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Alex Tapscott and NextBlock Global Limited to pay $1M for misleading investors

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A Panel of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has approved a settlement agreement with Alex Tapscott and NextBlock Global Limited (NextBlock) in connection with misleading statements they made in offering memoranda provided to prospective investors in 2017.

As a part of the settlement, NextBlock has agreed to pay an administrative penalty of CAD $700,000 plus $100,000toward the costs of OSC Staff’s investigation. Additionally, Tapscott will pay an administrative penalty of $300,000.

The settlement also reflects that Tapscott has voluntarily declined approximately $3M in carried interest that he was entitled to based on NextBlock’s profits.

In settling this matter, Tapscott and NextBlock (the respondents) admit they made misleading statements in slide decks provided to more than 100 prospective investors in a private placement that raised approximately $20 million from 113 accredited investors over a two-month period in June and July 2017. The slide decks were the only materials provided to investors, and positioned prominent blockchain figures as NextBlock’s advisors when, in fact, these individuals had not agreed to act as its advisors and had not consented to being included in the slide decks. Of note, one individual had never been approached by Tapscott to act for NextBlock in any capacity.

“We will not tolerate market participants who play fast and loose with the facts when providing offering memoranda to prospective investors, including marketing decks,” said Jeff Kehoe, Director of Enforcement at the OSC. “This dishonest behaviour robs investors of the opportunity to make informed investment decisions and undermines confidence in our markets.”

Tapscott has also agreed to perform community service by delivering ethics presentations to students at Canadian business schools, which will highlight the importance of complying with Ontario securities law. Additionally, Tapscott offered to publish an open letter about the impact and consequences of his misconduct in a national news publication. OSC Staff accepted this offer, and included it as a term of the settlement. Together with a significant monetary sanction, these terms serve to deter other market participants from engaging in similar misconduct.

“This settlement reinforces an important message: We will take action to address misleading disclosure and the serious harm it causes to Ontario investors and our markets, even if investors suffer no financial losses,” added Mr. Kehoe.

The OSC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the investigation of this matter.

The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk.  Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at http://www.osc.gov.on.ca.

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SOURCE Ontario Securities Commission

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AeC Recognized by Frost & Sullivan for Leading the Customer Relationship Industry in Brazil

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AeC is the largest customer relationship company in Brazil and its reliable and customized customer care solutions help businesses create seamless end-user experiences.

SAN ANTONIO, March 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Frost & Sullivan recently researched the customer experience outsourcing services industry and, based on its findings, recognizes AeC with the 2023 Company of the Year Award. AeC is connecting technology with outstanding customer service to increase efficiency and optimize the customer’s business journey. AeC leverages artificial intelligence (AI), data intelligence, machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), fraud prevention, and real human experiences to guarantee an optimal customer experience (CX) in its clients’ business operations.

The company helps businesses deliver a remarkable CX to remain competitive in the marketplace and meet its clients’ demands. It consistently aims to enhance end-user CX by carefully analyzing customer data, testing new business models, and adjusting its processes based on customer feedback.

AeC drives its clients’ digital transformations with innovative tools that provide superior business process outsourcing (BPO) services. The company launched Vision, an advanced and intuitive solution that allows managers to track agents’ performance and deliver effective support. Moreover, its AeC HR technology platform, Robbyson, assists businesses by increasing engagement and efficiency with AI to automatically estimate, suggest, and forecast outcomes.

“With a legacy of BPO services leadership, the company’s compelling value proposition underpins its sustained success. AeC holds a solid position with a diversified client base, serving industry leaders of every market, including four of the top five Brazilian unicorns and two of the top five energy organizations in Brazil,” said Sebastian Menutti, industry principal at Frost & Sullivan.

With its customer-centric approach, the company provides consulting and highly customized projects for its clients. AeC bases its operations on the core principle that its success depends on customer satisfaction. For this reason, the company meets with clients at the pre-sales stage to identify their specific business requirements and challenges to develop tailor-made solutions.

“The company acknowledges that offering a complete product portfolio that aligns with broader market trends (e.g., omnichannel customer services, automation capabilities, and tools that address security challenges) is a key differentiator. Therefore, it constantly leverages technology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its services, such as automating processes and using data analytics to gain insights into end users’ behaviors and preferences,” noted Valentina Barcia, best practices research analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents a Company of the Year award to the organization that demonstrates excellence in terms of growth strategy and implementation in its field. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies, and the resulting leadership in terms of customer value and market penetration.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in various regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About Frost & Sullivan

For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:

Kristen Moore
P: +1 (210) 247-3823
E: [email protected]

About AeC

AeC is a Brazilian technology company specializing in customer relations. Leading by innovation, the most outstanding is the warm way of dealing with people and applying cutting-edge technology in its processes, such as artificial intelligence, cloud services, analytics, and automation tools. For over 30 years, it has developed customized consumer experience solutions in the market, helping companies in different segments, such as digital businesses, fintech, financial sector, telecommunications, services, retail, insurance, energy, and health. Currently, AeC has more than 43,000 employees and is certified by the Great Place to Work Institute (GPTW).

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2374892/Frost_and_Sullivan_AeC_Award_Logo.jpg

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/C O R R E C T I O N — Roborock/

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Roborock Reports 2023 Full Year Financial Results

Achieving Record-breaking Financial Success and Reaching Historic High in Total Assets

HONG KONG, March 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Roborock, a global leader in ultra-intelligent home robotics engineered to simplify daily life, today announced its financial results for the full year ending December 31, 2023.

Roborock achieved remarkable financial success during the reporting period, posting revenue of 8.65 billion Yuan (US$1.22 billion), representing a significant 30.55% Year-On-Year increase. The company recorded a net profit of 2.05 billion Yuan (US$288 million), achieving an annual growth rate of 73.32%.

Roborock’s total assets reached an all-time high of 14.38 billion Yuan (US$2.02 billion), reflecting Year-On-Year growth of 32.71%. These achievements solidify Roborock’s position as one of the leading players in the smart vacuum industry. The company also recorded impressive overseas revenue, growing at a rate of 21.42%, while total robot vacuums shipments surpassed 2 million units.

“Ever since we founded Roborock back in 2014, our long-term mindset and unwavering commitment to focusing on delivering true value to our customers is what has gotten us to where we are today. It’s been an amazing journey, and we are truly proud to emerge as a global leader in smart vacuums.” said Richard Chang, Founder & CEO of Roborock.

“As we approach our 10-year anniversary, we are excited to introduce more of our cutting-edge vacuums, including the S8 MaxV Ultra which we unveiled at CES 2024. This flagship innovation represents our most technologically advanced one-stop cleaning solution to date, underlining our focus on enriching future lifestyles within the smart home ecosystem to enhance the quality of life for our customers worldwide.

Financial Performance Highlights

Sales and Net Profit

  • Total revenue recorded was 8.65 billion Yuan (US$1.22 billion)
  • Of this, 4.23 billion Yuan (US$595 million) is attributed to Roborock’s overseas operations, accounting for 49% of total revenue
  • Roborock’s overseas operation recorded a revenue growth of 21.42% compared to the previous year
  • The company achieved a net profit of 2.05 billion Yuan (US$288 million), with an annual growth rate of 73.32%
  • Roborock’s total assets reached a historic high of 14.38 billion Yuan (US$2.02 billion), reflecting a remarkable 32.71% Year-On-Year growth

Growth across Product Categories

  • Roborock’s total robot vacuums shipments surpassed 2 million units, generating an income of 8.09 billion Yuan income (US$1.14 billion) and achieving a Year-On-Year growth of 27.14%
  • Roborock experienced rapid growth across new product categories (product portfolios except robot vacuums), with an income of 554 million Yuan (US$78 million) income and a Year-On-Year growth of 109.4%

Research & Development

  • R&D expenditure amounted to 619 million Yuan (US$87 million), accounting for 7.15% of total revenue. This represents a year-on-year growth of 26.69%
  • During the reporting period, 522 new domestic and overseas patents were filed

Major accounting data and financial indicators in the past 3 years

(Unit: Yuan; Currency: RMB)

2023

2022

Year-On-Year
Growth (%)

Total Assets

14,376,641,614

10,833,053,890

32.71

Net assets
attributable to
shareholders of
listed companies

11,380,526,122

9,556,378,416

19.09

Revenue

8,653,783,788

6,628,716,402

30.55

Net profit
attributable to
shareholders of
listed companies

2,051,217,414

1,183,476,942

73.32

Net profit
attributable to
shareholders of
listed companies
after deducting
non-recurring
gains and losses

1,826,089,668

1,197,719,439

52.46

Net cash flow
from
operating activities

2,185,931,368

1,120,467,567

95.09

About Roborock

Roborock is committed to innovation in researching, developing, and producing home cleaning devices, particularly robotic, cordless, and wet/ dry vacuum cleaners. Every Roborock product has been designed with an eye on solving genuine problems, so Roborock customers can live better lives. Currently, Roborock is available in more than 40 countries, including the U.S., Germany, France, and Spain. The company operates out of four locations, with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. For more information visit https://us.roborock.com/.

Exchange Rate Information

This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at a specified rate solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to RMB are made at a rate of 7.1132 Yuan to US$1.00, the spot exchange rate at the annual reporting date of December 31, 2023. The company makes no representation that the RMB or U.S. dollars amounts referred could be converted into U.S. dollars or RMB, as the case may be at any particular rate or at all.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2374470/Roborock_2023_Financial_Results.jpg

 

 

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Sleep interiors brand gets job offer from Peter Jones despite not securing investment in Dragons Den

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LONDON, March 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Tonight on BBC1, REMY founder Abeer Iqbal, entered the Den, and despite intense grilling and no investment, left with a six-figure job offer from Peter Jones

Abeer’s pitch began with the Dragon’s keen to experience his sleep-enhancing furniture. When Steven and Peter laid on his hero  ‘The Pod’, a reinvention of the beanbag, and under REMY’s best-selling ‘The Lounger’ weighted blankets, the dragons closed their eyes and pretended to snore. Which was ironic, as despite being told he’d enter the Den around 5pm, Abeer actually went in at 9.30pm, after the dragons had been receiving pitches since early that day, which to Abeer’s own admission “wasn’t easy”. Deborah Meaden said, “This might have been a fatal mistake to put your dragons to sleep before we start the pitch” – recognising that it had been a long day.

After 10+ years working in tech, helping multi-million pound businesses grow their empire at software giants like Shopify, Abeer experienced burn-out, which led him to develop REMY. Despite Abeer telling the dragons that he left the high-pressure industry due to stress and anxiety Peter Jones still offered him a job back in the rat race with a six-figure sum (which he still hasn’t taken). 

After leaving the Den, Abeer admitted feeling the “most anxious ever” and that he “just wanted to get back to his wife for a hug”.  Abeer shared, “I didn’t sleep for days, replaying every moment in my mind. I wanted to forget it.” But it’s not all bad, as Abeer explains, “the anxiety I experienced from the Den gave me a lightbulb moment and led me to create our most popular product yet – The Hugger Pillow. I needed a hug, so I created one”. 

Abeer continues, “I returned the next day to collect my items from the studio. I bumped into a fresh-faced Peter and Toukar in the carpark, they both praised my experience, Peter once again offered me a job and Toukar asked me to call him when I start the next business.”

The global ‘sleep economy’ is booming, projected to reach a record high of $585 billion this year. But Abeer felt he was unable to communicate this, “If I could have my time again, I would focus on the industry of Rest and Sleep rather than the specific products we were trying to innovate. I don’t think I articulated to the Dragon’s the size of the business opportunity that there is with REMY. In terms of what’s next, we are moving towards becoming a household name in rest and sleep but offering products in multiple categories.”

The Dragon that seemed to understand Abeer’s passion for this industry was Sara Davies, saying “I actually fundamentally don’t agree with what I’ve heard here. What I see in front of me, yes he is great at the e-commerce side of things but he gave up a career in corporate because he was passionate about this area. And if there’s one thing I know about business it’s that you will succeed when you pursue the thing you are passionate about. I wouldn’t discourage you to give up. Keep doing it and good luck. I think you could sell anything”.

You can watch Abeer Iqbal on Dragons’ Den on BBC iPlayer.

remysleep.com / @WEAREREMY

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2374872/REMY_Sleep_1.jpg

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