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Former Dreambox CEO Jessie Woolley-Wilson Joins Owl Ventures as Operating Partner

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Owl Ventures, the largest EdTech venture capital firm globally with over $2 billion assets under management, announced the addition of Jessie Woolley-Wilson as Operating Partner. Jessie brings a wealth of experience to Owl Ventures and its portfolio companies as she has worked in the education technology space for over 20 years to support school and district leaders in improving learning and life outcomes for K-12 and higher education students. Jessie is driven by a singular belief that all learners deserve high-quality educational opportunities, regardless of who they are or where they live.

Jessie was most recently the CEO and President of DreamBox Learning, an Owl Ventures portfolio company since 2015 that was acquired by Discovery Education in 2023. In addition to being a former Owl Ventures portfolio company CEO, Jessie currently serves on the boards of Owl Ventures portfolio companies Quizlet and Class Technologies.  In her new role, Jessie will have an integral role in sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities for Owl Ventures, providing strategic guidance and mentorship to Owl’s portfolio companies, and actively participating on their boards. Jessie will be a valuable resource to the investment team and a trusted advisor to Owl portfolio founders/CEOs as they scale their businesses.

“Jessie is one of the great education entrepreneurs and leaders of our generation.  She created enormous enterprise value alongside deep scaled social impact at DreamBox Learning”, said Tory Patterson, Co-Founder & Managing Director at Owl Ventures.  “She is a values-driven mentor to many of us who have been working hard to evangelize and scale the power of technology to drive broad equity and access in education.  She is a hero of mine, and I am deeply honored to now call her a Partner at Owl Ventures.  I am most excited for the next cohort of founders and CEOs who will benefit from her established excellence in leadership and powerful network within the education industry as she works to scale the next wave of great innovation.”

“I was introduced to Owl Ventures in 2015 when Tory Patterson decided to make a bet on DreamBox Learning and me as a CEO”, said Jessie Woolley-Wilson. “As an Owl Ventures portfolio company, we benefited from the partnership and sage counsel of the distinguished team at Owl who offered us capital, K12 sector expertise, as well as invaluable insights on consequential operations, go-to-market, product innovation and financial matters — all while supporting our mission to radically transform the way the world learns. I look forward to beginning this new and exciting chapter as Operating Partner to help identify, fund and scale the next generation of innovative companies that will transform the EdTech landscape in the US and abroad.”

Jessie joined DreamBox Learning® in 2010 as Chair, President, and CEO. She worked closely with board members such as Reed Hastings and Tory Patterson of Owl Ventures.  In 2018, she secured a $130 million investment in DreamBox from The Rise Fund, a global impact investment fund managed by TPG Growth, making DreamBox the most well-funded education startup that year. The company’s pioneering Intelligent Adaptive Learning™ platform has won more than 40 top education and technology industry awards and is used by more than 500,000 teachers and 6 million students across the US and throughout Canada and Mexico. In 2023 DreamBox Learning was acquired by Discovery Education, becoming part of a global learning platform with access to 45 million students and over 4 million educators.

Prior to joining DreamBox, Jessie served as president of Blackboard’s K-12 Group and LeapFrog SchoolHouse, the K-12 division of LeapFrog Enterprises. She also has held leadership positions at collegeboard.com, the interactive division of The College Board, and at Kaplan, the leading test preparation company in the U.S.

Jessie is a two-time recipient of EdTech Digest’s “EdTech Leadership Award” for her work in transformative innovation in education, and she has been named one of 2018’s “Top 100 Influencers in EdTech.” ASU GSV honored her with the “Innovator of Color” and “Power of Women” awards. Forbes honored Jessie as a “50 Over 50” honoree for her innovation in education, and The New York Times featured Jessie in its Corner Office column. She has also been featured in CNBC, NPR, and Business Insider, among other leading news publications. Regionally, Jessie has received multiple accolades for her leadership, including Seattle Business Magazine’s 2015 Executive Excellence Award in the “CEO of the Year” category, GeekWire’s 2019 “Big Tech CEO of the Year” award, the Puget Sound Business Journal’s 2012 “Women of Influence” and 2020 “Innovator of the Year” awards, and the Ernst & Young 2019 “Entrepreneur Of The Year®” award in the Pacific Northwest region.

Jessie has supported the broader education community by serving on several boards, including Discovery Education, Quizlet, Class.com, and Western Governors University. She is also a board trustee of The Aspen Institute and the Pahara Institute. She has been a featured speaker at many international events, including TEDx Rainier, U.S. News and World Report’s STEM Solutions Conference, SXSWedu, DENT, GeekWire Summit, and the ASU GSV Summit. Jessie holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the University of Virginia. She is also a 2007 Henry Crown Fellow and moderator for the Aspen Institute.

About Owl Ventures
Owl Ventures is the largest venture capital fund in the world focused on the EdTech market with over $2 billion assets under management. The Silicon Valley and London based firm invests in the world’s leading education technology companies across the education spectrum encompassing PreK-12, higher education, future of work (career mobility/professional learning), and “EdTech+” (intersection of EdTech and other major industries such as FinTech and healthcare). Owl Ventures has deep domain expertise and leverages a global network of Limited Partners, investors, and strategic partners to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses into transformative category leading companies. Learn more at www.OwlVC.com. Owl’s annual Education Outcomes Report can be viewed at www.OwlVC.com/outcomes.php.

Media Contact: Malvika Bhagwat, [email protected]

(PRNewsfoto/Owl Ventures)

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Oakdoor partners with Nexor to advance high assurance security solutions

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LONDON, May 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Oakdoor, a pioneer in hardware-enforced security solutions, which is part of PA Consulting (PA), and Nexor, the leading specialist in Secure Information Exchange, have announced a strategic partnership to advance a high assurance cross domain solution for secure data sharing. The partnership will start to create highly integrated software guarding and hardware verification solutions – with the aim of making access to data more secure and manageable for customers using multiple security domains worldwide.

Oakdoor has revolutionised data diodes in recent years, raising security standards and diode performance whilst reducing their complexity and cost. Meanwhile, Nexor has over 30 years’ experience in delivering secure information exchange at the highest level. By working together and sharing their expertise, the two companies will work to make the most secure cross domain solutions available to a wider range of customers.

The partnership will enable Nexor’s GuarDiode to be combined with Oakdoor’s cutting-edge data diodes to form a powerful cross domain solution, which will deliver unparalleled protection and resilience against evolving cyber threats. This is because Nexor’s software detects and removes malicious content by validating data against comprehensive information management policies. This allows controlled filtering of sensitive information assets into and out of critical systems. Meanwhile, Oakdoor’s UK CAPS approved data diodes are a critical hardware component for eliminating infiltration or exfiltration attack vectors within the cross domain solution.

Tim Lunn, Founder and Head of Product at Oakdoor, said: “We are excited to announce our partnership with Nexor, which aims to bring this high assurance cross domain solution to the market. By integrating Oakdoor’s National Cyber Security Centre approved diodes with Nexor’s proven protocol and management software system, we are creating a more holistic solution for customers that are working at the highest classification levels.

Tim Thompson, Managing Director at Nexor, said: We are thrilled to partner with Oakdoor, part of PA Consulting, combining Nexor’s advanced software with robust hardware to enhance market support and innovation. By harnessing exceptional engineering prowess alongside advanced software and hardware development, this strategic alliance positions both companies to pioneer more cohesive and impactful solutions, steadfastly advancing our pledge to excellence and customer satisfaction.”

Notes to the editor 

For commercial enquiries and information about joining the Oakdoor partner programme, please contact [email protected] 

About Oakdoor, part of PA Consulting:

Oakdoor, part of PA Consulting, is recognised for its innovative approach to semiconductor technology, offering robust, hardware-enforced security solutions that safeguard sensitive information and guard critical networks against modern cyber threats. Oakdoor’s CAPS approved data diodes are a critical hardware component for eliminating infiltration or exfiltration attack vectors within the cross domain solution. Developed at PA Consulting’s Global Innovation and Technology Centre (GITC), Oakdoor’s solutions integrate principles of uni-directional data flow with advanced hardware-based security, providing a critical layer of protection for organisations worldwide.

About Nexor:

Nexor excels in providing high-assurance threat and risk mitigation expertise and solutions globally. Our unique blend of Research & Advisory Services is delivered by experts trusted to lead MOD research projects into the future of cross-domain technology. With a product portfolio that is both highly customisable and aligned with NCSC import/export patterns and High Assurance principles, Nexor continues to set the standard in secure information exchange. Our agile development capabilities ensure solutions are precisely tailored to balance risk, budget, and functionality according to our customer’s specific business and security needs.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/oakdoor-partners-with-nexor-to-advance-high-assurance-security-solutions-302146842.html

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ALLCLEAR TRAVEL RESEARCH: ONE IN FOUR PEOPLE WITH MEDICAL CONDITIONS RISK INVALIDATING THEIR TRAVEL INSURANCE WHEN TRAVELLING ABROAD

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LONDON, May 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — One in four people with pre-existing medical conditions (25%) say they will not declare all of their medical conditions when buying travel insurance, with 40% of these only declaring what they are currently being treated for.

Of those that would not declare everything, one in eight (13%) would only declare everything when visiting far-flung destinations, or when they’re away for two weeks or more (15%). Another 14% don’t always declare all their medical conditions as they believe the risk of falling ill is very small.

Further the issue of travelling abroad with medical conditions is not an issue confined to older holidaymakers. The new survey of a representative sample of 2,212 adults reveals that across all age groups, around two-thirds of survey respondents acknowledged they had some form of pre-existing medical condition.  For any age, medical conditions need to be declared when travelling abroad to avoid the risk of travel insurance being invalidated.

Garry Nelson, Head of Corporate Affairs at AllClear Travel Insurance commented: “While it is positive to see that most people are choosing to declare all of their medical conditions to their travel insurance provider, the fact one in four don’t is of particular concern. With travel insurance, it is vital that people – and particularly those that have pre-existing medical conditions – declare ALL the medical conditions that fall within their Travel Insurance warranty, to be sure their cover offers them the fullest protection possible.”

“Our priority at AllClear is to look after our customers on holiday and the value we deliver our customers is based on a commitment to providing the best quality product and best-in-class service for the fairest possible price.”  

For more than 20 years, award-winning AllClear Travel Insurance has helped cover more than 3.5m people, with customers across the UK and Australia.  AllClear is passionate about enabling people to obtain specialist travel insurance whatever their pre-existing medical conditions or age. Discover more about AllClear at: www.allcleartravel.co.uk 

The online research was conducted for AllClear by Sago research among a representative sample for 2,212 adults in April 2024.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/allclear-travel-research-one-in-four-people-with-medical-conditions-risk-invalidating-their-travel-insurance-when-travelling-abroad-302146684.html

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barq and TerraPay Forge a Strategic Partnership

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DUBAI, UAE, May 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — During the days of Seamless 2024 exhibition in Dubai, the fintech application barq and TerraPay, a global money movement company signed a strategic partnership. This collaboration aims to provide fast and secure international money transfer services.

Mr. Ahmed Alenazi, CEO of barq, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “We are delighted to collaborate with TerraPay to enhance our international money transfer services. This alliance reflects our commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.”

Ani Sane, Co-founder & Chief Business Officer – TerraPay, commented, “This partnership is not just another agreement; it is a testament to our commitment to supporting promising projects in Saudi Arabia like barq. Through this collaboration, we aim to deliver fast, efficient, and secure international money transfer services that adhere to global standards.”

Supported by TerraPay’s extensive global payments network, this agreement aligns with barq’s efforts to expand its service offerings, catering to customer needs and keeping pace with the growth of the fintech sector, both within and beyond the Kingdom.

barq received a license from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) in January of this year. Developed in Riyadh by Saudi talent, barq is expected to revolutionize the Kingdom’s fintech sector in the coming years. This is due to its unique services, secure payment methods, and the expertise of its team.

For media inquiries or further information, please contact: [email protected] 

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