Day: January 17, 2023

Heavy metals, toxic chemicals, and residual nicotine from littered disposable vape devices leach into our soil and pollute our ecosystem and wildlife.

TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Not only are disposable vaping devices fueling the world’s ongoing youth vaping epidemic, these single-use plastic e-cigarettes are responsible for the growing, exorbitant amount of toxic waste plaguing our earth. As if it isn’t harmful enough that disposable vape products are purposely targeting our youth with brightly colored packaging, eye-catching branding, and appealing fruit & dessert flavors; the plastics, heavy metals, and lithium batteries that these devices are comprised of are now a leading source of environmental pollution.

Poolwerx has chosen Spryker to connect their online and in-store experiences through a combined omnichannel marketplace solution

BRISBANE, Australia, Jan. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Spryker, the leading platform for Enterprise Marketplaces, Thing Commerce, and Unified Commerce, has announced that it has been chosen by Poolwerx, the world’s largest franchise pool service brand and Australia’s No. 1 Pool Service Brand, to lead their digital transformation initiative. Poolwerx is partnering with Spryker to connect their digital and retail store experience and enable commerce across the entirety of their network.

Core to this transformation is enhancing the experience for clients, franchise partners and the Poolwerx team via a unique use of Spryker’s marketplace capabilities to deliver a new customer e-commerce portal, a franchise partner portal to manage their own products and orders, and an operator portal to provide visibility and operational capabilities across all environments and channels.

“We needed a system that enabled us to innovate at speed and adapt to whatever the future throws at us, whether it’s enabling smart pools through their ability to handle IoT data or creating new sales channels through their ability to activate voice. Our previous monolithic architecture simply couldn’t move fast enough and caused us to create workarounds that didn’t meet what our users required, nor deserved,” said Shannon O’Brien, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer at Poolwerx. “In today’s world, user experience expectations are moving faster than ever. Our teams and our clients need systems that get out of the way and enable them to do what they need to do easier, faster, better. If you’re doing what everyone else is doing, you remain mediocre. If you’re doing what no one is doing, you become exceptional. Spryker enables us to move faster toward becoming exceptional.”

Using their API-first approach, Spryker will connect previously disconnected systems across retail, service, and back-of-house architecture. This will enable Poolwerx to see and manage everything effectively from a single administrative portal provided by Spryker. Retail team and pool service technicians will have the right information delivered to them in a timely manner and franchise partners will have significantly upgraded business capabilities. Most importantly, clients will be able to have a completely connected and easy to use omnichannel experience so they can spend more time enjoying their pool and less time worrying about it.

Poolwerx was in search of a commerce solution that could bring together various data from disconnected systems. With Spryker handling clienteling, order management and e-commerce, Poolwerx is able to deliver the most advanced commerce experiences in the pool industry globally.

“The team and I are excited about designing an omnichannel marketplace solution that is tailored to our business needs by utilising Spryker’s headless architecture. The opportunities that this delivers for the overall commerce experience is infinite,” said O’Brien. “We have a long roadmap that we need to build out but we’re confident we can deliver on even the most complex workflows by utilising Spryker’s composable platform.”

“Poolwerx’ commitment to digital transformation has made them a leader in the market and partnering with Spryker is just the next step in their journey to a fully composable commerce experience. Spryker’s headless platform is built for exactly the kind of sophisticated commerce that Poolwerx’s global business deals with,” said Chris Gourvelos, Senior Sales Manager APAC at Spryker. “Poolwerx clients will soon be able to make purchases anywhere, anytime, on any device. The Poolwerx support team will have complete visibility into all aspects of client interactions, all with faster time-to-value and the flexibility to adjust to different markets. Spryker is looking forward to partnering with Poolwerx to realise these goals and in doing so significantly enhance commerce capabilities and the overall digital experience.”

Poolwerx and Spryker will be presenting at NRF 2023 on January 17th at 2:45 pm at Level 1, Expo Stage 1. The fireside chat titled, “Sink or swim: How Poolwerx is reimagining their digital commerce future with Spryker,” will look at how the industry leader is digitally transforming their rapidly growing sophisticated franchise business with a fully composable platform and beyond.

About Poolwerx
Poolwerx is the world’s largest global franchise pool service brand. Founded by Australian CEO and entrepreneur John O’Brien in 1992, Poolwerx has grown to 630+ service vehicles and 170 stores in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Poolwerx has multiple revenue streams, repeat clients, limited competition, is secure in the growing home services sector and is a technology leader. Poolwerx also champions the importance of teaching life-saving water skills through its annual community initiatives, Responsible Pool Person and Learn2Swim Week, in partnership with Kids Alive. For more information, visit www.poolwerx.com.au

About Spryker
Spryker is the leading composable commerce platform for enterprises with sophisticated business models to enable growth, innovation, and differentiation. Designed specifically for sophisticated transactional business, Spryker’s easy-to-use, headless, API-first model offers a best-of-breed approach that provides businesses the flexibility to adapt, scale, and quickly go to market while facilitating faster time-to-value throughout their digital transformation journey. As a global platform leader for B2B and B2C Enterprise Marketplaces, Thing Commerce, and Unified Commerce, Spryker has empowered 150+ global enterprise customers worldwide and is trusted by brands such as ALDI, Siemens, Hilti, and Ricoh. Spryker was recognized by Gartner^® as a Visionary in the 2022 Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce and was also ranked as a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave: B2B Commerce Solutions, Q2 2022. Spryker is a privately held technology company headquartered in Berlin and New York.

https://spryker.com
Follow Spryker on LinkedIn and Twitter

Contact details:

press@spryker.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 1000777640

After another successful year the company will also begin to partner with wine producers beyond France and Italy

Crurated Connects Connoisseurs with World-Class Producers

Crurated Raises $7.2 MM to Further Innovate Blockchain-Based Wine Community and Expand Market ReachAfter another successful year the company will also begin to partner with wine producers beyond France and Italy

LONDON, Jan. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  Crurated, the London-based membership wine community designed to connect connoisseurs with world-class producers, today announced that the company has raised $7.2 MM from a group of private investors. The money will be used to further evolve the technology platform, expand producer partnerships beyond France and Italy, and increase overall market share across the globe.

“The past year has been both innovative and successful for our entire team and the producers we’ve partnered with,” said Alfonso de Gaetano, founder of Crurated. “In addition to becoming the first wine community to offer fractional barrel sales backed by NFT technology, we signed an exclusive distribution deal with Charles Lachaux, grew our roster of producers to more than 60, and have attracted a younger demographic of oenophiles onto the platform.”

Crurated Wine Bottles With NFC RFID

Crurated is the first wine community to offer fractional barrel sales backed by NFT technology

Crurated reports that 70% of its member base is below the age of 45. With 35% of those members under the age of 35, younger than the majority of wine buyers which skews at 45+. The team believes that Crurated’s direct partnerships with the world’s top wine producers, innovative approach to how wine is purchased on the platform — traditional lot purchases/auctions and fractional barrel sales — as well as the use of NFTs to validate a wine’s authenticity is helping to increase the interest in wine with a younger demographic.

In addition, revenues were up 214% in the first half of year two vs. the first half of year one. Membership grew by 180% in the first half of year 2 vs. the first half of year 1 and is up 400% year to date.

About Crurated
Launched in 2021 with an emphasis on France and Italy, Crurated is a membership-based wine community designed to connect connoisseurs with world-class producers. A team of specialists provides personalized services and authentic experiences, while Crurated’s seamless logistics service guarantees quality and provenance thanks to secure wine cellar storage and innovative blockchain technology. For more on Crurated, visit crurated.com.

PR Contact
Michael Volpatt
Michael@larkinvolpatt.com
415.994.8864

A video accompanying this announcement is available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1d1a5202-186e-4b6a-8783-aa82bbb8e388

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0988a38c-6f44-4feb-ac1d-c734d7ccc165

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e7ba4d88-1de4-4f87-b6ee-d6026b3298c2

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8730478

LONDON, Jan. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Munich Re, a leading global provider of reinsurance, primary insurance and insurance-related risk solutions, has selected Verisk’s global risk analytics business, Verisk Maplecroft, to help it enhance human rights due diligence across the entire enterprise.

Using Verisk Maplecroft’s world leading Human Rights Risk Indices, which identify exposure to 31 civil, political and labour rights risks at national and subnational levels in 198 countries, Munich Re will upscale its ability to undertake global operational risk assessments, alongside factoring the data into its underwriting and investment decisions.

“Munich Re has always been committed to observe its duty of care on human rights along the value chain and has strived to prevent potential adverse impact on human rights arising from its business operations,” says Silke Jolowicz, Head of Sustainability at Munich Re. “To meet our strong internal requirements and the increasing legal obligations facing global business today we have decided to work with Verisk Maplecroft whose data will help us achieve these aims.”

Verisk Maplecroft has been measuring and analysing human rights risks for over 15 years. Its Human Rights Dataset is the only structured set of analytics covering the full range of rights the world over and is recognised as the benchmark for excellence in assessing these risks. The data has long been used by multinationals managing human rights risks in their operations and supply chains, and by asset managers and banks assessing and addressing their human rights risk exposure across complex global investment and lending portfolios. Adoption by insurers is the next step.

“As sustainability and ESG continue to quickly move more central into insurer’s strategic and operational thinking, we’re seeing increased attention from companies in the sector into how they can better manage human rights due diligence processes and wider ESG issues, such as climate change,” says Verisk Maplecroft President Matt Moshiri. “Munich Re is one of the first movers in this space and we are delighted to be working with them in their efforts.”

About Verisk Maplecroft

As organisations strive to understand and adapt to a fast-moving world, Verisk Maplecroft empowers them to put the environment, human rights and political risk at the heart of their decision-making. We do this by providing unparalleled intelligence on sustainability, resilience and ESG – stitching together these disparate issues into an interconnected global view, built upon objective insight and data. By thinking ‘big picture’ we capture what matters most to our partners; making positive outcomes possible in a time of change; helping people, business and societies become stronger; creating value with values. Verisk Maplecroft is a Verisk business (Nasdaq: VRSK).

For more information visit: www.maplecroft.com

About Verisk

Verisk (Nasdaq: VRSK) provides data-driven analytic insights and solutions for the insurance and energy industries. Through advanced data analytics, software, scientific research and deep industry knowledge, Verisk empowers customers to strengthen operating efficiency, improve underwriting and claims outcomes, combat fraud and make informed decisions about global issues, including climate change and extreme events as well as political and ESG topics. With offices in more than 30 countries, Verisk consistently earns certification by Great Place to Work and fosters an inclusive culture where all team members feel they belong. For more, visit Verisk.com and the Verisk Newsroom.

About Munich Re

Munich Re is one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance, primary insurance and insurance-related risk solutions. The Group consists of the reinsurance and ERGO business segments, as well as the asset manager MEAG. Munich Re is globally active and operates in all lines of the insurance business. Since it was founded in 1880, Munich Re has been known for its unrivalled risk-related expertise and its sound financial position. It offers customers financial protection when faced with exceptional levels of damage – from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake through Hurricane Ida in 2021. Munich Re possesses outstanding innovative strength, which enables it to also provide coverage for extraordinary risks such as rocket launches, renewable energies or cyber risks. The company is playing a key role in driving forward the digital transformation of the insurance industry, and in doing so has further expanded its ability to assess risks and the range of services that it offers. Its tailor-made solutions and close proximity to its customers make Munich Re one of the world’s most sought-after risk partners for businesses, institutions, and private individuals.

Media contact:
Jason McGeown
Senior Director – PR
Verisk Maplecroft
E: jason.mcgeown@maplecroft.com
T: +44 (0) 7768 789567

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8729805

MONACO, Jan. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  Victory of the Croatian team at the 13th Monaco Optimist Team Race. The team of four very young athletes from Sailing Club Uljanik in Pula finished the 4 days of competition on top of the podium, ahead of the United States and Spain.

“They have been sailing for at least a couple of years. We work hard, we really like the team race. Last year we lost against the United States so this gave us the energy to come back this year and show that we can beat them. It’s an incredible satisfaction. We’re going to rest for 7 days and then we have a regatta in Torrevieja in Spain. At the end of winter we still have a few events scheduled and then we stop before the races in Croatia to qualify for the European and World Cup”, said Dario Kliba, Croatian Team coach.

The international sailing competition sees the best under 14 teams in the category put to the test and is organized by the Yacht Club de Monaco with the support of FxPro, the Slam technical clothing brand, the Erplast shipyard and Peace and Sport. Sixteen nations and 64 sailors under 14 gathered in the Principality for this event.

“It is a very important event for us. First of all it is held in winter and we host very young people who come from 16 countries so it is an opportunity to transmit our values, educate young people and not only make them improve at sailing but also to carry on teachings that come in handy in life”, added the YCM general secretary, Bernard d’Alessandri.

The competition was born about 12 years ago on an idea of bringing together the clubs with which the Yacht Club de Monaco has twinning or reciprocity relationships. It is a unique event of its kind, a sort of regatta without frontiers, which is based above all on the values of cohesion and sharing. The 14th Monaco Optimist Team Race will take place from January the 10^th to January the 14^th 2024.

For more information:

LaPresse SpA Communication and Press Office Director
Barbara Sanicola – barbara.sanicola@lapresse.it

A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fc59051d-4a03-4fb5-bedf-987cea88130b

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8730968