DES MOINES, IA–(Marketwired – Oct 16, 2013) – The SpendSmart Payments Company (PINKSHEETS: SSPC), a provider of prepaid payment programs, announced today it has agreed to acquire SMS Masterminds (“SMS Masterminds”), an innovator in the rapidly growing mobile marketing industry. SMS Masterminds provides SMS-based Mobile Loyalty Solutions primarily to small and medium sized businesses, addressing a worldwide mobile advertising market forecast to reach $11.3 billion in 2014, according to eMarketer.
SMS Masterminds’ multiple revenue streams include mobile commerce services, an excellent strategic fit for SpendSmart in the payments space. SMS Masterminds also has installed loyalty tablets at retail locations across the U.S., with plans to expand their nationwide rollout significantly in 2014. SpendSmart will leverage SMS Masterminds’ retail merchant network to promote existing and new prepaid card programs. The combined entities will also be positioned to market its portfolio of prepaid card solutions to the 1.2 million customers currently signed up for SMS Masterminds’ mobile loyalty programs.SMS Masterminds has been profitable every year since inception. In 2013, its first year of eligibility, SMS Masterminds ranked No. 731 on the 2013 Inc. 500|5000 list of fastest growing companies in America and ranked No. 66 on the list of Top Software Companies on the Inc. 500|5000.

“As mobile’s share of advertising budgets, customer relationship management, and e-commerce continues to grow, mobile has become a critical channel coupling marketing and payments for goods and services. This acquisition completes our ability to deliver a suite of products, services and marketing channels to both sides of the payments cycle — cardholders and merchants. It inherently points to a significant opportunity for SpendSmart where mobile marketing, loyalty and payment solutions intersect,” stated Bill Hernandez, President of The SpendSmart Payments Company. “We see an excellent long term opportunity where SpendSmart can be a key segment player in mobile marketing, loyalty and commerce. In the immediate and near term, we believe there are a broad range of benefits to our Company as a result of this acquisition including high-margin recurring revenues and the opportunity to offer our SpendSmart cards to SMS Masterminds’ 1.2 million subscribers as well as driving additional in-store sales and customer loyalty for SMS merchants.”

SMS Masterminds’ CEO Alex Minicucci commented, “We have profitably grown SMS Masterminds to a point where our company is ready to broaden our offering and our reach. As part of The SpendSmart Payments Company, we are creating synergies that we believe will further accelerate our growth rate. Mobile marketing is evolving into mobile commerce, which inherently calls for the integration of payment systems. Our entire team is very excited to capitalize on new market opportunities as part of The SpendSmart Payments Company.”

The closing of the asset purchase agreement is contingent upon the customary closing conditions, including, but not limited to the completion of due diligence.
For further information on the acquisition, please refer to the Company’s Form 8K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For more information, please visit: www.spendsmartcard.com

About The SpendSmart Payments Company

The SpendSmart Payments Company, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: SSPC) is making money smarter. The Company is expanding its prepaid debit card services from issuing its own cards to select user demographic segments, to the providing SpendSmart Program Manager services to third-party card issuers. The Company’s primary product, the SpendSmart Prepaid MasterCard for teens, offers resources to families with teens who want to learn responsible spending habits. The SpendSmart card provides its users with modern methods of developing financial literacy, centered around a card solution for parents who aim to guide their teens in making sensible, economic choices. The card helps open the lines of communication between parent and teen by tracking spending in real time and, ultimately, creates teachable moments around smart spending habits. For more information, please explore www.spendsmartcard.com.

Annamaria Chen sits down with Max Garcia, the COO and co-founder of B.Gold, to talk about his clothing line which has become a fast favorite among music artists including 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, and The Wanted.

We’ve received a lot of feedback on the Urban Guidebook from New Yorkers who want to know why we haven’t included walking in New York. In this edition of the Urban Guidebook we hit the polls to get your opinions on the most annoying things about walking around new york city and our host Annamaria Chen breaks down your top picks.

The NYC Urban Guidebook is a comedic video series which aims to help visitors better understand the in-and-outs of New York City. The series is currently streaming on the ClearVISION Network, an innovative in-airport TV network which features the best entertainment, news, music, and sports programming for travelers.

Interview w/ West Australian Distilling Company Co-Founder Andy Nye

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: RNN), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it has signed an exclusive license agreement with the Ohio State Innovation Foundation, an affiliate of The Ohio State University, for a novel oligonucleotide drug delivery platform, Lipid-Coated Albumin Nanoparticle (LCAN), developed at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy. In preclinical studies, the LCAN platform has demonstrated the ability to deliver oligonucleotide compounds into cancer tumors, which can result in improved safety and efficacy. Rexahn’s first preclinical candidate to be developed with this delivery platform will be RX-0201-nano.

“The LCAN platform allows Rexahn to specifically target cancer tumors with oligonucleotides in a way that increases potency and reduces side effects, and is a broad platform that has the ability to generate multiple therapeutic candidates going forward. We will initially move forward with RX-0201-nano as the first candidate from the LCAN platform, and we anticipate entering the clinic with the first candidate within two years,” stated Peter D. Suzdak, Ph.D., Rexahn’s Chief Executive Officer. “Furthermore, the platform also offers Rexahn the ability to use this delivery platform to enhance and create additional next generation oligonucleotide therapies.”

LCAN incorporates both cationic lipid and a cationized albumin that can form an electrostatic complex with oligonucleotides and be co-encapsulated by lipids. It also has a targeting moiety conjugated on the surface to direct the LCAN directly to the cancer tumors. RX-0201-nano is a nanoliposomal Akt1 inhibitor, similar to the Company’s Archexin® which may be effective in solid tumors and hematological malignancies and has shown high efficiency and good stability in preclinical studies.

Robert J. Lee, Ph.D., researcher at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy and the inventor of the LCAN technology, commented, “The LCAN platform represents a significant advancement in targeted delivery of oligonucleotides to cancer tumors. Other types of formulation approaches have been tried in the past but none offered such potent activity for the targeted delivery of an oligonucleotide to the cancer tumor.”

About Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing best-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Rexahn currently has three clinical stage oncology candidates, Archexin®, RX-3117, and RX-5902 and a robust pipeline of preclinical compounds to treat multiple types of cancer. Rexahn has also developed proprietary drug discovery platform technologies in the areas of Nano-Polymer-Drug Conjugate Systems (NPDCS), nano-medicines, 3D-GOLD, and TIMES. For more information, please visit www.rexahn.com.

About The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy

Established in 1885, The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy is a leader in pharmaceutical education, research and clinical practice. As part of one of the most comprehensive health sciences campuses in the nation, the college is home to world-class faculty, dedicated researchers and top students who are leading the way in pharmacy education, practice and research. The college’s graduate programs are currently ranked 7th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

About The Ohio State University:

Ohio State is a dynamic community of diverse resources, where opportunity thrives and where individuals transform themselves and the world. Founded in 1870, The Ohio State University is a world-class public research university and the leading comprehensive teaching and research institution in the state of Ohio. With more than 63,000 students (including 57,000 in Columbus), the Wexner Medical Center, 14 colleges, 80 centers, and 175 majors, the university offers its students tremendous breadth and depth of opportunity in the liberal arts, the sciences, and the professions.

If you have ever wanted to run away and join the circus or you’re looking for a fun and innovative way to get in shape then the STREB LAB for ACTION MECHANICS (S.L.A.M.) will be your new favorite place. Flip and roll inside of the German Wheel or swing away your calories at the España/STREB Trapeze Academy. If heights aren’t your thing try out one of Streb’s other action packed classes that include POP ACTION, Tightrope, Trampoline and Parkour. Our Host Annamaria Chen visits S.L.A.M. to learn how to flip, fly, and free fall from the STREB Extreme Action Company.

S.L.A.M. (STREB LABORATORY for ACTION MECHANICS)
51 North 1st Street
Brooklyn, New York, 11249
www.STREB.org

Corporate Profile visits Occult Store Enchantments, East Village, NYC

There are very few things that are as synonymous with NYC as the yellow taxi cab, but like most things there are some DO’s and DON’TS when trying to catch a cab, so in this edition of the Urban Guidebook, our host Annamaria Chen takes on the Taxi. We’re not only showing you how to successfully hail a cab but we’re sharing our pro tips so you don’t get taken for a ride.

The NYC Urban Guidebook is a comedic video series which aims to help visitors better understand the in-and-outs of New York City. The series is currently streaming on the ClearVISION Network, an innovative in-airport TV network which features the best entertainment, news, music, and sports programming for travelers.