BNRG Update Summer 2024

B2B Sales Underway in Singapore and Europe

Sales pipeline, new clients, and designing the next product iteration — These have been the EMR priorities for summer 2024. Earlier in the year, we completed the MVP around May 1, and several new priorities have since shifted to the top of our list.

• Grant application in Singapore to support commercialization (covers build costs of the next product version following the MVP)
• Business development and offering Proof of Concept projects with forward-looking clients.
• Programme delivery around brain health, neuroplasticity, and thriving after 45.

New Programmes Delivered Successfully

The Singapore context changed substantially following the nation’s Budget 2024 discussions. With much greater government emphasis on the ageing population and workforce, we have seen an uptick in new programmes and business development (described below).

One programme was delivered for BNP Paribas, regionally, raising awareness about brain health, changes in our brain after age 45, and preliminary steps that professionals can take to remain mentally sharp, reduce brain fog, and invest in their future. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, so much so that a follow-up session is scheduled for October.

The SkillsFuture course at Singapore Management University Academy doubled in class size from Cohort 1 to 2, and a 3rd cohort is now scheduled for November, 2024. You can see the course website here — Train Your Brain: How to Improve Brain Health and Thrive After 45.

Portions of the Extend My Runway model will be taught in October at IMD Institute for Management Development (Singapore campus). We also delivered the EMR model at a national career event called Career Forward this past spring in Singapore. The event was standing-room only.

Advancing The MVP to Proof of Concept Projects and Then Full Product Delivery

Business development (BD) and AI build are much less visible compared to programmes and events, but the BD and backend build work are the game-changing activities that everything elsewill reply on.

• Business development is underway in Singapore (SG) and Europe (EU). In SG, we have our first franchisee, and the EMR MVP has been put before more than ten clients this summer. 26 companies have been identified for outreach and BD.
• In addition to the ongoing work with the first anchor client, we have an agreement in place to work with an open finance firm, and we are well down the path toward Proof of Concept (PoC) agreements with two other firms.
• The team in Europe have two business development leads they have focused on.
• All BD conversations are underway, and realistically, we will not likely see any contracts until early Q4 should a firm agreement be struck.
• We are striving to have three PoC concepts this year and contract a full service contract by January, 2025.

Grant Update

All this BD work of course raises questions about funding. Extend My Runway was selected as a finalist and we presented our solution pitch to the grant awarding committee on May 15. The original grant timeline indicated a response between mid-July to September. As of today, there is not yet an official response.

September and early October are thus shaping up to be a critical period. With clarity about funding, we can then answer the remaining question for BNRG holders.

• The outcomes from the grant process and PoC sales will determine the start date of the BNRG buyback programme.

The first half of October seems a reasonable estimate to hopefully answer these questions.

Regardless of the grant outcome, the process has been very fruitful. We have a 9-month plan to build and deliver two full updates to the existing MVP. This includes a budget with clear staffing needs, equipment costs, consulting fees for specialized guidance (e.g., behavioural science) and most importantly, a design for each product version.

We will be able to implement either with a grant or via a customer-funded business model.

BNRG Buyback

Most likely, this does not begin before December 2024. Grants and sales will take us, at least, into mid-October. That said, the issues around Kick.io have been heard and there are a few things we need to consider.

• For private sales, BNRG owners will be offered the buyback first.
• The public sale owners will be offered second.
• BNRG tokens will need to be transferred back to EMR as part of the buyback.
• For some, these guidelines may necessitate reaching out to Kick to see if and when they can reopen the platform. Hopefully, you can get any tokens off Kick, but unfortunately, we have no influence over the owners. Kick has ceased all communication.

More specific terms will be shared when it’s time to begin the buyback. At that same time, we will announce the timeline for Cardano blockchain integration into the EMR platform and a final decision regarding any token exchange or not.

A Final Note About the Product Name

Let’s close this update by sharing the name of the product. We decided to name the platform by focusing on the customer's needs and experience.

• Thrive! Virtual Coach — nudge the right action at the right time using our hyper-personalized, AI-powered coach.
• “Unlock peak brain performance and thrive — at any age or stage”

With a clear message, a book project is underway. We are working with a New York Times journalist to have chapters finished this calendar year and into the hands of potential publishers. The book will drive home these same themes

That’s the update at the end of summer 2024. Let’s aim for an update in the second half of October as the necessary news comes in.