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Grifols partners with TRC Healthcare to streamline intravenous compounding education

— The integration of Grifols PharmacyKeeper and clinical education resources from TRC Healthcare will help pharmacy leaders by delivering the most current and relevant evidence-based education available

— This partnership will also provide further educational support for front-line clinicians, essential to improving patient outcomes

PR Newswire

BARCELONA, Spain, Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Grifols (MCE: GRF, MCE: GRF.P, NASDAQ: GRFS), a global leader in the development of plasma-derived therapies and provider of technologies and services for hospitals, clinics and compounding centers, today announced a partnership with TRC Healthcare, the creator of Pharmacist’s Letter and Pharmacy Technician’s Letter, to support pharmacy leaders with ongoing sterile and nonsterile education.

The companies will integrate Grifols PharmacyKeeper, the No. 1 ranked Category Leader in Intravenous (IV) Workflow Management according to KLAS1 , with market-leading clinical education tools and content from TRC Healthcare.

Between the dozens of new medications approved and thousands of clinical study results published each year, it can be challenging to keep pharmacists current on new drugs, high-risk medications and regulatory requirements. PharmacyKeeper and TRC Healthcare look to enhance the quality of patient care and patient safety by delivering clinical education resources and objective recommendations on the latest clinical findings through PharmacyKeeper’s training software system, thus managing pharmacy competencies, certifications and training all in one place.

“We are proud to partner with TRC Healthcare, the No. 1 trusted source for continuing education across the continuum of care,” said Jason Kilgour, President of Commercial Operations North America, Grifols. “Our collaboration will help support pharmacists and technicians by integrating our industry-leading IV Workflow Management software to provide the optimal end-user experience and improve patient safety.”

The partnership to offer high quality and impactful education in support of IV room staff complements and reinforces Grifols’ leadership in designing and building IV rooms, as well as supporting the highest quality IV preparations with KLAS Category Leading IV Workflow Management, including KIRO® automation.

“Having role-specific recommendations from TRC’s Pharmacist’s Letter and Pharmacy Technician’s Letter embedded directly into PharmacyKeeper reduces workflow interruptions, allowing pharmacists and technicians to seamlessly access relevant IV-specific drug information, guidance and continuing education, including important emerging updates for USP <795>, <797>, and <800>,” said Wes Crews, Chief Executive Officer of TRC Healthcare.

About PharmacyKeeper

As one of several customizable, subscription, web- and mobile-based applications within the PharmacyKeeper solution, PharmacyKeeper Verification is a photo-based, medication workflow system that increases staff efficiency, patient safety and ensures compliance with compounding regulations. PharmacyKeeper is a strategic part of inclusiv®, the Grifols comprehensive IV compounding portfolio of integrated technology, software, and service solutions dedicated to advancing quality and safety in pharmacy operations.

For more information on the growing Grifols inclusiv compounding portfolio, visit www.grifolsinclusiv.com.

About Grifols

Grifols is a global healthcare company founded in Barcelona in 1909 committed to improving the health and well-being of people around the world. Its four divisions – Bioscience, Diagnostic, Hospital and Bio Supplies – develop, produce and market innovative solutions and services that are sold in more than 100 countries.

Pioneers in the plasma industry, Grifols operates a growing network of donation centers worldwide. It transforms collected plasma into essential medicines to treat rare, chronic and, at times, life-threatening conditions. As a recognized leader in transfusion medicine, Grifols also offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions designed to enhance safety from donation to transfusion. In addition, the company supplies tools, information and services that enable hospitals, pharmacies and healthcare professionals to efficiently deliver expert medical care.

Grifols, with more than 24,000 employees in 30 countries, is committed to a sustainable business model that sets the standard for continuous innovation, quality, safety and ethical leadership.

In 2019, Grifols’ economic impact in its core countries of operation was 8.5 billion euros. The company also generated 148,000 jobs, including indirect and induced.

The company’s class A shares are listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange, where they are part of the Ibex-35 (MCE:GRF). Grifols non-voting class B shares are listed on the Mercado Continuo (MCE:GRF.P) and on the U.S. NASDAQ through ADRs (NASDAQ:GRFS).

For more information, please visit www.grifols.com

About TRC Healthcare

TRC, the creator of Pharmacist’s Letter and Pharmacy Technician’s Letter, is the leading provider of digital medication learning that updates, informs, and educates healthcare providers across the continuum of care. In addition to its highly regarded Pharmacist’s Letter, Prescriber’s Letter,Pharmacy Technician’s Letter and Natural Medicinesonline resources, TRC provides additional online solutions for hospital and community clinicians that expand on its trusted recommendations, such as drug comparison charts, patient education handouts, FAQs and tutorials on its web-based products. In addition, TRC provides online continuing education programs for medication learning, competency, and compliance programs, and keeps clinicians and administrators informed via its continuing education (CE) dashboard and CE Organizer. TRC provides the largest catalog of education and advisory services in the industry for pharmacy, delivering nearly 400 course options to help technicians and clinicians. TRC leads the way in the training of new pharmacy technicians with Pharmacy Technicians University (PTU), the first online accredited, interactive training program of its kind. Nearly 500,000 healthcare professionals rely on TRC’s advisory and education service to access concise, unbiased and timely information to improve medication use, prevent medication errors and improve overall patient care, quality and outcomes.

For more information on TRC Healthcare, please visit www.trchealthcare.com.

1 For more information on the 2017-2020 Best in KLAS: Software and Services reports, January, © KLAS 2020, visit www.klasresearch.com 

 

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SOURCE Grifols, SA

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Rambus Initiates Accelerated Share Repurchase Program

PR Newswire

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS), a premier silicon IP and chip provider making data faster and safer, today announced it has initiated an accelerated share repurchase program with Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch as counterparty, through its agent Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (Deutsche Bank) to repurchase an aggregate of approximately $50 million of its common stock, with an initial delivery of approximately 2.6 million shares.

“This program is part of a balanced approach to delivering long-term value to our stockholders,” said Luc Seraphin, president and chief executive officer at Rambus. “Our strong balance sheet combined with the increasing demand for our solutions in data-intensive applications reinforces our confidence in the future growth of the company.”

Under the accelerated share repurchase program, Rambus will pre-pay to Deutsche Bank the $50 million purchase price for its common stock and, in turn, Rambus will receive an initial delivery of approximately 2.6 million shares of its common stock from Deutsche Bank within the first week of the program. The number of shares to be purchased ultimately by Rambus will be determined based on the volume weighted average price of the common stock during the terms of the transaction, minus an agreed upon discount between the parties. The program is expected to be completed within six months. The shares of common stock will be delivered by Deutsche Bank to Rambus on the third business day following the calculation period described above.

The accelerated share repurchase program is part of the broader 20 million share repurchase program previously authorized by the Rambus Board of Directors.

About Rambus Inc.

Rambus is a premier silicon IP and chip provider that makes data faster and safer. With 30 years of innovation, we continue to develop the foundational technology for all modern computing systems. Leveraging our semiconductor expertise, Rambus solutions speed performance, expand capacity and improve security for today’s most demanding applications. From data center and edge to artificial intelligence and automotive, our interface and security IP, and memory interface chips enable SoC and system designers to deliver their vision of the future. For more information, visit rambus.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 relating, among other things, to the purchase price of shares acquired pursuant to the accelerated share repurchase program, the timing and the duration of prospective share purchases, the amount of cash that may be expended in connection with such share repurchases and the potential growth from our strategic programs. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections, management’s beliefs and certain assumptions made by the Company’s management. Actual results may differ materially. Rambus undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.

Contact:

Nicole Noutsios

Rambus Investor Relations
(510) 315-1003
[email protected]

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SOURCE Rambus Inc.

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Nuance and Providence Collaborate to Create a Better Patient Experience and Ease Clinician Burden

The Providence and Nuance strategic collaboration will focus on AI-powered solutions to assist with clinician-patient documentation and reduce digital friction across the health system

PR Newswire

BURLINGTON, Mass. and RENTON, Wash., Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Nuance® Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) and Providence, one of the largest health systems in the country, today announced a strategic collaboration to improve both the patient and caregiver experience. As part of this collaboration, Providence will build on the long-term relationship with Nuance by expanding its use of Nuance’s cloud solutions across its 51-hospital, seven-state system. Together, Providence and Nuance will also develop integrated clinical intelligence and enhanced revenue cycle solutions.

In partnership with Nuance, Providence will focus on the clinician-patient experience by harnessing  a comprehensive voice-enabled platform that through patient consent uses ambient sensing technology to securely and privately listen to clinician-patient conversations while offering workflow and knowledge automation to complement the electronic health record (EHR). This technology is key to enabling physicians to focus on patient care and spend less time on the increasing administrative tasks that contribute to physician dissatisfaction and burnout.

“Our partnership with Nuance is helping Providence make it easier for our doctors and nurses to do the hard work of documenting the cutting-edge care they provide day in and day out,” said Amy Compton-Phillips, M.D., executive vice president and chief clinical officer at Providence. “The tools we’re developing let our caregivers focus on their patients instead of their keyboards, and that will go a long way in bringing joy back to practicing medicine.”

To further improve healthcare experiences for both providers and patients, Providence will build on its deployment of Nuance Dragon Medical One with the Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX). Innovated by Nuance and Microsoft, Nuance DAX combines Nuance’s conversational AI technology with Microsoft Azure to securely capture and contextualize every word of the patient encounter – automatically documenting patient care without taking the physician’s attention off the patient.

“We see our strategic collaboration with Providence as a model for the deep partnerships needed to transform healthcare delivery,” said Diana Nole, executive vice president and general manager, healthcare division at Nuance. “Throughout our long working relationship, Providence has been an innovation leader and deeply committed to improving patient outcomes, provider experiences, and the overall value of care delivery. We look forward to continuing our close collaboration with Providence and the opportunities to develop ambient capabilities and enhanced revenue cycle innovations that benefit the entire health care industry.”

Tom McGuinness, corporate vice president, global healthcare at Microsoft said, “The collaboration between Microsoft, Providence, and Nuance is a prime example of how to bring together the market, technical, and domain expertise needed to drive positive change in healthcare delivery and outcomes. It shows the power and synergies of Microsoft’s partner network and is one of the best outcomes we could envision for the providers and patients using our healthcare solutions.”

As part of the expanded partnership, Nuance and Providence will jointly innovate to create technologies that improve health system efficiency by reducing digital friction. This journey will begin with the deployment of CDE One for Clinical Documentation Integrity workflow management, Computer-Assisted Physician Documentation (CAPD), and Surgical CAPD, which focus on accurate clinician documentation of patient care. Providence will also adopt Nuance’s cloud-based PowerScribe One radiology reporting solution to achieve new levels of efficiency, accuracy, quality, and performance.

About Nuance Communications

Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN) is a technology pioneer with market leadership in conversational AI and ambient intelligence. A full-service partner trusted by 90 percent of US hospitals and 85 percent of the Fortune 100 companies worldwide, Nuance creates intuitive solutions that amplify people’s ability to help others.

About Providence
Providence is a national, not-for-profit Catholic health system comprising a diverse family of organizations and driven by a belief that health is a human right. With 51 hospitals, 1,085 physician clinics, senior services, supportive housing and many other health and educational services, the health system and its partners employ more than 120,000 caregivers serving communities across Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, with system offices in Renton, Wash., and Irvine, Calif. Learn about our vision of health for a better world at Providence.org.

Trademark reference: Nuance and the Nuance logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.

Media contacts:

Nuance Communications:

Nancy Scott

+1 781.565.4130
[email protected]


Providence:

Michael Connors

+1 716.481.8162
[email protected]

 

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SOURCE Nuance Communications, Inc.

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RYU Announces Landmark Multi-Year Partnership with Canada Skateboard

PR Newswire

RYU Becomes Official High-Performance Apparel and Innovation Partner of
Canada Skateboard through 2023 

VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ – RYU Apparel Inc. (TSXV: RYU) (OTCQB: RYPPF) (FWB: RYAA) (“RYU” or the “Company“), a creator of award-winning urban athletic apparel, is pleased to announce entry into a 3-year partnership as the Official High Performance Apparel Provider for Canada Skateboard. 

RYU is eager to provide high performance, scientifically engineered urban athletic gear for Canada Skateboard’s athletes, including those representing Canada at the Olympic Games.

Partnership Highlights and Benefits:  

  • Developing and outfitting Canada Skateboard at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, to be held in 2021.
  • Providing technical urban athletic apparel and gear for high-performance skateboard training camps. 
  • Achieving increased brand exposure through social media collaborations with the Canadian Skateboard Team. 
  • Heightening viewership and brand recognition through participation in National team announcements. 
  • Expanding exposure through rights to promote sales and product information to Canada Skateboard and its membership. 

Beyond 

RYU’s partnership with Canada Skateboard aligns RYU with Canada Skateboard’s mission to make the sport accessible, safe and welcoming for all. An important component of this mission includes SheCanSk8, a coast to coast initiative which promotes skateboarding for girls and women, showcasing national talent and providing a network for sharing experiences, exchanging ideas and building the skateboarding culture Canadian girls and women want.

“We are honored to launch this partnership with Canada Skateboard. There is no team in the world more exciting and important for a athletics brand to be part of. Our brand commends and supports the hard, dedication and discipline that these athletes have put into competing at the international level and I believe the athletes will be extremely satisfied with the performance attributes of RYU Apparel” commented Cesare Fazari, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of RYU Apparel.

“On behalf of Canada Skateboard’s board of directors, staff and volunteers I’m pleased to announce our multi-year partnership with RYU Apparel Inc. As the national governing body shepherding Canadian skateboarders toward their first Olympics, it has been paramount to partner with a domestic brand sharing in our vision and beliefs. RYU’s commitment to quality garments and sustainability makes them an ideal partner. We look forward to developing Canadian made, high-quality apparel to showcase on the world stage” said Ben Stoddard the President of Canada Skateboard. 

About RYU Apparel

RYU Apparel (TSXV: RYU, OTCQB: RYPPF), or Respect Your Universe, is an award winning urban athletic apparel and accessories brand engineered for the fitness, performance and lifestyle of the athletic man and woman. Designed without compromise for fit, comfort, and durability, RYU exists to facilitate optimal human performance. For more information, please visit the RYU website at: http://ryu.com  

ABOUT US Skateboard Canada

Formed in 2016, Canada Skateboard is recognized by the Canadian Olympic Committee, Sport Canadaand World Skate as the official National Sport Federation (NSF) for skateboarding in Canada. Canada Skateboard board of directors is composed of skate industry veterans with a shared vision to support, promote and grow skateboarding in Canada. The board includes professional skaters, industry heads, event producers, international judges, coaches, skatepark designers and media managers from the past and present in Canadian skateboarding. Each brings their unique expertise, personality, and a steadfast commitment to skateboarding

Forward Looking Statements Disclaimer

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. 

This news release contains forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of RYU, such as statements regarding the fulfillment of its obligations under the sponsorship and promotional license agreement with Canada Skateboard. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and RYU’s plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information, including adverse market conditions, including those related to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the inability of RYU fulfill its obligations under the sponsorship and promotional license agreement with Canada Skateboard. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, RYU does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

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SOURCE RYU Apparel Inc.

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CIT Serves as Joint Lead Arranger for $70 Million Financing for Personal Care Manufacturer

PR Newswire

NEW YORK, Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) today announced that its Sponsor Finance business, part of the Commercial Finance division, served as joint lead arranger and joint bookrunner for a $70 million financing on behalf of Estyle Holdings Inc., makers of Eco Style hair gel and a wide range of other beauty and personal care products.

Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Estyle sells its products through distributors, beauty supply stores and leading national retail chains, targeting multicultural consumers.

The new $70 million senior secured financing consists of a revolving credit facility, delayed draw term loan and a term loan to support the recapitalization of the company by Clarion Capital Partners.

“We are pleased to partner with CIT on this transaction,” said Edward Martin, Principal of Clarion Capital Partners. “CIT worked proactively and constructively through a difficult environment to support this transaction. We look forward to continuing that partnership approach with CIT to support the business to achieve its future strategic plans.”

“We are pleased to arrange financing to support Clarion’s investment in Estyle and are looking forward to supporting the company’s continued growth,” said David Harnisch, CIT’s president of Commercial Finance and Real Estate.

CIT’s Sponsor Finance group provides cash flow and asset based senior debt for private-equity backed transactions in the middle market throughout the United States.

About CIT

CIT is a leading national bank focused on empowering businesses and personal savers with the financial agility to navigate their goals. CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) is a financial holding company with over a century of experience and operates a principal bank subsidiary, CIT Bank, N.A. (Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender). The company’s commercial banking segment includes commercial financing, community association banking, middle market banking, equipment and vendor financing, factoring, railcar financing, treasury and payments services, and capital markets and asset management. CIT’s consumer banking segment includes a national direct bank and regional branch network. Discover more at cit.com/about.


MEDIA RELATIONS:


John M. Moran

212-461-5507
[email protected]

 

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SOURCE CIT Group Inc.

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2020 State of DevOps Report Finds Link Between Self-Service Platforms and DevOps Success

Latest research from Puppet reveals organizations that embrace platform models are more likely to succeed at scaling DevOps

PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Puppet, the industry standard for infrastructure automation, today released the findings of the 2020 State of DevOps Report. This year, over 2,400 IT, development, and information security professionals took the survey, revealing approaches that can help organizations scale DevOps principles and practices through providing more self-service capabilities and modernizing change management practices. Puppet’s State of DevOps report remains the longest-standing and most widely-referenced DevOps research in the industry after nearly a decade and 35,000 global survey respondents.

Taking DevOps from isolated teams to scaling across an enterprise is a significant challenge for any business. According to the report, establishing a platform approach to software delivery helps organizations standardize and scale DevOps practices across more application development teams. While the platform model is a fairly new approach for enabling application teams, it can help achieve overarching DevOps goals: faster and easier delivery of better-quality, more secure software.

Even more revealing in the report was that self-service capabilities were seen at higher levels of DevOps evolution, when companies’ DevOps practices are more mature. More evolved organizations are almost twice as likely as mid-level organizations to have high usage of internal platforms with self-service capabilities. Linked to findings in Puppet’s 2018 State of DevOps report, the DevOps evolution model consists of five stages of DevOps adoption which show critical practices at each stage and the “how” to get from one stage to the next.

“The underlying structural changes that have occurred to get to the highest level of DevOps evolution have reduced complexity in the technology stack, automated away a lot of toil, and reduced handoffs between teams — all while building a high degree of trust. These are all the necessary components for building an internal platform that can deliver higher value for the organization,” said Alanna Brown, Senior Director of Developer Relations and author of the State of DevOps report. “For organizations that are not ready to make the leap to a self-service platform approach, addressing change management processes within your company can also help eliminate toil and speed up software delivery.”

The report also revealed four common approaches to change management based on approval processes, degree of automation and risk mitigation techniques. The four approaches — operationally mature, engineering-driven, governance focused and ad hoc — result in different levels of effectiveness and different performance outcomes. Orthodox approvals make the change management process less efficient. Firms with high orthodox approvals are nine times more likely to have high levels of inefficiency than firms with low orthodox approvals. Teams that automate and practice advanced risk mitigation believe that their change management process reduces risk and downtime while facilitating the rate of change the business needs.

“This year we were able to gather data in-depth on how change management practices correlate with organizational success. The highlights for me were clear evidence that by using CI and automation as the primary change management mechanism outcomes are better, and effectiveness is higher,” said Michael Stahnke, Vice President, Platform, CircleCI. “Surprisingly, teams that have good outcomes are likely to not be satisfied with their change management process. Likely because they strive for continuous improvement — particularly when compared to organizations practicing a more traditional change management approach.”

Additional key findings of the survey, include:

  • 63 percent of the respondents state their company has at least one self-service internal platform, and 60 percent have between two and four platforms.
  • Highly evolved DevOps firms are six times as likely to report high use of internal platforms as firms with a low-level of DevOps maturation.
  • Top challenges in creating an internal platform include: lack of time; lack of standardization; and lack of technical skills within the team.
  • Firms whose employees believe their change management is effective are three times more likely to automate testing and deployment than firms where confidence in change management performance is low.
  • Among respondents with full security integration, 45 percent can remediate critical vulnerabilities within a day. Just 25 percent of those with low security integration can remediate within a day.

For every person who completed the 2020 State of DevOps survey, $1 was donated to the World Health Organization COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. An additional $45,000, provided by our generous sponsors, was donated to several nonprofits helping our most vulnerable communities cope with the effects of COVID-19, including WHO COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, No Kid Hungry and Doctors Without Borders.

*Report Methodology

The survey collected data from technical professionals with a working knowledge of their IT operations and software delivery process. A third-party research firm, ONR, hosted the survey and conducted the data analysis. The resulting report was written by Puppet and CircleCI.

Supporting Quotes

“When it comes to change governance, larger organizations tend to be the ones to experience difficulties in succeeding with DevOps at scale. The findings of this year’s report highlights this pain point,” said RJ Jainendra, VP and GM, ITBM and DevOps at ServiceNow. “Part of the problem is that older change processes, which many larger organizations still use, have reinforced silos, leading to change evasion. By leveraging adaptive change, teams can eliminate toil, increase success, and in turn become high-performing. This can be achieved using a policy-based approach to automate the change process while ensuring the highest levels of governance and on-demand deployment.”

“Secure DevOps is a hot topic and it is exciting to see organizations are taking action,” said Omer Azaria, VP of Engineering at Sysdig. “From this year’s State of DevOps Report, we’ve discovered that highly productive DevOps teams automate security and compliance as part of their change management process. These are the teams that are able to both reduce security risk and accelerate application releases.”

Additional Resources

About Puppet

Puppet makes infrastructure actionable, scalable and intelligent. From the data center to the cloud, Puppet helps enterprises modernize and manage their infrastructure to deliver innovation and efficiency through continuous automation. More than 40,000 organizations — including more than 80 percent of the Global 5000 — have benefited from Puppet’s open source and commercial solutions to ensure business continuity, optimize costs, boost compliance and ensure security – all while accelerating the adoption of DevOps practices and delivery of self-service. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Puppet is a privately held company with offices in London, Belfast, Singapore and Sydney. Learn more at puppet.com.

Media Contact
Zibby Keaton
Head of External Communications @ Puppet
[email protected]

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GPS Partners with ValidCare to Guide CPG/Pharma Research and Investment in CBD Market

DENVER, CO, Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — via NewMediaWire— Gateway Proven Strategies, LLC (GPS) announced today a partnership to offer the ValidCare CBD (Cannabidiol) Consumer Experience databases as part of its integrated cannabis consulting offering. These databases feature more than two years of blinded and aggregated real-world data and real-world evidence provided by actual consumers of CBD products. These data provide unique visibility into consumer reported safety, demographics, preferences, and uses and effects of numerous CBD products and brands.

Many consumer packaged goods (CPG) and pharmaceutical (Rx) companies are very interested in pursuing product innovation pipelines featuring CBD and given the lack of movement by the FDA, most CPG/Rx companies are eagerly awaiting these safety findings. GPS is the cannabis industry’s leading consulting firm, encompassing a full suite of cannabis business expertise. By being able to offer the ValidCare database and Research Solutions to our potential clients without a consulting commitment, we hope to stimulate more meaningful conversations and eventual client engagements around what to do about these findings.  

GPS will offer the ValidCare databases and Research Solutions to clients for the same price offered directly by ValidCare. The difference is that when purchasing from GPS, clients also have the option to access GPS experts for meaningful application from the data/findings. “We are excited to partner with GPS and its team of business intelligence experts,” said Patrick McCarthy, CEO of ValidCare. “We believe that by having GPS as a partner, CPG, and pharmaceutical companies can more efficiently gain insights and make important strategic decisions from our data.  Together we can help companies conduct proprietary research to advance their portfolios as well as assess regulatory and safety considerations, market entry timing, product development, and market segmentation opportunities.”

Despite U.S. Federal legalization with the 2018 Farm Bill, the FDA has yet to announce whether it will treat CBD as a dietary supplement.  FDA’s inaction is primarily due to concerns the FDA has with CBD causing liver damage and drowsiness, based on findings from excessive dosing experiments as part of the GW Pharmaceuticals drug approval trials.  ValidCare is currently sponsoring a multi-branded safety study aimed at answering the FDA’s repeated request, including the agency’s March 5, 2020 report to Congress, for science-based data so it can confidently determine the appropriate regulatory path(s) for hemp-derived CBD products. This data is expected to be critical to unlocking innovation pipelines for CPG and Rx companies. 

“Charlotte’s Web invests in precision science through our CW Labs and also through important research studies such as this ValidCare study because this research will provide much-needed data,” said Tim Orr, Vice President of Innovation at Charlotte’s Web.

 “By being both science and data-driven we can secure long term consumer trust, while also addressing the FDA’s safety concerns with CBD products.” 

About Gateway Proven Strategies

GPS, LLC is a global consulting group dedicated to connecting the dots of the global CBD supply chain. Through it’s comprehensive consulting and advisement service offerings, GPS supports entrepreneurs on the front lines of innovation, advises governments to develop reasonable cannabis policies that support growth and innovation, guides the hand of investment capital, and navigates enterprise clients through the nascent waters of the emerging CBD industry providing education, vision, strategy, and results. For more information on Gateway Proven Strategies, LLC, visit www.GPS.Global

About ValidCare

ValidCare, LLC provides clinical research outsourcing (CRO) and consumer intelligence solutions for the consumer packaged goods (CPG) and life sciences industries. ValidCare’s proprietary platform supports virtual research powered by real-world evidence (RWE) including self-reported consumer data to deliver insights that help improve research, regulations, product development, and consumer health. For more information on Valid Care, visit www.validcare.com or call 844-825-4322.

Danielle Staley
800-667-1221
[email protected]

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FINEOS Teams with Ushur to Automate Customer Engagement

FINEOS AdminSuite integrates Ushur’s no-code workflows and conversational AI

DUBLIN, Ireland and SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FINEOS Corporation (ASX:FCL), the global market leader in core systems for life, accident and health insurance, and Ushur, the leading no-code platform for customer engagement and Intelligent Automation, are partnering to deliver faster processing time, lower operating costs for carriers and a world-class user experience, the two announced today.

The partnership will enable FINEOS AdminSuite customers to leverage Ushur’s AI-powered automation tools that come with a no-code workflow builder, unique conversational AI and rich connections to systems of record to automate RFP intake journeys and provide a state-of-the-art digital experience to their employers, insureds and brokers.

Benefits of the integrated FINEOS Platform and Ushur solution include:

  • Faster processing of RFP intake requests
  • 24/7 personalized interaction with employers, insureds and brokers
  • Increased customer satisfaction as measured by NPS
  • Automating data collection to reduce reliance on agents and specialists

Irish Life, Unum and Tower Insurance are among leading carriers using Ushur’s multichannel automation tools and AI-powered workflows to engage employers and insurers over email, SMS and mobile apps, providing a convenient, personalized customer experience while dramatically reducing outgoing calls. Ushur’s AI can also be used to streamline outbound sales operations and automatically direct internal email flow.

“Partnering with Ushur complements the FINEOS Platform Smart Automation capabilities to enable insurers to provide even better and faster service to their customers, and is part of our Open Ecosystem approach to working with product partners,” said Michael Kelly, CEO of FINEOS. “RFP Intake is often a tedious process, fraught with mistakes and bad data. We look forward to working with Ushur to streamline this process to increase our customers’ service speed and accuracy. We are also exploring how Ushur can help us enhance our market-leading FINEOS Claims product even further using their AI tools to provide even better service across the claims process.”

“Carriers, employee benefits providers and companies in general are having to deal with massive shifts in customer behavior and technology trends,” said Simha Sadasiva, CEO of Ushur. “Our mission at Ushur is to help bring companies closer to the members they serve through a multichannel frictionless engagement. This partnership with FINEOS, a modern, cloud-based SaaS platform, will allow carriers to deliver straight-through processing to their members, brokers and claimants. It’s a real breakthrough for the industry!”

About FINEOS

FINEOS is a market leader in core systems for life, accident and health insurance carriers globally with 7 of 10 group life and health carriers in the US as well as 6 of the top 10 life and health carriers in Australia. With employees and offices throughout the world, FINEOS continues to scale rapidly, working with innovative progressive carriers in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

The FINEOS Platform, powered by Amazon Web Services, provides customers full end-to-end core administration for group, voluntary and individual across life, accident and health. The FINEOS Platform includes the FINEOS AdminSuite core product suite as well as add-on products, FINEOS Engage to support digital engagement and FINEOS Insight for analytics and reporting.

For more information, visit www.FINEOS.com.

About Ushur


Ushur
 is the complete solution for intelligent automation. Companies such as HealthSpire, Irish Life and Unum use Ushur to automate claims and broker interactions and collect missing information for member journeys over email, apps, SMS and more using conversational AI and intuitive workflows. Ushur’s end-to-end platform accelerates time to value with features like a no-code visual builder, powerful tools for data extraction and integrations with back-end core systems. Ushur is headquartered in Santa Clara with an office in Bangalore and is backed by investors including Third Point Ventures and 8VC.

U.S. Media Contact

Chris Ulbrich
[email protected]
415 848 9175

Posted on

Rideshare Rental, Inc. Announces Results for Q3 2020


Highlights

Q3 2020
revenue
w
as
up
21.5% over Q3 2019
,
hitting the highest
quarterly
 r
evenue in the company’s history

Q3 2020 revenue was up 31.0% over Q2 2020, marking a significant recovery from the COVID-19 shutdown

Gross margin for Q3 2020 was 42.3% up from 37.9% in Q3 2019

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Rideshare Rental, Inc. (“RSR” or the “Company”) (Other OTC:YAYO), a leading provider of vehicles to the rideshare and delivery gig economy industry, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rideshare Car Rentals, LLC, today announced financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2020.

“We are very pleased with our performance in Q3 2020,” commented Ramy El-Batrawi, CEO. “Although the COVID-19 shutdowns caused our quarterly revenue to decrease in the beginning of the second quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, we saw a positive upward movement in revenue by the end of the second quarter. Q3 was up 21% year over year and was up 31% over Q2 2020, hitting the highest quarterly revenue in the Company’s history. Gross margins grew to 42% up from 38% from Q3 2019, making the Company’s core rental operations profitable before taking into account corporate overhead and one-time costs.”

“This significant increase in revenue is a result of our immediate pivot in marketing to the delivery gig industry, a sector which continued activity throughout the COVID-19 shutdown. With Proposition 22 passing that established workers as independent contractors, superseding a California law that aimed to make gig workers, including ride-hailing and food delivery drivers, employees with full benefits, will create more demand as drivers make more money. This is important because the majority of our fleet are in California. We anticipate seeing continued growth in revenue as we add more cars, demand is strong not only in California but also in all cities we service. We are running at a 95% utilization rate on available cars to rent in all areas,” CEO Ramy El-Batrawi added.

Rideshare Car Rentals LLC, our wholly-owned subsidiary, is an online rideshare vehicle booking platform to service the ridesharing and delivery gig economy which includes both our owned-fleet and third party fleets.

Fleet Management

Distinct Cars LLC, our wholly-owned subsidiary, maintains a fleet of passenger vehicles that are commercially available for rent by gig-economy drivers.

About Rideshare Rental, Inc.

Rideshare Rental, Inc. bridges the gap between rideshare drivers in need of a suitable vehicle and rideshare companies that depend on attracting and keeping drivers. Rideshare Rental, Inc. uniquely supports drivers in both the higher and lower economic categories with innovative policies and programs. Rideshare Rental, Inc. is a leading provider of rental vehicles to drivers in the ever-expanding gig economy.

Rideshare Rental, Inc. provides SEC filings, investor events, press and earnings releases about our financial performance on the investor relations section of our website (www.yayyo.com).

Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact in this press release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that the company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “potential,” “continue,” “is/are likely to” or other similar expressions. The company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although the company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results.

Public Relations Contact

Ramy El-Batrawi
Phone: 888-209-5643
Email: [email protected]

RIDESHARE RENTAL, INC. (FORMERLY YAYYO, INC.)

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

As of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019

    September 30,     December 31,  
    2020     2019  
    (unaudited)        

ASSETS
 		               
Current Assets:                
Cash   $ 84,732     $ 1,256,429  
Accounts receivable     53,338       59,331  
Prepaid expenses     431,973       782,900  
Total current assets     570,043       2,098,660  
                 
Equipment, net     2,280       3,395  
Rental vehicles, net     7,140,289       4,737,047  
Deposit on vehicles     –       164,080  
Other assets     200,000       200,000  
TOTAL ASSETS   $ 7,912,612     $ 7,203,182  
                 

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
 		               
                 
Current Liabilities:                
Accounts payable (including $692,386 and $394,183 to related party)   $ 1,453,305     $ 545,254  
Accrued expenses (including $0 and $171,665 to related party)     432,815       405,977  
Notes payables, current (net of discount of $4,570 and $32,289)     497,872       287,378  
Advance from related party     50,000       –  
Finance lease obligations, current     1,689,534       1,416,446  
Total current liabilities     4,123,526       2,655,055  
                 
Note payable, net of current portion     149,900       –  
Finance lease obligations, net of current portion     1,978,238       984,119  
                 
TOTAL LIABILITIES     6,251,664       3,639,174  
                 
Commitments and contingencies     –       –  
                 
STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT                
Preferred stock, $0.000001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized; nil shares issued and outstanding     –       –  
Common stock, $0.000001 par value; 90,000,000 shares authorized; 31,981,374 and 29,427,803 shares issued and outstanding     32       29  
Additional paid-in capital     29,708,377       28,735,894  
Accumulated deficit     (28,047,461 )     (25,171,915 )
Total stockholders’ deficit     1,660,948       3,564,008  
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT   $ 7,912,612     $ 7,203,182  
                 

RIDESHARE RENTAL, INC. (FORMERLY YAYYO, INC.)

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

For the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (unaudited)

    Three Months Ended
September 30, 		    Nine Months Ended
September 30, 		 
    2020     2019     2020     2019  
                         
Revenue   $ 2,070,821     $ 1,718,439     $ 5,399,018     $ 5,193,957  
                                 
Cost of revenue     1,194,957       1,067,373       3,891,307       3,111,614  
                                 
Gross profit     875,864       651,066       1,507,711       2,082,343  
                                 
Operating expenses:                                
Selling and marketing expenses     113,904       80,039       324,546       182,645  
General and administrative expenses     1,088,152       761,151       3,845,768       2,221,962  
Loss on the settlement of debt     –       –       –       252,900  
Total operating expenses     1,202,056       841,190       4,170,314       2,657,507  
                                 
Loss from operations     (326,192 )     (190,124 )     (2,662,603 )     (575,164 )
                                 
Other income (expense):                                
Interest and financing costs     (65,292 )     (180,531 )     (212,943 )     (792,406 )
Total other income (expense)     (65,292 )     (180,531 )     (212,943 )     (792,406 )
                                 
Net loss   $ (391,484 )   $ (370,655 )   $ (2,875,546 )   $ (1,367,570 )
                                 
Weighted average shares outstanding :                                
Basic     31,981,374       26,802,803       30,828,676       26,774,636  
Diluted     31,981,374       26,802,803       30,828,676       26,774,636  
                                 
Loss per share                                
Basic   $ (0.01 )   $ (0.01 )   $ (0.09 )   $ (0.05 )
Diluted   $ (0.01 )   $ (0.01 )   $ (0.09 )   $ (0.05 )
                                 

RIDESHARE RENTAL, INC. (FORMERLY YAYYO, INC.)

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)

For the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (unaudited)

                Additional           Total  
    Common Stock     Paid-in     Accumulated     Stockholders’  
    Shares     Amount     Capital     Deficit     Equity (Deficit)  
Balance, December 31, 2019     29,427,803     $ 29     $ 28,735,894     $ (25,171,915 )   $ 3,564,008  
                                         
Stock option expense                     457,242               457,242  
Net loss                             (1,761,220 )     (1,761,220 )
                                         
Balance, March 31, 2020     29,427,803       29       29,193,136       (26,933,135 )     2,260,030  
                                         
Issuance of common stock for cash     2,553,571       3       274,997               275,000  
Net loss                             (722,842 )     (722,842 )
                                         
Balance, June 30, 2020     31,981,374       32       29,468,133       (27,655,977 )     1,812,188  
                                         
Stock option expense                     240,244               240,244  
Net loss                             (391,484 )     (391,484 )
                                         
Balance, September 30, 2020     31,981,374     $ 32     $ 29,708,377     $ (28,047,461 )   $ 1,660,948  
                                         
Balance, December 31, 2018     26,718,676     $ 27     $ 19,193,151     $ (21,241,694 )   $ (2,048,516 )
                                         
Issuance of common stock for settlement of debt     80,000               640,000               640,000  
Net loss                             (579,463 )     (579,463 )
                                         
Balance, March 31, 2019     26,798,676       27       19,833,151       (21,821,157 )     (1,987,979 )
                                         
Issuance of common stock for settlement of debt     4,300               34,400               34,400  
Net loss                                    (417,452 )     (417,452 )
                                         
Balance, June 30, 2019     26,802,976       27       19,867,551       (22,238,609 )     (2,371,031 )
                                         
Correction to outstanding shares     (173 )                                
Net loss                             (370,655 )     (370,655 )
                                         
Balance, September 30, 2019     26,802,803     $ 27     $ 19,867,551     $ (22,609,264 )   $ (2,741,686 )
                                         

RIDESHARE RENTAL, INC. (FORMERLY YAYYO, INC.)

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (unaudited)

    2020     2019  
             
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:                
Net loss   $ (2,875,546 )   $ (1,367,570 )
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:                
Depreciation and amortization     1,047,075       730,610  
Stock option expense     697,486       –  
Common stock issued for services     –       –  
Amortization of debt discounts     27,719       29,860  
Loss on the settlement of debt     –       252,900  
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:                
Accounts receivable     5,993       (78,643 )
Prepaid expenses     350,927       1,394  
Accounts payable     908,051       (419,958 )
Accrued expenses     26,838       697,518  
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities     188,543       (153,889 )
                 
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:                
Proceeds from notes payable     342,675       1,951,300  
Proceeds from sale of common stock     275,000       –  
Proceeds from advance from related party     200,000       –  
Repayment of advance from related party     (150,000 )     –  
Repayment of notes payable     (10,000 )     (967,652 )
Repayment of finance lease obligations     (2,017,915 )     (1,025,863 )
Net cash used in financing activities     (1,360,240 )     (42,215 )
                 
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH     (1,171,697 )     (196,104 )
                 
CASH, BEGINNING OF PERIOD     1,256,429       277,444  
                 
CASH, END OF PERIOD   $ 84,732     $ 81,340  
                 
CASH PAID FOR:                
Interest   $ 185,224     $ 715,250  
Income taxes   $ –     $ –  
                 
SUPPLEMENTAL NON-CASH INVESTING AND FINANCING ACTIVITIES                
Payment of accounts payable/accrued expenses with common stock   $ –     $ 421,500  
Value of equity recorded as debt discounts   $ –     $ –  
Finance lease obligations   $ 3,400,922     $ 510,136  

Posted on

Quinncy McNeal Joins Husch Blackwell as Pro Bono Counsel

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Husch Blackwell is pleased to announce that Quinncy McNeal has joined the firm in the newly established position of Pro Bono Counsel in its Houston office.

His hiring expands Husch Blackwell’s Pro Bono team as part of HB Communities for Change, the firm’s effort to harness the energy throughout its offices nationally to make positive change in the United States with respect to racial justice.

“Quinncy will focus on the establishment and support of minority-owned businesses by seeking creative solutions to foster their greater economic success, and hopefully, making a difference that compounds over time,” Margaret Richards, Husch Blackwell’s Director of Pro Bono Services, said. “During the last decade, Quinncy has made pro bono work a centerpiece of his practice. He brings with him experience working with minority-owned entrepreneurs, providing legal advice to burgeoning businesses seeking a foothold in the marketplace. Quinncy is absolutely perfect for this new pro bono position and we are very excited to welcome him to the firm.”

“After ten years representing Fortune 100 corporate giants, I am thrilled to now dedicate my practice exclusively to expanding access to the legal system for those most underrepresented in our communities,” McNeal said. “I am delighted to get started on this critically important initiative and to provide a strong, supportive and steady hand to the minority companies that already add such immeasurable value to the many communities in Husch Blackwell’s national footprint. With the help of this firm’s terrific and dedicated professionals, we are going to do something very special.”

McNeal earned his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and his B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University. Before focusing his legal practice on pro bono matters, he worked on extensive complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts, dispute resolution, compliance counsel, and transactional matters. Prior to pursing a legal career, McNeal was a television journalist in Texas and in Wisconsin.

# # # 

About Husch Blackwell

 Husch Blackwell is an industry-focused law firm with 21 offices across the United States, including its virtual office, The Link. The firm represents clients around the world in major industries including energy and natural resources; financial services and capital markets; food and agribusiness; healthcare, life sciences and education; real estate, development and construction; and technology, manufacturing and transportation. For more information, visit huschblackwell.com.

Steve Renau
Husch Blackwell
816-983-8783
[email protected]