Highlights
- Endeavour Drinks Group plans marketing and promotional activities of OpenDNA’s Artificial Intelligence powered Drinks Library App
- OpenDNA shortlisted by Oracle Singapore as part of a program that will give the Company access to Oracle’s customers and partners
- Progressive discussions with prospective customers across a multitude of sectors
- Research and development activities continue towards formulation and implementation of EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) solution
- Strategic and group-wide review of all expenditure undertaken
Artificial Intelligence company OpenDNA Limited (ASX: OPN) (“OpenDNA” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide shareholders with the Company’s quarterly activities report and Appendix 4C for the Quarter ended 30 June 2018.
Customer Arrangements
Endeavour Drinks Group
As announced by the Company on 5 April 2018, Endeavour Drinks Group (“Endeavour”) successfully launched its Drinks Library App, which is powered by OpenDNA’s Artificial Intelligence System (“AIS”). Endeavour is operated by Woolworths Limited, which is the owner of the Dan Murphy’s, BWS and CellarMasters brands (amongst others).
During the Quarter, Endeavour commenced planning various activities designed to market and promote the Drinks Library App. A marketing campaign due to commence in the Quarter ending 30 September 2018, will target over 3 million of their existing customers providing further information about the App. This, together with other marketing initiatives aimed at a wider audience, is being undertaken by Endeavour to increase awareness and user adoption.
The Company is also in discussions with Endeavour with respect to the next phases of development. All development work will be fully funded by Endeavour and the Company will also generate ongoing revenue through a fixed monthly content sourcing and cataloguing fee as well as variable monthly user subscription fees.
Business Development
Oracle Singapore
During the Quarter, OpenDNA was shortlisted by Oracle Singapore’s accelerator program, a next-generation acceleration initiative whereby Oracle Singapore will select 5 companies to work with and foster co-development and co-innovation, throughout all stages of their growth and development.
A total of 306 companies applied for the program. OpenDNA is 1 of 10 companies shortlisted to advance to the next and final round, with the final selection being made in late August 2018.
This is a strong testament to OpenDNA’s technology and in its ability to attract the attention of a world class technology company such as Oracle. If selected, OpenDNA will receive several valuable benefits, including:
- Access to Oracle customers and partners to drive revenue and future growth
- Access to investors
- Cloud infrastructure to rapidly scale OpenDNA’s AI
Sales Pipeline
During the Quarter, discussions have advanced with a number of prospective customers with respect to adopting OpenDNA’s technology. Currently open prospects include companies operating within the Financial Services, Banking, Insurance and Telecoms sectors.
The pipeline of potential customers is robust and the Company will advise the market immediately on entering into any material legally binding commercial arrangements with such prospects.
Other activities
As part of the Company’s strategy, it is also in discussions with several well-known global technology brands to form similar relationships to that contemplated with Oracle, that will enable the Company to rapidly expand its global footprint and its potential to attract large businesses as customers for its AI technology.
EU General Data Protection Regulations
As announced by the Company on 26 April 2018, OpenDNA is undertaking various research and develop activities to ensure its AIS, ancillary products and tools comply with the European Union General Data Protection Regulations (“GDPR”). GDPR is a new EU regulation governing consumers’ private information, which came into effect on 25 May 2018. This regulation will have a significant impact on how organisations worldwide manage their users’ data and privacy.
The introduction of GDPR presents a significant leverage point for OpenDNA. Through the adoption and use of OpenDNA’s AIS, customers will not only comply with the GDPR regulations but will also have the ability to understand in real-time their individual user’s interests, likes, dislikes, wants and needs. In turn, businesses can use this information to automatically personalise the experiences of the individual user without violating their data privacy rights by essentially giving the user total control over their own data.
Financial position and cash management
As noted in the attached Appendix 4C, the Company held A$669k in cash and cash equivalents as at 30 June 2018.
During the Quarter, the Board of Directors conducted a strategic review which included a review of all expenditure and, as part of various ongoing cost reduction measures, the Directors continue to defer payment of their fees. To further preserve cash, the Board is considering the potential settlement of amounts owing to the Directors by way of the issue of shares in the Company (which would need to be subject to shareholder approval).
A number of other expenditures have either ceased or reduced, including expenditure relating to full-time employees, external advisors and external service providers.
As the majority of pure development expenditure has been incurred in previous periods, the cash burn has already been reduced accordingly. However, these additional cost reduction measures, together with a strategic review that is currently being undertaken, will ensure the Company continues to operate in an efficient manner.
OpenDNA’s Chief Executive Officer and MD, Jay Shah, said:
“The Quarter has involved rationalising and optimizing internal functions as the main phase of development is now complete. In parallel to this we continue to develop a strong sales pipeline in banking, telecoms and other industry sectors and work towards forming strategic partnerships with global technology companies to ultimately drive revenue.
The changes in the world’s view of data privacy have aided in organizations ramping up their interest in and use of AI technology to help automate a number of these tasks, as well as to provide greater insights into their customers without violating their data privacy.
OpenDNA will update the market in due course as agreements are finalized and work commences with customers.”
