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MOVE Network announces strategic investment and cooperation agreement with AVATAR (Avalanche Asia Star Fund)

MOVE Network

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 23 September 2021 - MOVE Network is thrilled to announce a strategic investment and cooperation agreement with AVATAR（Avalanche Asia Star Fund). MOVE Network will work with AVATAR to deploy NFT, DeFi, GameFi and metaverse functions on the Avalanche (AVAX) eco-system. “ We see NFTs as the gateway to creating a multilayered metaverse. DeFi + NFT creates a new NFTFi industry. We aim to pioneer this trend and believe that Avalanche with one of the fastest smart contracts platform in the blockchain industry will help us bring this mainstream. We are very excited to have the opportunity to work with Avalanche and AVATAR ” said Bernard Lee, CTO at MOVE Network. About MOVE Network MOVE Network is a leading NFT aggregator covering a wide range of NFT products. MOVE Network allows enterprises and start-ups to obtain value by using blockchain technology to trade, pledge, create and auction NFT assets. Users will be able to use MOVE Network to access NFTS from different industries including entertainment, music, art, and e-sports. Learn more about MOVE Network Website: https://www.movenetwork.io Twitter: https://twitter.com/movemovenetwork Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/movenetworkofficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/movenetwork_official/ Medium: https://medium.com/move-network About Avalanche (AVAX) Avalanche is an open, programmable smart contracts platform for decentralized applications. Avalanche is the fastest smart contracts platform in the blockchain industry, as measured by time-to-finality, and has the most validators securing its activity of any proof-of-stake protocol. About Avalanche Asia Star Fund (AVATAR) Avalanche Asia Star Fund is an independent venture fund formed by leading Asia VCs, dedicated to funding development of Avalanche’s ecosystem in Asia. AVATAR intends to invest in DeFi, NFT, industry infrastructure, and ecosystem development projects. AVATAR is composed of an experienced team of leaders from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Carnegie Mellon. Contact Details MOVE Network Media Contact marketing@MOVEnetwork.io

September 23, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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News Direct Launches SimpliFi™, An Industry-First Feature To Streamline Earnings Release Distribution

News Direct

News Direct, the state-of-the-art news and content distribution service designed to meet the demands of modern media outreach, today introduced SimpliFi, an innovative feature that streamlines the process of creating and distributing financial content, including earnings releases, mitigating security risks and maximizing cost savings in the process. This first-of-its-kind software will allow issuers to save countless hours of wasted productivity, and potentially thousands of dollars in distribution costs. SimpliFi enables IR professionals to copy and paste their earnings content – including tabular data – directly into the News Direct Content Studio. From there, secure sharing capabilities allow key stakeholders to comment on drafts in a protected environment where changes can be made and tracked within the Content Studio with automated version history - minimizing any risk of issuing an incorrect version. "Earnings periods are often a stressful time for IROs," observed Gregg Castano, CEO and founder of News Direct. "SimpliFi puts an end to the tedious workflow that has long defined the process. The endless back-and-forth with newswire editors, often including multiple revisions, resubmissions, and waiting anxiously as deadlines approach, are now a thing of the past. We are finally bringing the disclosure process into the 21st century, with proprietary technology to ease the major pain points that have plagued investor relations professionals for decades." IR professionals have no room for error when it comes to disclosing financial information, for this reason, format retention is a key feature of SimpliFi – from bullets to footnotes, the original document format is preserved when migrated into the New Direct Content Studio. SimpliFi also allows for effortless editing of financial tables; its inclusive editing tools enable issuers to easily adjust cell content or table structure so all numerical values and data are optimized for distribution. The workflow advantages of SimpliFi are coupled with industry-leading security safeguards that protect information integrity on multiple levels. News Direct's platform eliminates the role – and potential risk – of human newswire editors, many working from home, from having access to highly sensitive information prior to market disclosure. With News Direct, issuers retain total control of their most sensitive information, exercising discretion as to the timing of their release to the investment community, without the involvement of intermediaries. Additionally, the innovative News Direct platform is built with cloud isolation technology and advanced encryption protocols, providing the industry's highest level of protection. And lastly, News Direct solves another major issue for publicly traded companies – the often exorbitant cost of earnings releases, which can total thousands of dollars. News Direct's flat-rate pricing model, regardless of word count, is both cost-efficient and completely transparent. To learn more about News Direct, please visit https://newsdirect.com. About News Direct News Direct provides news and content distribution for PR, IR, Corporate Communications and Marketing professionals. Our automated platform delivers a completely-reimagined, intuitive workflow, industry-leading security, transparent, flat-rate pricing and actionable analytics. Further, News Direct has deployed an array of innovation including advanced automation, isolation cloud technology and custom software for the most dynamic, efficient and flexible platform available today. To learn more visit newsdirect.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. Contact Details Kevin Pryor +1 212-334-9753 newsdirect@n6a.com Company Website http://www.newsdirect.com

September 22, 2021 11:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Self Esteem Brands Expands Digital Agency of Record Partnership with Goodway Group

Goodway Group

Goodway Group, the digital partner advertisers trust to deliver campaign performance and media efficiency, has expanded its Digital Agency of Record partnership with Self Esteem Brands. The growing relationship builds on Goodway Group’s success with Self Esteem Brands’ Anytime Fitness and Waxing the City. Self Esteem Brands is now bringing on Goodway Group - a recognized leader in multi-location and digital marketing - to manage local marketing efforts for franchisee owners of The Bar Method and Basecamp Fitness. Self Esteem Brands chose Goodway Group for its deep expertise in the multi-location space as well as its proven knowledge to successfully strategize and execute on local and national campaigns. Goodway Group’s holistic approach to digital media strategy - which includes multiple channels such as Search, Social, Programmatic Display, Video, Advanced TV, Audio, Broadcast TV - along with previously demonstrated success in the areas of performance and service through innovative methods secured Goodway Group the local marketing business for all four Self Esteem Brands: Anytime Fitness, Waxing the City, Basecamp Fitness and The Bar Method. The partnership is focused on growing brand awareness and driving new customer acquisition in the US. Internationally, Goodway Group will support Self Esteem Brands via its U.K.-based sister company CvE, with a specialty in global consultative services, to drive franchise development efforts to acquire master franchisees and introduce the fitness brands to new regions. “Throughout our relationship, Goodway Group has been an invaluable resource. Using their deep understanding of the complexities of franchise marketing they’ve supported our corporate marketing team and thousands of franchisees from strategic guidance to media execution and optimization,” said April Anslinger, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Self Esteem Brands, LLC. “They continued to be a strong partner to us during the pandemic, offering transparency and trust, and demonstrating their value through deep insights and innovative, forward-thinking marketing guidance. We are happy to enter into this new phase of our partnership, and capitalize on the energy of consumers, who are more fitness-minded than ever before.” In addition to media buying services, Goodway Group is providing data and analytics capabilities. Its custom-built tech stack offers access to award-winning dashboards that demonstrate campaign performance at the franchisee level. Layered in with machine learning and proprietary algorithms, the Realvalue® suite of algorithms optimize campaign performance to create maximum efficiency with more marketing investment going directly to working media. Goodway Group’s award winning tech stack also provides insights that uncover cross-channel analytics that lead to further campaign effectiveness and efficiencies. “We are honored to engage with Self Esteem brands as their Digital Agency of Record for Anytime Fitness and Wax in the City brands and guide their business to new heights,” said Jay Friedman, President at Goodway Group. “Our multi-location experience is a perfect fit for their needs. We have the right team, technology and strategic understanding of both franchisee and brand needs at the corporate level to create digital strategy and execute campaign management that moves customer acquisition and franchisee growth. Two important factors that directly tie to revenue.” Goodway Group’s previous work with Anytime Fitness has been recognized for several awards including The Drum’s Digital Advertising Awards US 2020 for Most Effective Programmatic Media Partnership, as well as a Finalist in the AdExchanger Awards 2020 for Best Programmatic Capabilities by an Agency and New Membership Campaign. Goodway Group worked with Anytime Fitness for their 2021 New Year’s campaign to bring new members to their gyms. From late December through the end of January, Goodway executed a lead generation campaign by boosting the company’s share of voice (SOV) and creating actionable data through paid social and search as well as cross-device display and connected TV. This allowed Goodway to identify potential prospects, optimize retargeting and use forecasting models to modify their ad spend week to week based on current targets within the pipeline. The campaign surpassed its lead generation goal and attracted 127% of its new member goal. Goodway worked with Self Esteem Brands on a number of other campaigns as well, including a boost in digital awareness for the Anytime Fitness brand, which resulted in an 11.7% lift in awareness. About Goodway Group Goodway Group is the digital partner advertisers trust to drive campaign performance and media efficiency. Proud to be completely independently owned and operated, Goodway provides trustworthy expertise that meets its clients' needs – and no one else's. Using predictive intelligence, Goodway helps advertisers get the most value out of every impression across all paid digital media. Through the combination of employing the smartest technology and the most experienced people in the industry, Goodway delivers authentic results. Find Goodway Group online at goodwaygroup.com. Goodway Group. Honestly Smart Digital. Contact Details Kite Hill PR for Goodway Group Bridget Callahan +1 631-338-7248 bridget@kitehillpr.com Company Website https://www.goodwaygroup.com/

September 22, 2021 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

National Land Realty Sees 155% Jump in Rural Land Sales This Year

National Land Realty

National Land Realty, the nation’s fastest growing real estate land brokerage company specializing in farm, ranch, country estates, timber, recreational, and commercial development properties, today announced that for the first half of 2021, the company saw a 155.53% increase in land sales as compared to the same period last year. From January 1 to June 30, 2021, National Land Realty sold $678,166,278 worth of land, compared to $265,389,196 in the same timeframe in 2020. “National Land Realty is currently active in 40 states having recently added Maryland and New Jersey, and we’re getting ready to expand into New York and Delaware,” said CEO Jason Walter. “We have 348 active field team members and are continuing to add two new members on average each week, which means we’ll eclipse 400 very soon.” With 1,426 unique transactions year-to-date, National Land Realty has sold 167,493 acres of property worth more than $850 million. “We are well on our way to surpassing $1 billion in sales volume for 2021,” said Jason Burbage, President of National Land Realty. “Part of the reason for our rapid growth and success is that we’ve made heavy investments in land touring and mapping technology, such as Land Tour 360 ® and LandBase™, which gives our agents and brokers a big advantage over the competition.” National Land Realty recently released an updated version of Land Tour 360 ®, a revolutionary new way for buyers to view and navigate land parcels online. The unique mapping technology allows visitors to the company's website to view listings three dimensionally and explore rural land in ways previously unattainable. "Instead of showing a prospective buyer a video of a property where the agent technically remains in control, the Land Tour 360® interactive experience puts the controls into the hands of the buyer allowing them to view the property at their own desired pace and level of detail," said Aaron Graham, Chief Innovation Officer for National Land Realty. "Giving buyers this kind of self-guided shopping experience has proven to be extremely effective in the residential brokerage world through technology such as Matterport. We've been able to integrate Matterport's technology into our Land Tour 360® platform, so users are not only able to view the land in 3D, but they can also view the inside of buildings or structures in 3D." About National Land Realty National Land Realty (NLR) is the nation’s fastest growing real estate land brokerage company specializing in farm, ranch, country estates, timber, recreational, and commercial development properties. Highly regarded for its proprietary land touring technology, Land Tour 360 ®, as well as its GIS land mapping system, LandBase™, which catalogs land data in extremely detailed ways, the company makes it easy to view and zero in on the right property in the right place. Founded in Greenville, S.C. in 2007, NLR has more than 80 offices in 40 states. To learn more visit www.nationalland.com or call (855) 384-5263. Contact Details Razor Sharp PR Ray Young +1 512-633-6855 ray@razorsharppr.com Company Website https://nationalland.com/

September 22, 2021 08:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Wanting to earn extra income? Here's an easy solution for people looking to rent out their homes

YourUpdateTV

Let’s face it, renting is challenging, and it goes the same for both, renters and landlords. Whether you’re searching for a lease or looking to make extra money, having access to a tech-enabled platform that facilitates the roommate/home search as well as the leasing and property management experience is a must. Recently, The CEO of Bungalow, Andrew Collins, teamed with YourUpdateTV on a satellite media tour to talk real estate 2.0. A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://youtu.be/Fbn6bLzdevY Bungalow takes care of everything from matching great roommates and furnishing a home’s common areas to streamlining rent and utilities payments, handling service requests, and removing friction from the rental experience. In addition, Bungalow is able to offer rooms in the most desirable neighborhoods, by finding homes and optimizing spaces for roommate living, creating more affordable solutions in the cities and neighborhoods renters actually want to live in. As a two-sided marketplace, Bungalow also helps homeowners and investors earn up to 50% more NOI (net operating income) on their investment properties than they would with traditional property management systems. The platform provides AI-driven pricing, and seamless integration in top marketing channels delivering 2x more quality leads and occupancy in half the time compared with industry averages. Founded in 2017 by Andrew Collins and Justin McCarty, the company currently has more than 3,000 housemates in hundreds of homes across 16 markets. The company also just announced $75M in Series C funding which will go towards supporting its technology and innovation to accelerate growth as they expand to new markets - including Miami, Tampa, Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix - and bring the Bungalow experience to thousands more across the country. Go to Bungalow.com if you’re looking for a home to rent, you can search available homes in your area...or if you’re looking to rent out a property, you can discover how you can earn up to 50% more with Bungalow than using traditional property management companies. About Andrew Collins: Andrew Collins, co-founder and CEO of Bungalow, was inspired to create Bungalow after experiencing first-hand the difficulties of finding an affordable apartment and establishing a community when relocating to San Francisco. With COO and co-founder Justin McCarty, he identified a gap in the residential real estate market and seized the opportunity to create accessible rental options for people looking to move to new cities without an established personal network. Since launching in 2017, Bungalow has helped countless people find community through co-living. Andrew has a degree in Sociology from Princeton University and earned his M.B.A. from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. About Bungalow: Bungalow is a residential real estate platform providing beautiful homes with great roommates, paired with a seamless digital-first experience for early career professionals. The company takes care of everything from matching great roommates and furnishing a home’s common areas to streamlining rent and utilities payments and handling service requests, removing friction from the rental experience. In addition, Bungalow helps its residents create a thriving community through its network. Bungalow is able to offer rooms in the most desirable neighborhoods by working directly with homeowners who are looking for a guaranteed income stream but don’t want to sell their homes. Founded in 2017 by Andrew Collins and Justin McCarty, the company currently has more than 3,000 housemates in hundreds of homes across 16 markets. For more information visit www.bungalow.com or follow Bungalow on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. About YourUpdateTV: YourUpdateTV is a social media video portal for organizations to share their content. It includes separate channels for Health and Wellness, Lifestyle, Media and Entertainment, Money and Finance, Social Responsibility, Sports and Technology. Contact Details YourUpdateTV +1 212-736-2727 yourupdatetv@gmail.com

September 21, 2021 05:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Pearson and Knowledgehook collaborate to enhance blended learning and increase math support in schools

Knowledgehook

Pearson and Knowledgehook are collaborating to bring two mathematics resources together in a way that brings Canadian educators and students the best of two worlds. The two companies bring shared aspirations, common approaches, and complementary products that enhance mathematics education in Canada. Starting today users of Pearson’s Mathology.ca (Grades 3-6 ) will have access to integrated Knowledgehook activities from within specific lessons. This integration allows students to interact with mathematics through games and activities housed within Knowledgehook’s proprietary Instructional Guidance System and provides teachers with additional ways of providing insights into student progress. Users of Mathology.ca will continue to have access to the comprehensive set of tools designed to support the teaching and learning of math in today’s classrooms. Knowledgehook and Pearson’s collaboration began with a mutual exploration of blended learning approaches and opportunities that arose due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on teachers and students. The two companies are aligned in their mission to provide full and responsive support for mathematics education and intend to expand their collaboration in response to educator feedback. For Teachers: Complementary curriculum-aligned digital products provide a double benefit for teachers. Teachers have access to Mathology’s comprehensive plans, assessment tools, and student lessons as well as interactive Knowledgehook activities and its underlying Instructional Guidance System which, together, help teachers assess student progress and assign relevant, engaging next steps. For Students: Students have more ways to do math with purpose. Linking Knowledgehook activities directly to Mathology lessons, students will have access to in-the-moment gamified learning that will increase engagement, confidence, and success. What is Mathology? Pearson Canada’s Mathology is a comprehensive classroom resource currently available for Kindergarten to grade 6. Built on academic and classroom research for the diversity of Canadian classrooms, it is designed to unlock the joy in learning math by engaging students and teachers with materials that: help teachers gain a deeper understanding of student thinking and determine the next best steps; meet students and teachers where they are at in their math learning journey and build teacher capacity. The central hub is Mathology.ca, an online teacher resource that allows any subscribed teacher access to the entire family of Mathology resources, from Kindergarten to grade 6. A variety of complementary print resources are available and in development. What is Knowledgehook? Knowledgehook’s proprietary technology harnesses the power of data to track where students are on their math journey. Their solution connects a child’s in-school education to their at-home learning, providing real-time insights and expert-designed remediation tools to teachers on student learning gaps. This empowers teachers to develop an understanding of the math concepts related to their students’ challenges, enabling them to adjust instruction and monitor student progress. Beverley Buxton, General Manager of Pearson Canada School Division commented: “At Pearson we believe that every child has the right to a strong math foundation, to feel confident in their mathematical abilities, and to have the necessary tools to take on everyday challenges. And we believe in teachers and their abilities to help their students develop happy, empowering, and positive math stories. We are constantly seeking and testing new ways to respond to teacher and student needs, and our collaboration with Knowledgehook, a company that shares our underlying goals, is a unique example of that. We believe that bringing our respective strengths together is in the best interests of teachers and learners and we are eager to build on the community’s response to this collaboration.” “This partnership presents the future of classrooms around the world. Knowledgehook has built a suite of resources for teachers and students that transform the blended learning environment” added Bruce Rodrigues, former Deputy Minister of Education in Ontario, Knowledgehook advisory board member, and former CEO of the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). “Knowledgehook really brings content to life and this Pearson integration will enable more teachers and students in Canada to benefit” Qamar Qureshi, President and Chief Business Officer of Knowledgehook commented: “Our mission has been to equip teachers with the tools to be confident educators and to give them pathways to help students be confident math learners. Having successfully launched across Canada, we have been steadily building up our presence around the world in the UK, Australia, and recently in Mexico. The Knowledgehook solution is fully translated into Spanish and French. Through the collaboration with Pearson, we will be able to reach more math teachers who are searching for innovative, efficient ways to support not only their own learning but also their students’ learning”. “Having the right, personalised guidance makes all the difference, and our goal is to ensure every student has a teacher who has access to the best pedagogical tools, and parents who have insights into their child’s learning. Our platform pulls together a comprehensive and adaptive view on a student’s learning journey, enabling those around them to support and improve their educational experience and outcomes.” About Pearson Learning is the most powerful force for change in the world. More than 20,000 Pearson employees deliver our products and services in nearly 200 countries, all working towards a common purpose – to help everyone achieve their potential through learning. We do that by providing high-quality, digital content and learning experiences, as well as assessments and qualifications that help people build their skills and grow with the world around them. We are the world’s leading learning company. About Knowledgehook Knowledgehook, a leading educational technology company, empowers hundreds of thousands of teachers and parents to collaboratively support the mathematics learning journey of millions of students worldwide. Winner of Google’s Game Changer Award and named Top Disruptor by BNN, its platform analyses student understanding through engaging assessments, providing real-time personalised solutions to close learning gaps between classroom teaching and at-home learning. Designed by leading numeracy and research experts, Knowledgehook’s Instructional Guidance System is known for reinventing how online technology supports education and educators, while inspiring the problem solvers of tomorrow. Knowledgehook is backed by UCL’s VC fund Discentia Capital, Mesoamerica’s Alexandria Corp., Nelson Education and John Abele’s North Point Ventures. Contact Details Knowledgehook Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com

September 21, 2021 08:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Leading Medical Professionals Launch Rappore, An Integrated Patient-Centric Mental Health Platform

Rappore

Rappore, a new-to-market virtual health care platform specializing in mental health therapies, now offers in-network treatment through leading insurance providers including United Health Care, Aetna, Cigna and Blue Cross Blue Shield. According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), 1 in 5 U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2019, a number that has only increased this past year by the pandemic ( Kff.org ). While there are over 500,000 mental health clinicians in the U.S., 119M Americans still live in mental health shortage areas, making it a growing challenge. Rappore’s tech-enabled model aims to solve this issue, which is considered one of the largest healthcare burdens in America. By combining world-class mental healthcare with a convenient, telehealth solution, Rappore delivers accessible, affordable, and comprehensive mental health therapies to patients. “With the launch of Rappore, we aim to fix what is currently a broken system within our healthcare system,” says Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Brian Kinsella. “We bring together psychiatry and therapy under one roof, and now, for the price of a copay. Having companies like Aetna and United Health on-board will enable us to service communities across the nation, and we are excited to achieve this growth while continuing to expand our capabilities and network.” “In the last year, we’ve seen mental healthcare apps grow tremendously; however, most of these apps are developed with little to no healthcare guidance or regulation, and more importantly, no real human interaction,” says Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder, Frederic Kass, MD. “We’ve been able to create a model, backed by top academic medical centers, that elevates the current standard and leads to superior outcomes by matching patients with prominent medical professionals in a variety of specialties who can provide innovative treatments and high-quality services.” Rappore is the only digital company that can achieve superior outcomes for mental health problems including, but not limited to anxiety, depression, eating disorders and PTSD, relationship issues and school/work issues. Its experienced clinical staff has rigorous protocols and offers an array of services including coordinated care with specialty networks and programs, integrated technology, and leading risk management tools to ensure superior patient outcomes. Its technology advantages include rapid intake and onboarding procedures, robust offerings for various and complex ailments, and an affordable pricing model that incorporates therapy, medication, and accessibility to a highly vetted medical community with multiple specialties. Rappore offers licensed mental healthcare clinicians in six states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, and Florida. The company is rolling out a BIPOC process group this month to provide support for BIPOC communities who are faced with unique challenges and systematic inequality. The company has plans for exponential growth and is currently undergoing funding to support initiatives including scaling its clinical staff, further developing proprietary data collection and outcome measurement tools, and driving education and awareness across the medical and patient markets. To learn more about Rappore visit https://rappore.com/ About Rappore Rappore is a world-class virtual health care platform, specializing in mental health therapies, that democratizes the mental healthcare system in the U.S. Formed in 2020, Rappore provides direct access to the best mental health experts and comprehensive treatment via insurance and affordable pricing to patients. Rappore offers its patients a wholistic approach to mental wellness, achieving superior outcomes for mental health problems including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, eating disorders and PTSD, relationship issues and school/work issues. Its experienced clinical staff has rigorous protocols and offers a wide array of services to meet the needs of its patients. Its technology advantages, affordable pricing model, in-network offerings and highly vetted medical community primes Rappore to become one of the leading mental health care programs in the U.S. Contact Details Rell Marketing & Communications Linsey Tilbor Rubin +1 732-991-5294 ltilbor@rellmc.com Company Website https://rappore.com/

September 21, 2021 08:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time

MarketFinance in pole position as it raises £280m and is approved for Recovery Loan Scheme lending

Stockwood Strategy

Fintech business lender MarketFinance has today announced a £280m debt and equity fundraise and its accreditation under the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS). This comes after MarketFinance became one of the first fintechs to be accredited under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), having lent £250m to companies across the UK. Launched by the British Business Bank in April 2021, the Recovery Loan Scheme supports access to finance for UK businesses as they recover and grow following the pandemic. Funding from the Scheme can be used for any legitimate business purpose including managing cashflow, investment in new equipment and preparing for future growth. It is designed to appeal to businesses that can afford to take out additional finance for these purposes. MarketFinance is ready to lend immediately with its debt and equity funding. The debt financing has been provided from a large global investment firm alongside Italy’s largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. The equity investment was led by Black River Ventures (previous investments include Marqeta, Upgrade, Coursera and Digital Ocean) with participation from existing investor, Barclays Bank PLC. Alongside this, the launch of MarketFinance Flex Loans today will aim to help nearly one million SMEs in the UK solve their short-term funding gaps up to £100,000. Viola Credit has provided MarketFinance with £20m to launch the Flex Loans product. Similar to a credit card or overdraft, businesses will have a pre-agreed limit of up to £100,000 which they can withdraw at once or in smaller amounts. Flexible repayment options enable the businesses to spread their repayments over 3 - 12 months based on their working capital needs. It is a solution to support a variety of one-off and ongoing funding requirements such as purchasing inventory, clearing outstanding invoices, upfront supplier payments, investment into sales and marketing, or expanding the team. Anil Stocker, CEO at MarketFinance, commented: “This funding and our accreditation as a Recovery Loan Scheme lender is testament to the brilliant work everyone at MarketFinance has done to serve UK businesses during a difficult period. Adapting to the increased demand from businesses looking for finance online instead of through traditional avenues also drove our profitability this year, which has continued into H2 2021”. From today, businesses can immediately apply* for an RLS loan from MarketFinance between £50k and £250k repayable over 4, 5 or 6 years. Repayments in the first six months of the term will only consist of interest charges, an additional support measure as businesses gear themselves for a full reopening of the economy. Anil Stocker aded: “Businesses have been resilient and managed to hold their nerve during one of the most difficult periods in recent history. We were there to help with the CBILS and will do the same with the RLS by offering a simple application process, quick decisions and sending funds to businesses immediately. Our fundraise puts us in pole position to do this. We played a key role during CBILS, as one of the first fintech lenders, to help get funds to businesses quickly when they found their applications were delayed and or denied by others. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with businesses and help navigate them through to the full reopening of the economy and beyond”. As a native fintech, the MarketFinance platform is designed to receive, process and manage large volumes of businesses applying for finance using the platform. From simple online application forms, enhanced credit risk models to exceptional one-to-one customer support, MarketFinance will get RLS funds to businesses in need, quickly. “We aim to quickly lend to businesses around the UK. We anticipate demand for RLS to come from companies that will need capital to scale operations ahead of the full reopening of the economy. Manufacturers, wholesalers, public services businesses and a range of others will need the funds to ramp up supplies and build pipelines as business returns to normal” added Anil Stocker. Ends *Minimum eligibility criteria for RLS business loans through MarketFinance: Limited Company or Limited Liability Partnership Trading for more than 3 years, has a turnover of more than £200,000 Company sells goods and/or services to consumers and/or other businesses About MarketFinance MarketFinance is a business finance company with offices in London and Manchester. The online platform enables businesses to access a range of flexible finance solutions - quickly and easily. This smart technology is backed by help from real people so business owners can save time and focus on growing their business. Since 2011, MarketFinance has cumulatively advanced over £2.6 billion to companies across a range of sizes and sectors, providing working capital and finance for everything from paying staff and suppliers to launching new products or services and accelerating growth. MarketFinance is backed by Barclays Bank PLC, Mouro Capital, European venture capital fund Northzone (invested in Klarna, iZettle and Trustpilot), and private equity group MCI Capital (also invested in iZettle, Azimo and Gett). About the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) The Recovery Loan Scheme is managed by the British Business Bank on behalf of, and with the financial backing of, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. British Business Bank plc is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. It is not authorised or regulated by the PRA or the FCA. Contact Details MarketFinance Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://marketfinance.com/

September 21, 2021 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Elsevier’s Scopus expands to include SSRN preprints

Elsevier

Elsevier, a global leader in research publishing and information analytics, today announces that preprints from SSRN, its world-leading early stage research and preprint platform, are now available through Scopus, Elsevier’s abstract and citation database. This follows preprints from arXiv, ChemRxiv, bioRxiv and medRxiv being indexed in Scopus earlier this year. This development comes in reaction to feedback and requests from the researcher community, as demand for and use of preprints has jumped in recent years. At present, over 1 million Author Profiles in Scopus have 900,000 preprints indexed to them dating back to 2017. By the end of this year, approximately 170,000 SSRN preprints, from 2017 onwards will be included in Scopus. Elsevier data reveals that over the last five years, there has been a 148% increase in the number of researchers publishing preprints on SSRN. There has also been a 50% increase in the number of downloads of preprints on SSRN over the same period with downloads hitting 17.9 million at the end of 2020. Preprints are a rapidly growing piece of scholarly communication. As a complement to journal publication, they allow the research community to share information or indicative results, indicate a direction of travel for a project and help facilitate international and interdisciplinary collaboration. SSRN data shows that the fastest growing disciplines 1 over the last year on its platforms were in economics and medical research. The rapid rise in medical research preprints has helped play a crucial part in advancing and accelerating understanding of SARS-CoV-2. Preprints in Scopus are only available in Author Profiles that already have a peer-reviewed publication history. Preprints are more prevalent in certain subject fields compared to others. The preprint servers selected for Scopus are the main preprint servers in the areas of Physical Sciences (arXiv and ChemRxiv), Biomedical Sciences (bioRxiv and medRxiv) and General Sciences including the Social Sciences (SSRN). Additional preprint servers will be selected for Scopus as they arise in relevant subject areas. SSRN is an open access online preprint community. A searchable online library, it enables authors to post their papers and abstracts easily and free of charge providing an online database of early scholarly research. With over 2.2 million users, it lists 806,000 full-text documents and an additional 134,000 abstracts. Gregg Gordon, Managing Director of Knowledge Lifecycle Management, Elsevier, said: “We have listened to the needs of the research community, this innovative development in Scopus will improve discoverability and ease of access to SSRN content. “Preprints are increasingly becoming an integral part of the research landscape. As well as providing a valuable early opportunity to understand the direction research is heading, preprints are a positive way for early career researchers to receive feedback ahead of submitting articles to journals. “As evidence of how important they are becoming, preprints are increasingly included in formal evaluation processes for grant proposals and faculty reviews. “We recognize the need to continue speaking to our customers, learn from them and address their needs. The future for preprints is bright, and we look forward to ensuring we remain attuned to what researchers want.” Notes to editors 1 Figures calculated using number of submissions per discipline as an indication of growth rate, when compared to submission rates in 2019. About Elsevier As a global leader in information and analytics, Elsevier helps researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. We do this by facilitating insights and critical decision-making for customers across the global research and health ecosystems. In everything we publish, we uphold the highest standards of quality and integrity. We bring that same rigor to our information analytics solutions for researchers, health professionals, institutions and funders. Elsevier employs 8,100 people worldwide. We have supported the work of our research and health partners for more than 140 years. Growing from our roots in publishing, we offer knowledge and valuable analytics that help our users make breakthroughs and drive societal progress. Digital solutions such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath support strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and health education. Researchers and healthcare professionals rely on our 2,500+ digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell; our 40,000 eBook titles; and our iconic reference works, such as Gray's Anatomy. With the Elsevier Foundation and our external Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board, we work in partnership with diverse stakeholders to advance inclusion and diversity in science, research and healthcare in developing countries and around the world. Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.elsevier.com Contact Details Elsevier David Tucker +44 7920 536160 d.tucker@elsevier.com Company Website https://www.elsevier.com/

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