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Paddle launches expanded AI Launchpad to help ambitious AI founders accelerate growth

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  • Following the success of the inaugural 2023 program, Paddle’s 2024 AI Launchpad will help 50 promising AI founders accelerate the growth of their businesses.
  • Successful applicants will gain access to an exclusive community of AI founders and experts, the chance to win $20k, and a host of other benefits from Paddle partners.
  • Founderpath has allocated $10 million in funding for selected AI Launchpad participants.
  • Applications open today, 12th March, and will close on Sunday 14th April.

LONDON, March 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Paddle, the payments infrastructure provider, today opens applications for its second AI Launchpad, a 6-week program aimed at empowering ambitious software founders to build, launch and scale their AI-powered business ideas. Participants in the expanded 2024 program will gain access to tailored guidance and practical insights from industry experts and will have the chance to win a $20k cash prize from Paddle for the best offering, as judged by a panel of experts.

 

Ever more businesses are turning to AI to boost revenues, with Paddle’s latest SaaS Benchmarks Report finding that 46% of software companies added AI to their product in the last year. However, building an AI-powered tool is not the same as building a successful, sustainable AI business. Through its AI Launchpad program, Paddle is offering 50 innovative, ready-to-scale, AI-focused companies the support they need to accelerate their growth and effectively monetize their AI products.

AI Launchpad 2023: Helping founders unlock growth

Paddle AI Launchpad was founded in 2023, with a panel of judges selecting Virtual Staging AI, a platform that allows real estate professionals to sell properties faster by using AI to digitally furnish images of empty rooms, as the winner of the inaugural program.

After participating in the Launchpad and receiving tailored advice and mentorship from Paddle and a range of industry experts, Virtual Staging AI decided to switch its payment strategies, with remarkable results. The company has since seen revenue increase 10x, from a monthly revenue of $20,000 to $200,000. Other members of the 2023 cohort also saw a significant positive impact on the revenue and scalability of their businesses thanks to the expert insights and go-to-market strategies provided on the program.

Other Launchpaddler growth stats:

  • In February 2024, Launchpad finalist SiteGPT hit its first $100k revenue month
  • Aibo experienced 60% day-over-day growth in active users during the 6-week program
  • Riju launched on Product Hunt, with 100+ upvotes in its first 24 hours
  • Bulby and Jotverse converted their first ever paying customers during the 6-week program

Michael Bonacina, Founder and CEO of 2023 AI Launchpad winner Virtual Staging AI, said: “What really stood out to us about Paddle’s AI Launchpad program was the access to a dedicated community of generative AI founders. This is because you’re all grappling with the same challenges – how to build a model, how to compete with the likes of OpenAI, how to acquire customers for a new solution – and so it was interesting to hear how others were thinking about those problems.

“We launched back in March 2023, and when we applied to Paddle AI Launchpad in August we had $20k in monthly revenue. By the end of the program, in November, we had $200k in monthly revenue, because we implemented a lot of the things we’d worked on, such as implementing annual plans, we got a lot more customers, improved the product, enhanced the checkout experience, and now we have a product that really speaks to our customers.”

AI Launchpad 2024: Bigger and better

Following the success of the 2023 program, Paddle has doubled the number of places on the program from 25 to 50. Participants will also now have exclusive access to the “Launchpaddlers” community – a hub for Launchpad alumni to network and share resources. Through this community, AI founders will be supported with data, advice, and tailored content, and will also have access to experts in their sector.

This will be spearheaded by Karthik Puvvada, Paddle’s new Founder Relations Manager, who has built founder-facing education and community programs for dozens of startups, who said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Paddle to work directly with founders and build leadership communities. I can’t wait to work with the team on taking Paddle’s AI Launchpad to the next level and help SaaS founders remove the invisible barriers that get in the way of growing.”

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Founderpath, a $150m fund for SaaS founders, will again allocate $10 million in funding for selected participants who successfully complete Paddle’s programs, providing additional opportunities and resources to further fuel their growth and success. Other partners and contributors for AI Launchpad will include SaaStock, AWS Activate, Google Cloud, PartnerStack, GoodFit, saaslaunch.io, Gilion (formerly ArK Kapital), Enablix, saas.group, SquareOne, and Element Communications.

Additional key elements and benefits of the AI Launchpad program will include:

  • Expert mentorship: Participants will receive personalised, technical guidance from industry experts at Paddle, based on its decade-plus of experience scaling software and AI businesses through effective pricing and payment strategies.
  • Cash Prize: The program will culminate with a cash prize of $20,000 for one founder. This substantial financial boost will catapult the development and market reach of the winning startup.
  • Additional benefits from partners: Participants will receive new perks from Paddle’s partners, including $350k in credit from Google Cloud, $20k in credit from AWS Activate, and free tickets to Founder community events by Code.talks and SaaStock. Fast-tracked entries into SaaStock’s startup competition will also be reserved for select Launchpad finalists.

Christian Owens, Founder and Executive Chairman of Paddle, said: “At Paddle, our goal has always been to help software sellers grow their businesses as quickly and efficiently as possible. We started the AI Launchpad to help a new generation of software founders that are building in one of the world’s fastest-moving categories. We were blown away by the ambition and innovation shown by our first cohort of AI founders so we’re thrilled to be expanding the program for a second year. After seeing the impact the Launchpad had on participants in 2023, we’re excited to grow this community and help more AI founders achieve faster growth and build healthy and sustainable businesses for the long-term.”

Applications for the AI Launchpad will be open from 12th March to 14th April 2024, with the program beginning in May. For more information on how to apply for AI Launchpad, including terms and conditions, please visit www.paddle.com/ai-launchpad.

 

About Paddle
Paddle, the payments infrastructure provider for software companies, powers hyper-scale growth across acquisition, renewals and expansion. With Paddle, companies are finally able to transform their payments infrastructure into a strategic growth lever to respond faster and more precisely to every growth opportunity. Paddle has 300 employees serving over 3500 software sellers in 245 countries and territories globally. Backed by investors including KKR, FTV Capital, Kindred, Notion, and 83North, Paddle aims to define the next wave of B2B SaaS leaders. Visit www.paddle.com or www.twitter.com/PaddleHQ for more information

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MANTRA and DAMAC Group Revolutionize Tokenized Real-World Assets with US$1 Billion Deal

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DUBAI, UAE, Jan. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — MANTRA, a purpose-built layer 1 blockchain for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) has signed a US$1 billion agreement with DAMAC Group, a prominent investment conglomerate, renowned for its diversified portfolio that spans across key sectors such as real estate development, hospitality, data centres, and more, to tokenize assets in the Middle East.

The collaboration between MANTRA and the DAMAC Group will enable token-based financing for a diverse range of assets within the group’s extensive portfolio of companies, with a minimum value of US$1 billion.

The DAMAC Group assets will be available in early 2025, exclusively on MANTRA Chain, marking a bold step in leveraging blockchain technology to bring greater transparency, security, and accessibility to DAMAC Group’s wide-ranging assets. This milestone partnership is yet another step in MANTRA’s vision to become the preferred ledger of record for real-world assets.

“This partnership with DAMAC Group is an endorsement for the RWA industry. We’re thrilled to partner with such a prestigious group of leaders that share our ambitions and see the incredible opportunities of bringing traditional financing opportunities onchain,” said John Patrick Mullin, CEO of MANTRA.

Amira Sajwani, Managing Director of Sales & Development at DAMAC, said, “DAMAC is always exploring new technologies to enhance our product offerings. Partnering with MANTRA is a natural extension of our commitment to innovation and forward-thinking solutions. Tokenizing our assets will provide investors with a secure, transparent, and convenient way to access a wide range of investment opportunities.”

The MANTRA and DAMAC Group partnership follows the recent announcement of MANTRA Chain’s Mainnet launch, which went live in October, representing a significant milestone in the integration of traditional finance with blockchain technology.

About MANTRA:

MANTRA is a purpose-built Layer 1 blockchain for real-world assets, capable of adherence to real world regulatory requirements. As a permissionless chain, MANTRA empowers developers and institutions to seamlessly participate in the evolving RWA tokenization space by offering advanced tech modules, compliance mechanisms, and cross-chain interoperability.
Website | Twitter | LinkedIn | Discord  

About DAMAC Group:

The DAMAC Group is the multi-billion-dollar business conglomerate of UAE based Hussain Sajwani. The Group’s investments are divided into seven core areas; real estate, capital markets, hotels & resorts, manufacturing, catering, high-end fashion and data centres.

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Some of the Group’s most notable activities include DAMAC Properties, one of the region’s largest property developers, the acquisition of the Italian fashion house, Roberto Cavalli and luxury Swiss jewellery brand de GRISOGONO, the 50-storey development DAMAC Towers Nine Elms in London and a luxury resort in the Maldives.

In a bid to disrupt the global data centre landscape, the Group recently announced plans to build data centres through its digital infrastructure company, EDGNEX Data Centers by DAMAC, across different global locations.

Today, the Group’s global footprint extends across North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa. With its vision firmly set on growth and expansion, the Group continues in its quest for diversification and business excellence.

Visit us at www.damacgroup.com

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EQT to acquire distributed energy company Scale Microgrids

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  • Transaction marks the EQT Transition Infrastructure strategy’s second highly thematic investment over the past month, to be acquired with capital from EQT’s balance sheet
  • Scale Microgrids is a vertically integrated energy company that designs, builds, finances, owns, and operates microgrids and distributed energy assets in North America, with a vision to power the world with distributed energy.
  • EQT will support Scale Microgrids along its existing growth journey through significant investments in its commercial processes, tech platform and project execution capabilities, enabling the Company to own and operate billions of dollars in distributed generation assets.

NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — EQT is pleased to announce that EQT Transition Infrastructure (“EQT”) has agreed to acquire Scale Microgrids (“Scale” or the “Company”), a leading vertically integrated developer, acquirer, owner, and operator of microgrids and distributed energy resources for commercial & industrial, EV fleet, data center, municipal, university, hospital, and agricultural customers, developers and communities, from Warburg Pincus and other existing shareholders. 

Headquartered in Ridgewood New Jersey, Scale’s portfolio consists of roughly 250 MWs of operating and in-construction assets, with another 2.5 GWs of near-term pipeline. Scale deploys a variety of technologies including solar, battery storage, natural gas generators, fuel cell and combined heat and power, and its portfolio represents one of the largest pure-play microgrid portfolios in the United States.

The transaction marks EQT’s first North American investment out of its recently launched Transition Infrastructure strategy, which is aimed at scaling businesses that enable the transition to clean energy and a more resource-efficient, circular economy. In December 2024, EQT announced the launch of the strategy and its inaugural investment in ju:niz Energy, a battery energy storage system developer and operator.

Jan Vesely, Partner and Head of EQT Transition Infrastructure, said: “We are thrilled that Scale Microgrids will become EQT Transition Infrastructure’s first investment in North America, underscoring our commitment to driving the energy transition globally and supporting a decarbonized and climate-resilient future while addressing the accelerated electricity demand in North America. We see enormous potential to accelerate Scale’s growth and establish it as one of the market’s leading vertically integrated energy companies.”

Ryan Goodman, CEO of Scale Microgrids, said: “Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter for our company. EQT brings a depth of experience, resources, and capital that will enable us to continue pursuing our vision to power the world with distributed energy. I’m incredibly proud of what our team has built, and believe this transaction will enable us to unlock even greater opportunities for the customers, employees, and communities we serve. We’re appreciative of our past shareholders, led by Warburg Pincus, for their support in helping us get to where we are today.” 

Scale addresses several of today’s most pressing grid challenges, including rapid load growth from data centers and fleet electrification, power generation capacity constraints, and increased frequency of grid outages. Scale’s assets add resiliency to power systems, enable faster access to power relative to extended interconnection wait times, and provide cost savings and predictable power compared to the grid while advancing customers’ decarbonization and sustainability objectives.

Ryan Dalton, Managing Director at Warburg Pincus, said: “Scale has achieved incredible growth over the past five years, establishing a strong reputation as one of the leading providers of next generation power infrastructure. The Company has successfully grown to nearly 3 GW of operating, in-construction and near-term pipeline assets, closed multiple financings to fund future project development and maintains a strong customer base. We look forward to watching the Company’s next phase of growth with EQT, and continuing their mission to provide cleaner, cheaper and more reliable power.” 

EQT brings a long-term strategic focus, deep experience in investing across the renewables infrastructure sector, and significant resources, and will focus on making strategic investments, including incremental capital, in Scale’s commercial processes, software systems, and project execution capabilities to continue to develop the business into a best-in-class, multi-technology energy services leader focused on the highest growth market segments, enabling Scale to own and operate billions of dollars in distributed generation assets.

The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals. 

EQT was advised by Weil, Gotshal & Manges (legal) and Guggenheim Securities (financial). Scale Microgrids was advised by Latham & Watkins (legal), Nomura Greentech (financial), and Truist Securities (financial).

Contact
EQT Press Office, [email protected]
Warburg Pincus Press Office, Sarah Bloom, [email protected]
Scale Microgrids Press Office, Nicole Green, [email protected]

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https://news.cision.com/eqt/r/eqt-to-acquire-distributed-energy-company-scale-microgrids,c4089266

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BRImo Mobile Banking, a Worldwide Simplicity in Your Hand

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JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) Persero Tbk. (IDX: BBRI) presents the #BRImoWorldXperience, expanding BRImo’s cross-border capabilities. The super-app also reinforces BRI’s leadership in financial digitalization, with nearly 99% of transactions now digitized. As of November 2024, BRImo users reached 38.1 million, an increase of 22.9% year-on-year. Meanwhile, BRImo recorded a transaction value of IDR 5,057 trillion, driving BRI’s business with an IDR 2.64 trillion fee-based income poised for continuous growth. “With an impressive rating of 4.7 on the Play Store & App Store, BRImo was Indonesia’s most-downloaded mobile banking app in 2024,” said Andrijanto, BRI’s Director of Retail Funding and Distribution.

As the preferred mobile banking app for Indonesians, BRImo provides fast, secure, and convenient access to global banking, putting seamless international transactions directly at the user’s fingertips. BRImo can be used anytime, anywhere, even while traveling or living abroad, ensuring you stay connected to your banking needs without interruption. BRImo also provides the feature to open a BRI account for Indonesian citizens abroad using their local mobile phone number. This feature allows users to seamlessly manage their overseas banking needs without changing their phone number. Supported locations include Hong Kong SAR, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan region, Timor Leste, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. BRImo also offers fast and secure money transfers to bank accounts in over 160 countries.

Another enhancement is BritAma Valas (foreign currency) account management through BRImo. In addition to international money transfers, BRImo users can now save, convert, and top up foreign currency balances, making international transactions easy, safe, and fast. This feature offers seamless currency conversions with real-time exchange rates and competitive pricing. BritAma Valas account holders can also manage a BRI Multicurrency Debit Card directly through BRImo. The card, which can be collected from any BRI branch in Indonesia, allows users to conduct transactions in 12 currencies (USD, AUD, SGD, CNY, EUR, AED, HKD, GBP, JPY, SAR, THB, MYR), simplifying cross-border banking.

To further enhance user’s value, BRImo actively offers exciting promotions. Users can participate in BRImo FSTVL for a chance to win 5 units of BMW 520i M Sport, other luxury vehicles, 100,000 instant prizes, and weekly prizes in Friday Deals. Join now at http://bbri.id/brimofstvl.

For more information on BRImo, visit: www.bri.co.id/en/home

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