AI start-up Webio has unveiled the launch of its new digital debt collection offering, Propensity Studio.

Founded in 2016, the Dublin-based firm specialises in the credit, collections and payments industry.

Propensity Studio leverages Webio’s conversational AI platform to enhance how businesses engage with their customers by predicting individual business outcomes throughout their messaging conversations.

Companies have had to shift their customer engagement to digital channels like SMS, Webchat, WhatsApp, RCS and Messenger as customers increasingly expect instant interaction, whether checking on a delivery or discussing their finances.

The first of its kind in credit and collections, Propensity Studio transforms how companies manage the nuances of each individual customer’s personal circumstances, ensuring conversations are dealt with in a fair, empathetic and compliant manner.

For example, customers experiencing personal challenges in their lives can be identified more easily and so get the support they need.

Propensity Studio enables collection organisations and teams to move beyond the traditional customer interaction by:

• Guiding customer conversations using Natural Language Understanding, incorporating intents and sentiment analysis, Propensity Studio interprets a customer’s language, response behaviours and previous conversation history to determine how best to respond.
• Working with Webio automated chatbots or in conjunction with live agents, Propensity Studio identifies a company’s specific business outcome and within a few words of a conversation, produces a real-time propensity score that identifies how likely a business outcome is. This allows for efficient, low-cost management of the flow and content of an unlimited volume of customer conversations.
• By predicting what the outcome of the conversation is going to be, customer journeys can be more automated, reducing agent resource and allowing agents to work on the conversations where their skills are more required.
• Webio Conversational AI is designed to work with the customer’s best interests in mind, identifying and engaging with vulnerable customers in an appropriate and responsible manner.

Cormac O’Neill, Webio CEO, said: “Credit and Collections are one of the most challenging customer service environments in the world. It’s an environment whereby having the right conversation can make such a difference in people’s lives.

“In developing our conversational AI, we have put the needs of indebted customers and our clients front and centre. In so doing our Propensity Studio will not only make a substantial difference to the operational efficiency of businesses but also reshape how customers and companies relate to one another in a new powerful way.

“There has been a lot of hype surrounding AI recently, but the reality is that delivering effective AI that makes a meaningful difference is a challenge. I’m thrilled that Team Webio has met this challenge and I am excited to see the impact that Propensity Studio will have as we continue on our mission of rebalancing the credit and collections eco-system.”

About Webio

Webio makes having difficult customer conversations easier for Credit, Collections and Payment businesses with trusted Conversational AI. Leading UK and Irish brands like The Very Group, Energia, Littlewoods, Hoist Finance using our conversational platform to orchestrate millions of customer conversations at scale and have convenient and highly personalized conversations. The no-code platform allows Webio customers and partners to get up and running with conversational AI over SMS, WhatsApp, Webchat, and other channels in hours, not months.

Founded in 2016, Webio’s platform enables the credit industry to engage with their in-debt and vulnerable customers positively and empathetically. Webio is on a mission to rebalance the Credit, Collections and Payment ecosystem by reimagining the way lenders engage and converse with customers.

Webio was ranked #2 in the 2020 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards and is the founder of one of Europe’s leading conversational interface conferences – ConverCon.

For more information, please visit webio.com.

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The Covid-19 pandemic changed, and still affects, the way most do business. But that break from office life resulted in husband and wife John and Kerry Celeste (accompanied by Assistant/Office Chief/Head Honcho Simon the cat) turning a long running passion for photography into a highly successful side business.

Cactus & Lime is the place to go if you’re searching for trendy printable wall art that’ll refresh your home décor in an instant.

The Etsy store was originally launched in 2018 but as busy owners of thriving, Newcastle-upon-Tyne based web design and SEO agency Onit Web Solutions Ltd, the Celestes had very little time to dedicate to the establishment of Cactus & Lime during the early years. That was until lockdown hit…

“Both myself and Kerry have always loved travel. We regularly visit the USA –  our exploration of the Wild West even inspired the name of our Etsy store. Over the years, we’ve amassed quite the photography collection, and with people continually complementing our photographs, we thought, why not share them! Lockdown gave us the time to tinker with Cactus & Lime, and finally put our prints out there. In fact, our little side business kept me sane, and it has really started to take off!” said John Celeste, Owner, Photographer and Creator at Cactus & Lime.

Cactus & Lime now boasts a 442-print strong collection, all of which are available to purchase as digital downloads. The store has made 795 sales to customers all over the globe to date. Cactus & Lime has also received rave reviews, giving it the coveted status of a 5-star store.

Their growing collection of printable wall art and digital prints sports a myriad of images, ranging from the wild west shots their fans know and love them for to botanical prints and more abstract pieces.

“The USA fascinates us. The country has so many incredible scenes to document so needless to say, we’ll never be stuck for inspiration when creating wall art for our customers. The photography we produce however is first and foremost a labour of love – and we hope that shows in our prints! It’s exciting to see our art in other people’s homes, with our prints quick, easy and affordable ways to spruce up any space,” concluded Owner, Photographer and Designer Kerry.

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KYND Limited, a leading provider of pioneering cyber risk management solutions, welcomed independent insurance specialist Gen2 Broking as the latest member of its fast-growing KYND Broker Programme. The newly formed partnership aims at helping Gen2’s broker members and their clients tackle the challenge in understanding and managing complex cyber risks, thus enabling and supporting the sustainable growth of the hardening cyber insurance market.

According to the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2020[1], the median cost of a cyber attack rose almost sixfold worldwide between 2019 and 2020, and the frequency of attacks, partially triggered by the global COVID-19 pandemic, is escalating rapidly. But despite the significant threat level, only 26% of the firms surveyed in Hiscox’s report have a stand-alone cyber insurance policy. Most businesses continue to rely on their generic insurance policies or have no cyber insurance at all.

Launched in May 2020 and having successfully grown globally, the exclusive KYND Broker Programme is the industry’s first specialist initiative for broker members and their clients, to help them identify and effectively minimise their risk of the ever-increasing exposure to cyber-attacks. Through this partnership, Gen2 Broking will benefit from a comprehensive suite of KYND’s advanced cyber risks management tools and services to empower their clients with powerful, actionable insight into the cyber risks facing their organisation and start the remediation process whilst staying on top of key vulnerabilities across the insurance policy life cycle.

Andy Thomas, KYND’s CEO, said: “The increased global digitalisation – together with dramatic operational changes caused by the global pandemic – has been a large catalyst for a sharp increase in cyber-attacks worldwide during the last few years; and this threat only continues to rise in its scale and complexity. Fortunately, by leveraging KYND’s powerful, cutting-edge cyber risk technology coupled with the team’s first-hand industry expertise, we can effectively support Gen2 Broking and their clients in getting meaningful, actionable insights to how they can safely navigate this rapidly evolving threat landscape.”

Jon Nottingham, Gen2 Broking’s Founder, added: “In today’s digital world, if there is ever a class of insurance where the focus should be on risk mitigation, rather than just relying on insuring the risk – cyber would be the one. At Gen2 Broking, we take pride in understanding and sharing our clients’ challenges. That’s why when it comes to managing their cyber exposure, we always strive to provide them with innovative solutions and practical advice tailored to their specific business needs – and KYND enables us to do that brilliantly! KYND’s pioneering cyber risk management technology and outstanding specialist support perfectly assists us in our efforts and underpins our risk management forward approach.”

About Gen2 Broking 

Gen2 is a group of companies dedicated to helping exceptional businesses and individuals to be successful, through navigating them through an ever-increasing world of risk.

We are experts in providing advice and solutions that protect what’s important to you and enable you to focus on the things that make you exceptional. We focus on every detail of what’s important now, but more importantly what the most successful future looks like for you.

We believe in building trusted human relationships and in principles of doing business the right way. But we also embrace technology and are innovators in technology that enhances human relationships, not detracts from it. Personal service and dedication is not something we will ever compromise.

For more information, please visit: https://gen2group.co.uk/

●      Follow Gen2 on LinkedIn @Gen2Group

●      Follow Gen2 on Twitter @Gen2HQ

About KYND

Founded in March 2018 and headquartered in London, KYND is a new breed of cyber company. KYND makes complex cyber risks simple to understand and manage for every organisation, regardless of size, means

or industry sector.

For more information about KYND, visit: https://www.kynd.io/

For press enquiries, contact: press@kynd.io

●      Follow KYND on LinkedIn @KYNDCyber

●      Follow KYND on Twitter @KYNDcyber

[1] https://www.hiscox.co.uk/sites/uk/files/documents/2020-06/Hiscox_Cyber_Readiness_Report_2020_UK.PDF, 2020, Hiscox

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A Google Developer Student Club at the London School of Economics (LSE) has attracted 1,600 members, making it the largest of over 1,100 such clubs in the world.

The clubs are open to all university students with an interest in Google developer technologies, providing an opportunity to increase knowledge in a peer-to-peer learning environment and build solutions for local businesses and their community.

Currently there are 140 Google Developer Student Clubs in Europe, with a total of 820 projects being worked on by club members globally.

The LSE club has been led by Jack Lee, a Politics and Economics student, who has built it to 1,600 members in just six months.

Through the programme, students are able to provide resources to low-income households to help them break into technology even without a technology degree.

He said: “The Google Developer Student Club at LSE has been a great opportunity to have an impact on the local tech scene.

“In leading the club, I’ve wanted to appeal to both computer science students and those with a non-technical background, and I’ve pulled together an additional team of student leaders to inspire more students with different backgrounds to join.”

The clubs provide a good opportunity for students to meet other students on campus who are interested in developer technologies.

Through hands-on workshops, in-person training and project-building activities, a wide range of new skills are gained.

At LSE, Jack has focused heavily on partnerships, connecting members with leaders at top companies and other student groups from countries including Scotland, France, Norway, Canada and Nigeria.

With support from Google for Startups, the LSE club established relationships with startups, NGOs and financial firms, who each contributed to almost 30 events throughout the academic year, including introductory Python courses, mentorship sessions, networking events, talks with CEOs and industry panel talks.

Jack added: “I’m particularly proud to have helped connect 150 students to mentors from different startups, and I’m determined to keep building the community in order to continue the profound impact it is having on my fellow students.”

Some club members formed teams to solve problems for one of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

As part of the Google Developer Student Clubs’ 2021 Solution Challenge, LSE students developed prototype solutions for NGOs on wildfire analysis using TensorFlow, raising donations and grant access, and increasing voter registrations.

Through the programme, students were able to develop solutions using machine learning, weather data and satellite imaging to predict wildfires in real time.

Other technology solutions included apps that track donation transactions to measure impact on communities and a camera that scans your fridge and notifies you when food is about to expire to prevent food waste.

Alongside Google, McKinsey and Fidelity International, club members were able to bring these projects to life and contribute to academic research.

For more information about joining a club, visit Google Developer Student Clubs.

Watch an explainer video about Google Developer Student Clubs here.

Media Contact

GDSC Programme

hello-dsc@google.com

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Henley-in-Arden, UK, 6th June 2021: ALM Translations sustains a highly positive outlook for the rest of the year following a strong Q1 in 2021. Thanks in part to the addition of new digital marketing services now offered by the agency, ALM is supporting its continued growth with numerous new roles to increase its client capacity.

Director Rachel Coleman has made the following statement:

“We are overjoyed to be in the envious position of requiring new talent in the wake of the difficult circumstances all businesses have experienced over the past 18 months.

ALM has new positions opening across the board in departments including HR, IT, Production Training and Talent Management

The technical department at ALM has played a major part in shaping the services we offer our clients, and we recognise that following the dynamic changes in a post-COVID world, the translation sector will be highly tech-driven. To ensure our position as a pioneer in this field, we are looking for an IT Manager to work alongside our Technical Solutions team in developing a technical strategy for the future.

Our production department is also undergoing an overhaul including the deployment of knowledge centres and more sector-targeted project management with specialist project leads. This has already enabled us to provide a more customer-led focus when managing projects in rapidly growing sectors such as Life Sciences and Digital Marketing.

So far in June, we have already welcomed to the team Tim John, a business development professional with an excellent track record who will be working directly with our enterprise clients, and Andy Eaton, ALM’s first Client Services Manager who will be taking care of our existing customers. ALM has also taken on 10 highly experienced contractors to complement our in-house team to provide additional capacity and support.

Investing in our existing staff-base has always been a priority for us, and standing by that commitment we are creating a role for a Training, Development and Engagement Manager, responsible for maintaining a great working environment and ensuring employee satisfaction and engagement to push ALM further towards becoming an employer of choice.”

Positions are available in HR, IT, Training and Development, Production, and Talent Management

About ALM Translations

ALM Translations is an internationally acclaimed translation and marketing agency with over 20 years’ experience in delivering multilingual projects. From 2021 ALM launched a new digital marketing team to help clients engage with their target customers in overseas markets, providing support in areas such as keyword research, PPC, SEO and creative marketing campaigns.

Contact
Director: Rachel Coleman
Tel: 01564 794828
almtranslations.com
Email: marketing@almtranslations.com

Address: 5 Ardent Court, William James Way, Henley-in-Arden, B95 5GF

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Online programme aims to help build 20 promising technology companies per year 

The Founder Institute (FI.co), the world’s largest pre-seed accelerator, announced today that it is officially launching its newest chapter for the Midlands. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200 cities, the Founder Institute provides high-potential entrepreneurs and teams with the devoted support network and structured growth process needed to get to traction and funding. Any aspiring entrepreneur or team interested in building an enduring technology company across the Midlands is invited to apply to The Birmingham & the Midlands Virtual 2021 Founder Institute at http://fi.co/apply/birmingham.

In an effort to ensure the health and safety of the programme’s mentors, partners, and participants, this Founder Institute cohort will be held completely online, allowing anyone to build a business alongside some of the Midlands’s top entrepreneurs and investors from the comfort of home. The Birmingham & the Midlands Virtual 2021 Founder Institute will also host a series of free online startup events, where attendees can learn how to build a company and learn more about the programme. See the full list of events at http://fi.co/events/birmingham.

Leading the efforts to launch the Founder Institute across the Midlands are local startup leaders: Assim Ishaque, Sally Dhillon, Drew Currie and Steve Hooper

In addition, many of the region’s top startup investors, founders, and executives have expressed interest in mentoring entrepreneurs in the programme:

• Eric Collins: As seen recently on Channel 4’s The Money Maker, CEO Impactx – biggest investor of underrepresented groups
• Maxine Laceby: Founder & CEO Absolute Collagen
• Roger Wood: Director, Midven incorporating the Midlands Engine Investment Fund
• Randa Bennet: CEO, vHelp.co.uk
• Cas Majid: CEO, Wow Group of Companies, Executive Director, Birmingham Tech Week and former President, Asian Business Chamber of Commerce
• Deepak Jayaprakash: Chief Financial Officer, Moteefe & ex-Expedia
• Emilie Normann: Head of Research, Analysis and Higher Education, Foundation for Entrepreneurship and the Technology Pact
• Joel Blake OBE: President Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce
• Melissa Snover: CEO & Founder, Nourish3d
• Kali Bagary: Chairman, TechFINIUM Limited
• Kari Lawler: Barclays Entrepreneur Awards Midlands Icon of the Year, Founder of Youth4AI & UK Space Agency SatelLife Winner
• Naomi Nash: Tech Nation & diversity in tech campaigner
• Viola Jardon: Lead, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Accelerator
• Navdeep Bains: Silicon Valley-based financial consultant, ex-Hewlett- Packard & now Pure Storage
• Nick Gostick: Director, Smart Innovation Hub, Keele University
• Steff Wright: Chairman, Gusto Group
• Richard Bohan: Founder of Blockchain Capital & CEO & Co-founder Crypto Capital Investments
• Safraz Ali: Managing Director, Pathway Group Limited
• Pam Sheemar: Director, Birmingham Tech & Global Co-Chair Multicultural Network NatWest
• Mike Feerick: CEO, Alison Online Training & social philanthropist
• Steve Hobbs: Director, Ask Better Questions

The Founder Institute Birmingham & the Midlands Virtual 2021 pre-seed accelerator program begins on September 28th, 2021, and aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs looking to build solutions for the future will have the opportunity to:

• Get constant feedback and regular office hours with 50+ Birmingham Mentors, investors, and entrepreneurs.
• Make quick progress on their business using a proven, structured process to get to traction and funding that has helped alumni build great products and raise over $1BN in funding.
• Get fast-tracked to a suite of post-programmes, including Funding Lab, to continue getting expert support for years to come.
• Expand their support network to include startup founders, CEOs, and investors from the Founder Institute’s global network of 5,000+ alumni and 20,000+ mentors across 200+ cities

Anybody who is interested can apply to The Birmingham & the Midlands Virtual 2021 Founder Institute at http://fi.co/apply/birmingham, and those that apply by the Early Application Deadline (August 1st, 2021) are eligible for reduced pricing.

Learn more about the Founder Institute at FI.co

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About the Founder Institute

The Founder Institute (FI.co) is the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator. In the programme, early-stage entrepreneurs and teams build their business alongside a critical support network of startup experts that share equity in their success, and through a structured and challenging business-building process that has helped alumni raise over $1BN. Leaders of the world’s fastest-growing startups have used the Founder Institute to raise funding, get into seed accelerators, generate traction, recruit a team, build a product, transition from employee to entrepreneur, and more. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200 cities and over 90 countries, the Founder Institute’s mission is to Globalise Silicon Valley and empower talented and motivated entrepreneurs to build companies that will create one million new jobs.

The Founder Institute was founded in 2009 by Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan. It is operated out of Palo Alto, California.

Press Contact: Jonathan Greechan (j AT fi DOT co)

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The most terrifying cyber-crime that can hit Birmingham businesses now costs an average of £225,000 to fix, according to new stats.

Ransomware is where all of a business’s data is encrypted and held to ransom by criminals. They demand a huge fee to release it.

And the number of ransomware attacks here is shooting up, according to local data security expert Mark Dodds, of Compex IT.

“We’ve watched in horror as ransomware has become bigger and bigger in the past few years,” he said.

“It’s one of the hardest cyber-crimes to undo. And these new stats show that the criminals are getting greedier, and demanding more cash.”

A threat intelligence team in the USA revealed the average payment following a ransomware attack last year went up 171% to £225,917. That’s compared to £83,228 in 2019.

What makes ransomware so difficult to undo is that criminals spend weeks, often months, preparing an attack.

They get into a business’s systems and slowly, quietly make changes, before launching their attack. These changes make it very difficult for an IT security company to undo the damage.

Mark added: “All businesses in Birmingham need to be more aware of ransomware, and ensure that criminals can’t access their network.

“All it takes is one person to click one link in one bad email. And the damage can be done. Ransomware terrifies professionals like me; and it should terrify all business owners and managers round here.”

ABOUT COMPEX IT

From design, delivery, to ongoing protection and support, we specialise in helping businesses like yours make the most of the opportunities that technology offers.

You can find out more about them at www.compexit.co.uk

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