritime workforce by deploying state of the art education and training tools in the US and abroad. Additional information can be found at COPE Advanced registration to attend this event will be required for access to the live stream. About Northeast Maritime Institute Northeast Maritime Institute (also called NMI) is a private, coeducational, maritime college offering an Associate in Applied Science in Nautical Science degree. Established in 1981, Northeast Maritime Institute is the only private maritime college in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college was originally established to provide an alternative to traditional education and training, with an emphasis on preparing mariners for employment. Graduates receive an Associate degree and are eligible to receive a United States Coast Guard Masters license upon graduation. The college operates a training ship, the M/V Navigator, as well as the brigantine tall ship S/V Fritha. About COPE The Center for Ocean Policy and Economics (COPE) is hosted by the Northeast Maritime Institute – College of Maritime Science: Created to tackle some of the ocean’s “wicked problems.” A culmination of years of extensive research and conversations with leading experts in the maritime and ocean related fields, COPE is a facilitator for cogent maritime and ocean policy and economic development project initiatives linking academic, corporate, non-governmental, and governmental partners to create impactful solutions. Contact Details COPE Carleen Walker +1 203-260-0480

January 25, 2022 07:51 PM Eastern Standard Time

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