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Science: Biology

World Travel Holdings Secures Five Coveted 2023 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards

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Gold Winners

The Associate Onboarding Toolkit provides Dream Vacations franchise owners a beautifully branded kit that assists them in providing a seamless onboarding process for their associates. By providing customizable resources and activities, this toolkit ensures that associates receive comprehensive training and support from day one.

The groundbreaking Agent Directory is a transformative lead generation tool for Dream Vacations travel advisors. Designed to showcase their expertise, increase online visibility, and enhance credibility with prospective customers, the Agent Directory allows the Dream Vacations network to reap all the SEO benefits.

Dream Vacations has harnessed the magic of Personalized Videos, collaborating closely with a professional videographer to deliver captivating content that forges deep connections with clients and prospects. The most unique aspect of these videos is that Dream Vacations franchise owners and associates can customize the videos with their own travel advisor call-to-action information.

Cruises.com, another prominent brand within World Travel Holdings, added to the trophy case with a Gold win for their remarkable Countrywide Innovative Marketing Campaign. The initiative included the use of creative placements in key highway networks to drive ports and serving as a proud sponsor of collegiate athletics through partnerships with the University of Florida and the University of Houston.

“We’re so proud of the work the team has done to build brand awareness for the Cruises.com brand,” said Rosemarie Reed senior vice president for World Travel Holdings who oversees the marketing for Cruises.com.” I know their immense creativity is what earned them this award and we are so honored to have won Gold in the 2023 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards.”

Silver Winner

In February 2023, Dream Vacations launched its highly anticipated Groups Application, which has contributed to the highest group sales the B2B division has seen since 2017. The award-winning online interface allows agents to manage the entire life cycle of a group easily and effectively. Three standout features include:

  •     Group Registration: Allows agents to auto generate and customize a website page to promote each group. The best feature is the ability it provides for customers to easily register into a group, creating a frictionless customer experience while minimizing an agent’s effort.
  •     Group Share: A unique set of features weaved in every part of the suite of applications that allows agents to share their group inventory with all agents in the Dream Vacations network, so everyone benefits from the price and amenities of group travel.
  •     Block Groups: Allows Dream Vacations headquarters the ability to manage corporate held group space and gives the network the ability to book into these group types effortlessly, while comparing prices to FIT to ensure their clients get the best deal.

The Magellan Awards honor outstanding design, marketing and services in a broad range of industry segments including Hospitality, Travel Destinations, Cruise Lines, Online Travel Services, Airlines and Airports, Travel Agents and Agencies, Tour Operators and Ground Transportation.

“Now that travel has come roaring back, it’s clear that those who provide travelers with vacation opportunities were inspired as never before,” said Arnie Weissmann, editor in chief of Travel Weekly. “We had a record-breaking number of entries this year, and the creativity and innovative approaches really wowed the judges. The entrants’ collective desire to exceed consumers’ expectations was never more evident.”

The Magellan Awards are judged and overseen by a one-of-a-kind panel of top travel professionals representing the best names and most accomplished leaders from the industry. In determining winners, entries do not compete with one another, instead they are judged against a standard of excellence based on the long experience of Travel Weekly. To uphold this high standard of excellence, a category may have multiple winners, or may have no winners at all.
For a complete list of silver and gold winners, please visit http://www.travelweeklyawards.com.

About Dream Vacations
Travel agents with the top-ranked home-based travel agency franchise Dream Vacations have the resources to plan and create seamless vacation experiences for their customers while offering the best value. A member of the International Franchise Association, Dream Vacations is part of World Travel Holdings and has received franchise partner of the year, a top-ranking status, by all the major cruise lines as well as national recognition for its support of military veterans. For more information about Dream Vacations, visit http://www.DreamVacationsFranchise.com. Like Dream Vacations on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DreamVacationsFranchise, follow on Twitter at @Dream_Franchise and watch its videos at http://www.youtube.com/DreamVacationsBusiness.

About Cruises.com
Cruises.com is the smart way to book. With a team of Travel Experts, customers can easily find their dream cruise through a stress-free booking experience and enjoy all the cruise line offers on top of an exclusive bonus. For more information, visit Cruises.com, like them on Facebook at Cruises.com, or follow them on Instagram @cruisescom.

About World Travel Holdings
World Travel Holdings is the nation’s largest cruise agency and award-winning leisure travel company with a portfolio of nearly 40 diverse brands. In addition to owning some of the largest brands distributing cruises, villas, resort vacations, car rentals, resort day passes and luxury travel services, World Travel Holdings has a vast portfolio of private-label partnerships comprised of top leisure travel providers, including almost every U.S. airline, leading hotel brands and prominent corporations. The company also operates a top-rated travel agency franchise and is consistently recognized as an industry leader in employee engagement and work-at-home employment. Its global presence includes operating multiple cruise brands in the United Kingdom. World Travel Holdings has offices in Wakefield, Mass.; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; and Chorley, England. For more information, visit WorldTravelHoldings.com.

About Travel Weekly
Travel Weekly is the most influential provider of news, research, opinion, and analysis to the North American travel trade marketplace. It reaches a broad industry audience in print, online and with face-to-face events throughout the year. Travel Weekly is a division of Secaucus, New Jersey-based Northstar Travel Media, the largest travel business-to-business travel publisher in the world.

About Northstar Travel Group
Northstar Travel Group is the leading B-to-B information and marketing solutions company serving all segments of the travel industry including leisure/retail, corporate/business travel, corporate and sports meetings, incentives, hospitality, and travel technology. Northstar is the owner of leading brands serving these travel segments. The company produces more than 100 face-to-face events in 13 countries in retail travel, hospitality, corporate travel, travel technology, sports travel, and the meetings & incentive industry. In addition, Northstar owns Phocuswright, the leading research and event producer serving the travel technology industry. Northstar
Travel Group owns the BHN Group, the leading producer of hotel investment conferences.
Northstar is also the majority shareholder in Inntopia, the leading SaaS e-commerce software business serving the mountain destination, golf, activities, and hospitality markets. Based in Rutherford, NJ, the company has seven offices in the U.S., UK, and Singapore. Northstar Travel Group is owned by funds managed by EagleTree Capital.

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Media Contact: Michael Cadigan, Public Relations Manager
Dream Vacations
954-958-3627
[email protected]

SOURCE World Travel Holdings

Science: Biology

Introducing BlackFrac Addressable Switches: Where Precision Meets Performance

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Key Features and Benefits:

  • Peak Efficiency: At 38% more efficient than our nearest rivals, BlackFrac switches allow for more guns on the line.
  • Cutting-Edge Reliability: A failure rate of less than .003% guarantees unmatched operational dependability.
  • Rigorous Quality Checks: Every single BlackFrac addressable switch undergoes full-function testing (inventory, set, fire). Those rare units that don’t make the grade are rectified and re-tested, guaranteeing a flawless fleet.
  • Immediate Availability: A vast inventory ensures that switches are always available, minimizing potential operational delays.
  • Cost-Effective Excellence: The BlackFrac promise ensures a balance of affordability and top-notch performance.
  • User-Friendly Design: Suitable for both newcomers and industry veterans, BlackFrac switches ensure ease of use without compromising on sophistication.

Additionally, BlackPearl’s commitment to innovation doesn’t stop with its standard offerings. Recognizing the diverse needs of the fracking industry, they proudly offer customization options to tailor switches for specialized functionality and various perforating gun sizes.

BlackFrac switches are not just designed to meet existing standards but to pave the way for future innovations. This commitment to “Future-Ready Innovation” sees BlackFrac switches leading the charge in transformative addressable perforating packet switch technology.

“BlackFrac is more than just a product; it’s a commitment to excellence, designed and developed right here in The Woodlands, Texas. We’re not only meeting industry benchmarks but actively pushing them forward,” said Misti Jeter, President and Co-Founder of BlackPearl Technology, Inc.

Join the revolution and experience the unparalleled efficiency of BlackFrac’s Addressable Switches.

For more information, specifications, or to download the data sheet, please visit www.BlackFrac.com.

About BlackPearl Technology, Inc.

Headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, BlackPearl is an exciting assortment of engineering brilliance coupled with manufacturing and client services. They are a state-of-the-art product development company handling product design and development lifecycles from start to finish.

Fully staffed with electrical, mechanical, software, and firmware engineers, their team is ready to bring ideas to life. They use the latest technology and innovations to develop reliable solutions that solve problems and improve processes. All design and development is done in North America.

Additionally, BlackPearl recently became one of the four Main Official Partners of C2MI in Bromont, Quebec, alongside IBM, Teledyne Dalsa, and the University of Sherbrooke.

To learn more about BlackPearl, visit http://www.blackpearltechnology.com. To learn more about the BlackFrac Addressable Switches, visit http://www.blackfrac.com.

Media Contact

Stephanie Chavez, BlackPearl Technology, Inc., 1 8172628168, [email protected], www.blackpearltechnology.com 

SOURCE BlackPearl Technology, Inc.

Science: Biology

Woodgate & Clark Selects CoreLogic to Transform Their Building Repair Network Operations

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Martin Cornes, Director of Quadrassist, said, “We selected CoreLogic for our claims digitalisation project because we value CoreLogic’s leading position in the market, their team’s wealth of experience, and remarkable ability to genuinely understand our needs as a client. In our extensive exploration of solutions available in the market, CoreLogic stood out as the provider that not only listened attentively but also comprehended the intricacies of the challenges we needed to overcome. We determined that the intrinsic value of CoreLogic’s solutions as a communication and collaboration hub, aligns perfectly with our vision for a more efficient, transparent, and customer-focused claims management process.”

The technology solutions provided by CoreLogic both at the desk and in the field, enable Quadrassist to offer a broader range of settlement options for their clients and drive greater efficiencies across the claims lifecycle, helping to reduce administrative burden, so that they can focus on value-added activities. Additionally, Quadrassist’s panel of building repair suppliers, including builders and restoration specialists, will now be able to communicate and collaborate via one single platform, providing them and their clients with greater visibility of performance, cost, and customer outcomes.

Mark Barrett, Vice President at CoreLogic, commented, “We are delighted that Quadrassist have put their trust in our claims platform, CoreLogic Claims Workspace™, to help them achieve their ambition to provide a market leading service. This collaboration will enable Quadrassist to stride towards elevating efficiency, transparency, and the customer experience within their claims management and building repair network operations. Quadrassist’s unwavering dedication to delivering exceptional service to its clients is harmoniously aligned with CoreLogic’s mission to offer pioneering solutions that empower businesses to excel.”

About CoreLogic
CoreLogic is a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider. The company’s combined data from public, contributory and proprietary sources includes over 4.5 billion records spanning more than 50 years, providing detailed coverage of property, mortgages and other encumbrances, consumer credit, tenancy, location, hazard risk and related performance information. The markets CoreLogic serves include real estate and mortgage finance, insurance, capital markets, and the public sector. CoreLogic delivers value to clients through unique data, analytics, workflow technology, advisory and managed services. Clients rely on CoreLogic to help identify and manage growth opportunities, improve performance and mitigate risk. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., CoreLogic operates in North America, Western Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit http://www.corelogic.com.

CORELOGIC, CLAIMS CONNECT, CLAIMS WORKSPACE and the CoreLogic logo are trademarks of CoreLogic, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About Woodgate & Clark:
Woodgate & Clark is a leading loss adjusting and claims management business with over 40 years of experience. In January 2021, Woodgate & Clark acquired Quadra Claims Services, a national loss adjuster dealing with large and complex heritage, home and high net worth claims. Today, Woodgate & Clark’s contractor network is operating under the brand Quadrassist.

Woodgate & Clark combines superior technical expertise with human touch to achieve excellent customer outcomes and control of indemnity spend. Over 300 professionals operate from 17 offices nationwide, and Woodgate & Clark’s ambition is to achieve the most economic and sustainable outcome for its insurer partners and their customers. For more information, please visit http://www.woodgate-clark.co.uk or [email protected].

Media Contact

Jana Rindler, CoreLogic, 8004261466, [email protected], www.corelogic.com

SOURCE CoreLogic

Science: Biology

Anybill Names Chief Operating Officer Rudy Bejarano as President

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“Rudy is the right person to lead Anybill as we continue to advance our position as the premier payment solution in the industry,” said Matt Voorhees, CEO at Anybill. “He’s served with Anybill in so many critical roles over the past two decades and he knows the business like no one else. He’s the best choice to lead the company.”

As COO, Bejarano oversees customer service, the client implementation team, and production operations for payment processing. As the new president, he will continue to work closely with the technology department, sales and marketing, human resources, and other key departments to ensure Anybill’s continued success.

“Continuing to be recognized for my efforts with Anybill over the past 20 years feels incredible, but it goes beyond me,” said Bejarano. “This is the result of a company that promotes and embraces talent from within. As President, my goal is to maintain our industry standing without compromising our core values and renewing our commitment to our employees, who are the real success story behind Anybill.”

About Anybill:

Founded in 2001, Anybill provides tax payment services, direct and through partners, to some of the world’s largest corporations and organizations. Based in Washington, D.C., the company is SSAE 18 SOC1 Type II and SOC2 Type II compliant. For more information on Anybill, visit anybill.com.

Media Contact

Brian Acton, Anybill, 1 2026826309, [email protected], https://www.anybill.com/

SOURCE Anybill

Science: Biology

OpenInfra Europe Seats Its First Advisory Board to Guide Regional Efforts to Promote and Protect Open Source Infrastructure

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The inaugural advisory board of OpenInfra Europe comprises:

Platinum Member Representative:

  • Phil Robb, Ericsson, Chairperson

Gold Member Representatives:

  • Johan Christenson, Cleura
  • Tytus Kurek, Canonical
  • Sebastian Wenner, Deutsche Telekom

Silver Member Representatives:

  • Celine Bousquet, Societe Generale
  • Eric Kessels, Fairbanks
  • Stig Telfer, StackHPC

Associate Member Representative:

  • Kurt Garloff, Sovereign Cloud Stack / Open Source Business Alliance

Individual Representatives:

  • Soumaya Msallem, Red Hat
  • Allison Randal

Thierry Carrez, general manager of the OpenInfra Foundation, said, “We are privileged to announce that OpenInfra Europe now has a slate of advisory board members with unparalleled credentials and who represent organizations that rank among Europe’s most dedicated open source advocates. It is a critical time for these leaders to give voice to a community that needs representation in policy issues, particularly as Europe leads the world in establishing regulations—such as the EU Cyber Resilience Act and the EU AI Act—that can have profound impacts on open infrastructure software and the communities that build it. In addition, under the leadership of these advisors, OpenInfra Europe has the opportunity to spearhead more collaboration, innovation and ecosystem growth for open infrastructure in the region than ever before.”

OpenInfra Europe (based in Belgium) shares the same purpose and mission as the OpenInfra Foundation. In particular, this regional hub allows participants to engage in focused collaboration and provides a basis for coalition between industry, academia and government. Participants in OpenInfra Europe will join together in:

  • Advancing open source infrastructure in the region
  • Discussing regional strategic issues
  • Gathering regional feedback and elevating local voices
  • Coordinating local communities and events
  • Conducting regional business development and market research
  • Providing local programs for nurturing the next generation of open source contributors

The newly seated advisory board will convene for its first meeting on October 19, 2023.

“Collaborative software development has radically accelerated the world’s evolution to digital infrastructure platforms over the past ten years, and Ericsson is a proud participant in this effort driving the functionality needed by our Telecom and Enterprise customers. With the creation of OpenInfra Europe we will be able to focus on the unique needs and opportunities of the region and foster new collaborations across academia, government and industry to address them. Ericsson also looks forward to working with OpenInfra Europe to share the unique principles that underpin the success of open source collaboration with regulatory bodies to ensure that as we build impactful legislation to improve the safety of all Europeans, we also continue to allow open source collaboration to flourish.” — Phil Robb, head of Ericsson Software Technology (EST) and general manager of Ericsson Software Technology USA, Ericsson

“The OpenInfra Foundation has built thriving communities defined by rules that make collaboration and open source empowerment really work. We are in strong need of more empowered users in Europe as the Sovereignty debates clearly show. OSB Alliance’s Sovereign Cloud Stack project is our contribution to deliver the open standards, software and skills. We expect that the existence of an EU-based hub will help us to have the right events, initiatives and conversations with the local community, society and industry.” — Kurt Garloff, CTO, Sovereign Cloud Stack

The OpenInfra Foundation welcomes individual members; to learn more, visit https://openinfra.dev/join/individual/. If your organization is interested in joining the OpenInfra Foundation, visit https://openinfra.dev/join/members/.

About the Open Infrastructure Foundation (OpenInfra Foundation)
The OpenInfra Foundation builds communities who write open source infrastructure software that runs in production. With the support of over 110,000 individuals in 187 countries, the OpenInfra Foundation hosts open source projects and communities of practice, including infrastructure for AI, container native apps, edge computing and data center clouds. Join the OpenInfra movement: http://www.openinfra.dev

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Media Contacts:
Jenny Fowler
Cathey Communications for the OpenInfra Foundation
[email protected]

Allison Price
OpenInfra Foundation
[email protected]

Media Contact

Allison Price, OpenInfra Foundation, 512-827-8633, [email protected], www.openinfra.org

Jenny Fowler, Cathey Communications, 865-405-6380, [email protected], www.cathey.co

SOURCE OpenInfra Foundation

Science: Biology

New Britannica Learning Platform Drives Student Curiosity, Literacy, Toward Adventures in Learning

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“Reading is the cornerstone of education, and teachers are deeply committed to helping every student succeed,” said Joan Jacobsen, vice president, product development and strategy, with Britannica Education. “Expedition: Learn helps build vocabulary, language, verbal reasoning, literacy knowledge and reading comprehension.”

Each digital lesson offers a four-stage guided path toward discovery and understanding.

  • Spark Interest – Each lesson begins with a video that introduces the topic. Key terms are defined and displayed throughout the lesson, and students respond to questions and draw conclusions from the video.
  • Build Understanding – Fact-checked, well-written Britannica articles, available at four different reading levels, help students explore the topic in depth.
  • Connect Learning – A series of questions helps students connect the information presented in this lesson to their own learning, encouraging them to draw on their own experiences in their responses.
  • Learn More – Students have the opportunity to dive deeper into the topics using additional Britannica resources, ideal for inquiry-based learning and research projects.

In addition, teacher toolkits provide the needed support for educators to help address learning gaps that are identified by the built-in assessments.

“Students learn at different rates and in many different ways. We understand this, and we’ve created a classroom solution that supports learners at all levels,” said Jacobsen.

About Britannica Education

Our mission is to inspire curiosity and the joy of learning and to help teachers, students and lifelong learners explore their world more deeply. We partner with educators, school districts, ministries and media companies all around the world. Trusted in over 83 countries, translated into over 100 languages and used by more than 150 million students, we provide effective, enriching, and innovative tools, resources, and ideas to meet evolving teaching and learning needs. Britannica Education is a division of the Britannica Group, which is headquartered in Chicago.

Media Contact

Tom Panelas, The Britannica Group, 1 3123477309, [email protected], www.eb.com

SOURCE The Britannica Group

Science: Biology

Piper Companies Sustains Growth Momentum

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“Given the current overall economy and dynamic job market, there has been an element of complexity while navigating success in the staffing industry in recent years,” said Chris Dale, the President of Piper Companies. “We recognize how difficult things have been during this ever-changing time and are proud of our people—they are the key differentiator in demonstrating the value we deliver to our clients.”

Of the tens of thousands of companies that have applied to the Inc. 5000 over the years, Piper Companies is among the 19% who have made the list two times. The Class of 2023 represents businesses that drive rapid revenue growth while also navigating inflationary pressures, the rising costs of capital, and the seemingly intractable hiring challenges. In all, this year’s Inc. 5000 companies have added nearly 1.2 million jobs to the economy over the past three years.

SIA—the global research and advisory firm focused on staffing and workforce solutions—also recognizes the industry challenges. “The staffing industry has weathered a pandemic and is now managing a completely different landscape that continues to shift, with this year providing a more challenging business environment than last year,” said SIA President Barry Asin. “Through all this fast-paced change, congratulations to this year’s qualifying firms for their resilience and persistence in the ever-evolving world of work.”

Piper’s organizational growth reflects the remarkable ability of its employees to exemplify passion, integrity, creativity, and the perseverance to connect people with new opportunities. “National recognition by the Inc. 5000 and the industry experts at SIA is an incredible achievement and would not be possible without our extraordinary team and the partnerships they have developed with our amazing clients and consultants,” Dale added. “We will continue to experience rapid growth within the staffing industry by placing high-caliber professionals within high-demand sectors like life sciences, information technology, healthcare, and government services.”

About Piper Companies:

Piper Companies is an elite staffing agency and human capital solutions firm specializing in information technology, life sciences, and clinical solutions. Since company inception in 2011, Piper Companies has been committed to developing collaborative partnerships with clients and consultants. It is at the core of the business to support clients in building high-performing teams while connecting premier talent with exceptional opportunities. Headquartered in McLean, Va., Piper Companies maintains offices in Raleigh, NC; Columbia, MD; Conshohocken, PA.; and Charlotte, NC. For more information about Piper’s services, visit Piper Companies.

About Inc:

The world’s most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

Inc. 5000 Methodology:

Companies on the 2023 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2019 to 2022. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2019. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent–not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies–as of December 31, 2022. (Since then, some on the list may have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2019 is $100,000; the minimum for 2022 is $2 million.

About Staffing Industry Analysts:

Founded in 1989, SIA is the global advisor on staffing and workforce solutions. Our proprietary research covers all categories of employed and non-employed work including temporary staffing, independent contracting, and other types of contingent labor. Known for award-winning content, data, support tools, publications, executive conferences, and events, SIA helps both suppliers and buyers of workforce solutions make better-informed decisions that improve business results and minimize risk. Learn more at staffingindustry.com.

Media Contact

Julie Gonsalves, Piper Companies, 1 (703) 972-2994, [email protected], https://www.pipercompanies.com/

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SOURCE Piper Companies



Science: Biology

CenterGate Capital Partners with Leading Managed Print Services Provider to the U.S. Federal Government

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CEO Colin Murphy, who will continue to lead CTI, said, “I am proud of what the CTI team has been able to accomplish as one of the premier managed print service providers to the federal government. We are excited to partner with CenterGate in our next phase of growth. CenterGate’s investment will provide us the capital and strategic resources to continue our growth trajectory while increasing productivity for our customers.”

Tim Liu, Managing Director at CenterGate Capital, added, “Colin and the CTI team have grown the Company by providing an innovative, technology-enabled service to its customers who require the highest levels of service and security. We are excited to partner with CTI to help them continue the execution of their growth plan.”

CenterGate Capital was represented by McGuireWoods LLP in the transaction.

DC Advisory served as exclusive financial advisor to CTI in the transaction.

About CTI
CTI is a leading managed print services provider to the federal government. The Company services over 200 unique customers spanning some of the most well-known agencies in the U.S. government. Over its 33-year history, the Company has developed unmatched expertise in managed print services for federal agencies, stemming from deep customer relationships and specialized technical know-how, backed by technology-enabled service.

About CenterGate Capital
CenterGate Capital is a private equity firm managing over $740 million. We focus on growing lower middle market companies. Our goal is to partner with management to create value for all stakeholders of our portfolio companies. CenterGate possesses flexible capital, enabling us to tailor each investment to a company’s ownership goals and growth strategies. We structure transactions to enable owners to monetize their equity while also positioning the company for future growth. For more information, visit http://www.centergatecapital.com.

Media Contact

MEDIA CONTACT, CenterGate Capital, (512) 717-7100, [email protected], www.centergatecapital.com

SOURCE CenterGate Capital

Science: Biology

Introducing Tynker Copilot – The First-Ever LLM-Powered Coding Companion for Young Coders

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Tynker’s introduction of the Copilot feature marks a significant industry milestone. Until now, the capabilities of LLMs have not been fully utilized for the younger age group. Tynker Copilot empowers children as young as 6 to input text commands like “Design a space-themed knock-knock joke” or “Teach me how to build a Fruit-ninja style game” and receive block code outputs with step-by-step instructions. Moreover, when debugging existing projects, students can submit block-code snippets and benefit from LLM-generated natural language explanations.

“Our ethos at Tynker is grounded in innovation and breaking boundaries,” stated Srinivas Mandyam, CEO of Tynker. “We’re exhilarated to channel the latest advancements in AI technology to serve our youngest learners, fostering an environment of curiosity and growth. While the potential for such a tool is vast, our prime objective remains to employ it as an empowering educational aid, not a shortcut.

Developing Tynker Copilot posed challenges distinct from standard LLMs, which typically handle text-based code. Our focus was visual block coding tailored to kids’ unique programming preferences. With insights from millions of submissions in Tynker’s repository, ranging from pet dress-up games to platformer adventures and Minecraft mods, we fine-tuned Llama2. This rich, child-centric data helped us adapt the model to generate visual block coding programs, making Tynker Copilot a specialized tool designed around the creative tendencies of young coders.

“Bringing LLMs into Tynker’s dynamic visual block coding ecosystem presented unique challenges,” commented Kelvin Chong, CTO of Tynker. “We fine-tuned Llama2 with AI and ML techniques to align with young coders, supporting parallel scripts, visual actors, and kid-centric features such as Physics, AR, sound effects, and Minecraft modding. As coders grow, they’re naturally transitioned towards Python.”

All educators and home users will be notified when this innovative feature becomes generally available in the product. In the meantime, for more insights into its capabilities and to view examples of its potential use, visit the Tynker blog.

About Tynker:

Tynker is a leading K-12 creative coding platform that empowers children worldwide to develop coding skills for designing animations, games, and a wide range of real-world applications. With a focus on critical thinking and problem-solving, Tynker’s acclaimed curriculum is used by 1 in 3 U.S. K-8 schools, 150,000 schools globally, and over 100 million kids across 150 countries. Partners include renowned brands like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and NASA. Accessible on computers and mobile apps, Tynker offers free and paid subscriptions. In 2021, Tynker was acquired by BYJU’S, the world’s largest edtech company. For more info, visit www.tynker.com.

Media Contact

Teri Llach, Tynker, 1 6505756913, [email protected], https://www.tynker.com/

SOURCE Tynker

Science: Biology

Republic Business Credit Provides E-Commerce Asset Based Line of Credit to Fancy Sprinkles

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Fancy Sprinkles has previously been featured on The Today Show, BuzzFeed and Bon Appétit for its unique confectionary products.

The asset-based loan Republic Business Credit provided had an accordion feature of up to $6 million, which leveraged Fancy Sprinkles’ inventory and receivables across its e-commerce and wholesale business. Fancy Sprinkles is experiencing rapid growth with key retailers and sought a scalable working capital facility to expand inventory ahead of its upcoming national rollout.

Republic was impressed with the philosophy, culture and partnership mindset of the Sterling team, starting with its Chairman and Co-Founder, Steven Taslitz and Vice President, Courtney Altman. “We are thankful for Republic’s support and believe this partnership will generate continued success for Fancy Sprinkles,” said Taslitz.

“This partnership will enable Fancy Sprinkles to grow its brand and manage rising demand,” said Altman, who played a major role in the deal.

Fancy Sprinkles CEO Kiley Anderson shared, “We appreciate the line of credit extended by Republic and are confident that this newfound relationship will help us to reach new goals and milestones as a company.”

Eric Dorner, VP, Business Development, at Republic was a proponent of the initial partnership between the companies. “It was exciting to close this first deal with Sterling Partners, especially given their incredible reputation investing across the consumer-packaged goods industry, of which we continue to build an incredible portfolio of brands,” Dorner shared.

“It is exciting to partner with brands that are well-supported by their equity partners and combine Sterling’s forty-plus years of experience with entrepreneurial-minded capital,” said Republic President, Robert Meyers.

About Republic Business Credit
Republic Business Credit is a nationally recognized commercial finance company supporting the working capital requirements of companies nationwide, including private equity and entrepreneurial businesses. Republic provides asset-based lending, ledgered lines of credit, traditional factoring, factoring and Fast AR Funding. Republic partners with its clients to provide up to $15 million in senior credit facilities to rapidly growing businesses, start-ups and companies experiencing recoverable distress. Republic is recognized by the Secured Finance Network as one of the largest finance companies in the United States of America. Republic is proud to be headquartered in New Orleans with additional offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston. Republic is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renasant Bank.

About Sterling Partners
Sterling Partners (“Sterling”) is a diversified investment management platform founded in 1983 and based in Chicago. The firm started with four young entrepreneurs, who went on to build one of Chicago’s most prominent private equity firms. Today, the firm has expanded beyond its strong private equity practice into several other investment strategies. Complementing its institutional fund practice, Sterling invests in a wide variety of companies in various stages of growth – from early-stage, high-growth businesses to mature, profitable companies – on a deal-by-deal basis. These investments cross several industries, and the firm makes control, non-control, and preferred equity investments. Sterling adds value to its portfolio companies and the founders with whom it partners with its entrepreneurial roots, deep domain expertise, focus on transformational growth, and access to world-class executive talent. For more information, please visit http://www.sterlingpartners.com. 

Media Contact

Emma Amorose, Respublica Group, 412.807.9236, [email protected], republicbc.com

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SOURCE Republic Business Credit