Enzo Villani, Veteran Fintech Entrepreneur, Joins MarketMind as Chairman and Co-Founder
Alpha Transform Holdings makes strategic investment in MarketMind Technologies Inc., a company providing generative AI-based solutions for retail investor engagement.
Tampa, FL, Feb. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Alpha Transform Holdings (“ATH”) is pleased to announce that Enzo Villani, CEO of ATH and Managing Partner of Alpha Sigma Capital, has joined MarketMind Technologies Inc. (“MarketMind”) as Chairman and Co-Founder in combination with a strategic investment. ATH is a leading fintech, AI, media and digital asset investment and advisory organization whose principals have an extensive track record of founding and building investor relations and securities trading platforms.
MarketMind is a generative AI-based investor relations platform for public companies as well as Reg A and crowdfunded ventures. Retail investors, fund managers and investment advisors are increasingly using AI algorithms and AI-generated content to make investment decisions. However such platforms – including the public version of ChatGPT – have limited access to company information. These platforms are also increasingly being populated with unreliable, incomplete and manipulative source data over which issuers have little control – much like on social and online media.
MarketMind’s solution is designed to give companies complete control over their IR narrative. It also enables retail investors to receive supplementary insight on companies’ disclosures – which is a form of commentary that was previously only available to large institutional investors. MarketMind enables companies to make this content available directly to retail investors via chatbots on company and third-party financial sites, as well as to third-party investor platforms including data terminals, robo-advisors, trading bots and IR technology platforms.
Mr. Villani was the co-founder of NASDAQ Corporate Solutions, which provided NASDAQ’s investor relations, proxy vote advisory and other ancillary services to NASDAQ-listed companies. This venture was formed by NASDAQ’s acquisition of CCN Matthews, a leading newswire formed via a merger with MarketWire, which had been founded by ATH’s principals. Villani was also Chief Strategy Officer of D.F. King Worldwide where he completed a $200 million M&A roll-up of tier-1 shareholder communications firms. These firms provided over 2,000 public company clients with services related to market intelligence, investor relations, proxy solicitation, investor targeting, shareholder communications and corporate governance. He led a similar roll-up of investor relations companies as President of North America and board member of MZ Group. Villani also served as a key advisor to BATS Trading, one of North America’s largest stock exchange operators. Subsequent to these roles, Villani served as CEO of equities.com which, during his tenure, became North America’s largest financial awareness company for small-cap issuers. Since 2015, Mr. Villani has been an active leader and advisor to leading fintech and web3 ventures. These include being a senior advisor to the Shiba Inu ecosystem, co-founder of Blockchain Wire and Head of International Strategy and Innovation at OKX. He was also an early investor in over fifty projects including Quant Networks, Solana, OriginTrail, Audius, Splinterlands, Aave, Polkadot and Theta Labs, eight of which reached unicorn status by 2021.
“With 52% of public company shares now being in the hands of retail investors,(1) companies need to adapt their investor relations methodologies to better serve these smaller investors. MarketMind’s AI-driven solution empowers public companies to navigate this new reality by enabling them to effectively capture and engage the attention of the influential retail investor community,” said Villani.
Jeff Maser, Co-Founder and CEO, MarketMind, said, “Many technology platforms exist for identifying and soliciting institutional investors, family offices and other large investors. However these products typically struggle to identify, educate and update current and prospective retail investors. It’s more important than ever that companies provide direct investors the same level of service as larger, institutional money managers because these smaller investors now collectively own more of each company’s equity on average than larger investors. MarketMind’s mission is to level the playing field and simultaneously protect companies and investors from inaccurate, biased and often malicious third-party information.”
Mr. Maser is a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in startup ventures, capital markets and investor relations, focusing on technology and consumer products. He has held Founder, CEO and executive-level roles at multiple startups and public companies, as well as corporate finance and registered investor advisory services at boutique investment banks. MarketMind’s AI methodology is designed in large part by his proven approach to engaging investors of all sizes to foster loyal, sustainable investor communities.
MarketMind’s founding team includes Lorne Gorber, a recognized leader in the investor relations community. Top Gun ranked by Brendan Wood for multiple years, Lorne is a Fellow of the Canadian Investor Relations Institute (F.CIRI), has been the past recipient of IR Magazine’s award for best investor relations officer in Canada (large cap) and, over several years led IR teams recognized as Best in the Technology Sector. As the former head of investor relations and global communications at a global technology provider dually-listed on the NYSE and TSX, Mr. Gorber currently advises the CEOs of a number of publicly traded companies as well as earlier-stage SaaS, and digital asset ventures.
GDA Capital, a Toronto-based boutique investment and advisory firm that specializes in fintech and digital assets, assisted with the transaction. Michael Gord, GDA’s Founder and CEO, will join MarketMind’s Advisory Board.
About MarketMind
MarketMind is a pioneering, generative AI-driven investor relations platform tailored for public companies, Reg A issuers and crowdfunded startups. In the dynamic landscape of investment decisions increasingly shaped by AI technologies, MarketMind empowers issuers to better influence these AI platforms’ analytics. A key component of MarketMind’s service is a company-trained, branded chatbot that provides personalized, one-on-one virtual interactions with thousands of retail investors – not influenced by potentially-misleading third-party information. The platform also sends company-controlled information to trading terminals and AI-driven financial analysis platforms including robo-advisors to better inform their users investment decisions. Moreover, it facilitates the integration of additional commentary on disclosure materials to give retail investors a level of insight that was traditionally accessible only to large institutional investors. Visit https://marketmind.live/
About Alpha Transform Holdings
Alpha Transform Holdings (ATH) is an investment and advisory organization that focuses on fintech, AI and digital assets. ATH’s principals have a track record of early investment in ventures that have become “unicorns” and other industry-leading ventures, and its principals take an active role in driving the success of their portfolio companies. Visit https://www.alphatransform.io/
(1) Source: “The Future is Now: Five Waves Reconfiguring Asset Management”, Indefi, March 2022
DISCLAIMER
This report is for informational use only. This is not investment advice or an offering to purchase securities and nothing herein should be interpreted as a recommendation. This information is based on current information that we consider reliable such as, for example, the company pitchbook, website and credible third-party industry reports, but we do not represent it as accurate or complete, and it should not be relied on as such. While MarketMind, Alpha Sigma Capital and Alpha Transform Holdings have obtained data, statistics, and information from sources they believe to be reliable, these parties do not perform an audit or seek independent verification of any of the data, statistics or information they receive. The information, opinions, estimates, and forecasts contained herein are as of the date hereof and are subject to change without prior notification. We seek to update our information as appropriate. Unless otherwise provided in a separate agreement, these parties do not represent that the contents meet all of the presentation and/or disclosure standards applicable in the jurisdiction the recipient is located. These parties and their officers, directors, and employees shall not be responsible or liable for any trading decisions, damages, or other losses resulting from, or related to, the information, data, analyses, or opinions herein. At present, MarketMind does not and does not intend to acquire digital assets. However, it may seek to provide services to parties who may own such assets in cases in cases where MarketMind’s fees are not directly related to the performance of such assets.
CONTACT: Sandra Ditore SVP, Investor Relations Alpha Transform Holdings 312.671.1968 sandra.ditore(at)alphasigma.fund
