The wait is over for Taylor Swift fans. Tickets for T-Swift's "Reputation" stadium tour are officially on sale, and Ticketmaster is helping her fight the fraud bots. Together, the pair created an exclusive program called "Taylor Swift Tix". Amy Howe, COO at Ticketmaster joined us to discuss how it not only helps the company and the artist, but also the fans.
One problem plaguing the ticket industry is scalpers and fraudulent bots. The goal of the exclusive program is to ensure tickets get directly into the hands of fans. Ticketmaster issued a warning about unofficial sellers who offer to sell tickets before they even have them.
Howe also touched on Ticketmaster's collaboration with the NFL. With the NFL playoffs around the corner, Ticketmaster is working to make sure fans get access to tickets using its 100% Verified Tickets platform, which ensures the ticket is real. The deal also marks a transition to the first fully digital ticketing system in sports.
The capital of Kyiv is home to more than 1,000 tech startups.
Some of the prominent tech companies founded in Ukraine include names like 'Grammarly' and 'GitLab,' but even companies that aren't based in Ukraine rely on the massive amount of tech talent in the country. Andy Kurtzig, CEO of Justanswer, joins Cheddar News to discuss how he's aiding hundreds of his employees in Ukraine.
Mark Clerkin, Head of Trading at CoinList, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he elaborates on the range of features his platform offers, from investing in up-and-coming tokens to trading, and says his company is eager to partner with Block CEO Jack Dorsey on future projects.
Music-focused NFT platform Pianity raising $6.5 million in a seed funding round. Pianity has developed a marketplace that allows musicians to sell their tracks as limited edition NFTs. Since its launch last year, the company says it has already sold 11,000 NFTs and artists have earned over $1.1 million from NFT sales. Kevin Primicerio, co-founder and CEO of Pianity, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
ZipRecruiter reported revenue growth for the fourth quarter of 2021 and raised its forecast for the coming year, beating Wall Street expectations. The recruitment site has benefited from one of the tightest labor markets in history as companies desperately try to fill empty positions. Ian Siegel, CEO of ZipRecruiter, joined Cheddar to discuss how the company has adapted to The Great Resignation, a tight labor market, and record inflation.
Ford is looking to charge its electric business forward -- splitting its EVs and legacy internal combustion engine models into separate units. Ford says the split will streamline its EV business and boost profits, while giving it a better competitive edge. Ford's new EV focused business will be called Ford Model e. Greg Martin, Co-Founder, Rainmaker Securities joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Velo3d, a company that provides metal 3D printed parts for companies such as SpaceX, reported a boost in Q4 revenue quarter over quarter. Founder and CEO Benny Buller, joined Cheddar News to discuss the earnings and the foundation of the company's current success. "The whole space sector is about 25 percent of our business. We have a lot of business in aviation, in power generation, in energy, and in semiconductors. I would say that the big jump in our revenue is related to the release of our Sapphire XC, which is a scale-up product reducing costs by about three times compared to the first Sapphire machines," he said. "This allows customers to dramatically reduce costs as well as make much bigger parts."
