Collective Audience CEO, Peter Bordes, Appointed to Symitri’s All-Star Board of Digital Tech Executives and Investors

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2024 / Collective Audience, Inc. (NASDAQ-GM:CAUD), an industry-leading audience-based advertising and media platform for the open web, announced that its CEO, Peter Bordes, was appointed to the board of directors of Symitri, the world's first integrated privacy firewall and real-time data cleanroom for the open web.

As a lifelong entrepreneur, industry thought leader and venture investor, Bordes brings to the board more than 30 years of experience leading private and public companies driving innovation in the AdTech, media, AI, fintech and technology sectors.

He has founded, led and served on the boards of numerous companies whose innovations have driven digital transformation and disrupted the world of digital media and advertising.

Bordes is also the founder and managing partner of Trajectory Ventures, a venture capital platform comprised of operators, founders, and entrepreneurs focused on advancing digital technologies with investments in more than 100 tech innovators.

Trajectory Ventures recently joined KB Partners, AperiamVentures and several media industry luminaries in a $5 million financing round to support the launch of Symitri's privacy-enhancing technology platform.Symitri's innovative approach to privacy and data protection enables media buyers and sellers to make an instant, deterministic identity connection, but without pushing any personal data into the bidstream.

Bordes joins with other recently appointed board members who have committed to help advance Symitri's groundbreaking solution that balances the long-term sustainability of open internet advertising with every individual's fundamental right to privacy.

"Peter brings a wealth of tech and media expertise to our product and go-to-market strategy," stated Bill Wheaton, Symitri's co-founder and new chairman who previously served as chief strategy officer and EVP of Media at Akamai Technologies. "Peter has witnessed firsthand how the more than 30 years of unfettered access to consumer data has powered everything from innovation to marketing and sales. Data has been the foundation that supports much of the free, ad-supported internet, and few companies can operate without consumer data."

"However, government regulation and third-party signal loss threaten the interests of businesses and consumers alike," continued Wheaton. "For the open web to survive, we must find a way to balance the need for data with the privacy consumers want and deserve. We believe we've created this balance with Symitri, and under the guidance of Peter and our other new board members, the time has come to bring this technology to the global market."

The other new Symitri board members include highly accomplished tech executives and investors, Keith Bank and Jeff White.

As a veteran tech executive and currently managing partner at TB Partners and chairman of Media Analytics, White understands the power of disruptive technology from his executive experience at several successful tech companies, including PodTV, Wheelhouse Analytics, HP, Agilent, and Fingerworks. White co-founded and eventually sold Fingerworks to Apple, where its multitouch technology served as the foundation for the iPhone and iPad.

Bank brings to the board nearly 30 years of experience in tech and investments, including more than 70 startups with successful exits to Intel, Oracle, Sony Interactive and others.

Symitri co-founder and CEO, David Kohl, who joined Collective Audience's Advisor Collective earlier this year, served as CEO of TRUSTX for more than seven years before it was acquired by Symitri in May. TRUSTX's industry-disruptive programmatic marketplace was formed by more than 30 of the world's top premium publishers.

"Privacy is a fundamental human right that must be protected," noted Kohl. "Yet we also need to sustain the traditional business models that have long supported professional journalism and the high-quality lifestyle, sports and entertainment content we take for granted. Symitri creates a new foundation for the ad-supported open Internet that eliminates the need for publishers and advertisers to choose between performance, precision and privacy.

"Our solution seamlessly integrates into the existing programmatic ecosystem while delivering on all three of these key elements. We look forward to working closely with Peter, Collective Audience and our other new board members as we launch this groundbreaking technology."

Kohl has been among several new members of the Advisor Collective who have been providing Collective Audience strategic guidance and access to industry luminaries. Their efforts have led to the formation of several key partnerships and joint ventures with major industry players, including Insticator, Reset Digital and Genesis. This also includes a number of transformative acquisitions underway that include BeOp and DSL Digital.

As Collective Audience's new CEO, Bordes has been leading the growth and development of Collective Audience's new end-to-end platform, AudienceDesk™ powered by AudienceCloud™. The cloud-based infrastructure platform was designed from the ground up as a next-generation integrated digital advertising and media ecosystem. The solution empowers brands, agencies and publishers with audience-based performance advertising and media solutions in a way that unlocks unrealized value and introduces a new level of integrated collaboration.

Bordes recognizes the data privacy Catch-22 for advertisers as well as Symitri's potential to stave off the unwanted consequences for all stakeholders in the digital economy: "It's not hard to see why many brands favor walled gardens with its seemingly unlimited consumer data, rather than transacting across the open web. Advertisers are loath to risk exposing their valuable customer data to an unknown number of third parties. We see Symitri offering a simple and seamless way to neutralize this risk."

"I think of Symitri as the new ‘dial-tone' for the digital economy, securing personal data across the open web in the background so that now advertisers can support this vital part of our media economy without the associated risk," added Bordes. "We believe Symitri is the most advanced system for real-time, privacy-safe audience matching, measurement and reporting in an open web environment. We see many potential partnership opportunities between Symitri and AudienceCloud, with the aim of eliminating the need for advertisers and publishers to share their most-valuable audience data in the bidstream.

To learn more about Symitri and what its groundbreaking solutions can mean for your business, go to Symitri.com. For more about Collective Audience's AudienceDesk™ powered by AudienceCloud™, visit CollectiveAudience.co.

About Symitri

Symitri, Inc. is the world's first integrated privacy firewall and real-time data cleanroom for the open web. Designed to balance the economic viability of open-web programmatic advertising with the growing global demand for consumer privacy, Symitri is a seamless EZ-button for buyer-defined deterministic campaign targeting, measurement and attribution, without exposing any personal data - pseudonymous or otherwise - in the bidstream. Discover more at Symitri.com, or follow Symitri on LinkedIn.

For the AdTech providers and media buyers who come onto Collective Audience's platform, they can leverage audience data as a new asset class, powered by AI as an intelligence layer to guide decision-making. To learn more, visit CollectiveAudience.co.

Important Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain statements that are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "should," "would," "plan," "predict," "potential," "seem," "seek," "future," "outlook" and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included in this press release, regarding the company's future financial performance, as well as the company's strategy, future operations, estimated financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of the management of Collective Audience and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of Collective Audience. Potential risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our need for additional capital which may not be available on commercially acceptable terms, if at all, which raises questions about our ability to continue as a going concern; our ability to file our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 within the period provided by Nasdaq to do so, and/or to timely submit an acceptable plan to regain compliance with the Nasdaq continued listing rules within the period provided by Nasdaq; our ability to timely file our subsequent periodic reports with the SEC; our ability to maintain the listing of our common stock on Nasdaq; our ability to consummate previously announced pending acquisitions of BeOp and/or DSL Digital; changes in domestic and foreign business, market, financial, political and legal conditions; unanticipated conditions that could adversely affect the company; the overall level of consumer demand for Collective Audience's products/services; general economic conditions and other factors affecting consumer confidence, preferences, and behavior; disruption and volatility in the global currency, capital, and credit markets; the financial strength of Collective Audience's customers; Collective Audience's ability to implement its business strategy; changes in governmental regulation, Collective Audience's exposure to litigation claims and other loss contingencies; disruptions and other impacts to Collective Audience's business, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and government actions and restrictive measures implemented in response; ; any breaches of, or interruptions in, Collective Audience's information systems; changes in tax laws and liabilities, legal, regulatory, political and economic risks. More information on potential factors that could affect Collective Audience's financial results is included from time to time in Collective Audience's public reports filed with the SEC. If any of these risks materialize or Collective Audience's assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that Collective Audience presently knows, or that Collective Audience currently believes are immaterial, that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect Collective Audience's expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. Nothing in this press release should be regarded as a representation by any person that the forward-looking statements set forth herein will be achieved or that any of the contemplated results of such forward-looking statements will be achieved. Collective Audience anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause their assessments to change. However, while Collective Audience may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Collective Audience specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Collective Audience's assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements.

Symitri Media Contact:
Rachel Pasqua
Symitri, Inc.
Tel +1 917-683-1688
Rachel@symitri.com
Social Media: X and LinkedIn.

Collective Audience Company Contact:

Peter Bordes, CEO
Collective Audience, Inc.
Email contact

Collective Audience Investor Contact:
Ron Both
CMA Investor Relations
Tel +1 (949) 432-7566
Email contact

Collective Audience Media Contact:
Tim Randall
CMA Media Relations
Tel +1 (949) 432-7572
Email contact

SOURCE: Collective Audience