A merger agreement between RYVYL and Roundtable was announced on Wednesday.
The merger sets out to make a significant investment in independent journalism and financially support the coverage of — and community building surrounding — the Charlotte Hornets and more than 100 other professional sports teams and university athletic programs.
Within the state of North Carolina, that coverage umbrella includes the Carolina Panthers in the professional realm and both Duke and North Carolina in college.
RYVYL is an innovator of payment transaction solutions, empowering a new way to conduct payment transactions all around the globe.
Roundtable (RTB Digital, Inc.), meanwhile, is a Web3 digital media SaaS technology company that provides publishing and monetization for media brands, journalists and communities.
The transaction is expected to close by year end 2025 — and that is subject to RYVYL stockholders’ approval.
Roundtable founder James Heckman will be the CEO of the newly-merged company. Heckman previously founded and led Maven, which grew into a nine-figure, NYSE public company that provided publishing, distribution and monetization for 300 brands.
“In advance of the public merger with RYVYL, we’ve recently raised $33 million in new capital to support our digital platform to integrate millions of users into our media liquidity pool, designed to autonomize payments, modernize publishing infrastructure and empower the next generation of global media brands," said Heckman.
Among the brands Heckman distributed with Maven include Sports Illustrated, Maxim, History.com, and TheStreet and reached more than 150 million users monthly.
More than 150 Roundtable journalists are already positioned to cover MLB, NFL, NBA NHL and college sports teams inside the United States, plus across the pond with European soccer content.
For instance, this is the eighth basketball season the Hornets Roundtable team will be credentialed to cover the team.