Jim O Brien/CEO - techbuzzireland.com

Irish Agency Opens An Office in the Metaverse

Connector by Granite is the first Irish agency to join the Metaverse. The agency’s Metaverse office joins its other locations in Dublin, Cork, Galway.

The virtual facilities include a reception, 12 meeting rooms and an auditorium for events for up to 200 concurrent users.

Commenting on the launch, Strategy Director, Ivan Adriel, said: “Metaverse is a term first coined in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash, but in recent years it has taken the world by storm and is now used to describe a world in which the ‘digital and physical’ are blurred. Our new office is a space for experimentation and collaboration and invites our clients to discover what’s next.”

According to Global Web Index Europe, the knowledge of the Metaverse is split almost equally into three groups: 33% who understand the concept, 37% who have heard of it but aren’t sure what it means, and 30% who aren’t sure at all.

Over half of consumers say they are interested in participating in the Metaverse, with 1 in 3 of those who hadn’t heard of it before still saying they wanted to be involved.

Luciano Jacob, Creative Director, celebrates the possibilities the new space brings “The Metaverse allows us to push creativity to limitless frontiers, break the limits of geography to bring people together. We are delighted to launch our office in the metaverse and experiment with new possibilities.”

TILE Collaborates with Dell, Lenovo, MSI and Fujitsu to make products findable.

Tile, the pioneer in finding technology, continues to expand its Find With Tile business through a variety of collaborations, including a new partnership with Dell to launch the first-ever stylus pen with built-in finding technology. Tile is also further collaborating with Intel Corporation to bring its finding technology to Lenovo™, MSI and Fujitsu PCs.

“Tile brings people peace of mind by eliminating the stress of losing or misplacing the things you need to get through your day, so embedding our technology seamlessly into the tools that are essential for productivity is a clear value add,” said CJ Prober, CEO of Tile. “We’re very proud to be teaming up with Dell to bring consumers the first findable stylus pen and to further grow our PC business to include other top OEMs in the market.”

Starting today, consumers worldwide can purchase the new Dell Premier Rechargeable Active Pen (PN7522W) with built-in Tile finding technology. The new pen features the longest battery life of any active pen with a 40-day run time and lets users create with ease on their compatible Dell 2-in-1 laptops, a convenience that’s lost if the slender pen is misplaced. To avoid that scenario, users can now use the free Tile app to ring their pen if it’s nearby, and if it’s lost on-the-go they can use the Tile app to view its most recent location or enlist the secure help of Tile’s global Network to aid in their search.

Tile is also significantly growing its presence in the PC category with the addition of several Intel-powered laptops, including models from Lenovo, MSI and Fujitsu. In January, Lenovo announced new Tile-enabled ThinkPad™ X1 laptops, and now Lenovo is adding to their lineup of findable PCs with the launch of the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 and the latest ThinkPad T Series, arming a total of seven new Lenovo models with Tile’s full suite of finding features. Starting this month, consumers can also leverage Tile’s finding power in MSI’s new Intel 12th Gen Summit and Prestige Series, laptops that are built for productivity and now offer the pre-installed Tile Windows App. In Japan, the new Fujitsu FMV LOOX PCs are also rolling out this month with Tile functionality.

“We are thrilled about our continued collaboration with Tile and the growing list of partners who are delivering great wireless experiences on 12th Gen Intel® Core™ processor-based laptops with integrated Intel® Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+),” said Eric McLaughlin, VP Client Computing Group, GM Wireless Solutions Group, Intel. “We can now offer not only faster Wi-Fi speeds, lower latencies, and enhanced reliability but also innovative Tile finding capabilities as laptops continue to play an essential role in our lives.”

To make any of these new laptops findable, users simply download and install the free Tile Windows App from the Microsoft Store and activate their PC as a Tile. When nearby, they can then locate and ring their laptop using the free Tile app on any Android or iOS smartphone, even if it’s shut down and offline, for up to 14 days. For even more convenient finding experiences, users can sync their Tile account in the Alexa App or Google Home app for voice-enabled finding and they can ring their misplaced phone by tapping “Find” on their phone icon in the Windows app.

Tile’s embedded business has been expanding rapidly in the PC category since its first PC partnership with HP. Thanks to a collaboration with Intel, Tile is able to seamlessly integrate with PC original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), making it even easier to make Intel-powered PCs findable.

Tile’s finding technology is embedded in over 55 different third-party devices across audio, wearables, travel, smart home, pet and PC categories. Learn more at tile.com/partners.

Nearly 90,000 Irish SMEs have had data stolen in the last year

Datapac, Ireland’s leading technology solutions and services provider, today announces the results of a new survey which found that an estimated 89,744* SMEs (31%) in Ireland have had data stolen in the last 12 months. Furthermore, the research revealed that over two fifths (41%) of small and medium-sized businesses have permanently lost critical data within the same timeframe.

The survey of 150 SME business owners in Ireland was carried out by Censuswide in association with Datapac and cybersecurity and backup specialist, Datto, during February 2022.

The research shows 37% of Irish SMEs experienced a known cyberattack in the last year. Looking ahead, 86% of SME business owners are concerned that they will become a cybercrime target. However, almost a quarter (23%) admit that they are not at all prepared to defend themselves against cybercrime.

Evolving Threat Environment

The years of the Covid-19 pandemic witnessed rapid digital transformations across many organisations, largely to help facilitate new remote and hybrid working environments. 56% of businesses reported a reliance on cloud storage for some or all of their data storage needs.

When asked about the impacts of permanently losing data, over a quarter (27%) believe they would go out of business. SME owners also said the loss of critical data would impede their business growth (38%), damage their professional reputation (35%), lead to regulatory consequences (32%), contribute to employee attrition (31%) and result in the loss of some of their customers (29%).

Despite the prevalence of cybercrime and data loss, just 5% of Irish SMEs back up their data in real-time, with nearly three quarters (72%) reporting that their data backup frequency is once per week or less. The research shows around a fifth (21%) of small businesses don’t have a tested Disaster Recovery (DR) plan in place in the event of data theft or loss. In addition, 43% admitted they don’t have a secure copy of their data held offsite.

83% state that they have plans to increase their level of outsourced IT to a Managed Service Provider (MSP) over the coming year. Nearly a third (32%) attribute this decision to a need to address cybersecurity shortcomings in the face of the cybercrime risk, while 36% cited the need to access a wider range of expert IT skills and knowledge.

Commenting on the survey results, Karen O’Connor, General Manager, Datapac said:

“Our survey has highlighted the unprecedented scale of cybercrime for small and medium-sized businesses in Ireland today. With over 4 in 10 of all Irish SMEs permanently losing mission-critical data over the past year and almost a third having data stolen, this can have significant and damaging repercussions for these businesses and their customers.

“The vast majority of business owners are concerned about being a cybercrime target, yet many still don’t seem to be taking the necessary steps to improve their protection. While threat detection and prevention are important parts of the cybersecurity puzzle, they don’t solve it alone. Data backup is a vital component and one that shouldn’t be overlooked. With almost three quarters of firms only backing up their data weekly or even less, this presents a huge challenge for businesses to maintain continuity after an incident.

“In the likely event of a cyberattack, a robust backup and business continuity solution is the last line of defence and enables most businesses to recover quickly from business-critical data loss. Put simply, data cannot be recovered if it isn’t backed up effectively to begin with.”

Nicholas O’ Donovan, Sales Manager, Datto Ireland, said:

“The pandemic has permanently changed the way many organisations work, fundamentally altering where data is created and stored. A more dispersed workforce creates a larger network threat perimeter, which increases the risk of cyberattack.

Wherever the data lives, be it in an on-premises server or in the cloud, it needs to be backed up with the highest frequency possible in a way that allows instant restoration for when disaster strikes.”

ClickUp expands senior EMEA team with European demand up 233%

ClickUp, the world’s only all-in-one productivity platform, has today announced multiple new senior hires across EMEA as demand in the region soars by 233%. This includes a new VP for EMEA Operations, VP for EMEA Sales and Director of Product Engineering, who will further develop and execute ClickUp’s plans for international growth with a focus on delivering localised expertise to enhance overall customer experience.

ClickUp plans to deliver deep local expertise across the EMEA organisation to further enhance global user experience; a value that lies at the core of the company’s culture. ClickUp is also focusing on celebrating local engineering talent, building out a significant European team that will grow to represent over 30% of its total EMEA workforce. Being purposeful with diversity, equality and inclusion are evident in its hiring approach (with most of the new leadership appointments being female).

European demand for ClickUp’s all-in-one productivity solution has soared: with more than 300,000 teams in the EMEA region and European growth of 233% over the past 12 months. ClickUp’s European customer base includes Booking.com, HYPERVSN, Mindshare, STX Next and G-Loot.

Amber Coster, Vice President, EMEA Operations will unite and lead the EMEA region and help guide ClickUp as it launches its global go-to-market strategy. Prior to joining ClickUp, Amber helped take AppDynamics from a $100m valuation through to $3.7bn acquisition and M&A integration. She will be based in the UK and will lead the growing EMEA team in building ClickUp’s trust and credibility across the new markets.

“We’ve wasted no time in getting our core EMEA leadership team setup, bringing in exceptional talent who drive results whilst maintaining a focus on our core value of “have fun, find joy and be you”,” said Amber Coster, VP EMEA Operations at ClickUp. “We already have a solid base of employees in the region, with team members spread across Europe. We are employing the best people for the job and leveraging ClickUp to ensure our teams are hyper-productive when not co-located. We’re deeply committed to building the business with collaboration, culture and community at the heart of it.“

Richard McGuinness, VP EMEA Sales will work alongside Amber and the international team to build deeper connections with ClickUp’s EMEA customer base and drive reach in region. He joins ClickUp from eDesk where he was Chief Revenue Officer, leading its BDR, Sales and Success teams to achieve triple digit ACV growth. Richard will be building the team at ClickUp’s new Dublin HQ to help drive exceptional growth in the region.

“Many of our European customers were early adopters of the ClickUp platform, showing the creative and dynamic approach EMEA companies have towards increasing their teams’ productivity and providing the most incredible foundation for us to build upon,” says Richard McGuinness, VP EMEA Sales. “EMEA companies are used to succeeding across borders, time zones and cultures – and ClickUp wants to showcase how teams can succeed in the new post-Covid workplace.” 

Kuba Rozkwitalsk, Director of Product Engineering, joins as ClickUp’s new Poland site lead, and will leverage local tech talent to develop the platform for global needs. Kuba previously built marketing and sales automation for AdWords and Shopping Ads at Google, driving revenue from newly identified and better engaged potential customers. He later led ShopRunner’s engineering office in Poland through two acquisitions, growing the team from seven to 30 engineers.

Further key EMEA hires include:

Marija Skobe-Pilley, Head of Customer Success, EMEA. Marija joins ClickUp to build, lead and scale its EMEA Customer Success team from her base in the UK.
Jana Metz, Regional Sales Director EMEA. Jana was ClickUp’s first sales leader in EMEA and has been at the forefront of building the founding team.
Ana Keating, Regional Customer Operations Director, EMEA. Joining to lead EMEA Customer Operations, Ana brings over 16 years of international experience in a customer service environment.
Garth Thompson, Solutions Engineering Lead, EMEA. Garth joins ClickUp to lead Solutions Engineering, building and scaling a diverse team of Solutions Engineers in EMEA.
Ridgy Lemarier, Regional Director Field Marketing, EMEA. Ridgy joins ClickUp to launch EMEA marketing and help build local ClickUp customer communities.
Bilyana Krasteva, Manager of Customer Support, EMEA. Bilyana joins ClickUp to bolster Customer Support across multiple language markets internationally.

This announcement follows a milestone year for ClickUp after its record-breaking Series C funding round in 2021, and the announcement of a new Dublin HQ with plans to create 200+ EMEA jobs. With 55 employees hired since the EMEA launch, ClickUp is on track to achieve its goal of filling 200 new roles by the end of 2023.

As part of its ongoing recruitment drive, ClickUp is actively hiring for roles across sales, customer success, marketing, support, engineering and operations, with the aim of providing a more localised experience for the nearly 300,000 European teams already using the platform. To learn more about working at ClickUp, visit https://clickup.com/careers or to try ClickUp free forever and start saving you and your team one day every week, visit www.ClickUp.com.

Sidero encourages primary school pupils to explore engineering with STEAM initiative

Sidero, Ireland’s software, cloud and digital transformation specialist, is bringing a fun and hands-on 10-week engineering programme to pupils in Ardkeenan National School, Co. Roscommon, in association with STEAM Education Ltd.

STEAM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Maths) is an initiative created to inspire children to love STEAM subjects, and increase their awareness of and interest in careers in these areas.

Sidero is introducing Ardkeenan’s 5^th and 6^th class pupils to the areas of environmental, mechanical, civil, electrical, and biomedical engineering during weekly interactive sessions. The immersive and collaborative Engineering-in-a-Box programme uses many recycled materials in fun activities with lesson plans provided by STEAM Education Ltd.

Exploring civil engineering, pupils were tasked with building bridges made of lollipop sticks that needed to be strong enough to hold a bottle of water. Delving into electrical engineering, the pupils tested LED lights and circuits to gauge the flow of electricity and experimented with floating boats to gain a better understanding of buoyancy, a key area of transport engineering.

With a fun and creative approach to biomedical engineering, pupils created cyborg hands out of foam fingers and looking more closely at environmental engineering, Sidero demonstrated filtration using water and tea leaves. For their final STEAM project, the pupils have the chance to put what they’ve learned into practice and make something of their choice – a train, boat, robot, or something entirely different.

The STEAM sessions come at a formative time for the pupils at Ardkeenan, as they prepare to transition into secondary school, where subjects like engineering are a feasible option for them.

STEAM Education’s ethos is rooted in inclusive and inspirational engagement, including practical, fun, challenging, and participatory methodologies – developed and delivered by and with relevant content and educational experts (including children themselves). The initiative follows a co-teaching model where real-life STEAM experts from industry and academia work with primary school teachers, using specially designed tools and content to encourage and inspire.

Alice D’Arcy, MD of STEAM Education, said: “Encouraging children to try these subjects in a fun way and engaging their creative and critical thinking brains at this age, with the support of real life engineers, is really positive and empowering – we are delighted that Sidero are so supportive of the children of Ardkeenan NS and the development of their future careers.”

Nicola Bishop, Engineer and Scrum Master, and Sidero lead for the STEAM initiative, said: “It’s so important to encourage an interest in STEAM subjects from a young age in an effort to narrow the technology skills gap across the board. It’s also vital to encourage more girls to pursue careers in these areas to tackle the gender imbalance in the industry. Programmes like this encourage all pupils to take the leap into the world of engineering and tech, but also shows girls that these are viable career options for them. I can see it’s giving them confidence to try new things – most girls wouldn’t have tried electrical circuits before, but they’re so enthusiastic.

“It’s clear that the pupils are learning how to think in a different way. Parents are telling me their kids are finding things in the recycling bin and building robots! It teaches kids that nothing creative is a bad idea; it could be a great idea that may not have worked the first time. That’s the beauty of engineering – if something doesn’t work the first time, then you go back and try again and make it better.

“Sidero is delighted to be involved in this worthwhile project and helping to nurture the next generation of technologists.”

Punkt. launches a new colour option for the digital minimalist MP02 mobile phone

Punkt., the Swiss, design-led consumer technology company, launched the MP02 New Generation last winter in black, adding to the original MP02 multi-band capacity for coverage worldwide. Software and hardware changes brought subtle improvements, including a snappier response to user input. Changes to the weight and volume of the packaging have reduced the transportation CO2 footprint by 40%; switching to selling the charging unit separately means less e-waste. A light blue option is now complementing the new generation black MP02.

‘The blue contrasts the formality of the black version with a more relaxed off duty look’, says Jasper Morrison, art director and designer of Punkt. product.

The Punkt. MP02 mobile phone, first launched in 2018, is designed to help ensure our tech works for us, not the other way around. It is a phone to keep, not replace. It does not pester its owner for attention or access to an electricity supply. Privacy is built in from the ground up. And as a voicephone, it shifts emphasis to spoken communication: often more efficient, and always more personal.

The MP02 can be used as a second phone as a way to get some ‘digital downtime’ – everything else is left behind for a while. Alternatively, many MP02 owners use it as their sole phone and combine it with a mini-tablet as required, via the MP02’s hotspot. Having that larger screen is a major upgrade over any smartphone, and a tablet does not have the same ‘pester power’.

The MP02 offers an alternative to mass-produced, old-tech handsets. It’s not just a thin-as-possible pixel platform; it’s a solid, comfortable piece of equipment that is easy to pick up, feels great in the hand, and is never, ever going to bend. Its sleek elegance is matched by top-quality materials, producing a phone that provides a concrete reminder of why the physical world is the world that matters even before it is switched on.

Following on from the MP02’s success with both reviewers and consumers, Punkt. is releasing a new colour option: Light Blue. Still low-key, but even more calming.

To mark the launch of the light blue colourway Punkt. has also introduced two new phone cases for the MP02 to its range. Both are Swiss-made for Punkt. with responsibly sourced materials. The VICUS phone case is made from genuine Italian vegetable-tanned leather and handmade in Ticino using traditional leather-working techniques. The QWSTION phone case is made in Zurich from Bananatex®, a fabric notable for the fact that it comes from the banana tree. The water-resistant coating is natural wax, and the entire product is plastic-free and biodegradable. Watch out for our review soon.

Find out more about Punkt.’s new eco-conscious phone cases here.

Business Powered by Numarics: A New Evolution of Entrepreneurship

Numarics introduces its world’s first business operating system (OS) that completely covers business management for small and medium-sized businesses. Used by entrepreneurs and fiduciaries alike, Numarics eliminates all need for orchestrated use of disparate accounting and finance software. Startups get the services of a CFO and COO through one engine and the strong operations team behind it. The team of fiduciary and financial experts feeds the artificial intelligence of this engine with process flows – transforming the use of accounting and finance services. Currently available for in Switzerland registered businesses.

Numarics OS Completely Replaces Software

“The artificial intelligence knowledge comes from the top expertise of our operations team,” says Kristian Kabashi, co-founder at Numarics and an expert in process optimization and automation, adding, “A software is built by software developers. Our engine learns from the specialists and virtually creates itself in the process.” To build a powerful, scalable and easy-to-use true digital solution, Numarics’ founding team developed an app that allows users to further feed the state-of-the-art engine with use cases – simply by using it. “The more users Numarics serves, the more business cases it covers,” Kabashi adds. In the process, human errors due to lack of time or carelessness in repetitive activities are eliminated. Kabashi: “We use the machine to sift through a high volume of data in milliseconds. Anywhere a human can make the mistakes, the machine does not. Anything that has to do with human experience and niche knowledge, our operations team of finance experts and affiliated accountants cover as consultants.”

With Numarics, accounting is no longer an extra item. It is integrated and seamless. Automated processing also includes reporting to the appropriate local authorities. The Numarics dashboard provides real-time metrics and financial forecasts that allow users to report to their stakeholders and plan investments and cash flow.

AI-driven Numarics is a quality guarantor for reporting even as with the annual financial statement. “The annual financial statements are no longer forgotten or postponed,” says Dominique Rey, co-founder and CEO of Numarics, referring to the process integration. More and more Swiss fiduciaries are joining Numarics and empowering Numarics as a RegTech solution (solution for regulation) – that is, using Numarics as a financial tool takes care of filings and compliance with tax authorities. “The accountant connected to Numarics thus has time for the consulting services of the users assigned to him /her and can refer to very individual optimizations, such as the creation of expense regulations with the district of Zurich if the company is located there,” adds Rey, who is a Swiss business expert and certified public accountant.

Accountants are usually highly trained specialists and are empowered with Numarics to focus on quality control and high quality consulting services. Compared to purchasing manual accounting services paired with software subscriptions, users benefit from lower costs.

Numarics OS offers comprehensive features such as invoice generation and automated dunning, legally compliant digital management of all receipts and documents, and payroll automation. Numarics employs finance experts in the operations team and makes the Numarics OS available to external accountants, replacing paper, bookings and software.

MONEY JAR – The First Irish-Owned Digital Current Account Platform, Open an account in 5 mins.

Money Jar is a dynamic and revolutionary new approach to banking that allows customers to open an account when it suits and in just 5 minutes. Opening a traditional bank account in Ireland can be cumbersome, requiring a lengthy approval process and often a long wait time to get an appointment for a meeting in the branch. Money Jar is a digital current account with convenient sign up and, unlike other major fintech platforms, Money Jar customers get an Irish IBAN, can pay bills, and receive wages. Money Jar offers unlimited money jars that can be shared with friends, to help customers stay on top of personal spending and improve long term financial wellbeing through better money management.

Money Jar is an Irish-owned fintech business headquartered in Dublin. All funds are held by a Tier 1 state owned Irish bank, which is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Money Jar can set up digital current accounts quickly using its industry leading facial recognition technology. Money Jar has the best of what traditional banks have to offer, but with the convenience that all things digital can deliver, plus customers can talk to Money Jar’s Irish based customer care team if they need a helping hand.

Money Jar’s technology platform allows quick and safe identity verification to make the entire process straightforward and painless. Partnering with Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Veriff and EML, Money Jar offers a safe and secure platform. When customers open an account with Money Jar, they are given a free virtual Prepaid Mastercard with contactless payments, at no additional cost. For those that prefer a physical card, they can order a Prepaid Mastercard from the app for €5, which will be delivered to their door. Money Jar fees are transparent and competitive. There is a monthly service fee of €2.99, free for the first four months, and pay as you go transaction fees. Money Jar promotes responsible, money management.

John Harkin, the Executive Chairman of Money Jar, said: ‘Consumers in Ireland have always been early adopters of technology, and this is no different in the banking sector. We know that *78% of Irish consumers manage their money or make payments using mobile devices, and a quarter have a digital bank account. Digital banking in Ireland is growing at an exponential rate. At Money Jar, we have seen this trend first hand with our customer growth rate at 70% month on month. Money Jar is a dynamic new approach for customers to manage their money.’

Money Jar enables consumers on the Money Jar platform to transfer money peer to peer instantly at no cost, as well as enabling users to pay bills, set up standing orders, and direct debits, and transfer money in and out using SEPA, as well as using it for contactless payments. Accounts can only be accessed by using pass codes, biometrics, and a two-step verification, making a Money Jar digital current account a safe choice – no sensitive data is stored in the app or cached on the mobile device. Today, many people use two separate accounts, a primary account for bills and wages, and a secondary account for mobile transactions. Money Jar provides a one stop solution for all of these tasks that is fast, efficient and reliable.

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New Swedish publisher cites Hybrid Indie with People, Players and Planet as core focus of business model and will be the world’s first LGBTQI certified gaming company

Swedish publisher Kinda Brave, is opening its doors today for the first time as a gaming publisher focused on sustainability. The company will be taking a long-term approach to publishing by working with small studios in a group dynamic where resources and experience are shared – and collaboration encouraged. Kinda Brave, which has already signed three development studios, wants to champion a so-called Hybrid Indie model of a publisher not just focused on commercial aspects, but on the everyday support and growth of studios and the people therein, allowing each studio to pour all time and energy into development of quality indie titles. With its ‘Sustainable Gaming initiative’ as a compass, the group has thus far seen investments of $6.3 million USD (SEK 60 million), and is now set to establish itself internationally, on the lookout for more studios and developers wanting to join in.

Björn Rudolfsson, CEO and co-founder of Kinda Brave said: “Game development is oftentimes characterized by passion. But all too often, this is used as an excuse for unhealthy working conditions and short-term priorities. Kinda Brave wants to change this by investing long-term in smaller, creative and independent teams, believing that the path to the best games is one of good people being given good continuous support. With more room to breathe and by helping each other out, you suddenly find yourself in a position where you can start looking at how you can impact others positively as well, beyond just development and publishing.”

About Kinda Brave

Kinda Brave opens its doors today with three signed studios under its belt, and already working on exciting new development projects. Headed by co-founders CEO Björn Rudolfsson and board chairman Kristofer Westergren, the publisher and its group of studios has grown to over 35 employees and has a management team with impressive credentials that includes previous roles at Mojang, EA, Raw Fury, Zordix and PlayStation. Kinda Brave has dropped traditional publishing deals in favor of acquiring or founding new studios together with skilled developers, making them members of a group invested in an inclusive work environment and fair conditions. Besides financial backing, sales and marketing services, all studios enjoy support from shared resources in the publisher, ranging from HR, recruitment and legal services to a fulltime sustainability manager – priorities that usually only a much larger outfit could justify. By pooling resources together, each studio can stay small and tight-knit, exchanging know-how and inspiration to the benefit of all.

Kinda Brave’s core values and mission; People, Players and Planet:

PEOPLE: While People, Players and Planet are all equally important, it all starts with People. Kinda Brave has set a focus on creating healthy and happy places of work, built on foundations of equality and inclusivity. In a collaboration with RFSL, the The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Rights, Kinda Brave is set to become the world’s first LGBTQI certified gaming company. The group has also announced its sponsorship of DONNA, a local Swedish organization dedicated to getting more women and non-binary people involved in the games industry, in part by encouraging increased enrollment in game development education.
PLAYERS: In the same vein of inclusivity and respect, and with more efforts to be unveiled leading up to its first releases, Kinda Brave has set out to become a trusted publisher in the community of players/gamers with disabilities, dedicating additional resources and development time to set a minimum standard of accessibility features for all its indie titles. Each studio will house an Accessibility Champion, with Kinda Brave financing their training and certification by the AbleGamers charity organization.
PLANET: Through mindful choices of suppliers and manufacturers where possible, reuse of old electronics and furniture and travel kept at minimum, the whole group kept 2021’s total emissions to 90 tons of CO2, achieving climate neutrality through Gold Standard compensation. To reduce emissions further, the group is exploring ways to power and heat its offices with renewable energy and technology for eco-friendly game settings, targeted at lowering overall power consumption of Players.

In tandem with the launch of the publisher itself, Kinda Brave is spearheading an initiative called Sustainable Gaming (sustainablegaming.com) with the ambition to inspire and engage more players and developers in sustainability issues. The site will be used as a platform to showcase the group’s sustainability work – both achievements and shortcomings. Over time, Kinda Brave hopes to grow the site with educational material and resources for sharing in the indie development community.

The Kinda Brave board also includes Åsa Bredin, Head of Engineering at Mojang, Evelina Anttila, partner at sustainability-focused venture capitalist investors Wellstreet and Wilhelm Pettersson, CEO and owner of Skabholmen Invest. The focus for the group is on continued expansion with another 2-3 studios a year.

Rudolfsson continued: “We’re made up of players and veterans from the games industry who’ve all seen up close how taxing game development can be on people, particularly in the indie scene. There can be a lot of unrealistic expectations on the teams – not just from financiers, but even from the developers themselves. It’s often expected of them to handle everything between heaven and earth alone. We want to take some of that pressure off, providing safe environments for game developers to enjoy creative freedom. And we want to engage in the development of those environments long-term. We got a lot of work ahead of ourselves but sustainability remains our focus from day one.”

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Numarics OS Completely Replaces Software

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