Ashish brings expertise in AI, e-commerce, consumer and enterprise products. He will lead a global team with deep AI, blockchain and mobile ecosystem skills

DUBAI, UAE, February 1, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — Virtualness, a mobile-first platform designed to help creators, brands, and the sports, media and entertainment industry navigate the complex world of web3, announced today that Ashish Singh will join Virtualness as CTO.

“We were looking for a partner who shared our vision about the tremendous power of web3, had a demonstrated track record of building global products at scale rooted in deep consumer insight and a people-first leader,” said Kirthiga Reddy and Saurabh Doshi, co-founders of Virtualness. “Ashish consistently stood out across all dimensions from a pool of extraordinarily talented leaders. We are thrilled to welcome him to Virtualness.”

Virtualness has an ambitious product vision. The platform provides the ability to design, mint and showcase branded digital collectibles; share across social media channels and interact directly with communities. The digital collectibles enable unique experiences and unlock new channels for monetization. AI fuels every part of the tech stack across creation, commerce and community capabilities. There are many missing pieces of infrastructure in the web3 world that one takes for granted in web2, which necessitates rapid iterations on what needs to be built and identifying the right long-term partners towards the vision.

“I was delighted to be part of the interview panel for this critical role for Virtualness,” said Ashutosh Garg, founder & CEO, Eightfold.ai, a global Talent Intelligence Platform . “Kirthiga and Saurabh outlined a very clear vision for the type of leader they were looking for that matched the company, product and go-to-market vision. As I assessed candidates from my vantage point of being a founder and CEO of a growth-stage startup, Ashish had my strongest endorsement. I am excited to see Virtualness grow from strength to strength with Ashish joining as CTO.”

“The power of digital collectibles has captured my attention for years, having seen the success of e-commerce,” said Ashish Singh. “As I explored the power of blockchain further, it was rapidly clear to me that digital commerce which bundles asset ownership, identity and utility as a concept is vastly underutilized. Kirthiga and Saurabh’s vision of making web3 accessible globally for creators, brands, sports, media and entertainment is compelling. The strong engineering team they have assembled, the initial traction they have achieved, and their focus on bringing the power of AI and blockchain together to fuel the vision makes this the right next legacy I want to be an integral part of.”

Ashish joins Virtualness after an extensive search, which included exceptional candidates from across the globe – with big tech and startup backgrounds. The company has employees across four locations – US, Singapore, India and Dubai.

Ashish most recently served as Senior Vice President of Technology at Nykaa for about four years, having seen the company from early days to a successful public listing and beyond. He has also held leadership roles in other venture funded startups and global services companies such as AffordPlan and Axslogic where he led diverse teams, worked on technology that has been patented in many countries, conceptualized and delivered leading consumer and enterprise products and been at the forefront of AI and e-Commerce. Ashish holds a B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Delhi.

About Virtualness
Virtualness is a mobile-first platform designed to help creators and brands navigate the complex world of Web3. Founded in 2022 by industry leaders Kirthiga Reddy and Saurabh Doshi, Virtualness puts creators first and is building the playbook for easy design, efficient sharing and seamless digital commerce. Authenticated creators and brands can use Virtualness to design, mint and showcase branded digital collectibles; easily share across their social media channels; directly interact with their community; enable unique experiences and unlock new channels for monetization. Funding led by Blockchange Ventures with participation from Polygon Ventures, F7 Ventures, Micron Ventures, Better Ventures, FalconX, Impact Venture Capital, Neythri Futures Fund, Oceans Ventures, Perot Jain, VC3 DAO, Carolyn Everson, Randi Zuckerberg, Nuseir Yassin (Nas Daily), Nikki Farb, Shayamal Vallabhjee, Stacy Brown-Philpot, and other thought-leaders.

Joyee has an exceptional track record of creating successful partnerships, leveraging next-generation technology and leading initiatives from launch to market leadership

SINGAPORE, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Virtualness, a mobile-first platform designed to help creators, brands, and the sports, media and entertainment industry navigate the complex world of web3, announced today that Joyee Biswas will join Virtualness as a founding team member, heading Sports and Media partnerships.

Sports and media organizations have been trendsetters over decades. They are amongst the first to leverage next-generation technology, NFTs, digital collectibles and the metaverse to engage and entertain fans, and unlock new revenue lines. The discussion has moved from “whether” web3 is relevant, to “how” sports and media can benefit from the power of decentralization, blockchain and web3.

Sports fandom cuts through geographies and culture. Two of the top three followed accounts on both Instagram and Facebook are sports stars. Fans passionately follow mainstream sports like Basketball to niche sports like Surfing. They have a strong appetite for customized experiences, ownership and personalized commerce that web3 uniquely enables.

“With 20+ years of leadership experience in top technology, media and telecom corporations, and having scaled businesses across the globe, Joyee has differentiated insights and relationships across IP based industries,” said Kirthiga Reddy and Saurabh Doshi, Co-founders of Virtualness. “Sports and media owners have a huge opportunity to reach tech-savvy, mobile-first and young demographics in newer ways. Joyee is a key hire to fuel Virtualness’ expansion.”

“Kirthiga and Saurabh’s vision of enabling the world’s expressions deeply resonates with me. The early sports win with Philippine Basketball Association is a testimony to their vision and focus on execution,” said Joyee Biswas. “I’m thrilled to join Virtualness as a founding team member, heading Sports and Media.”

“I am delighted that Joyee is joining Virtualness. The founders of Virtualness are an impressive combination. Now, together with Joyee, they make an extremely talented team,” said Peter Hutton, ex-Head of Sports Partnerships Meta, ex-CEO Eurosport. “Over the years I have seen a series of transformations in the sports & gaming industry. Now is the time for another big leap, as we open up the opportunities of the Web3 world. Joyee with his strong sports and media expertise has already helped multiple media businesses in the Asia and Pacific regions grow their digital presence and revenues, and is the ideal person to partner their new journey into Web3.”

Joyee has held the roles of Head of Sports, Singtel; Managing Director Asia, Eleven Sports Network and South East Asia Business Head, ESPN. Joyee most recently served as Meta’s Head of Sports and Media Partnerships for Asia-Pacific. Alongwith building audience and revenue growth for partners across Instagram and Facebook, he drove virtual reality and metaverse adoption. Joyee holds a graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from BIT Mesra and an MBA in Marketing and Finance from IIM, Calcutta.

Joyee has an exceptional track record of creating successful partnerships, leveraging next-generation technology and leading initiatives from launch to market leadership

SINGAPORE, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Virtualness, a mobile-first platform designed to help creators, brands, and the sports, media and entertainment industry navigate the complex world of web3, announced today that Joyee Biswas will join Virtualness as a founding team member, heading Sports and Media partnerships.

Sports and media organizations have been trendsetters over decades. They are amongst the first to leverage next-generation technology, NFTs, digital collectibles and the metaverse to engage and entertain fans, and unlock new revenue lines. The discussion has moved from “whether” web3 is relevant, to “how” sports and media can benefit from the power of decentralization, blockchain and web3.

Sports fandom cuts through geographies and culture. Two of the top three followed accounts on both Instagram and Facebook are sports stars. Fans passionately follow mainstream sports like Basketball to niche sports like Surfing. They have a strong appetite for customized experiences, ownership and personalized commerce that web3 uniquely enables.

“With 20+ years of leadership experience in top technology, media and telecom corporations, and having scaled businesses across the globe, Joyee has differentiated insights and relationships across IP based industries,” said Kirthiga Reddy and Saurabh Doshi, Co-founders of Virtualness. “Sports and media owners have a huge opportunity to reach tech-savvy, mobile-first and young demographics in newer ways. Joyee is a key hire to fuel Virtualness’ expansion.”

“Kirthiga and Saurabh’s vision of enabling the world’s expressions deeply resonates with me. The early sports win with Philippine Basketball Association is a testimony to their vision and focus on execution,” said Joyee Biswas. “I’m thrilled to join Virtualness as a founding team member, heading Sports and Media.”

“I am delighted that Joyee is joining Virtualness. The founders of Virtualness are an impressive combination. Now, together with Joyee, they make an extremely talented team,” said Peter Hutton, ex-Head of Sports Partnerships Meta, ex-CEO Eurosport. “Over the years I have seen a series of transformations in the sports & gaming industry. Now is the time for another big leap, as we open up the opportunities of the Web3 world. Joyee with his strong sports and media expertise has already helped multiple media businesses in the Asia and Pacific regions grow their digital presence and revenues, and is the ideal person to partner their new journey into Web3.”

Joyee has held the roles of Head of Sports, Singtel; Managing Director Asia, Eleven Sports Network and South East Asia Business Head, ESPN. Joyee most recently served as Meta’s Head of Sports and Media Partnerships for Asia-Pacific. Alongwith building audience and revenue growth for partners across Instagram and Facebook, he drove virtual reality and metaverse adoption. Joyee holds a graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from BIT Mesra and an MBA in Marketing and Finance from IIM, Calcutta.

Media Contact:
Michael Paffmann
5168524302
351886@email4pr.com
https://virtualness.io

SOURCE Virtualness

Virtualness, a Melon Park, CA-based provider of a mobile-first platform to help creators and brands navigate the world of Web3, raised $8M in Seed funding.

The round was led by Blockchange Ventures with participation from Polygon Ventures, F7 Ventures, Micron Ventures, Better Capital, FalconX, Impact Venture Capital, Neythri Futures Fund, Oceans Ventures, Perot Jain, VC3 DAO, Carolyn Everson, Randi Zuckerberg, Nusier Yassin, Nikki Farb, and Stacy Brown-Philpot.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate growth, expand operations and its business reach.

Co-founded by Kirthiga Reddy, along with Saurabh Doshi, Virtualness offers a platform for creators and brands to navigate the world of Web3. Upon launch in early 2023, authenticated creators and brands can use the platform to design, mint, and showcase branded digital collectibles; share across their social media channels; directly interact with their community; enable experiences, and unlock new channels for monetization. Education, personalization, discovery, integration with Web2 and Web3 platforms, and a mobile-first experience are core to the platform.

FinSMEs

Acquisition provides exposure to the unique Silicon Valley experience in a safe, inclusive environment designed specifically for school-aged children

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS and PALO ALTO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 8, 2022 / Amsterdam-based JetLearn, a 1:1 e-learning platform providing children with coding, robotics and Web3 skills, today announces the acquisition of SchoolHacks, a Silicon Valley-based company specializing in organizing hackathons specifically designed for school-aged students. Named as one of the top five edtech companies in the STEM for kids category on the prestigious HolonIQ list in Europe, JetLearn has worked with more than 10,000 students in 46 countries since its 2021 founding.

“Talent is distributed equally, but opportunity is not. In the coming decade, every company is going to be a tech company, and every job is going to be a tech job. Web3, robotics, and AI are the skills that will be essential for the builders of tomorrow,” said Abhishek Bahl, founder and CEO of JetLearn. “SchoolHacks’ unique engagement and creative collaboration model accelerates the mission of JetLearn to empower kids to be builders of the tech-driven future.”

SchoolHacks, founded in 2017 by Yash Narayan, now a freshman at Stanford University, is one of the earliest hackathons for school-age learners in Silicon Valley. In the past five years, SchoolHacks has grown in popularity with the participation of thousands of children from more than 40 countries. Its virtual hackathons have provided an important outlet for children to engage with one another and form a community, as well as showcase their creativity. Narayan will join JetLearn as a strategic advisor to help expand operations as well as the global reach of SchoolHacks.

“I started SchoolHacks after my transformational experience participating in hackathons at an early age. At the time, I was usually the only student attending these events, which were targeting experienced, adult programmers,” said Narayan. “My mission behind SchoolHacks was to create a fun and supportive community for students and inspire them to use their entrepreneurial creativity to bring new technology solutions to solve pressing problems. I am glad this mission will be carried forward by JetLearn for an even bigger global impact.”

The acquisition announcement comes a few days after JetLearn completed the world’s largest Web3 Hackathon & Festival for students aged 6 to 16, in partnership with SchoolHacks. Participants from more than 46 countries attended, with judges and speakers coming from top technology companies as well as Web3 pioneers.

Kirthiga Reddy, the first female investing partner of the SoftBank Vision Fund and co-founder and CEO of Web3 startup Virtualness, delivered a keynote at the event along with SchoolHacks founder Narayan. Said Reddy, “I’ve experienced time and again that the next-gen provides an important window into the widespread trends of tomorrow. I experienced the power of next-gen once again through SchoolHacks.”

The SchoolHacks acquisition is just one step in JetLearn’s plans to make the unique Silicon Valley experience accessible to young learners all over the world. In the coming months, the company will connect members of its student community to mentors and role models, as well as offer internships at Silicon Valley companies.

Images: LINK

About JetLearn

Amsterdam-based JetLearn is the world’s first Web3 online academy for primary and secondary school-age children. With learners in more than 46 countries, JetLearn’s mission is to empower children with a foundation in new-age technology skills like Web3, AI and robotics in an inspiring and hyper-personalized way. JetLearn’s technology platform powers live 1:1 online lessons and fun learning workshops. It also trains children for competitive hackathons via its world-leading curriculum and top inspirational teachers. For more information, visit www.jetlearn.com.

Media Contact
Erica Zeidenberg
Hot Tomato Marketing
erica@hottomato.net
925-518-8159

SOURCE: JetLearn

View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/730845/JetLearn-Acquires-SchoolHacks-to-Bring-the-Silicon-Valley-Experience-to-Young-Learners-Globally