Rand Capital Portfolio Company, SocialFlow, Announces the Universal Attention Token Ecosystem
September 06 2018 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
Universal Attention Token (UAT) is a
blockchain-enabled solution to benefit publishers
Rand Capital Corporation (Nasdaq: RAND) (“Rand”), a venture
capital company which invests in growth businesses with unique
product, service or technology concepts, announced that one of its
portfolio companies, SocialFlow, Inc., introduced the launch of the
Universal Attention Token (UAT), a blockchain-enabled solution that
will improve the way publishers are compensated for their digital
content. SocialFlow is the world’s largest social distribution
platform for publisher and media companies.
“For too long, digital advertising has been a terrible deal for
those who create the content,” says SocialFlow CEO Jim Anderson.
“The UAT ecosystem will change that by compensating publishers more
fairly for the content they publish to platforms such as Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram.”
Benefits of the UAT include the following:
- PUBLISHERS: Publishers who participate
in the UAT system will have more ways to monetize the content they
publish to social networks, including “micro-subscription” options
that in the past have not been economically feasible.
- USERS: Consumers will have a better
experience on UAT publisher sites, with fewer registration barriers
and paywalls, and with less intrusive advertising.
- ADVERTISERS: Advertisers will be able
to participate in the system and engage users with consumer-direct
ads on a cost-per-action (CPA) basis.
The Universal Attention Tokens that power the UAT ecosystem will
serve as the accounting mechanism for user activity and will be
built on the Stellar network. “Stellar’s decentralized blockchain
platform is ideal for the scale of digital advertising,” says
Anderson. “The use of blockchain will reduce fraud and provide an
auditable ledger of transactions.”
SocialFlow’s scale and leadership in the market positions it
uniquely to create change across the digital advertising ecosystem.
SocialFlow clients generate more than 50 million social posts per
year, which combined generate more than 1.1 trillion in annual
reach. The UAT ecosystem will allow publishers to start monetizing
traffic at a scale that matters. “We’re tired of seeing publishers
do more to make less,” says Anderson. “It’s clear that the market
needs a new approach to monetization that spans publishers, and
offers an immediate potential for scale.”
Allen F. (“Pete”) Grum, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Rand Capital, commented, “SocialFlow continues to be on the leading
edge in its field, solving social media distribution and
monetization for publishers. The UAT initiatives represents a value
proposition for all players.”
Rand has been investing in SocialFlow since 2013. As of June 30,
2018, Rand’s investment in SocialFlow amounted to approximately
$2.1 million.
ABOUT SOCIALFLOWSocialFlow is a social distribution &
monetization platform that is purpose-built for media companies.
Our technology enables the world’s most successful publishers to
easily distribute engaging social content while providing them
monetization opportunities across multiple social networks. Our
publishing software is used by tens of thousands of journalists
across the world and extends the reach and engagement of editorial
content and stories to the social sphere. When you see a news item
in your social feed, the odds are good that it came through
SocialFlow. SocialFlow’s advertising products help publishers
create new revenue streams from their social efforts. With native
solutions & AttentionStream sponsored post ads, SocialFlow
helps media companies leverage the unmatched scale and distribution
of social channels. Founded in 2009 and based in New York City,
SocialFlow’s client roster includes half of the top 150 media
companies including The New York Times, CNN, Conde Nast, The
Associated Press, and the BBC. To learn more, visit
SocialFlow.com.
ABOUT RAND CAPITALRand Capital (Nasdaq: RAND) provides
investors the ability to participate in venture capital
opportunities through an investment in the Company’s stock. Rand is
a Business Development Company (BDC) with a wholly-owned subsidiary
licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as a Small
Business Investment Company (SBIC). Rand focuses its equity
investments in early or expansion stage companies and generally
lends to more mature companies. The Company seeks investment
opportunities in businesses with strong leaders who are bringing to
market new or unique products, technologies or services that have a
high potential for growth. Additional information can be found at
the Company’s website where it regularly posts information:
http://www.randcapital.com/.
Safe Harbor StatementThis news release contains
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include,
but are not limited to, statements concerning future net asset
value growth, investment returns and opportunities as well as
Rand’s plans for utilizing proceeds from sales of portfolio
companies when and if received. These statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the
actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or
implied by such statements, including general economic and business
conditions, conditions affecting the portfolio companies’ markets,
competitor responses, and market acceptance of their products and
services and other factors disclosed in the Corporation’s periodic
reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Consequently, such forward-looking statements should be regarded as
the Corporation’s current plans, estimates and beliefs. The
Corporation assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking
information contained in this release.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180906005124/en/
Rand CapitalAllen F. ("Pete") Grum, 716-853-0802President and
CEOpgrum@randcapital.comorInvestors:Kei Advisors LLCDeborah
K. Pawlowski, 716-843-3908dpawlowski@keiadvisors.comorKaren L.
Howard, 716-843-3942khoward@keiadvisors.com
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