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Raising Capital In A Thin Market, Industry Leader Shares His Insight

Benzinga

By Johnny Rice, Benzinga Corey B. Davis, Managing Director, Fintech Investment Banking at BMO Capital Markets Corp., was a panelist at Benzinga’s 9th Annual Fintech Deal Day & Awards. BMO Capital Markets is a leading, full-service financial services provider. It offers corporate and investment banking, treasury management and research and advisory services to clients worldwide. Mr. Davis spoke about the reality of raising capital in a tough macro environment. In today's market, a good valuation is 5 to 7 times revenues, which stands in stark contrast to a few years ago when 20 times was seen as reasonable. Watch the full panel here: Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

November 21, 2023 01:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Market Manipulation Is A Real Threat, This Software Helps Detect It So Action Can Be Taken

Benzinga

By Johnny Rice, Benzinga Melissa Watras, Director of Product for Trillium Surveyor, was interviewed at Benzinga’s 9th Annual Fintech Deal Day & Awards. Trillium is a technology company that provides software to financial institutions to detect market manipulation. The company’s software takes order data and processes it using proprietary algorithms that can detect irregularities. Ms. Watras spoke about the adaptability of her company's product and the usability that stands out in the industry. Watch the full panel here: Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

November 21, 2023 01:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

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This Company Is Changing The Way Ownership Is Seen In The Marketplace

Benzinga

By Johnny Rice, Benzinga Zach Hascoe, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Say Technologies LLC, was a panelist at Benzinga’s 9th Annual Fintech Deal Day & Awards. Say offers a technology platform for shareholder voting and engagement. The company says it is on a mission to transform the way shareholders and companies communicate, engage and interact. Mr. Hascoe spoke about the ways in which the relationship between shareholders and companies is ripe for disruption and transformation. Watch the full panel here: Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

November 21, 2023 01:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Market volatility on the decline despite global geopolitical risks - OptionsDesk

Options Desk

OptionsDesk broker Simon Hanouka takes Proactive's Stephen Gunnion through the recent decline in market volatility. Hanouka highlighted the decrease in the Volatility Index (VIX), currently trading around $13, almost 22% below its 50-day moving average. This reduction is attributed to various factors, including strong performances from major US companies, the possible end of the rate hiking cycle, and cautious trading approaches by fund managers towards the year's end. Hanouka explained that the current low volatility offers unique trading opportunities. Traders can capitalize on this by selling short-term volatility and buying long-term volatility through strategies like calendar spreads and ratio spreads. He emphasised that http://Optionsdesk.com offers detailed insights and examples for traders to navigate this low volatility environment effectively. Despite the current stability, Hanouka cautioned about the unpredictability of the market. He noted that given global geopolitical risks, the VIX trading under 20 seems underpriced, and there's always a possibility of change. His insights underscore the importance of staying informed and adaptable in a fluctuating market environment. For more detailed strategies and market analysis, Hanouka directed traders to http://Optionsdesk.com, where they can find comprehensive resources for trading in these conditions. Contact Details Proactive UK Ltd +44 20 7989 0813 uk@proactiveinvestors.com

November 21, 2023 11:41 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Sprott ETF Product Management Director Steven Schoffstall Explains Why Uranium Prices Are Soaring This Year And How Investors Can Trade The Rally

Benzinga

By Rachael Green, Benzinga As nuclear energy surges back into the limelight, promising a smoother transition away from fossil fuels, long-stagnant uranium markets have been booming. The once-obscure commodity is increasingly gaining the attention of investors looking for a new way to trade the clean energy transition. To learn more about uranium and what investors new to the space need to know, Benzinga sat down with the Director of ETF Product Management at Sprott Asset Management, Steven Schoffstall. Uranium prices have soared this year, outperforming other metals. Can you talk about why this is happening now and where you see uranium prices headed going forward? There are a couple of things that are at play here. Year-to-date through the last couple of days or so, [physical uranium] is up about 55%. Uranium tends to be much less sensitive to shorter-term economic noise. So when we see slow-down discussions about what's going on with the Chinese economy, that tends to affect other commodities more than what we see flow over into uranium. There is a really strong case for uranium and the future growth of the price as well as the sector going forward. If you were to look back at uranium prices about five or six years ago, they were somewhere around $20 a pound. Now, we're sitting closer to $74 or $75 per pound. The incentive price is really important to look at when we look at uranium. That is the price at which producers can produce uranium and still turn a profit. That's currently around the $75 to $80 range. That would suggest that, at least in the short term, there is some additional room for the price of uranium to move. When you look over the longer term, there is a severe supply-demand imbalance that we see developing. If you go out to 2040 or so, you see about a cumulative 1.5-billion-pound shortfall in the supply of uranium. So, we think over the longer term, that's going to be conducive to much higher prices in uranium. As demand for uranium increases, what is the outlook on the supply side? What should investors be watching here? I mentioned the longer-term supply shortfall that we're expecting. What it's really going to take to get us there is to get more mines up and running. There are a couple of things that really impact that. One would be the permitting process. To go from finding a mine or developing a site that hasn't previously been mined, it can take 10 to 15 years or longer. That's something that we would expect to see get shortened as we see governments start to sign on to nuclear energy and uranium as the answer to the energy transition. We have a number of mines that were set on care and maintenance because incentive prices weren’t quite there for them to remain operational. So we need to see some increases in the price of uranium to incentivize those companies to get those mines up and running again. The third leg of this stool is bringing the supply of uranium to Western countries. Kazatomprom, in Kazakhstan, is the world's largest producer of uranium. Given its proximity to Russia and the route in which it gets uranium to market, it would be great to diversify that part of the supply chain. We do see companies like Cameco, based out of Canada, with very substantial operations that are bringing a lot of uranium to market. But it’s not going to be smooth sailing. Cameco announced an expected uranium production shortfall relative to its guidance for the rest of this year, which has driven prices higher. Something that we see with any commodity is the potential for supply disruptions. Whether it's logistically, from a labor standpoint or from a permitting standpoint, we would need to see improvement in those areas in order for us to be able to limit the impact on prices as we see the supply and demand gap widening for the next one to two decades. For investors who are new to the space, what unique risks should they be aware of in the uranium market? The biggest one is probably geopolitical. The Russia-Ukraine war is ongoing and leading to energy security considerations. The coup in Niger, which produces about 5% of the world’s uranium could also impact supply. Thinking more from an equity risk profile, these names tend to be smaller cap names. In our uranium miners ETF (NYSE: URNM), the total market cap of the entire index is less than $40 billion. So, it’s a much smaller segment that starts to introduce those risks that investors might not necessarily see if they're investing in larger companies like those in the S&P 500. What are some upcoming catalysts and market movers in the uranium market you’re watching as we head into 2024? For us, it's really about the price action that we're seeing on the physical side. That's going to be driving how much more uranium is coming on to market. What the miners are able to produce profitably and how quickly they are able to get the mines up and running, that's something that we're seeing as a tailwind for the price of uranium. On the energy transition side, on a global scale, [uranium] is a metal that is being looked at more and more to provide the solution to the energy transition. The International Energy Agency recently came out with a new report projecting that fossil fuel usage, particularly oil and natural gas, may peak by about 2030. We will see somewhat of a dip over the next decade or two, but they will still be heavily used. At the same time, we will see a 76% increase in electricity demand on a global basis when you're looking at 2050 relative to 2021. Solar and wind have traditionally been the main ways of generating cleaner energy. But we are starting to see countries really warm up to the uranium story and nuclear energy. One piece that really demonstrates that is, if you look on a global scale, there are about 435 reactors that are currently up and running, mostly in the United States. But we're starting to see a lot of interest from Asia, particularly from China, in increasing their reliance on nuclear energy. Over the next decade or so, there are another 170 reactors that are either already under construction or planned for construction. That's about a 30% to 35% increase in nuclear reactors, which is also going to be driving the opportunity in the coming years. The uranium market can be a bit opaque and hard to access for retail investors. How can they best gain exposure to this market? We have three different ways to provide investors access to the uranium market. Our first option is the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust, a $4.5 billion fund that invests in and stores physical uranium. That's available [on the OTC market] in the United States under the ticker SRUUF. We also have the Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (NYSE: URNM). That's an all-cap exposure to uranium miners that also includes about a 15% to 17% allocation to physical uranium. Most recently, we launched the Sprott Junior Uranium Miners ETF (NASDAQ: URNJ) back in February of this year. That ETF is for those who want to access the smaller-cap names in the uranium universe. When we develop our strategies, whether it's uranium or broader energy transition funds, one thing we really focus on is pure-play companies that are upstream in the supply chain. In our view, the closer we can get to the source of bringing these critical minerals out of the ground, the better. It’s a potentially better investment opportunity because we're moving away from the downstream companies. If companies are involved in building the nuclear reactors or building components that are going to be used in nuclear reactors, there could be cost overruns and a lot of logistical issues and delays. Being upstream allows us to stay away from that because there is a certain baseline of uranium that is necessary to keep not only the reactors that we have now up and running but also to meet that future growth. This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

November 21, 2023 09:25 AM Eastern Standard Time

Trust Stamp (NASDAQ: IDAI) Reports Q3 Results: Net Revenues Up, Net Loss Narrowed To $35,000

Benzinga

By Faith Ashmore, Benzinga As the digital landscape continues to evolve, there is an increased interest from consumers and agencies alike on how to maintain privacy and data protection so that users’ personal information is safeguarded at all times. AI has become a powerful tool that has the potential to increase security when used wisely and increase opportunities for hackers when used poorly. Among companies leveraging AI, Trust Stamp (NASDAQ: IDAI) is one that seems to stand out in its field as the company looks to revolutionize digital security. Trust Stamp is a global provider of AI-powered, privacy-first trust and identity services used across multiple sectors – such as banking and finance, real estate, communications, regulatory compliance and government. Trust Stamp offers a range of innovative services. The company reports that its biometric capture and analysis technology enables secure and convenient identity verification, allowing businesses to streamline onboarding processes. By integrating advanced document verification, Trust Stamp helps verify the authenticity of important documents, reducing the risk of fraud. Trust Stamp recently released its Q3 financial performance overview. The company reported growth in its net revenue during the third quarter of 2023 – net revenue increased to $3.07 million, marking growth of 127.35% compared to the net revenue of $1.35 million for the same period in 2022. The $3.07 million in net revenue for Q3 2023 was derived from various sources. The majority of this increase was due to the termination of the Master Services Agreement with IGS ("IGS Contract") on September 15, 2022. This termination not only resulted in $2.51 million in net revenue for Q3 2023 but also relieved the company from future contractual obligations for maintenance and upgrades. In addition, Trust Stamp generated $243,000 in net revenue from Mastercard, $186,000 from an S&P 500 bank, and $127,000 from other customers during the same period. Perhaps most notably, Trust Stamp's Orchestration Layer, a platform that enables seamless integration of Trust Stamp services, seems to have been successful in attracting new customers. During Q3 2023, the platform generated $139,000 in total revenue, including new revenue from seven new enterprise customers who were onboarded through FIS. The Orchestration Layer represents Trust Stamp's strategic shift from being solely a provider of custom solutions to offering a scalable SaaS model with low-code implementation. The growth in net revenue during Q3 2023 was offset to an extent by the termination of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract ("ICE Contract") on September 23, 2021. This contract contributed $844,000 in net revenue during Q3 2022 but was subsequently terminated during the 2022 fiscal year. Trust Stamp reported improvements in multiple metrics, particularly in its cost management and operating loss reduction. Trust Stamp effectively reduced its Cost of Services ("COS") by $290,000 or 54.76% in Q3 2023 compared to Q3 2022. Despite onboarding 29 new enterprise customers in 2023, Trust Stamp managed to lower its COS by $21 thousand, thanks to the inherent lower costs of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms like the Orchestration Layer. Research and Development expenses decreased by $173,000 or 22.19% in Q3 2023 compared to Q3 2022. Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses decreased by $1.23 million or 37.42% in Q3 2023 compared to Q3 2022. Trust Stamp also narrowed its operating loss, which decreased by $3.42 million or 99.36% in Q3 2023 compared to Q3 2022. The increase in net revenue by $1.72 million or 127.35% was mainly attributed to the recognition of nonrefundable license revenue from IGS. This is largely due to Trust Stamp's implementation of cost-cutting measures resulting in a $1.70 million reduction in operating expenses. These cost reductions exceeded the decrease in net revenue, leading to improved margins and greater operational efficiency for the company. Trust Stamp reported progress in improving its financial performance, including a reduction in net loss and an increase in liquidity. Trust Stamp's net loss decreased by $3.40 million to just $35 thousand in Q3 2023, compared to a net loss of $3.44 million in Q3 2022. This improvement reflects the company's efforts to streamline operations and cut costs. As of September 30, 2023, Trust Stamp had approximately $3.18 million in cash, a significant increase from $1.25 million as of December 31, 2022. This improvement was largely due to successful fundraising initiatives. Trust Stamp reported that its outlook for growth in the government sector seems positive, and the company is actively exploring potential partnerships and opportunities in this area. For example, the company has launched its new identity technology called Privtech™, with a strong focus on government applications. The Privtech solution recently received registered trademark status from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Privtech™ offers government agencies a privacy-first approach to identity verification and fraud prevention. It provides four levels of customizable privacy protection through the existing Privtech Certified® framework. This technology allows government entities to verify individuals' identities and safeguard against fraud while minimizing the amount of data collected. Trust Stamp's Privtech™ also ensures transparency in how the collected data is utilized. Trust Stamp is seemingly positioning itself as a crucial ally in the ongoing battle against fraud and identity-related issues, supporting a safer and more secure digital environment for all stakeholders. This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

November 21, 2023 09:25 AM Eastern Standard Time

Clearinghouses Are Critical To The Health And Stability Of Markets – This Is One Of The Largest

Benzinga

By Johnny Rice, Benzinga Mathew Cashman, Principal at Options Clearing Corp, was a panelist at Benzinga’s 9th Annual Fintech Deal Day & Awards. Options Clearing Corp (OCC) is a clearinghouse based in Chicago. It specializes in equity derivatives clearing, providing central counterparty clearing and settlement services to 16 exchanges. The company clears more than 40 million contracts a day. Mr. Cashman spoke about the volume of trades exploding in the last few years and how OCC continues to operate efficiently and securely despite this extreme growth. Watch the full panel here: Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

November 21, 2023 09:25 AM Eastern Standard Time

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This Options Trading Platform Is All About Community And User Experience

Benzinga

By Johnny Rice, Benzinga Abdul Zoheb, CEO and Co-Founder of UpLeg LLC, was a panelist at Benzinga’s 9th Annual Fintech Deal Day & Awards. UpLeg is an options trading platform for the retail market. The platform provides intuitive and fine-grained control to traders. Users can choose from over 50 defined strategies and create and share their own. Mr. Zoheb spoke about the importance of an intuitive and informative user experience for the retail market as well as the central nature of influencers and community in trading. Watch the full panel here: Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

November 21, 2023 09:25 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Appier empowers brands to gain a competitive edge in the AI revolution by targeting five key marketing objectives

Appier

TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Media OutReach - 21 November 2023 - Appier, a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to power digital marketing decision-making, has revealed the essential marketing objectives crucial for businesses navigating today's volatile global economic environment. The company has pioneered a comprehensive AI marketing assistant, designed to optimize efficiency across five critical domains. These include automated advertising material generation, seamless data integration for insights, streamlined customer journey planning, enhanced capture of interactive sales opportunities, and fortified conversational marketing strategies. Appier is dedicated to translating AI into tangible returns on investment through the power of software intelligence. Over the past four years, the company's product portfolio and market presence have seen continuous expansion, driving remarkable operational growth. With revenue growth surpassing fourfold in just five years, Appier remains at the forefront of innovation, leveraging generative AI's creative prowess and decision-making AI's capabilities to fortify its competitive edge. Amidst rising inflation, consumers are increasingly cautious in their spending choices. To capture consumer attention during this inflationary era, leveraging AI to enhance the digital advertising and marketing experience emerges as the key to success. Notably, generative AI currently holds a modest 3% share of the global digital marketing market. According to MarketResearch.biz, the adoption of generative AI in digital marketing could potentially reach a global market value of $19.5 billion by 2032, boasting an impressive average annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 29%. This underscores the significant growth potential of generative AI. Businesses that seize the opportunity to harness generative AI to boost productivity, coupled with the predictive power of AI to ensure a return on investment, can secure a competitive edge and bolster brand resilience. Appier also underscores the profound impact and emerging possibilities presented by generative AI. AI has ushered in a genuine computer era, propelling global enterprises beyond the realm of digital transformation and into an era powered by AI. The ascendancy of generative AI has not only revolutionized white-collar work but has also redefined the approach taken by marketers in crafting advertisements, shaping marketing content, and engaging in conversational commerce. Faced with this paradigm shift, businesses can embark on this journey by prioritizing relevant tasks, forming cross-functional teams, conducting small-scale trials, identifying models tailored to their organizations, and efficiently harnessing external resources. Beginning in the fields of advertising and marketing, they can optimize operational efficiency and extend the use of AI for broader business decision-making. Dr. Chih-han Yu, CEO, and Co-founder of Appier, shares this vision - "Appier consistently aligns with our clients, prioritizing a customer-centric ethos. Our team of domain experts spearheads innovative solutions, providing customers with the industry's most advanced AI technology, fortified by our proprietary technology and expanded services. We facilitate real-time data visualization, significantly reducing the time from data acquisition to actionable insights. This empowers our clients to develop cutting-edge AI models using their exclusive data, ultimately enhancing their brand's sustained competitiveness. Through the utilization of generative AI technology, we continuously elevate advertising and marketing outcomes, seamlessly integrating decision-making AI with domain expertise, effectively realizing our mission of 'Making AI easy by making software intelligent." Amid the ongoing economic volatility, Appier is actively creating a comprehensive AI marketing assistant for businesses. The primary goal is to enhance efficiency across five critical objectives: 1. Automatically generating advertising materials Digital advertising is a multifaceted domain that demands significant attention from marketers. It involves monitoring material performance, refreshing content, and creating seasonal visuals. Appier's marketing material generation instructions simplify this process using basic product images and audience profiles. Generative AI swiftly produces multiple sets of advertising materials that align with the audience and season. For instance, in the context of a food delivery app, Appier automates the creation of tailored advertising materials by considering business or product specifics, weather conditions, and audience interests. Real-time tracking enables the AI model to predict and generate similar materials, consistently enhancing advertising effectiveness. 2. Data integration for insights Unifying fragmented data across diverse marketing channels and swiftly extracting valuable insights has long posed a challenge for businesses and marketers. Appier's AI customer data platform offers a seamless solution by effortlessly consolidating data from various origins, encompassing online and offline sales data, user interactions across web and app marketing channels, and external system data. Once integrated, the platform creates a comprehensive 360-degree user profile, delivering clear insights into the user's journey at every interaction point. This real-time analysis allows for proactive exploration of potential customer needs. 3. Auto mated customer journey planning Appier's Co-pilot, driven by generative AI technology, takes the initiative to recommend customer journeys, streamlining work processes for marketers. To benefit from this feature, marketers simply need to outline their marketing needs, for example, "Assist in devising a new product promotion campaign, including step-by-step delivery of product details, features, and early bird offers." Generative AI can then promptly generate a user journey based on these guidelines, significantly reducing the time spent on the manual setup of each marketing stage. This in turn enables marketers to concentrate on the broader aspects of brand strategy planning. 4. Capturing interactive sales opportunities Each moment a customer engages with a website holds significant sales potential. Appier's AI models swiftly identify a customer's purchase intent and sensitivity to pricing, drawing insights from their collected user behavior data. Subsequently, it provides personalized product recommendations to streamline the purchasing process. For instance, when the system detects a price-sensitive customer, it may offer discounts to encourage them to finalize the purchase. On the other hand, for less price-sensitive customers, it can proactively suggest premium products or product bundles, thereby enhancing the average order value. 5. Stren gthening interactive conversational marketing Appier's conversational marketing platform operates in real-time, employing company-provided document data, including product specifics and FAQs, to educate AI models. This training results in contextually relevant dialogue content, ensuring more precise responses and elevating customer satisfaction. Furthermore, Appier's AI Click Optimization feature is tailored to segment-specific communication. It leverages analysis of past push notification records, user behavior, and preferences to target messages toward users with a higher likelihood of engagement. This not only saves businesses costs but also prevents the delivery of irrelevant messages to disinterested users. In the face of unpredictable economic conditions, Appier's harmonious blend of generative AI's creativity and decision-making AI's prowess plays a pivotal role in enabling brands to harness sales opportunities in various marketing scenarios. This, in turn, elevates the brand's distinctiveness, which holds particular significance in an uncertain economic climate. About Appier Appier (TSE: 4180) is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that uses artificial intelligence to power business decision-making. Founded in 2012 with a vision of democratizing AI, Appier now has 17 offices across APAC, Europe, and US, and is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Visit www.appier.com for more information about Appier and its applications of generative AI. Contact Details Appier Lara Sampara lara.sampara@appier.com Company Website https://www.appier.com/

November 21, 2023 02:37 AM Eastern Standard Time

Technology

Raising Capital In A Thin Market, Industry Leader Shares His Insight

Market Manipulation Is A Real Threat, This Software Helps Detect It So Action Can Be Taken

This Company Is Changing The Way Ownership Is Seen In The Marketplace

Market volatility on the decline despite global geopolitical risks - OptionsDesk

Sprott ETF Product Management Director Steven Schoffstall Explains Why Uranium Prices Are Soaring This Year And How Investors Can Trade The Rally

Trust Stamp (NASDAQ: IDAI) Reports Q3 Results: Net Revenues Up, Net Loss Narrowed To $35,000

Clearinghouses Are Critical To The Health And Stability Of Markets – This Is One Of The Largest

This Options Trading Platform Is All About Community And User Experience

Appier empowers brands to gain a competitive edge in the AI revolution by targeting five key marketing objectives