Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 1:37 PM on Tuesday, March 12th, 2019
NORTHBUD (NBUD:CSE) is already a late stage applicant at the
“Confirmation of Readiness” stage for 25,000 square feet of indoor and
500,000 square feet of outdoor growing space, for the sole purpose of
growing GMP pharma-grade cultivation and food-grade extracted inputs.
But Ryan Brown didn’t get this far in the cannabis space by sitting
still … and he has made one hell of a great deal with the $20 MILLION
acquisition of Eureka Vapor, a multi-state licensed operator in the
USA. The acquisition is subject to typical closing and due diligence
but Ryan has a close relationship with the CEO and is confident it will
close.
If and when it does close, Eureka will bring about $11.5 million in
revenue at a 16% profit margin, which will be immediately accretive to
the bottom line of NORTHBUD. Accretive is actually an understatement.
I also love this acquisition because of its’ terms, which shows the
confidence that both sides have in each other. For example, the Eureka
team can earn an extra $25 million if they hit certain milestones. That
says a lot about how Eureka may grown once it is a part of NORTHBUD.
On the flipside, the Eureka group only gets 10% of their shares on
closing, with the rest dripped out over the next 24 months. That says a
lot about the confidence Eureka has in NORTHBUD.
Find out more about NORTHBUD and this great deal in this interview
with Ryan, who has already made a name for himself and is now on his way
to growing that success, pun intended.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, March 12th, 2019
SPONSOR: Esports Entertainment
$GMBL Esports audience is 350M, growing to 590M, Esports wagering is
projected at $23 BILLION by 2020. The company has launched VIE.gg
esports betting platform and has accelerated affiliate marketing
agreements with 190 Esports teams. Click here for more information
GMBL: OTCQB
———————–
‘Revenge of the gamers’ – eSports hits big time, with or without Olympics
eSports’ bid to reach the Olympics may be on hold but backing from big sponsors and a relentless march into the mainstream raise the question of whether it needs the Games at all.
With sportswear giant Nike last month announcing its sponsorship of China’s Legends Pro League, video gaming already bears the hallmarks of any successful sport.
Adidas, Mercedes and BMW are some of the other global brands to jump
on board, while McDonald’s dropped its sponsorship of Germany’s national
football team to focus on eSports.
The Legends Pro League, China’s official competition for the League
of Legends game, has 14 regional divisions, and teams have their own
home venues. The game also has an annual world championship.
As of next year, professional players will be fully decked out in
Nike-designed jerseys and trainers, with an accompanying lifestyle range
— much like any big football, basketball or baseball team.
“It’s (eSports) already hit mainstream, a couple of years back,”
Philip So, who heads business development at League of Legends developer
Riot Games, told AFP at last week’s Sportel convention in Macau.
“(But the Nike sponsorship) had a huge reaction from our fans when we
announced it, even from the Nike side. I think it was surprising to
everyone how much buzz it generated.”
A Goldman Sachs briefing in October said eSports was on course to
reach nearly 300 million viewers by 2022 — similar numbers to American
football’s NFL.
– ‘NBA didn’t need the Olympics’ –
Some are now beginning to wonder if the Olympics needs eSports more
than the other way round, as the venerable institution dating back to
the late 19th century strives to reach a younger audience.
“I think it would be great for the Olympic programme to have eSports
because they are going to be able to capture the attention of a new
audience that otherwise would disappear,” Maurizio Barbieri, Twitter’s
Southeast Asian head of sports partnerships, said at Sportel.
“But overall, (how would the Olympics help eSports) in general?
“I mean, the NBA didn’t need the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to become the number one basketball league in the world.”
eSports won’t be part of the Olympics until at least Los Angeles
2028, after it was left off the list of nominated sports for Paris 2024
— which included the equally youth-friendly breakdancing, surfing,
skateboarding and climbing.
But So said that when eSports was a demonstration event at last
year’s Asian Games, viewing figures in China outstripped those of
traditional sports, even though the competition wasn’t shown on TV.
People who play computer games, he added, are now proud to identify
themselves as “gamers”, underlining the rise of a movement that has
spread organically, from the grassroots up.
“It’s a complete paradigm shift. This is the time for gamers to come out. It’s revenge of the gamers,” said So.
– Deeply fragmented –
Much of the opposition to eSports is related to concerns over screen
time and inactivity among young people, as well as a lack of knowledge
and understanding of the games.
China has been particularly cautious, last year announcing curbs
including temporarily suspending new releases of online games — sending
shares plummeting in Tencent, Riot Games’ parent company.
But So said China’s sports ministry remained a supporter of eSports,
drawing a distinction between professional, organised gaming and
streaming, where amateurs play for audiences online.
“I don’t think eSports makes the government very nervous. I really don’t think so,” he said.
“Because the sports bureau etc, we work very closely with them and
it’s definitely on their agenda and interest to grow the sport as well.”
However, So was at a loss to predict whether eSports would finally
make it into the Olympics, a campaign that faces a number of hurdles.
As well as concerns over eSports’ lack of physical activity, the
scene is deeply fragmented, as different games are made by competing
studios. It is also yet to form a world governing body — a stipulation
demanded by the IOC.
“I honestly don’t know. I wish I had the answer,” So said, when asked what was the way forward for eSports’ Olympic bid.
“How an overarching arm across all different games (would work), I’d be very curious to know,” he added.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 12:07 PM on Tuesday, March 12th, 2019
Presenting at this year’s Spring Investor Summit on April 1st and 2nd in New York City.
PyroGenesis Canada, Inc. will be presenting at 10:30am on April 1st.
NEW YORK, NY / March 12, 2019 / PyroGenesis Canada, Inc. (TSX-V: PYR.V) will be presenting at this year’s Spring Investor Summit on April 1st and 2nd in New York City. PyroGenesis Canada, Inc. will be presenting at 10:30am on April 1st.
CONFERENCE OVERVIEW AND STRUCTURE
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The Spring Investor Summit will take place in New York City at the
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REGISTRATION FOR INVESTORS
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Google is expanding its suite of apps designed for the Indian market with today’s launch of a new language-learning app aimed at children, called Bolo.
The app, which is aimed at elementary school-aged students, leverages technology like Google’s speech recognition and text-to-speech to help kids learn to read in both Hindi and English.
Google is expanding its suite of apps designed for the Indian market with today’s launch of a new language-learning app aimed at children, called Bolo. The app, which is aimed at elementary school-aged students, leverages technology like Google’s speech recognition and text-to-speech to help kids learn to read in both Hindi and English.
To do so, Bolo offers a catalog of 50 stories in Hindi and 40 in English, sourced from Storyweaver.org.in. The company says it plans to partner with other organizations in the future to expand the story selection.
Included in the app is a reading buddy, “Diya,†who encourages and
corrects the child when they read aloud. As kids read, Diya can listen
and respond with feedback. (Google notes all personal information
remains on-device to protect kids’ privacy.) Diya can also read the text
to the child and explain the meaning of English words. As children
progress in the app, they’ll be presented with word games that win them
in-app rewards and badges to motivate them.
The app works offline — a necessity in large parts of India — where
internet access is not always available. Bolo can be used by multiple
children, as well, and will adjust itself to their own reading levels.
Google says it had been trialing Bolo across 200 villages in Uttar Pradesh, India, with the help of nonprofit ASER Centre. During testing, it found that 64 percent of children who used the app showed an improvement in reading proficiency in three months’ time.
To run the pilot, 920 children were given the app and 600 were in a control group without the app, Google says.
In addition to improving their proficiency, more students in the
group with the app (39 percent) reached the highest level of ASER’s
reading assessment than those without it (28 percent), and parents also
reported improvements in their children’s reading abilities.
Illiteracy remains a problem in India. The country has one of the
largest illiterate populations in the world, where only 74 percent are
able to read, according to a study by ASER Centre
a few years back. It found then that more than half of students in
fifth grade in rural state schools could not read second-grade textbooks
in 2014. By 2018, that figure hadn’t changed much — still, only about
half can read at a second-grade level, ASER now reports.
While Google today highlights its philanthropic efforts in education,
it’s worth noting that Google’s interest in helping improve India’s
literacy metrics benefits its bottom line, too. As the country continues
to come online to become one of the largest internet markets in the
world, literate users capable of using Google’s products like Search,
Ads, Gmail and others are of increased importance to Google’s business.
Bolo is available now on the Google Play Store in
India, and works on Android smartphones running Android 4.4 (Kit Kat)
and higher. The app is currently optimized for native Hindi speakers.
Tags: edtech, google, stocks, tsx, tsx-v Posted in All Recent Posts, betterU Education Corp | Comments Off on BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca – Google $GOOG introduces educational app Bolo to improve children’s literacy in India $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:22 AM on Tuesday, March 12th, 2019
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——————-
Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency Is Almost Here
Investors will soon be able to buy gold and stocks in the form of cryptocurrency, the same way they might buy Bitcoin.
Paxos, a New York-based firm that already offers a dollar-backed cryptocurrency (known as a stablecoin) as well as Bitcoin trading services, plans to introduce digital tokens backed by precious metals and publicly traded stocks sometime in 2019.
The company launched its stablecoin, Paxos Standard,
six months ago by tying cash reserves to a blockchain—a digital ledger
of transactions that is the backbone of any cryptocurrency. Now, it
wants to take “any type of asset and put it into a blockchain,†Paxos
CEO Chad Cascarilla told Fortune’s“Balancing the Ledger.†The goal is to move assets and settle transactions more quickly and securely and with lower fees, he added.
In order to make it work, Paxos has to ensure that it holds the same
amount of inventory—whether that’s dollars, precious metals, or
stocks—in the “real world†as are registered on the blockchain. “How you
do it with a gold token is how much gold you have in a vault equals how
many gold tokens outstanding,†Cascarilla explained. “How do you do it
with stocks? How many stocks do I have sitting in an account, equals how
many stocks in the blockchain.â€
Closest to reality is likely the tokenization of stock market
equities and bonds, assets which Paxos has already successfully tested
in blockchain transactions, Cascarilla said. “We’re getting pretty
close, and I think we’ll see it in 2019.â€
Cascarilla believes Paxos is the only cryptocurrency company with an
account at the Depository Trust Company, which holds the vast majority
of U.S. stocks and bonds, positioning the firm to potentially become the
first to bring stock trading to the blockchain. Still, Paxos, which was
the first virtual currency company to be licensed in New York, needs
additional approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
before it can roll out cryptocurrencies tied to more traditional
securities. It’s currently awaiting that approval—something the lengthy government shutdown did not help speed along.
Putting commodities on the blockchain is also underway, and “gold is
probably the most obvious,†Cascarilla said, adding that it would be
introduced “definitely this year.â€
Tokenizing precious metals opens up new possibilities that are
currently physically difficult—such as dividing up a gold bar into
smaller denominations, transporting heavy quantities more easily, or
lending the assets out more efficiently, Cascarilla explained. “Having
it sit in a vault but also having it be on a blockchain kind of bridges
those two worlds,†he said.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:58 AM on Tuesday, March 12th, 2019
Polymath formed a consortium in close collaboration with KABN (www.kabn.network),
Polymath is leading the effort to make it easier for organizations to create digital securities from traditional assets through partnerships and a community that supports a transparent and compliant process for issuers and investors
TORONTO & SAINT MICHAEL, Barbados & GIBRALTAR — Polymath (www.polymath.network), the global leader in software solutions that enable assets to be digitized, distributed, fractionally owned, and ultimately liquidated, has formed a consortium in close collaboration with KABN (www.kabn.network), a global financial services platform that has developed, among its suite of products, a patent pending, blockchain based, GDPR compliant, Always On, global identification and accreditation as a support service for investors and other types of contributors.
Polymath is leading the effort to make it easier for organizations to
create digital securities from traditional assets through partnerships
and a community that supports a transparent and compliant process for
issuers and investors. Through its extensive service provider network
with firms like KABN, Polymath provides security token issuers with
access to top quality service providers.
“Our solution supports the creation of digital securities from a wide range of traditional and non-traditional assets,†said Kevin North, CEO of Polymath.
“The intention of this partnership is to create a best practice model
for customers who need help with the full lifecycle of an STO (Security
Token Offering). In this model, the issuer would work with an integrated
network of providers who are committed to ensuring that offerings are
compliant with securities laws, rules, and regulations across multiple
jurisdictions and trading platforms, increasing the value proposition by
reducing the distance and friction between investors and issuers. To
date, the full STO path is not clear for most of our issuers, so we
formed this partnership with the intention of making this a less
daunting journey.â€
KABN will also be the first organization to launch its digital
securities offering using this process. More information about the KABN Security Token Offering can be found at: www.KABNtoken.com
“Working with Polymath, KABN supports the compliance requirements for digital securities with its Always On
solution providing a faster, better and more economical solution for
issuers and investors to validate and verify identity, KYC and AML, and
manage liquidity programs,†said Ben Kessler, CEO of KABN.
“KABN is also the first company to tokenize its company assets and
create digital securities with this process, proving the model and
paving the way for others to do the same in a manner that meets
jurisdictional securities rules and regulations and supports a value
proposition for stakeholders, the Blockchain community, issuers and
investors.â€
Polymath and KABN are receiving overwhelming support from the capital
markets and blockchain communities as it introduces the framework to
program partners to advance the creation of digital securities and make
it easier for issuers and investors to interact through decentralized
platforms globally.
Together with Pegasus Fintech (Gibraltar) Limited, a consultant
organization, a consortium of Professional Service providers, Broker
Dealers, Blockchain Developers, Exchanges, Authorized Agents and other
Solution Providers have committed to supporting this process and the
KABN Token offering. The initial parties committing their support to
this growing consortium include:
Polymath Network (Polymath) is a decentralized platform that makes it
easy to create security tokens. The platform simplifies the complex
technical challenges of creating a security token and aims to bring the
multi-trillion dollar financial securities market to the blockchain.
KABN, a integrated financial service platform offering neo banking
type solutions, has received approval by Visa to launch its
crypto-linked card and banking wallet program. KABN has partnered with
Transact Payments Ltd, a European e-money institution and Principal
Member of Visa, global processor GPS and platform technology provider
Panovate to launch the program in the UK and subsequently the EEA in the
2nd quarter of the year.
Branded the Pegasus Flyte Visa card, the KABN card program offers an
“on/off ramp†conversion process for a variety of cryptocurrencies to
fiat together with multi-currency fiat transactions. Cardholders will be
able to use their Pegasus Flyte Visa cards to spend in-store, online,
and at ATMs wherever Visa is accepted globally.
The Pegasus Flyte program will also offer a robust loyalty and
customer engagement platform. The anchor of the program is KABN ID, a
Blockchain and biometrically-based, “Always On†validation and
verification process. This patent-pending, GDPR compliant process allows
for efficient and frictionless customer acquisition and onboarding.
Pegasus Fintech is a full-service Blockchain, technology and
accelerator growth advisory that supports regulatory compliant programs
and offerings.
Forward-Looking Statements: Except for
historical matters contained herein, statements made in this press
release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality
of the foregoing, words such as “mayâ€, “willâ€, “toâ€, “planâ€, “expectâ€,
“believeâ€, “anticipateâ€, “intendâ€, “couldâ€, “wouldâ€, “estimateâ€, or
“continueâ€, or the negative other variations thereof or comparable
terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors, which may cause our actual results,
performance or achievements to be materially different from any future
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements. Also, forward-looking statements represent
our management’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date hereof.
Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these
forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual
results could differ materially from those anticipated in these
forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in
the future.
Tags: Bitcoin, bloc, blockchain, code, hive, Polymath Posted in Blockchain stocks, KABN | Comments Off on Polymath and #KABN Announce Consortium to Accelerate the Creation, Distribution, and Management of Digital Securities Across Multiple Jurisdictions and Platforms $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:51 AM on Tuesday, March 12th, 2019
Total Unique Visitor traffic growth of 56% and Total Views growth of 324% year-over-year
Significant growth is based on measurement of the Company’s digital media property by Comscore, a leading 3rd party media measurement and analytics company.
TORONTO, March 12, 2019 — Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSXV: EGLX) (OTCQB: EGHIF), (“Enthusiast†or the “Companyâ€), a gaming company building the largest community of authentic gamers, is excited to announce that it has received its end of year ranking report and confirmed Total Unique Visitor traffic growth of 56% and Total Views growth of 324% year-over-year. The significant growth is based on measurement of the Company’s digital media property by Comscore, a leading 3rd party media measurement and analytics company. (Source: Comscore Media Metrix Multi-Platform, Dec 2017-Dec 2018, US).
According to the report, compared to its peers in the Gaming
Information category, Enthusiast was the fastest growing company, with
the highest growth rate over the 12 month period. With its significant
growth in 2018, the company also achieved a Top 5 ranking for largest
Gaming Information property based on Total Views, and a Top 10 ranking
for largest Gaming Information property based on Total Unique Visitors.
(Source: ComScore Media Metrix Multi-Platform, Gaming Information, Sep
2018 and Nov 2018, US). Currently, Enthusiast has a network of over 80
gaming related websites with 75 million monthly visitors, and a platform
of 900 YouTube channels adding an additional 50 million monthly
visitors, making it one of the largest networks of gamers in North
America.
Enthusiast continues to execute on its growth strategy through
acquisitions and has completed 8 accretive acquisitions since January
2018. The Company also has new revenue generating streams through
direct advertising and monthly subscriptions which will bring in
additional recurring revenue in 2019. The new monetization
opportunities are greatly attributed to the rapid growth of Enthusiast.
Menashe Kestenbaum, CEO of Enthusiast, commented, “Being ranked as the fastest growing gaming platform by Comscore
is a significant accomplishment for Enthusiast as we continue to chase
large industry players for the number one spot. It shows we are
executing our strategy of becoming an industry leader. Since 2015 our
network has grown from 5 websites to over 80 and we are positioned as a
leading gaming community online.†He added, “We are excited for
the future growth of our platform and the new monetization
opportunities that have already started to come from our massive network
of lifestyle gamers.â€
Founded in 2014, Enthusiast is the fastest-growing online community
of video gamers. Through the Company’s unique acquisition strategy, it
has a platform of over 80 owned and affiliated websites and currently
reaches over 75 million monthly visitors with its unique and curated
content and over 50 million Youtube visitors. Enthusiast also owns and
operates Canada’s largest gaming expo, Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo,
EGLX, (eglx.ca) with over 55,000 people attending in 2018. For more information on the Company, visit www.enthusiastgaming.com.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Investor Relations: Julia Becker Head of Investor Relations & Marketing [email protected] (604) 785.0850
This news release contains certain statements that may constitute
forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. All
statements, other than those of historical fact, which address
activities, events, outcomes, results, developments, performance or
achievements that Enthusiast anticipates or expects may or will occur in
the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking
information. Such information may involve, but is not limited to,
comments with respect to strategies, expectations, planned operations
and future actions of the Company. Often, but not always,
forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such
as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”,
“estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or
variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or
statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain
actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will”
(or other variations of the forgoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or
come to pass. Forward-looking information is based on currently
available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans,
strategies or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors
that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of
Enthusiast to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking
information. Such factors may be based on information currently
available to Enthusiast, including information obtained from third-party
industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on
management’s current expectations or beliefs regarding future growth,
results of operations, future capital (including the amount, nature and
sources of funding thereof) and expenditures. Any and all
forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly
qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of
the Company should be considered highly speculative.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
The securities of the Corporation have not been and will not be
registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended
and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration
or an applicable exemption from the registration requirement. This press
release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an
offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any
jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be
unlawful.
Tags: EA sports, esports, Fortnite, LOL, stocks Posted in Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. | Comments Off on Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca Ranked as Fastest Growing Gaming Information Property With 324% Growth in Total Views Year-Over-Year $EPY.ca $FDM.ca $WINR $TCEHF $ATVI $TNA.ca
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 1:00 PM on Monday, March 11th, 2019
SPONSOR: Esports Entertainment
$GMBL Esports audience is 350M, growing to 590M, Esports wagering is
projected at $23 BILLION by 2020. The company has launched VIE.gg
esports betting platform and has accelerated affiliate marketing
agreements with 190 Esports teams. Click here for more information
GMBL: OTCQB
———————–
Five eSports Predictions: What Does The Year Hold For Companies And Developers?
Between League of Legendsappearing in the Asian Games and worldwide phenomenon Fortnite
dominating headlines, 2018 has been a formative year for eSports. Never
before have games had such an assertive presence in mainstream media
and entertainment.
As the CEO of a mobile eSports platform for developers, venues and
sponsors, I don’t believe the trajectory of eSports is slowing anytime
soon — bigger, better things lie ahead. Whether you’re an industry
veteran or just starting to explore how eSports fits into your business,
these are five key trends to keep in mind while planning your business
strategy for the remainder of 2019.
1. New titles will shake up the top five eSports rankings.
This year, new games will likely challenge incumbents for supremacy.
Prominent 2018 launches include the inaugural season of Activision
Blizzard’s Overwatch League, the introduction of the NBA 2K League, and new battle royale title Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. With fresh content flooding the market, the most popular eSport of the future has likely yet to be created.
Given increasing eSports democratization, consumers will be hungry
for innovative content, and top rankings are ripe for the taking.
Currently, the most popular consumer trends I’ve seen include shooters,
multiplayer competition and mobile experiences — so future blockbusters
may feature these elements.
Why does this matter? Understanding what games are trending and why
is essential for anyone in the space, whether you’re running a gaming
company or a non-endemic brand looking to access the growing eSports
audience. For game developers, keeping a pulse on community reactions
and responses to new industry trends is critical to developing relevant
themes for future titles. Watch closely to see which games are picking
up traction. Industry analyst studies, focus groups and preliminary beta
testing are all useful options to consider for additional insight.
2. Brand investments in eSports will increase.
With eSports viewership projected to grow to about 600 million by 2020 (paywall),
sponsorships could become more valuable to brands looking to gain an
advantage in an increasingly lucrative and competitive market.
Sponsors like Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, T-Mobile, Adidas and even the U.S. Navy
have already invested in eSports. Given the positive results of
engaging with this global audience, brand investments will likely
increase this year, with even more non-endemic corporate sponsors coming
aboard.
Gamers are arguably one of the most sought-after audiences — many are young (paywall) and often loyal to their games of choice. According to Dot Esports,
research firm Newzoo estimates that global eSports awareness will reach
2 billion by 2021. If you’re in the eSports business, I recommend
looking to capitalize on this influx of interest in 2019.
For developers looking to grab a slice of the audience, focus on
creating a game that’s simple to pick up, complex to master and fun to
watch. The combination of these elements is what I’ve found makes a
great spectator sport — and once you get viewers on board, the sponsors
will likely follow.
3. Mobile eSports will go mainstream and sell out professional stadiums.
With an estimated 2.3 billion mobile gamers worldwide (paywall)
in 2019, mobile is an incredibly popular gaming platform. As mobile
eSports become an increasingly important part of the ecosystem, even
more competitors could view it as mainstream entertainment.
This year, you may see more players earning sizable salaries and
collegiate scholarships from mobile eSports. In addition, mobile eSports
events could sell out more professional sports stadiums. In countries
like China, mobile gaming is already taking center stage.
Keep an eye on your smartphones, because they’re growing at breakneck
speeds in terms of both technical capability and consumer adoption —
GSMA estimates
that there will be 5.9 billion unique mobile subscribers in
2025. Developers — especially those that may have overlooked mobile in
the past — should consider how rapidly advancing mobile technology can
help them achieve a blockbuster hit and reach the largest subset of
gamers. I believe the key to breaking into this industry is creating a
game that is easy to learn, has a compelling core loop, and offers its
players strategic depth in terms of game mastery. This stimulates player
acquisition and new user performance metrics — ultimately driving
player retention and deeper game monetization.
4. The industry will experience heightened cheating risks.
While eSports growth has been impressive, it’s not without risk.
Similar to offline sports, the growing fame and fortune of athletes can
also attract cheaters.
In 2018, BattlEye banned over a million PUBG accounts for hacking. According to PCGamer, banning cheaters is also the “highest priority†for Fortnite developer Epic Games. In Asia, hackers are facing jail time and multimillion-dollar fines
for developing and distributing cheats. Although the industry is
working tirelessly to prevent cheating, it’s likely that as eSports
grow, so too will fraudulent efforts.
This year, I expect more eSports to institute fairer environments for
their games, just like we see in offline sports. Whether it’s by
integrating increasingly comprehensive third-party anti-cheating
software or developing their own, developers creating the next big
eSport will have to keep cheating at bay. Otherwise, their game might be
over before it begins.
5. A boom in availability and production value could occur for eSports broadcasts.
Now featured on YouTube, ESPN and more, eSports are quickly becoming a
hot area of growth in digital entertainment. ESL, a large eSports
league that runs CS:GO and Dota 2 tournaments, signed an exclusive streaming deal with Facebook in 2018 for an undisclosed amount. Twitch’s exclusive rights to stream the Overwatch League is purportedly worth as much as $90 million.
Both traditional and emerging channels are vying to showcase
tournaments to viewers. I’d count on seeing even more significant
broadcasting collaborations among both cable networks and social media
juggernauts in 2019.
Companies and developers planning to break into eSports broadcasting
in 2019 should keep the growing number of distribution options in mind
to ensure they’re picking the best channel for their content.
The eSports landscape is shifting quickly, and I project the coming
months to be some of the most important for the industry’s future. As
eSports viewership is expected to grow and mobile devices are becoming
more widespread, businesses should consider how they can take advantage
of this growing sector.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:54 AM on Monday, March 11th, 2019
I was introduced to a young man a
couple of years ago who kept my secretary busy by phoning repeatedly
asking for a short meeting to introduce his company. She said that he was so persistent that without confirming with me, she set a time for him and I to finally meet. That young man was Scott Purkis and the company was Agoracom. I
would like now to take this opportunity to say a heart felt sincere
thank you to Scott and the whole Agoracom team. Without the
communication through the Agoracom system thousands in the retail
investor community would have been left in the dark with respect to
these recent Noront events. The people who write on the Agoracom site, are one fabulous group of loyal and faithful Noront followers. Their interacting with the Noront team has kept the interest of the project up front in the investor world.
In the past, minority shareholders
did not have a voice against the much larger funds and shareholders,
but you as a group became a force, an entity unto yourselves and indeed,
a force to be reckoned with. You should all be very proud of all your efforts. No
longer will the retail investors be the pawn in a chess game, there now
lies the opportunity to make it to the other end of the board and
become a King.
I would like everybody to believe in the R.O.F. as a real project with astronomical potential. I
am sad that I will no longer be at the helm, However, times must change
and new leadership is sometimes necessary for a company to reach the
next phase.
After our press release issued
earlier this week, I was amazed to receive so many wonderful letters and
emails expressing good wishes for my future. Well, I’d
like to let one and all know that such support is overwhelming, it
certainly makes one feel very humble and I am very proud to have been
part of the Agoracom HUB .
I have had success in the past and
there is still many tomorrows to come with lots of drills waiting to
discover the next big hole and I have many plans to keep exploring After
today, I am going to take a much needed break. I think I will have a
glass of wine, do some fishing and relax and come back with a vengeance,
everybody get ready for round two. I’LL BE BACK
Thank you Scott and the Agoracom team and special thanks to all retail investors who have been so extremely supportive.
PayPal enters India’s $215 B education market via online platforms
One of the world’s largest online payment companies, PayPal, is now integrating its services with Indian online education platforms.
The US-based company has been active in India since 2008 in the cross-border payments business.
One of the world’s largest online payment companies, PayPal, is now integrating its services with Indian online education platforms. The US-based company has been active in India since 2008 in the cross-border payments business. In 2017, PayPal launched its domestic operations in India. In April last year, PayPal went live for consumers of (domestic) online retail in India. Today PayPal works closely with companies like MakeMyTrip, Freshmenu, etc.
Among the verticals that PayPal has specialised in globally is education, a market worth $215 billion in India.
According to PayPal’s statistics, for 218 million students
India has only two million teachers; a ratio of 140:1. More than two
million students are already paying online for education, and this is
expected to reach 10 million by 2021.
Currently, a large number of parents who lead busy lives, find it
difficult to keep up with the simplest of tasks such as paying school
fees – just because the options to make these payments are few. Schools
are now open to bank transfers, but there is scope to further simplify
the experience of the parent. This is where PayPal makes its entry.
Increasing reach of ed-tech platforms
Government initiatives like Digital India and SWAYAM have been trying
to enable online education by offering courses free of cost for
children as well as adults. There is increased awareness since many
(private) players are entering the space, following different models.
For instance, startups like UpGrad, Edureka, Unacademy, and Udacity,
focus on online test preparation. Simplilearn and GreatLearning aim to
upskill professionals. Startup unicorn BJYU’s, as well as Vedantu and
Toppr, target students from 5th-12th grades. Needless to say, these
platforms offer a huge clientele for PayPal, which is already present on
some of them.
Narsi Subramaniam, Director, Growth, Paypal India.
The average ticket size for transactions on PayPal in the Indian
education sector is $20-50. The KYC process on Paypal is done on the
website itself (with no physical visits) and is approved in 24 hours
provided it meets requirements.
In a chat with YourStory, Narsi Subramaniam, Director, Growth, PayPal India, said that PayPal is generally agnostic to business models.
“We are just enabling payment. We partner with them for solving
problems like multiple parties (like parents/students, tutors, schools
etc.) being involved in using their website/app for payments, invoicing
their payment options, and making the commission process (from the
online platform) easier,†he added.
Enabling multiple platforms
The entry into ed-tech industry was only a matter of time for PayPal,
as there is growing acceptance of technology in simplifying the overall
experience of education.
Narsi claims that users of online certificates and test preparation using PayPal have already grown on its existing platforms.
PayPal claims to take care of the end-to-end payment management. It is now focusing on the following:
1. Primary and secondary schools, since CBSE is encouraging schools to go cashless
2. Online platforms assisting in preparation for tests like GME, GRE, CAT etc.
3. Reskilling courses for working professionals (already
contributes to 40 percent of overall volume on transactions enabled by
PayPal)
4. Higher education (both online and offline platforms)
5. Casual learning for music, dance, yoga
Narsi added that PayPal has enabled invoicing capabilities for small
institutions as well, so that they can send the relevant link to parents
and minimise the process. He asserted that this is a great opportunity
for tutors who are now onboarding online platforms, as the quantity and
quality of online players is increasing. “Online tutorials can go global
easily. Four out of ten online math tutors are from India,†he pointed
out.
Since PayPal enjoys familiarity among its target audience, thanks to
the brand value, the move into education sector could be a win-win
situation for both parties.
