Ricky Kapur appointed Zoom Head of APAC

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 -- Zoom Video Communications Inc announced Ricky Kapur has joined the company as Head of APAC, effective June 21.

Reporting directly to Zoom’s Head of International Abe Smith, Kapur will defi ne and lead the company’s go-to-market strategy for key APAC markets: Australia andNew Zealand, ASEAN, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Korea, and Taiwan — exclusive of Japan.

He will manage Zoom’s APAC business with supervision and alignment across all cross-functional roles, according to a statement.

“We are thrilled to have Ricky Kapur lead our go-to-market strategy for all of APAC, a region where we are seeing accelerated growth,” said Smith.

“APAC is a critical region for Zoom, as we invest in infrastructure and expand the presence of our sales, marketing, and research and development teams to best enable organisations of all sizes with seamless and reliable video communications.”

Meanwhile, Kapur said: “Zoom has scaled its operations and business impressively across APAC markets, announcing a Technology Center in India and a Research and Development Center in Singapore within the past year.

“I am excited to join a company that continues to redefine the way organisations and individuals connect, from breaking barriers for education and healthcare with virtual-learning and telehealth to becoming critical technology for enterprises as they quickly evolved and adapted to a hybrid working model.”

Kapur comes to Zoom after five and a half years at Microsoft, where he was most recently Vice President of Sales and Marketing Operations for APAC.

At Microsoft, he managed all segments, from SMB, Majors through Enterprise, and led a cross-functional team of sales, marketing, partner, and customer success professionals.

Kapur is a chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in India and holds an MBA from the University of Melbourne.

-- BERNAMA

THE GLOBE AND MAIL SOPHI.IO BAGS DIGIDAY MEDIA AWARD

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 (Bernama) -- Sophi.io, The Globe and Mail’s artificial intelligence-based automation and prediction engine, has won the 2021 Digiday Media Award for Best Publisher Platform, which recognises technology that is most successful in helping publishers achieve their goals.

According to a statement, the awards honour companies, technologies and campaigns that have stood out throughout the media over the past year.

“This year, the competition was fierce and the programmes robust. Innovation and big ideas expanded the playing field for many of the winners, even in a year when quarantines limited where and how people could work — and play,” according to Digiday.

Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of The Globe and Mail, Phillip Crawley said: “It’s an honour to be chosen as the winner of Digiday’s Media Award for Best Publisher Platform.”

“We aren’t often up against companies in both the media and marketing industries but our investments in Sophi have been driven by the understanding that our technology can directly drive performance and economic growth for companies across a large range of industries.”

Sophi is an artificial-intelligence system that helps publishers identify and leverage their most valuable content.

It has powerful predictive capabilities – using natural language processing, Sophi Dynamic Paywall is a fully dynamic, real-time, personalised paywall engine that analyses both content and user behaviour to determine when to ask a reader for money or an email address, and when to leave them alone.

Sophi Site Automation autonomously curates digital content to find and promote the most valuable articles, placing 99 per cent of the content on all of The Globe and Mail’s digital pages, including its homepage and section pages.

More details at https://www.sophi.io.

-- BERNAMA

VRCHAT-ANTHOS CAPITAL PARTNERSHIP TO CLOSE US$80 MILLION SERIES D INVESTMENT ROUND

KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 (Bernama) -- VRChat, a social virtual reality (VR) platform that allows users to create, publish, and explore virtual worlds with other users globally, has announced a US$80 million Series D investment round led by Anthos Capital, alongside participating investors Makers Fund, GFR Fund and others. (US$1 = RM4.148)

VRChat is the leading social VR platform with millions of users, hundreds of thousands of worlds and over 10 million unique avatars. It’s the top free VR application on both the Steam and Oculus Rift store, with over 40,000 concurrent users.

Thanks to the creative freedom of VRChat’s tools, users have turned VRChat into a unique cultural phenomenon, tied closely to internet memes, events and culture. It has also become a virtual hangout for online events and communities.

“VRChat hosts a vibrant, creative, and engaged community that has played a critical role in shaping its continued development. We’re excited to work with our investment partners to further grow and empower our community at an accelerated pace,“ says VRChat Co-founder and CEO, Graham Gaylor in a statement.

This investment provides VRChat the resources to expedite development of a creator economy where members can earn, an enhanced social discovery system for more meaningful experiences, and expansion to more platforms. These enhancements will contribute to VRChat’s rapid growth and allow more people to access this virtual universe.

“As the market for virtual reality grows, VRChat is primed for significant expansion and growth as the leading platform for virtual worlds,” says Anthos Capital Managing Director, Brian Ames.

To experience VRChat and join the community visit www.vrchat.com.

-- BERNAMA

SYNCHRONOSS ANNOUNCES US$125 MILLION PUBLIC OFFERING OF SENIOR NOTES PRICING

KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 (Bernama) -- Synchronoss Technologies Inc (Synchronoss) recently announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of US$125 million aggregate principal amount of 8.375 per cent senior notes due 2026, including the exercise in full by the underwriters of the underwriters’ option to purchase an additional US$5 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes. (US$1 = RM4.148)

Synchronoss, a global leader and innovator in cloud, messaging and digital products and platforms, in a statement said the offering was expected to close on or about June 30, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Synchronoss and the senior notes both received a rating of BB- from Egan-Jones Ratings Company, an independent, unaffiliated rating agency.

The Company has applied to list the senior notes on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol ‘SNCRL’ and expects the notes to begin trading within 30 business days of the closing date of the offering, if approved.

All of the senior notes in the offering are being sold by Synchronoss.

Synchronoss anticipates using the net proceeds from the offering, and from the offering of common stock and sale of Series B Preferred Stock, to fully redeem all outstanding shares of Synchronoss’ Series A Convertible Participating Perpetual Preferred Stock and repay amounts outstanding under Synchronoss’ revolving credit facility.

B. Riley Securities Inc (BRS) is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering. Northland Capital Markets, Aegis Capital Corp. and EF Hutton, division of Benchmark Investments LLC, are acting as lead managers for the offering.

Concurrently with the offering, the Company is offering, by means of a separate prospectus supplement, US$100 million of shares of its common stock.

The senior notes described above are being offered by Synchronoss pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and declared effective by the SEC on Aug 28, 2020.

-- BERNAMA

JW PLAYER RAISES $100M IN SERIES E TO HELP FUEL GROWTH IN THE RAPIDLY EXPANDING DIGITAL VIDEO ECONOMY

Capital will help accelerate JW Player’s growth and expand its already robust platform, empowering customers with independence and control in the Digital Video Economy

NEW YORK, June 25 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- JW Player, the leading video software and data insights platform, today announced it has raised $100M in Series E funding from LLR Partners. The latest investment comes on the heels of record video streaming growth and strong profitability during the previous 12 months. With this financing, JW Player will accelerate product innovation to meet the rapidly changing demands of customers in today’s digital video environment, expand its global go-to-market footprint across sales, marketing and channel partnerships and continue to grow and invest in building a world-class team.

The funding round follows JW Player’s recent acquisition of VUALTO, a leading provider of live and on-demand video streaming and Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions, that deepened the company’s offering to global broadcasters. In the days following the acquisition, JW Player has seen a material uptick and influx of sales and pipeline, especially in the LATAM and APAC regions.

Started as a hugely-popular open source video player, JW Player’s API-driven video platform now empowers hundreds of thousands of customers to independently control and operate their mobile, OTT and Web video applications at global scale. Importantly, JW Player includes unique data-driven services and knowledge so that customers can more effectively grow and engage their audiences and generate more incremental revenue from their video investments. In the last year alone, the company’s video streaming grew by nearly 200%, while its live streaming delivery increased by over 400%.

This financing arrives as the consumption of digital video continues its push to the mainstream. Video now comprises over 80% of all traffic on the internet, and according to JW Player data, people are consuming over two hours of digital video each day, a 40% increase since the beginning of 2020. As a result, a digital video strategy has become a ‘must have’ not only for media companies, but also for organizations of all types, including fitness, e-commerce, sports and e-learning businesses, among others. These organizations have a diverse range of needs, require a flexible video platform that allows them to engage with their audiences on the screens of their choice and demand a quantifiable ROI from their video investments. Given these dynamics, the addressable market is on target to grow from $14B today to $50B by 2027, a 20% CAGR.

“Video has entered into a golden age, and we now live in the Digital Video Economy. By combining our easy-to-use video platform technology with our unique consumption and contextual data insights, JW Player has a distinct advantage in helping customers grow their audiences, create world-class video experiences on any screen, and most importantly, generate more revenue,” said Dave Otten, CEO and co-founder of JW Player. “As we enter this next phase, we are thrilled to partner with LLR. LLR’s team brings decades of unmatched support and expertise in growing industry-changing software companies and will undoubtedly help us accelerate our success as we pursue this massive market opportunity together.”

“JW Player has been at the forefront of digital video innovation ever since founder Jeroen Wijering created YouTube’s original video player in 2008. Today, the company offers the most comprehensive technology, advertising and data analytics platform in the digital video ecosystem,” said David Reuter, Partner at LLR Partners. “We look forward to partnering with the JW Player team as they expand their platform and continue to elevate the way brands can host, stream and monetize video.”

About JW Player
JW Player is the leading video software and data insights platform that gives customers independence and control in today’s Digital Video Economy. Started in 2008 as a hugely popular open-source video player, JW Player ’s technology platform now powers digital video for hundreds of thousands of businesses, including half of the comScore top 50 sites in the US, leading broadcasters across EMEA, APAC and Latin America. Each month 1 billion viewers, or one third of all people on the Internet, consume video on JW Player’s technology across 2.7 billion devices, creating an unmatched and powerful consumption and contextual data graph that helps customers grow audiences and generate incremental video from digital video. The company is headquartered in New York, with offices in London and Eindhoven, visit http://www.jwplayer.com.

About LLR Partners
LLR Partners is a middle market private equity firm investing in technology and healthcare businesses. We collaborate with our portfolio companies to identify and execute on key growth initiatives and help create long-term value. Founded in 1999 and with more than $5 billion raised across six funds, LLR is a flexible provider of equity capital for growth, recapitalizations and buyouts. Learn more at https://www.llrpartners.com/.

Media Contacts:
Fatimah Nouilati
Scratch Marketing + Media for JW Player
fatimah@scratchmm.com

Kristy DelMuto
LLR Partners
kdelmuto@llrpartners.com

Source: JW Player

--BERNAMA

​PROACTIVE ACTION BY JABATAN BOMBA DAN PENYELAMAT MALAYSIA (JBPM) ACCELERATES ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION AND COMPLIANCE (CCC)

​PETALING JAYA, June 25 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) and the Special Taskforce to Facilitate Business (PEMUDAH) laud the swift and proactive action by Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia (JBPM) in issuing a circular that allows deeming provision granting automatic clearance for newly completed building fire safety inspection. A circular dated 24 May 2021 stated that “if JBPM does not issue any comment or clearance letter within 14 days from the date of inspection and if during the closing of the inspection, no action needs to be taken by the Principal Submitting Person (PSP) or Submitting Person (SP), the clearance letter for the inspections of Passive Design (Form G8) and Active System (Form G9) deemed to have been issued for the purpose of the Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) issuance”.

The 14-day deeming clause by JBPM enhances business and government efficiency. JPBM’s action was responding to challenges caused by the impact of COVID-19 on the construction industry as voiced by the players through PEMUDAH. The decision improves the ease of doing business for the construction industry.

Dato’ Abdul Latif Haji Abu Seman, Director General of MPC, which serves as the Secretariat for PEMUDAH commented, “JBPM’s decision creates a positive domino effect in the process and improves the overall productivity and performance. During this difficult time when businesses are facing various challenges, regulators need to be flexible and fast to act to facilitate firms’ operations. I commend JPBM’s quick handling of the CCC matter. This helps construction companies to be more productive.”

PROACTIVE ACTION BY JABATAN BOMBA DAN PENYELAMAT MALAYSIA (JBPM) ACCELERATES ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION AND COMPLIANCE (CCC)

SYNCHRONOSS ANNOUNCES PROPOSED US$100 MILLION PUBLIC OFFERING OF COMMON STOCK

KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 (Bernama) -- Synchronoss Technologies Inc (Synchronoss), a global leader and innovator in cloud, messaging and digital products and platforms, announced that the Company intends to offer and sell, subject to market and other conditions, US$100 million of shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. (US$1 = RM4.155)

Synchronoss also expects to grant underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional US$10 million in shares of common stock sold in the offering, at the public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions.

There can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering, according to a statement.

All shares in the offering are to be sold by Synchronoss, with net proceeds of the offering, and from the offering of Senior Notes and sale of Series B Preferred Stock, expected to be used to fully redeem all outstanding shares of Synchronoss’ Series A Convertible Participating Perpetual Preferred Stock and repay amounts outstanding under Synchronoss’ revolving credit facility.

B. Riley Securities Inc (BRS) is acting as the lead underwriter and sole book-running manager for the offering. Northland Capital Markets is acting as co-manager for the offering.

Concurrently with the offering, the Company is offering, by means of a separate prospectus supplement, US$120 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2026 (the Senior Notes).

In addition, B. Riley Principal Investments LLC (BRPI), an affiliate of BRS, has entered into an agreement pursuant to which BRPI has agreed to purchase US$75.0 million of the Company’s Series B Preferred Stock in a private transaction to be completed concurrently with the closing of the offering.

The shares of common stock described above are being offered by Synchronoss pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and declared effective by the SEC on Aug 28, 2020.

A preliminary prospectus supplement relating to and describing the terms of the offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s web site, while the final terms of the proposed offering will be disclosed in a final prospectus supplement to be filed with the SEC.

-- BERNAMA