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POINT.ME Raises $15M in Series B Funding, Establishing It as a Tech Leader at the Intersection of Personal Finance and Travel Rewards

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Top financial technology investors led investment in point.me, whose platform simplifies credit card and airline loyalty reward programs for consumers.

NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — point.me, the points and travel reward search platform founded in 2022, has successfully closed a $15M Series B fundraise. The announcement was made today in New York on the sidelines of the Skift Global Forum. The investment follows a strong year of growth propelled by enterprise partnerships with American Express and Bilt Rewards, which led to point.me being named by Fast Company as a ‘Most Innovative Company’ of 2024.

This fundraising round was led by Nyca Partners and Citi Ventures, each with extensive records of investing in “unicorn” startups including Acorns, Hopper, Plaid, and Ramp, along with participation from Brian Kelly (founder of The Points Guy), Samsung Next, RiverPark Ventures, Four Cities Capital, MoreThan Capital, as well as Meta executives (Kay2Ventures and Morgan Rose) and the co-founder of ITA Software (Google Flights). Thayer Ventures and PAR Capital Ventures, who led earlier fundraising rounds, have also joined the Series B round, in a strong show of confidence.

“I am grateful for the support for our vision from our new and existing investors. Their vote of confidence demonstrates both consumer and market interest in cutting-edge technology at the intersection of personal finance and meaningful travel rewards,” said Adam Morvitz, Founder & CEO of point.me. “We are delighted to be entrusted by leading banks and credit card companies as a unique opportunity for them to enhance their travel rewards.”

Stephanie Khoo, Partner at Nyca Partners said: “We have had an investing thesis around rewards for some time and were thrilled to find the right team, product and traction in point.me. The founding team’s deep knowledge of the rewards and travel space is complemented nicely by a top-notch technical team that delivers an elegant solution to what was previously a painfully manual process to categorically search award inventory across airlines carriers. Now, all travel enthusiasts can more easily answer these questions: firstly, should I use points or cash? And secondly, which points are the most optimal?”

Luis Valdich, Head of FinTech Investing, Citi Ventures said: “As active investors in Travel & Entertainment, a key vertical for card spend, we at Citi Ventures immediately got point.me‘s problem statement and were drawn to Adam’s strong founder-product fit, contagious energy, and vision of building the world’s first travel rewards marketplace in close collaboration with the industry. We are excited to co-lead point.me‘s series B raise and be part of their journey.”

Brian Kelly, Founder, The Points Guy said: “I have dedicated my career to helping consumers get the most value from their rewards. I’m honored to invest in point.me and look forward to this next phase of growth of the company and the billions of dollars of value it will put back into consumer’s wallets and allow people to travel the world in ways they never thought possible.”

Today’s news follows point.me‘s ground-breaking partnership with American Express, which was announced earlier this year. The industry-first partnership allows US Amex cardmembers to search flights using Membership Rewards Points via a white-labeled point.me offering. The company released a much-heralded independent ranking and review of the world’s leading global airline reward programs last week. Previously, point.me was awarded a Skift JetBlue Ventures Visionary 2030 Idea Award in 2022 and was named one of 25 Hot Travel Startups by PhocusWright in 2023.

The Series B investment will fuel point.me‘s enterprise growth and expansion of services, cementing its position as the leading technology company related to points, miles, and travel rewards. A testament to the company’s meteoric growth, point.me surpassed 18 million user searches while growing registered users by 1021%, alongside monthly recurring revenue growth of 378% from its Series A fundraise. The company raised $10M in a Series A financing in 2022 after successfully closing a $2M seed financing round in 2021.

For all things travel rewards, and for more updates, please visit point.me.

About point.me

point.me is a first-of-its-kind award travel discovery tool and points concierge service that enables loyalty program members to find better flights for fewer points. point.me‘s proprietary algorithm searches over 150 airlines to uncover the very best flight deals, including first and business class fares with points, along with guided instructions for booking them. point.me works with over 30 loyalty programs, including major credit card rewards, and enables customers to filter search results based on their preferred programs, airlines, routes, and balances. Loyalty industry experts Adam Morvitz and Tiffany Funk led a dedicated team of specialists with decades of combined expertise in the miles and points space to launch point.me, the only tool of its kind in the travel market, in February 2022.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pointme-raises-15m-in-series-b-funding-establishing-it-as-a-tech-leader-at-the-intersection-of-personal-finance-and-travel-rewards-302251145.html

SOURCE POINT.ME

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WorldSkills Lyon 2024: Talented Winners, Long-lasting Legacy

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LYON, France, Sept. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — After an intense week of competition, the 47th WorldSkills Competition has officially wrapped up, marking the end of a thrilling journey for 1,400 young professionals from around the globe. For four days, participants representing nearly 70 countries and regions competed fiercely in 59 diverse skill areas, transforming Lyon’s Eurexpo into a vibrant hub of craftsmanship and international talent.

From day one, the atmosphere was charged with energy as competitors showcased their expertise in sectors ranging from Manufacturing and Engineering to Fashion, Digital Technology, and Healthcare. The level of dedication and precision demonstrated throughout the week was a testament to the profound commitment these young professionals have to their trades, as well as their determination to showcase their nation’s worth on the global stage.

Last night, the closing ceremony of WorldSkills Lyon 2024, held at Groupama Stadium, brought the event to an emotional close with the announcement of medalists in each skill category. Four medals were awarded in each skill: Gold Medal, Silver Medal, Bronze Medal, and the Medallion for Excellence. This ceremony underscored the core belief of the WorldSkills movement: excellence is found in diversity – diversity of profiles, backgrounds, expertise, and techniques.

The list of medalists is now available. Visit https://worldskills.org/what/competitions/worldskills-lyon-2024/#results to discover the winners!

What’s next?

The impact of WorldSkills Lyon 2024 extends far beyond the event itself. As the competition unfolded, and millions of people followed it in person or through media, WorldSkills Lyon 2024 spotlighted the crucial role of vocational education in today’s world and in shaping our shared future. By celebrating excellence, the competition highlighted the incredible ability of youth to drive the change our world needs through their energy and dedication. The legacy of this event lies in every vocation it has sparked and every future career it has inspired. This 47th edition has once again shown the world that where there is skill, there is a way.

Media Contacts: 
Alice Nahon
PR Officer
alice.nahon@publicis.com 

Anne-Laure TRONC
Press Relation Manager
media@worldskillslyon2024.com 

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/worldskills-lyon-2024-talented-winners-long-lasting-legacy-302253405.html

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LG NOVA EXPANDS EFFORTS TO DRIVE INNOVATION GROWTH THROUGH NEW PARTNER ALLIANCE PROGRAM

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New Program Connects LG, Strategic Partners and Startups to Ignite Collaboration and Development of Innovative Ideas for a Better Future

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — LG Electronics today announced the launch of the LG NOVA Partner Alliance Program – a platform that brings together corporate partners and startups for cross-industry collaborations, technology and business development, and commercial partnerships to catalyze the growth of innovations for the future.

Spearheaded by LG NOVA, LG Electronics’ North America Innovation Center, the Program extends the success of LG NOVA’s mission to co-create new ventures with startups to its corporate partners with the goal to encourage exponential growth of new innovations in the market by creating more pathways for innovative ideas to flourish at a greater rate.

Joining the Partner Alliance Program at launch are Fujitsu Research of America, Hyundai CRADLE, IBM, Mayo Clinic Innovation Exchange, Niantic and the West Virginia Department of Economic Development. These organizations have all signed on to work with LG NOVA and its extensive startup ecosystem to generate and explore new concepts; develop, test, and validate those concepts; and collaborate on innovative product solutions or even co-create new businesses. Additional partners will be added to the Partner Alliance Program in the coming months.

“The new Partner Alliance Program aligns with our core mission to collaborate and create an ecosystem for startups to thrive and ensure that the innovations today become the market-leading solutions of tomorrow,” said Dr. Sokwoo Rhee, corporate executive vice president for Innovation, LG Electronics and head of LG NOVA.

Kevin Chong, LG NOVA’s head of corporate and business development, said, “This program is a win-win for all parties, including LG, as we continue to explore new ideas for business co-creation. The growth of new ideas and cross-industry collaboration will help the markets move forward faster towards a better future that benefits all of us, businesses, people and the planet.”

In bringing on corporate partners to its Program, LG NOVA is helping to create more opportunities for startups to find quintessential industry partners that will help it reach commercial success at a larger level, Chong explained. For the corporate partners, finding innovative startups to work with will help them address new market opportunities, extend their businesses into new areas and better address the changing needs of their customers. 

The Partner Alliance Program will leverage the resources of LG Electronics existing business units while also tapping into the pipeline of startups and resources available through the LG NOVA’s Mission for the Future initiative – a broad umbrella of programs designed around engaging with the entire innovation ecosystem to explore ideas on creating a better future through collaboration and tech innovations.

LG NOVA and the newly announced partners in the Partner Alliance Program plan to share more about their goals and vision for this program at the 2024 LG NOVA InnoFest, Sept. 25-26, at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Calif.

LG NOVA’s annual InnoFest conference unites business leaders, innovators and investors to collaborate on solutions for a better future, this year, under the theme of “Lighting the Halo of Innovation,” inspiring attendees to focus on impactful co-creation and bold ideas. For more information about this year’s event visit https://innofest.lgnova.com/

About LG NOVA
LG NOVA, the North America Innovation Center for global innovation leader LG Electronics, is a team focused on bringing innovation from the outside to LG. LG NOVA is based in Santa Clara, Calif. The center’s mission is to fuel innovation for LG and its partners by establishing a community to create, nurture and grow businesses. Learn more about LG NOVA at www.lgnova.com.

About LG Electronics USA
LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a $60-billion-plus global innovator in technology and manufacturing. In the United States, LG sells a wide range of innovative home appliances, home entertainment products, commercial displays, air conditioning systems, energy solutions and vehicle components. LG is an 11-time ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year. www.LG.com.

Media Contact:

LG Electronics USA

Linda Quach
+1 408 903 3045
linda.quach@lge.com

Partners & Quotes

Fujitsu Research of America

“We are excited to join LG NOVA in the Partner Alliance Program to explore new collaboration opportunities with them. LG NOVA approach to innovation and the Partner Alliance Program is a meaningful way for organizations from across different market sectors to come together and innovate,” said Takuto Komatsuki, Senior Director at Fujitsu Research of America.

About Fujitsu Research of America

Fujitsu Research of America is focused on developing cutting-edge technologies to solve digital transformation (DX) challenges faced by its customers. Its vision is to build a sustainable world through innovation and trusted partnerships. At Fujitsu Research of America (FRA), we have a myriad of very talented people working in a variety of areas – AI with transparency and ethics, social digital twin, web 3.0 technologies, quantum algorithms, and much more.

About Hyundai CRADLE

Hyundai CRADLE for Human-centered Mobility Innovation

Hyundai CRADLE is Hyundai Motor’s corporate venturing and open innovation business, which partners and invests extensively in prominent global startups to accelerate the development of advanced future automotive technologies. CRADLE identifies newly established startups that focus, amongst others, on ‘Disruptive Innovations.’

About IBM

IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. More than 4,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

Visit www.ibm.com for more information.

Mayo Clinic Innovation Exchange

“We look forward to collaborating with the LG NOVA team to share our expertise in healthcare innovation and to explore new opportunities with startups seeking to improve patient care and health outcomes.” said Jennie Kung, Vice Chair of the Mayo Clinic Innovation Exchange.

About The Mayo Clinic Innovation Exchange

The Mayo Clinic Innovation Exchange is a dynamic platform designed to accelerate healthcare innovation and foster collaboration among the global healthcare community. Leveraging Mayo Clinic’s world-class expertise and resources, the Innovation Exchange bridges the gap between emerging technologies and clinical practice, research, and education to bring breakthrough innovations to market, all for one shared mission—to benefit patients.

Niantic

“We see a great opportunity for entirely new spatial experiences leveraging AI and our 3D map
technology, tools and services to come to the forefront in the near future. We’re glad to see the
LG NOVA Partner Alliance program launch, as it has the potential to lead us to greater
collaboration across the growing ecosystem,” said Maryam Sabour, Director of Business
Development and Strategic Partnerships Lead at Niantic. 

About Niantic

Niantic’s global-scale augmented reality platform and digital map power spatial computing experiences in the real world. Incubated out of the Maps team at Google, Niantic first created Ingress and then Pokémon GO, a collaboration with The Pokémon Company, which has become a cultural phenomenon and hit game played by tens of millions of people each month. Niantic’s maps platform, which powers Pokémon GO, also supports the company’s other games and applications including Pikmin Bloom, Peridot, Monster Hunter Now and Niantic Scaniverse. Niantic’s mapping, AR and mixed reality platforms, tools and services are used by thousands of developers around the world. 

West Virginia Department of Economic Development

West Virginia’s Department of Economic Development is eager to collaborate with LG NOVA through the new Partner Alliance program,” said West Virginia Department of Economic Development Executive Director, Mike Graney. “We look forward to strengthening our relationship with LG and engaging with the businesses throughout West Virginia.”

About the West Virginia Department of Economic Development

There is no better place to build and grow a business in the Eastern United States than West Virginia. The West Virginia Department of Economic Development’s mission is to improve the quality of life for all West Virginians by strengthening our communities and expanding the state’s economy to create more and better jobs.

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lg-nova-expands-efforts-to-drive-innovation-growth-through-new-partner-alliance-program-302253233.html

SOURCE LG Electronics USA

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Behr Paint Company Hosts First Student Design Competition

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Design students encouraged to enter for a chance to win $3,000, plus $1,000 for their design school

SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Behr Paint Company announces its first-ever BEHR® Student Design Competition in partnership with MattoBoard, a 3D virtual sampling platform for designers. The competition is open starting today, September 19, through November 10, 2024, for full-time or part-time emerging professional design students.* 

Behr Paint invites design students to submit an original design plan for any commercial space such as hospitality, workplace, healthcare, multifamily and more. The design theme, “No Clear Boundaries,” draws inspiration from the BEHR 2025 Commercial Color Forecast, which celebrates the fluidity between designed environments that reflect the intersection of the past and future, digital and physical, and timeless and modern. Entrants must incorporate colors from the BEHR 2025 Commercial Color Forecast in their design along with BEHR’s 2025 Color of the Year, Rumors, a deep and timeless shade of ruby red. 

The competition was created to champion emerging designers by providing specialized resources and opportunities to showcase and celebrate their talents. “As a judge of the BEHR Student Design Competition, I am excited to see how each student embraces color and design,” said Erika Woelfel, Vice President of Color & Creative Services at Behr Paint Company. “At Behr, we are committed to supporting the careers of the next generation of designers, and I look forward to seeing the students’ creativity shine through.”  

The judging panel will also include Guy Adam Ailion, Architect and CEO / Co-Founder of MattoBoard; Kayla Kratz, Director of Color & Designer Segment at Behr Paint Company; and Amber Jones, Director of Architect & Designer Strategic Initiatives at Behr Paint Company.

The winner of the 2024 BEHR Student Design Competition will be awarded a $3,000 cash prize and $1,000 for their design school. The runner-up will receive a $1,500 cash prize, and the second runner-up will receive a $500 cash prize. All winners will also receive a 1-year MattoBoard Pro Subscription to continue using the platform for their design needs. Winners will be announced in December 2024 and will be featured on BEHR’s and MattoBoard’s social channels, blog, and email.

To learn more about the 2024 BEHR Student Design Competition and how to enter, visit www.behr.com/designcompetition.

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE OPPORTUNITY TO WIN.
INTERNET AND MATTOBOARD ACCOUNT REQUIRED. Trade contest offered in the 50 U.S. & U.S. Territories (“U.S.”) to full/part-time emerging Design students at U.S. eligible Institution (see Rules) who are legal U.S. res., 18+. Ends 11:59 P.M. PT 11/10/24. See Official Rules at: www.behr.com/designcompetition for entry, judging criteria and limitations. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: Behr Process LLC.

About Behr Paint Company
Founded in 1947, Behr Paint Company is one of the largest manufacturers of paints, primers, decorative finishes, stains, surface preparation and application products for do-it-yourselfers and professionals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Santa Ana, Calif.-based company, and maker of BEHR®, KILZ® and WHIZZ® brands, are dedicated to meeting the project needs of DIYers, designers and professional paint contractors with an unwavering commitment to quality, innovation, and value. For more information, visit Behr.com. Professional paint contractors and designers can visit Behr.com/Pro to learn about products, color tools and services. Behr Paint Company is a subsidiary of Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS).

Behr and the Behr logo are registered trademarks of Behr Process LLC.

About MattoBoard
MattoBoard is the first virtual sample library (VSamples©) and 3D moodboarding tool for interior designers. Designers can search, discover, curate and specify interior materials and products in real-time using light and shadow to examine texture and detail. Designers can download and share beautiful, photo-realistic boards and material spec sheets. MattoBoard’s mission is to bring a ‘touch and feel’ industry into the future by pioneering virtual sampling for designers and brands.

Media Contact: behrpro@mbooth.com 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/behr-paint-company-hosts-first-student-design-competition-302252741.html

SOURCE Behr Paint Company

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