MARKETLEND: AUSTRALIA'S LEADING TRADE CREDIT PLATFORM SECURES $100 MILLION FINANCING FACILITY

SYDNEY, Oct 28 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Marketlend, Australia’s leading marketplace trade credit platform, continues to excel as it recently closed a new $100 million financing facility with Crayhill Capital Management LP, a New York based private credit manager and asset-based lender. This new facility will assist with liquidity and cash flow management to global companies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It complements Marketlend’s existing trade credit securitization program, which offers financing to companies engaged in international trade.

Marketlend has gone from strength to strength, being valued at AUD $175 million dollars earlier this year and subsequently raising AUD $8.5 million dollars in equity to expand brand awareness and marketing. Since inception the company has an impressive 760 investors, 873 trade credit facilities to the value of AUD$333 million dollars.

Leo Tyndall founded Marketlend in 2014 to address the significant $1.5 trillion dollar ‘trade finance gap’ in global trade financing as identified by the International Chamber of Commerce. Leo’s experience in the financial service industry is extensive. While working as a Capital Markets Practitioner in the financial service market, Leo realized that SMEs weren’t given the same funding opportunities or able to obtain the equivalent insurance protections as corporates. Marketlend offers working capital solutions to SMEs and provides innovative and flexible financing solutions for buyers and sellers in global supply chains. Marketlend is also able to negotiate and implement insurance arrangements on behalf of SMEs to enable greater participation of investment in these SME funding opportunities. The Crayhill financing facility supports Marketlend’s international insured trade receivables lending business throughout Asia, the Middle East and Oceana.

“After seeing a gap in the market, we recognised the need for a platform delivering trade credit to commodity trading corporates, SMEs and investors. We saw that corporates and SMEs had working capital locked up in their accounts and our solution to unlocks this capital,” says Leo Tyndall. “Both in Australia and internationally, we aim to provide financing options that can accommodate both immediate and long-term support for businesses, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has become critical in the current international market as we are seeing banks, credit insurers and funders leaving the commodity space, however, we remain open for business. We are excited to be working with Crayhill Capital Management LP and believe this financing facility will benefit many international companies.”

Marketlend provides supply chain finance, debtor finance and line of credit products to borrowers, with a quick turnaround and competitive rates. The company securitises each trade credit facility from inception and delivers an investment that is accompanied by individualised trade credit risk protection enhancements.

In furtherance of the need to unlock working capital for SMEs, Marketlend’s latest products UnLock, a Buy Now Pay Later B2B solution, is a payment gateway that enables SMEs to boost their purchasing power with suppliers and have extended supplier terms of up to 30, 60 or 90 days. 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=38533

TACONIC BIOSCIENCES LAUNCHES CRITICAL MODEL FOR COVID-19 RESEARCH

Immediate availability of hACE2 mouse

RENSSELAER, N.Y., Oct 27 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Taconic Biosciences, a global leader in providing drug discovery animal model solutions, announces immediate humanized ACE2 mouse model availability for COVID-19 research.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, uses the ACE2 receptor to enter cells. Due to differences between the mouse and human ACE2 receptors, normal laboratory mice cannot be infected with SARS-CoV2. Transgenic mice expressing the human ACE2 receptor overcome this challenge and thus are critical for COVID-19 research. Taconic’s hACE2 AC70 mouse model is susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and displays symptoms upon infection.

Animal models play a vital role in drug discovery, from studying the basic disease characteristics to preclinical safety and efficacy testing. Although SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development is underway, new animal models that address different areas of the drug discovery spectrum are still needed. Global implementation of successful vaccines will take time and may not provide 100% protection against the disease, necessitating continued research on targeted therapeutic options to treat COVID-19 patients. The hACE2 AC70 mouse is valuable because it has utility in both early and late stage drug discovery research. According to a recent Nature article by the members of the World Health Organization expert group on COVID-19 modeling (WHO-COM), "Continued refinement and development of animal models for COVID-19 will contribute to the development of vaccines, therapeutic agents and other countermeasures."

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=38513

LOCAL TAKAFUL INDUSTRY POSITIVELY MOVING FORWARD THROUGH PANDEMIC

 KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 (Bernama) -- The local Takaful industry remains positive in facing the COVID 19 pandemic that is hit our country this year, said the Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA).

“Living under the new norms, the industry came forward to ease the burden of the community. Among of the industry’s initiatives are RM 8 Million of Covid-19 Test Fund (MyCTF) by MTA, the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) and the Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (PIAM), the introduction of remote Takaful Basic Examination (TBE) by MTA and Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM), the 90-day deferment of premium/ contribution payment by MTA and LIAM, and additional benefits offered by Takaful operators to those who are affected by the pandemic” said the Chairman of MTA, Encik Muhammad Fikri Mohamad Rawi in his speech the virtual Takaful StarNite 2020 today.

“We cannot deny the fact that under this unprecedented situation, it has impacted the country’s economy including Takaful industry. However, the industry has embraced technologies in promoting Takaful digitally”, said Fikri.

MTA has announced the Takaful industry performance for the period of January 2020 to June 2020 in the virtual Takaful StarNite 2020 event which has been streamed via the Association’s Facebook page today.
 
The Deputy Chairman of MTA, Encik Elmie Aman Najas said “Takaful industry has achieved RM 286.2 billion for the new Takaful protection value which is amounting to RM 3.19 billion in total new business contribution for all certificates combined in the period from January 2020 to June 2020. The protection value has increased by 0.97% compared to the same period in 2019”.
 
The growth of 19.1% of the Family Takaful Business Inforce Protection Value from January 2020 to June 2020 compared to the previous year in the same period which only reached RM 0.96 trillion back in 2019. For the period of January 2020 to June 2020, Family Takaful Business Inforce Protection Value recorded RM 1.02 trillion, which something that can be a great catalyst for the industry to move forward and give its best efforts.
 
“The performance of the Family Takaful industry in 2020 has reflected its resilience and the increasing of familiarity with the Takaful concept among Malaysians, evidenced by greater acceptance of Takaful coverage as the choice for protection”, Elmie said.
 
For General Takaful, the growth of Total Business Gross Contribution in the period of January 2020 to June 2020 was at 0.6% which amounted to RM 1.64 billion compared to the same period of 2019 which the amount recorded is RM 1.63 billion.

To fully utilise the advantage of digitalisation especially during the pandemic, Takaful StarNite 2020 was held virtually for the first time. It is a special annual event that brings together members of the Takaful fraternity to celebrate the achievements of industry players who had contributed towards the development of the Takaful industry. The theme for Takaful StarNite 2020 this year is "New Millennial Evolution" which brings a meaning that the industry welcomes youths who come from the millennial generation. At the same time, the industry also evolving to meet the needs of a generation which is literate about the world of information technology (IT).

A total of 26 awards were presented to those who have achieved outstanding performance in contributing to the development of the Takaful industry. The awards were segmentized to several categories which are Family Takaful Individual Business, Family Takaful Group Business, General Takaful, Bancatakaful, Institution and Special Awards category. 

About Malaysian Takaful Association

Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA) was established on November 2002 under the Societies Act 1966. It is a trade association representing all 18 licensed Takaful and Retakaful operators in the country.  The objectives and the powers of MTA are to promote the interests of its members and to lead and supervise the exercise of self-regulation within the Takaful industry.
 

SOURCE : Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA)

BRAND SALES DOUBLE AMID PANDEMIC WITH SHOPBACK AND SHOPEE MARKETING SOLUTIONS

 Demand for Dettol products such as disinfectant sprays, antiseptic liquid, and hand sanitisers increase as local Covid-19 cases continue to climb
 

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 (Bernama) -- Based on data from ShopBack Malaysia, despite the weakening economic outlook, over 60 brands with Shopee Official Stores have on average experienced more than twofold increase in sales through ShopBack over the last three months. This has been made possible with Shopee Affiliate Marketing Solutions (AMS), via a partnership inked between Shopee and ShopBack Malaysia that set to amplify brands growth through a targeted marketing and stackable shopper incentive approach.
 
With AMS, brands on Shopee can list their store on ShopBack and offer cashback directly to more than 3 million ShopBack users in Malaysia. ShopBack users can now enjoy more savings through a higher cashback rate (existing Shopee cashback + additional up to 13% brand store cashback) on top of existing platform offers, seller discounts, and free shipping vouchers.
 
Popular categories and brands include Health & Beauty brands such as Dettol, Grafen, Maybelline, and Unilever; Mom & Baby brands such as Anmum, Enfagrow, and Fernleaf; Home & Living brands such as 3M, Tefal, and Trapo; as well as Gadgets and Accessories brands such as Anker, Aukey, and Belkin.
 
During mega sales days such as 9.9 and 10.10, ShopBack Malaysia drove on average around 20x increase in sales for Shopee brands via AMS compared to a normal day, with the highest record of more than 250x sales uplift experienced by a beauty and skincare brand, Wardah, through their Shopee Official Store listed on ShopBack.
 
“We are motivated by the fruitful outcome that has resulted from this partnership with Shopee. 2020 has not been an easy year, and it is especially meaningful for us to be able to contribute to brands’ sales and users’ savings during this difficult time. Many brands are looking to digitally transform their business during this pandemic, and through AMS, we are helping brands to accelerate the growth of their e-commerce stores while bringing more value to consumers in the form of product discovery and savings,” said Eddy Han, Country General Manager of ShopBack Malaysia.
 
According to ShopBack Malaysia, it observed a shift in purchasing priority among users, where the top spending categories changed from Fashion and Home & Living during 9.9, to Mom & Baby and Health & Beauty during 10.10. Users were stocking up supplies such as milk powder, personal disinfectants, and sanitising products in view of the spike of local Covid-19 cases. For example, Dettol saw a 20x sales increase through its Shopee Official Store listed on ShopBack, with disinfectant sprays, antiseptic liquid, and hand sanitisers emerging as the best-selling products.
 
“The implementation of the movement control order has further accelerated the rate of e-commerce adoption - Malaysians are increasingly sourcing for products online and we detected a stronger purchasing trend from late September, when the number of reported cases in Malaysia reached three digits for several consecutive days,” Han shared.
 
With the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) being implemented in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and Putrajaya, ShopBack expects online sales for these categories to remain strong till next month and beyond.
 
“Shoppers turn to ShopBack not only for the convenience of online shopping, but also for the additional savings they can get from stacking multiple incentives found on our platform. With the increasing demand in the market, we are confident of our ability to help AMS brands enhance their business performance and hit a new record in the upcoming mega sales, including 11.11, and more,” Han added.
 
Established in 2015, ShopBack Malaysia currently has over 3 million users and over 500 online merchants that reward its users with cashback across categories including Marketplace, Health & Beauty, Fashion, Travel, Food & Dining, Electronics, and Home & Living.  To date, ShopBack Malaysia has helped its users save more than RM60 million in cashback on their online purchases. The cashback, upon validation, can be withdrawn to the user's selected bank account. For more information, visit https://www.shopback.my.
 
SOURCE : SHOPBACK MALAYSIA

doTERRA-World Bank partnership improves funding access for Kenya's smallholder farmers

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 -- doTERRA and its supply chain partners have connected with the World Bank to improve access to funding for smallholder farmers in Kenya.

Based on a statement, the project is part of a broader plan called the Kenya Marine Fisheries and Socio-Economic Development Project (KEMFSED).

The project will support fisheries value chains, as well as high-value agriculture chains, including essential oil crops, within coastal fishing communities.

The KEMFSED project is slated to run for five years with an overall goal of enhancing livelihoods for individuals involved while safeguarding the integrity of associated ecosystems.

If successful, the project has potential to serve as a model for similar programmes worldwide.

One of doTERRA’s primary goals in Kenya is the formation of thriving cooperative farming groups within various communities across the region.

In addition to providing opportunities for smallholder farmers, doTERRA is committed to supporting development projects improving overall community health and well-being.

-- BERNAMA

INTERVENN - AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES COLLABORATION ON CLINICAL GLYCOPROTEOMIC ANALYSIS

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 (Bernama) --  InterVenn, a San Francisco based biotechnology company innovating precision medicine and diagnostic products using next-generation mass spectrometry coupled to a proprietary artificial Intelligence/machine learning-based data processing engine, has announced a collaboration with Agilent Technologies, a leading provider of bio-analytical and scientific instrumentation.
 
This strategic partnership gathers the strength of both parties to develop cutting edge precision diagnostic tools by investigating targeted glycoproteomic biomarkers for diseases such as cancer.
 
The focus of this collaboration will be on diseases common in Southeast Asia, and the premises for this development work will be at InterVenn Malaysia’s laboratory located at Technology Park Malaysia (TPM) in KL. Their decision to conduct their clinical study in TPM is testament to the park’s comprehensive soft and hard infrastructure that supports scientific research works.
 
InterVenn Malaysia was represented by General Manager, Fadzhairi Jabar and Soh Lam Seng,  Malaysia Country Manager, Laboratory Solutions Sales for Agilent. Also present at the signing ceremony were Muhamad Husni Md Zain, Acting Head of TPM Nexus Sdn Bhd,  subsidiary of TPM Corporation and Robin Philp, Southeast Asia Academia and Collaborations Manager, Laboratory Solution Sales, Agilent.
 
“We are very pleased to welcome Agilent as a strategic partner to our research and development effort. This partnership goes a long way toward realizing InterVenn’s long-held vision to establish a Center of Excellence of Glycoproteomics for Southeast Asia at its premises in Kuala Lumpur that will not only allow InterVenn to accelerate its collaborative work with leading academics in Malaysia and the region, but will also serve as a training and demonstration center for aspiring scientists and start-up companies in Southeast Asia.” said Aldo Carascoso, CEO of InterVenn.

“Most importantly, this new laboratory will be the first of its kind offering diagnostic tools based on the science of glycoproteomics for the healthcare needs of the more than 650 million citizens of the region. The collaboration will, without doubt, place both partners on the leading edge of both innovation and public service” he added.
 
According to Robin Philp, Agilent’s Academia and Collaborations Manager, “Agilent is very excited to become a strategic partner with InterVenn in the establishment of a Centre of Excellence of Glycoproteomics. The opportunity to engage in the area of clinical measurement and especially for diseases such as cancer is of great importance and of societal benefit.
 
The forward looking vision to extend the collaboration with academic institutions is also one that is shared by Agilent in its capacity to work with seats of learning and education. We wholeheartedly embraces this opportunity and looks forward to a successful outcome” he added.
 
TPM is an agency under the auspices of Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to promote national innovation and knowledge-based economy. It has an integrated infrastructure, facilities and support services to assist technopreneurs and entrepreneurs who are keen to commercialize their ideas in the three industry clusters, namely, ICT, Engineering and Biotechnology.
 
TPM is the co-secretariat of PENJANA’S National Technology and Innovation Sandbox which allows researchers, innovators, startups and high-tech entrepreneurs to test their products, services, business models and delivery mechanisms in a live environment.

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=38427

UNIPHORE ADDS ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY TO ITS ARSENAL TO ACCELERATE INNOVATION IN CONTACT CENTERS AROUND THE WORLD

 Uniphore integrating RPA + AI capabilities to drive front office automation for better customer experiences by reducing call handling times and reducing the need to put users on hold.


PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct 20 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Uniphore, an early market leader in the Conversational Service Automation (CSA) space, announced today that it acquired an exclusive third party license for Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology from NTT DATA to drive innovation, quicken time-to-market and deliver intelligent front office automation for modern contact centers.

This technology deal is one of many components of the global strategic alliance announced earlier between the two companies that deliver solutions to transform the $470 billion dollar customer service market. NTT DATA will continue to own this software and sell RPA services for contact centers.

Uniphore plans to integrate this RPA technology with its CSA platform to develop first-of-its-kind capabilities that automate the front office. By combining unattended and attended RPA capabilities along with Uniphore’s AI and machine learning capabilities, Uniphore’s engineers are developing industry first solutions for both existing and new use cases. Enterprise organizations will now be able to rapidly scale customer service operations, reduce operating costs, boost agent productivity and satisfaction while providing an entirely new, conversational, “hold-free” and “error-free” customer experience.

While specific terms of the deal will not be disclosed, the RPA solution Uniphore now has delivers the capability to design, build, deploy and integrate attended and unattended RPA bots with its Conversational Service Automation platform. Having RPA capabilities built-in and part of the larger solution means the individual modules don’t need to be managed separately, saving time and money.

These capabilities will open new opportunities to address key vertical markets that currently struggle with ongoing, repetitive, large-volume and mundane tasks. Equipped with technology that can quickly and effectively reduce or in many cases, eliminate low-value, error-prone people-based actions, human agents will be able to focus on and deliver more value-added services. Additionally, these new capabilities enable organizations to establish more accurate and reliable follow up after customers engage with them through the contact center.

“Over the past several years, Uniphore has been delivering market-leading capabilities which automate important processes and leverage AI to solve the problems of large customer service environments,” said Umesh Sachdev, CEO and co-founder of Uniphore. “With RPA modules now part of our innovation engine, we will rapidly expand our offerings, which will transform the customer service market and virtually eliminate the costly and frustrating experience of being put on hold.”

“In today’s business environment, automation has become essential to survival. When automation happens, it frees up people to focus on innovation and ingenuity,” said Tanvir Khan, Executive Vice President, Dynamic Workplace Services & Business Process Outsourcing, NTT DATA Services. “We see this deal with Uniphore as a win-win because new solutions will enable our agents to be more effective on the front lines while helping organizations accelerate their digital transformation and ultimately deliver new customer experiences.”

“By adding RPA technology to their innovation engine, Uniphore is in a leadership position and capturing the next market transition in the voice sector. No other company has the breadth and depth of Uniphore in terms of real-time AI solutions, intelligent automation capabilities, machine learning expertise, and geographic reach,” said John Chambers, former Executive Chairman and CEO of Cisco and current founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures, an early backer of Uniphore. “By integrating these technologies, Uniphore will become an even more powerful partner as enterprises continue to accelerate their customer service digital transformation initiatives. Congratulations to Umesh and the entire Uniphore team on this transformative announcement!”

Contact Centers see strong results when optimizing back office and front office automation. One Uniphore customer has seen a 20% reduction in call handling times and has saved over $6 million by leveraging a smart mix of AI and automation capabilities.

About Uniphore:

Uniphore is the global leader in Conversational Service Automation. The Company’s vision is to disrupt an outdated customer service model by bridging the gap between human and machine using voice, AI and automation. So that every voice, on every call, is truly heard.

Uniphore enables businesses globally to deliver transformational customer service by providing an automation platform where digital agents take over transactional conversations from humans, coach agents during calls, and accurately predict language, emotion, and intent. All in real-time. Conversational Automation & Analytics, Conversational Assistant, and Conversational Security elevate how enterprises support and engage their customers, build loyalty and realize efficiencies.

For more information, please visit www.uniphore.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, facebook, and Instagram.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201020005448/en/

Contact

US
Rob Barlow, Uniphore
Mobile: 408.221.1561
robert@uniphore.com

India / Asia Pacific:
Nawaz Mohammed, Uniphore
+91 9980251596
nawaz@uniphore.com

Source : Uniphore