Newsroom

BlockBooster today announced the launch of BlockBooster Digital Venture Fund I, a $50 million growth-stage platform focused on four verticals: AI infrastructure, on-chain trading ecosystems, on-chain asset management, and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. The fund marks BlockBooster's formal entry as a full-stack alternative asset manager in the digital economy.

Fund I: Investment Strategy

BlockBooster Digital Venture Fund I targets growth-stage opportunities across its four core verticals, prioritizing projects where BlockBooster's domain expertise, ecosystem relationships, and operational capabilities create meaningful strategic value beyond capital. The fund focuses on projects and platforms building institutional-grade infrastructure and products for the digital economy, serving both institutional participants and a broader base of investors and users.

Building on a Proven Foundation

Founded in 2023 and backed by leading institutional investors including OKX Ventures, BlockBooster established its track record as a hands-on venture studio, deploying proprietary capital to co-build infrastructure and applications across leading blockchain networks. That operational experience, spanning product development, ecosystem growth, and institutional partnerships, forms the foundation on which the firm's asset management platform is now built.

"We have always believed that true incubation is the most active form of asset management," said Samuel Gu, founder and CEO of BlockBooster. "Our venture studio years were our proof of concept. With the launch of our inaugural fund, we are institutionalizing that capability into a full-stack alternative asset platform — one that doesn't just invest in the future, but actively incubates and manages it."

A Dual-Engine Platform

BlockBooster's strategy is structured around two interconnected engines.

The Incubation Engine engages at co-founder depth across digital-native projects, institutional-grade RWA tokenization, and foundational infrastructure. BlockBooster takes active roles in product design, team building, go-to-market execution, and ecosystem development, creating proprietary deal flow that conventional fund managers cannot access.

The Capital Management Engine captures and compounds the value generated by those incubated assets through dedicated fund vehicles. BlockBooster Digital Venture Fund I is the first such vehicle. As the digital asset market matures, BlockBooster plans to expand into adjacent strategies including private equity, buyout, and private credit.

The two engines are designed to reinforce each other: capital accelerates the growth of incubated assets, while the performance of those assets strengthens BlockBooster's track record and supports future capital formation.

Positioned for the Next Era

With an established presence across Asia and the Middle East, and institutional relationships across global financial centers, BlockBooster is building toward a future where its platform operates at the scale and rigor of the world's leading alternative asset managers.

The fund's inaugural portfolio investment will be announced in the coming weeks.

About BlockBooster

BlockBooster is an on-chain alternative asset management firm operating on a dual-engine business model: co-investing and incubating projects alongside leading public blockchain networks, while providing institutional-grade on-chain asset management services spanning yield strategies, private equity, private credit, and RWA tokenization. As a value co-builder, we are committed to unlocking the long-term potential of these assets and delivering exceptional value to our partners and investors in the digital economy. For more information, visit www.blockbooster.io.

Media Contact

Samuel Gu
media@blockbooster.io

Dr. Martin Wächtler, a physician with Munich Clinic Schwabing, is drawing international attention following a recent presentation highlighting integrated health care models supporting migrant populations. The models are designed to improve infectious disease management among children and vulnerable populations. This work reflects a coordinated effort within the city of Munich's public health service to align clinical expertise with community-based care amid increased migration across Europe.

Dr. Wächtler has served in the city of Munich's public health system since 2020, where he applies his experience in internal medicine, infectious diseases, and hepatology. His latest contributions center on programs developed in response to the migration and Ukraine crises. These programs connect hospital resources with public health initiatives to address care access, disease monitoring, and early intervention.

Located in the center of Munich, the Munich Clinic Schwabing is a major, historic hospital that has been operating for over 100 years. Dr. Wächtler works as an internist and infectiologist at the hospital, where he is dedicated to providing top-notch patient care. 

Scalable Health Solutions Expand in Munich

The integrated care models presented by Dr. Wächtler aim to improve coordination between hospitals, public health offices, and social services. Health officials in Munich have placed increasing emphasis on scalable solutions that can respond to shifting population needs. Dr. Wächtler's work highlights how clinical frameworks can adapt to support children and families entering the health system under complex circumstances.

Dr. Wächtler’s presentations at national congresses and academic forums have focused on practical outcomes, including improved disease tracking and more consistent care delivery across institutions. The approach also reflects broader efforts within Germany to strengthen collaboration between the public health infrastructure and university-affiliated hospitals.

Contributions to Infectious Disease Research

Dr. Wächtler's recent work builds on a long history in infectious disease research and clinical care. He spent more than three decades at Munich Clinic Schwabing, where he worked from 1988 to 2020 across multiple departments, including hematology, oncology, immunology, palliative medicine, infectiology, and tropical medicine.

During this time, Dr. Wächtler also contributed to research at University Hospital Großhadern in Munich. As part of a dedicated working group within the Department of Gastroenterology, he supported hepatitis C research. “I helped discover the hepatitis C virus by providing many blood samples to our immunology team,” he says. His involvement spanned 23 years and included co-authorship on numerous publications in hepatology.

Dr. Wächtler played an active role during the AIDS crisis, contributing to HIV-related research and clinical work. “My focus has always been on opportunistic infections in HIV infection, as well as counseling colleagues and providing education on this topic,” he said. A milestone in his early career occurred when he encountered some of the first AIDS patients in Europe during his time in Frankfurt.

A Commitment to Migrant Health Issues 

Alongside his research and public health responsibilities, Dr. Wächtler has maintained a strong commitment to medical education. He has emphasized the importance of continuous learning and interdisciplinary communication throughout his career. His experience in both hospital and public health settings has informed his approach to teaching and mentoring.

Colleagues note that his work often reflects a balance between clinical care and broader system-level thinking. His recent focus on migrant health continues this pattern, bringing together experience from hospital practice, research and public service.

Coordinated Health Care Responses in European Cities

The increased movement of populations across Europe has placed new demands on health systems, particularly in urban centers such as Munich. Dr. Wächtler’s integrated care models are part of the growing effort to address these pressures through coordinated planning and shared resources.

Health authorities continue to evaluate how such models can be expanded or adapted in other regions. Dr. Wächtler's contributions provide a case study in how long-standing clinical expertise can inform current public health priorities while responding to evolving demographic realities.

About Dr. Martin Wächtler

Dr. Martin Wächtler is an internist and infectious disease specialist at Munich Clinic Schwabing and a physician in Munich’s public health system. He focuses on developing integrated care models to improve infectious disease management for migrant and vulnerable populations. With more than 30 years of experience, Dr. Wächtler has worked across multiple medical disciplines and contributed to research in hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS. His work bridges clinical care and public health to improve coordination, access and outcomes in complex healthcare settings.

About Marquis Who's Who

Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who’s Who in America®, Marquis Who’s Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who’s Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms worldwide. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who’s Who® website, marquiswhoswho.com.

Media Contact

Amanda Lauener
amanda@ascendagency.com

Texture, the grid software platform that provides utilities a single view of every device and data source on their network, today announced a $12.5 million Series A co-led by VoLo Earth Ventures and Equal Ventures, with participation from Lerer Hippeau and Abstract Ventures. The funding supports a platform already operational at utility cooperatives and energy companies, providing the coherent data infrastructure needed to operate the grid in real time.

Power utilities are operating a system that's drifted far from what it was originally built to handle. Grids built for one-way power flow are now expected to coordinate insatiable demand from data centers, manage increased congestion, integrate utility-scale renewables, manage local networks amid an influx of electric vehicles and distributed generation, and harden transmission assets against extreme weather, all at once. At the same time, they're being asked to ensure the wave of new technologies being deployed to modernize the grid — AI, sensors, grid-enhancing technologies, advanced metering — actually delivers on the investment.

Texture connects to any meter, device, or data source, giving operators a real-time picture of the system state. AMI systems, SCADA, batteries, EVs, solar, and smart thermostats all flow into a single layer where alerts surface when action is needed. The platform doesn't require rip-and-replace of existing systems or dedicated engineering teams to manage it.

Market Entry Through Co-ops

Texture's offering is gaining early traction at utility cooperatives, member-owned organizations serving 42 million Americans across distributed and rural territory, including 92% of the country's persistent-poverty counties. Co-ops manage coal plant retirements, data center load growth, and aging infrastructure with teams and budgets that are a fraction of those of investor-owned utilities. Enterprise grid software was built for utilities ten times their size. Texture provides the same capabilities without enterprise budgets or multi-year implementations.

"Co-ops kept telling me the same thing," said Sanjiv Sanghavi, Texture's co-founder and CEO. "They wanted to run modern grid programs but didn't have software built for their scale or budget. A co-op serving 15,000 members shouldn't have to build custom technology to launch a battery program or manage transformer load. We built Texture so they don't have to."

Unlike legacy vendors with multi-year implementation timelines, utilities using Texture are operational within days. The platform connects to existing systems, models the data into a coherent layer, and makes it available where operators need it.

Capital Deferral and Market Access

The platform's real-time monitoring alerts operators to transformer overload, voltage anomalies, and outage risk before failures occur. A home that adds an EV can double its energy draw overnight. Multiplied across a neighborhood, that kind of load shift puts real stress on distribution infrastructure that was never sized for it. Texture sees that signal at the meter level and traces its impact up through the feeder, giving operators a chance to act before a transformer fails. Transformer prices have risen as much as 95% since 2019, according to Wood Mackenzie, and lead times on large units now exceed two years. Preventing a single failure avoids not just replacement cost but months of operational exposure.

Vermont Electric Cooperative, one of the country's few carbon-neutral utilities and widely cited as among the most innovative co-ops in the northeast, uses Texture to monitor its grid and manage hundreds of batteries across its service territory.

"As a co-op, our job is to provide affordable, reliable energy to our members. The challenge is that we have so many systems, and the data is spread out. You can't afford to spend half the day just hunting down the right numbers. Texture helps us bring that visibility into one place, so we're not chasing information just to figure out what to do next," said Peter Rossi, COO of Vermont Electric Cooperative.

Through Texture, co-ops gain access to hardware integrations they couldn't secure on their own. Many of the biggest OEMs require minimum deployment thresholds before providing direct data access. Texture has already built those integrations, with first-party connections to 50+ OEMs, including Tesla, FranklinWH, Honeywell, Ecobee, and SolarEdge, with direct relationships and service-level agreements. Ann Arbor's Sustainable Energy Utility used that access to launch a community battery program with FranklinWH across 100 homes, operational as of March 2026.

Partnership and Deployments

Along with the funding, Texture is partnering with NRTC, whose network represents 850 utility co-ops across the country. Through the relationship, Texture will provide member co-ops with access to grid management infrastructure previously available only to larger utilities.

"Our members are under pressure to integrate new resources and manage a growing load, without adding headcount or relying on vendors whose products weren't built for co-ops. We've partnered with Texture to offer the NRTC DERMS powered by Texture, giving co-ops a practical way to coordinate batteries, thermostats, and other distributed resources in real time," said Milt Geiger, VP of Smart Grid Solutions, NRTC.

Kareem Dabbagh, Managing Partner at VoLo Earth Ventures, joined Texture's board as part of the financing. "Co-ops are managing the hardest grid transitions happening right now. Coal plant closures, battery deployments in rural communities, and data center load growth that wasn't in anyone's forecast five years ago. Texture is the infrastructure layer that makes those programs work. That's why VoLo and Equal came in together on this round and why I joined the board," said Dabbagh.

"Our initial thesis was that APIs and data connectivity would be enough. We were wrong in the best possible way. What Texture has evolved into is the operating layer the energy industry has been missing: the infrastructure that lets utilities and VPPs actually act on their data, not just collect it. The teams building this industry's future need a foundation they can trust. That's what Texture is becoming, and it's why we're doubling down," said Rick Zullo, co-founder and General Partner, Equal Ventures.

The Series A brings Texture's total funding to approximately $23 million. The capital will fund team growth and platform expansion. Texture has integrations with leading OEM and energy data companies, including Tesla, FranklinWH, Honeywell, Ecobee, SolarEdge, Leap Energy, and WattTime, and has completed its SOC 2 Type I and Type II security certifications.

About Texture

Texture is a grid software platform built for the decisions utility operators make under pressure. The platform connects to any meter, device, or data source and provides real-time monitoring, outage detection, transformer load tracking, and DER coordination. Co-ops, municipal utilities, and energy companies use Texture to prevent hardware failures, manage rising load, and coordinate distributed resources without enterprise budgets or multi-year implementations. Headquartered in New York City. Learn more at texturehq.com.

Media Contact

Fiana Tulip
Mahoney Communications Group
fiana@mahoneycommunications.com

Human Resources Mexico (HRM), a Mexico-based employer of record (EOR), marks 17 years of operations as Mexico continues evolving through major labor, compliance, and workplace reforms affecting foreign employers.

Founded in 2009, prior to the widespread emergence of global EOR platform models, Human Resources Mexico (HRM) has operated exclusively in Mexico with a physical office and dedicated Mexican team focused on employment administration, payroll, compliance, and workforce management within Mexico’s legal framework.

Over the past 17 years, Mexico’s employment environment has undergone substantial transformation, including labor outsourcing reforms, remote work regulations, strengthened workplace compliance standards, and constitutional-level equality reforms. According to Human Resources Mexico (HRM), these developments have reinforced the importance of localized compliance management and direct understanding of Mexico’s Federal Labor Law, Social Security Law, and constitutional employment protections.

“Employment in Mexico is not software,” said Franklin Delano Frith II, General Manager / Principal of Human Resources Mexico (HRM). “It involves legal responsibility, human relationships, compliance obligations, and understanding how Mexico’s labor framework evolves over time. Employers operating in Mexico must adapt as the legal and operational environment continues changing.”

Human Resources Mexico (HRM) stated that its operational model has remained focused on direct employer responsibility and long-term workforce administration within Mexico. The company emphasized that every employee in Mexico must have a single legal employer, a principle established under Mexican labor law and distinct from co-employment structures commonly referenced in the United States.

In recent years, Human Resources Mexico (HRM) also expanded its technology initiatives through the introduction of the Mexico EOR Specialist AI, developed to provide Mexico-specific guidance related to labor compliance, payroll administration, statutory benefits, severance obligations, and workforce management requirements. According to Human Resources Mexico (HRM), the initiative reflects the company’s continued effort to combine operational expertise, technology, and direct human support for foreign companies hiring employees in Mexico.

“Technology should improve access to accurate information, but employment in Mexico still requires real human responsibility and operational oversight,” Frith added. “Our focus has always been combining Mexico-specific expertise, compliance management, and direct support for both client companies and employees.”

After 17 years of operating exclusively in Mexico, Human Resources Mexico (HRM) stated that its core approach remains unchanged: combining Mexico-specific compliance expertise with direct human support and long-term employer responsibility.

About Human Resources Mexico (HRM)

HRM offers employer of record (EOR) services for foreign companies seeking to hire professional employees in Mexico. HRM has been the most trusted EOR in Mexico for over 17 years, with a physical office and a team of Mexican experts. HRM provides EOR services exclusively in Mexico, delivering expert, public-facing, red-carpet service to both client companies and their employees. For more information, visit www.payrollmexico.com.

Media Contact

Franklin Delano Frith II
General Manager / Principal, Human Resources Mexico (HRM)
franklin.frith@expandmexico.com
+52 664 748 0313

Aquanow announces stablecoin settlement infrastructure for multi-rail payments. The company is positioning its infrastructure as a critical operational layer for financial institutions managing settlement across cards, bank rails, real-time payment systems, stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and blockchain networks without increasing reconciliation and compliance complexity.

The announcement follows Aquanow's partnership with Visa around approved stablecoins such as USD Coin for settlement across issuers and acquirers in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The collaboration reflects a broader institutional shift toward multi-rail payment infrastructure as banks, fintech firms, and payment providers search for faster settlement options that can integrate with existing financial systems.

According to Aquanow, the payments industry is no longer moving toward a single dominant network. Instead, institutions operate in a multi-rail environment where different payment methods serve different operational needs. Cards continue to support global merchant acceptance, and bank rails remain central to account-based transfers, while stablecoins and tokenized deposits are gaining traction for continuous settlement and programmable payment capabilities.

Institutions Face Operational Pressure

Aquanow argues that the challenge is no longer simply accessing emerging payment rails. Institutions must also manage liquidity, foreign exchange, settlement, reconciliation, auditability, and compliance across multiple systems simultaneously.

That pressure is increasing as payment infrastructure grows more fragmented. Treasury teams often face the burden of coordinating wallets, liquidity pools, settlement workflows, blockchain networks, and internal compliance monitoring. Aquanow says its infrastructure is designed to reduce that burden by allowing institutions to use stablecoin and digital asset rails without managing the entire underlying digital asset stack themselves.

Phil Sham, co-founder and CEO of Aquanow, said the future of payments depends on how effectively institutions connect different systems while maintaining security and operational control.

“The future of payments will not be defined by one rail replacing another,” Sham said. “It will be defined by how well institutions can connect multiple rails safely and efficiently.”

He added that stablecoins are becoming relevant because they enable continuous, programmable settlement when paired with institutional-grade infrastructure.

Stablecoins Move Into Institutional Settlement

The Visa collaboration highlights how stablecoins are discussed as settlement infrastructure rather than as consumer cryptocurrency products. The focus has shifted toward operational efficiency, liquidity movement, and cross-border settlement flexibility for financial institutions.

Industry activity points in a similar direction. Stripe expanded its capabilities through its acquisition of Bridge. Mastercard has also increased its work around stablecoins, digital wallets, and AI-supported commerce systems. Meanwhile, financial institutions, including J.P. Morgan and Citi, continue exploring tokenized deposits and blockchain settlement systems for institutional applications.

Aquanow believes these developments point to a future in which multiple payment rails can coexist rather than compete directly. In that environment, infrastructure providers capable of coordinating routing, settlement, compliance, and liquidity management become valuable.

AI and Compliance Increase Infrastructure Demands

The company also sees AI-driven commerce accelerating demand for more coordinated payment systems. As AI agents begin handling transaction authorization and payment initiation, infrastructure must support faster routing decisions, settlement certainty, and cost optimization across multiple rails.

Aquanow argues that stablecoin settlement only becomes useful at scale when paired with strong compliance controls, including risk monitoring, reporting, reconciliation systems, and settlement verification. The company says the next phase of payments will favor infrastructure providers capable of integrating fragmented payment systems into a coordinated institutional network.

About Aquanow

Aquanow is a digital asset infrastructure company that provides institutional services focused on liquidity, settlement, payments, and compliance solutions. The company works with financial institutions seeking to integrate stablecoin and digital asset capabilities into existing payment and treasury operations. For more information, visit aquanow.com.

Disclaimer

This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or regulatory advice. References to stablecoins, digital assets, tokenized deposits, blockchain infrastructure, or payment technologies are not intended as endorsements or recommendations. Any forward-looking statements regarding payment infrastructure, settlement systems, institutional adoption, or future market developments are subject to risks, uncertainties, and regulatory considerations that may cause actual results to differ materially. Availability of products and services may vary by jurisdiction and applicable regulatory approvals.

Media Contact

Alessia Monarca
alessia.monarca@aquanow.com

GamingGadgets.io is proud to mark its 14th anniversary, celebrating over a decade of independent gaming and gadget coverage in a market that has itself undergone a remarkable transformation. Since launching in February 2012, the platform has expanded from a niche gadget blog into a comprehensive editorial resource covering hardware reviews, game tests, industry news, guides, and online gaming — mirroring the explosive growth of the industry it covers.

The numbers behind Germany's gaming industry tell a compelling story. According to the German Games Industry Association, total revenue from games, hardware and online gaming services in Germany reached €9.4 billion in 2025, representing 4% growth on the previous year and a rise of more than 50% compared to 2019 levels. Germany remains the largest gaming market in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. GamingGadgets.io has been an active voice in this market for every one of those years of growth — informing the readers who drive it.

"We launched when the German gaming market looked very different," the editorial team reflects. "The way people buy, play, and talk about games has changed almost beyond recognition since 2012 — and we have changed with it, while staying true to what we have always been: a small team of genuine enthusiasts who just want to give honest, useful coverage."

Growing with the Market

When GamingGadgets.io first went live, the editorial focus was deliberately narrow: the cleverest and most unusual gadgets available, plus carefully chosen stories from the indie gaming scene. Over time, as the German gaming market matured and diversified, so did the platform. Today, GamingGadgets.io covers the full breadth of gaming culture — from in-depth hardware tests and game reviews to news, buying guides, and walkthroughs for players of all experience levels.

One of the most significant editorial expansions came in 2021, when Nico Arnold joined the team as a dedicated online casino expert. His arrival reflected a broader shift in the German entertainment landscape: online gaming services have been one of the fastest-growing segments of the market, more than doubling in revenue since 2019 to reach €965 million in 2024 alone. By bringing specialist iGaming expertise in-house, GamingGadgets.io positioned itself to serve readers navigating this fast-growing and increasingly regulated space with the same honesty and rigour applied to its hardware coverage.

The platform has also grown its presence at major industry events. GamingGadgets.io now attends Gamescom in Cologne annually — the world's largest gaming trade show, which drew 335,000 visitors in 2024 — reporting live from the show floor and bringing readers first-hand coverage of the announcements, hardware demos, and trends shaping the year ahead.

Hardware Boom Drives Reader Demand

The past year has been one of particular activity in the hardware space that sits at the core of GamingGadgets.io's editorial identity. In 2025, game console revenue in Germany rose 26% — driven in part by the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 — while accessories for gaming PCs grew 13% to reach €1.4 billion. For an outlet built on helping consumers navigate exactly these kinds of purchasing decisions, the timing could not be more relevant.

"When a new console launches or a major new peripheral category emerges, readers come to us to cut through the noise," the team notes. "That is what we have always done, and the demand for that kind of independent, expert coverage is stronger than ever."

Built on Independence, Funded by Transparency

Throughout 14 years of operation, GamingGadgets.io has maintained a clear and transparent business model: the site is financed through affiliate marketing and display advertising, with no commercial relationships influencing its editorial positions. Reviews and recommendations are based solely on the team's own hands-on analysis.

Looking Ahead

As GamingGadgets.io enters its 15th year, the editorial team remains anchored to the mission that has defined the platform since day one: to celebrate and explore gaming and gadgets in all their variety, with honesty, expertise, and genuine enthusiasm.

The German gaming market is forecast to continue growing, with the gaming PC segment alone projected to nearly double in value by 2030. GamingGadgets.io will be there to cover every step of that journey — just as it has been since February 2012.

About GamingGadgets.io

Since 2012, GamingGadgets.io has been the go-to destination for all gaming and gadget enthusiasts. Our passion for these topics is reflected in our informative and entertaining articles, reviews and news. We are committed to keeping our readers up to date, whether through in-depth game reviews, the introduction of innovative gadgets or coverage of the latest trends in the gaming world. Readers can explore the full archive, follow the latest reviews, and join the community at gaminggadgets.io.

Warp today announced major updates to Oz, its cloud agent orchestration platform, making it the first control plane that runs Claude Code, Codex, and Warp Agent side by side. The release adds cross-harness persistent memory, automatic multi-agent orchestration, and deeper enterprise controls, giving engineering teams the infrastructure to manage coding agents at scale without committing to a single harness or model.

Since launching Oz in February, Warp has heard consistent themes from business and engineering leaders: they want to deploy fleets of cloud agents this year, but in a controlled, governed way. They want the flexibility to choose different harnesses for different tasks and measure the effectiveness of each, and they want agents running on their own infrastructure, with full ownership of their data.

“Companies shouldn’t have to bet their future on a single model or harness,” said Zach Lloyd, founder and CEO of Warp. “Right now, there’s no real enterprise infrastructure for managing coding agents across models, tools, and environments. Oz is designed to be that control plane: a unified system to orchestrate and govern fleets of coding agents as the ecosystem rapidly evolves.”

This release includes four major updates:

• Multi-Harness Support. Oz now runs Claude Code and Codex alongside Warp Agent through a single control plane, with consistent access controls, governance policies, and audit logs across all harnesses. Teams can compare harnesses directly and assign the right one for each task. Multi-harness orchestration is available to all users while in beta.
• Automatic Multi-Agent Orchestration. Oz can now deploy and coordinate multiple subagents in parallel for complex, long-running tasks like feature builds, code migrations, and production deployments, with real-time tracking and steering across all active subagents.
• Cross-Harness Agent Memory (Research Preview). Agent Memory is a persistent cross-harness memory system that helps Claude Code, Codex, and the Warp agent remember how their team works across every session. Companies own their memory corpus, and agents build on organizational knowledge to continually improve.
• Enterprise Controls. Per-team billing, individual credit caps, and granular least-privilege permissions per agent. Oz runs self-hosted in Kubernetes, with Docker, or via direct execution.

These updates build on a new model of software development that Warp calls Open Agentic Development, making it more scalable and usable in practice. Warp's open source codebase is itself managed through Oz, with cloud agents handling contributions in response to community requests. Any Warp user can ask agents to fix bugs, build features, or improve the product without needing to understand the codebase or write code themselves. With this release, that workflow now extends beyond Warp Agent to Claude Code, Codex, and other third-party harnesses. The framework is available to any open source project that wants to try it.

Get started with Oz today at warp.dev.

About Warp

Warp is the open platform for agentic development. What began as a reimagined terminal is now an Agentic Development Environment (ADE) paired with Oz, a cloud platform for running and orchestrating coding agents at scale, with built-in visibility and control. Today, Warp is used by nearly one million developers at companies including Docker, Ramp, and Peloton, as well as leading AI labs, Big Tech, and over half of the Fortune 500. Warp was founded by Zach Lloyd, former principal engineer for Google Sheets and the Google Docs suite, and is backed by Sequoia Capital, GV, Sam Altman, Marc Benioff, and Dylan Field. The company is based in New York and can be found online at warp.dev.

Media Contact

Kathleen Eagan
press@warp.dev

Smartling, the AI-powered translation company, today announced its largest AI innovation release to date, introducing new capabilities designed to help enterprises scale multilingual content with greater speed, quality, and trust. The release expands Smartling's enterprise AI translation platform with advancements in translation quality intelligence and automation, helping enterprises scale multilingual content with confidence.

At the center of the announcement is LQA Agent, an automated translation evaluation system that uses the industry-standard Multidimensional Quality Metrics (MQM) framework to identify errors, assign quality scores, and monitor trends over time. Smartling also introduced Auto Select LLM, Style Rules for AI, Instant AI Translation, Language Adaptation, and a preview of AI Image Translation, extending translation quality intelligence and AI-powered automation across enterprise multilingual content operations. 

“This release represents a major step forward in how enterprises create and scale multilingual experiences with AI,” said Bryan Murphy, CEO of Smartling. “We’re focused on unlocking a new era of translation quality, speed, and trust by combining advanced AI innovation with the enterprise controls global organizations require. These innovations help customers move faster, preserve brand voice, and unlock greater business impact from every global customer interaction.”

LQA Agent: Automated Quality Assurance

Using the MQM framework, LQA Agent identifies errors, categorizes them by type and severity, and assigns a numeric score and pass/fail rating per language across all translation methods in Smartling, not just AI translation. Teams can run LQA Agent fully automatically without a human reviewer involved, or configure workflows to route content with detected issues to human review — all while allowing error-free content to publish automatically. In internal testing, LQA Agent achieved 90% agreement with human reviewers and 99% accuracy on severe errors.

Auto Select LLM

Auto Select LLM extends Smartling’s Auto Select technology to large language models, enabling teams to achieve higher-quality translations without additional configuration. Smartling handles model selection, prompt engineering, and continuous benchmarking behind the scenes, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) that references customers’ existing Translation Memory and glossaries. The result is higher-quality LLM output with no workflow changes required.

Style Rules for AI

Style Rules for AI applies punctuation, date formats, and regional language standards to AI translation outputs. Default rules cover more than 30 locales, while Smartling’s Language Services team can build custom rules tailored to an organization’s brand voice and translation preferences, helping enterprises maintain consistency and trust across multilingual customer experiences.

Instant AI Translation 

Instant AI Translation makes AI-powered translation available through a synchronous API, powering connector integrations across AEM, Drupal, WordPress, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign Plugin, and Figma. Brand-aware, quality-controlled translation is now accessible in real time.

Language Adaptation

Language Adaptation enables teams to adapt existing translations for regional variants, such as US English to UK English or Brazilian Portuguese to European Portuguese, without full retranslation. Powered by LLMs, the capability helps enterprises close a long-standing quality gap while accelerating multilingual content delivery.

AI Image Translation

AI Image Translation extracts text from images, translates it, and rebuilds the image with translated text in place. The same quality standards applied to written content can now extend to product photos, banners, and social assets, helping enterprises scale multilingual visual content with greater consistency and efficiency.

Smartling’s commitment to responsible AI underpins each of these innovations and is reinforced by its recent ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certification, the international standard for AI management systems. Combined with ISO 27001, HITRUST e1, SOC 2, and HIPAA compliance, Smartling maintains one of the localization industry’s most comprehensive AI trust, security, and compliance programs.

Availability

LQA Agent, Auto Select LLM, and Language Adaptation will be available starting May 20, 2026. AI Image Translation, Style Rules for AI, and Instant AI Translation will be available as a preview. For more information, visit Smartling.

The innovations will debut at Smartling’s Global Ready Conference on May 20, the company’s annual event focused on the future of AI translation and multilingual content operations. Attendees will hear from leaders at Spotify, IHG Hotels & Resorts, DocuSign, DoorDash, and SumUp and get first access to Smartling’s latest product launches and AI translation strategies. Register at Global Ready Conference.

About Smartling

Smartling is transforming how global enterprises create, manage, and scale multilingual content in the AI era. Its LanguageAI™ platform combines AI translation, workflow automation, and quality assurance infrastructure to help organizations automate multilingual content operations at enterprise scale. Trusted by leading global brands, Smartling enables companies to move faster globally while maintaining the quality, trust, and oversight required for enterprise AI translation. For more information, visit www.smartling.com.

Media Contact

Sarah Lehman
Smartling
sarah@sixeastern.com

The Institute Advancing Women’s Health (InAWH), a new global nonprofit focused on improving women’s health in midlife, today announced the appointment of Paula Schneider as its chief executive officer and introduced its founding medical advisory board.

Nearly 1.4 billion women worldwide are 45 and over, yet the gap between what is known about women’s midlife health — from perimenopause through postmenopause — and how care is delivered in practice fails to meet their needs. A Cleveland Clinic study released on May 7 found that more than half (52%) of U.S. women surveyed say menopause is not discussed enough.

InAWH will help close this gap by working with clinicians, researchers, and partners to make existing evidence more accessible and easier to apply.

“Too many women feel left to navigate midlife health on their own,” said Schneider. “Women deserve clearer information, a better understanding of their health risks, and more informed conversations with their doctors.”

Schneider previously served as president and CEO of Susan G. Komen, where she led the organization through significant transformation and expansion in research, advocacy, and patient support. She brings deep experience in women’s health, organizational leadership, and building partnerships at scale.

InAWH’s priorities will be guided by a medical advisory board of leading experts across a range of disciplines involved in midlife health, including endocrinology, cardiology, obstetrics and gynecology, epidemiology, and genomics, with representation from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa. The medical advisory board initially consists of:

• Barbara Gulanski, MD, MPH — Endocrinologist and Board-Certified Internist, Yale University School of Medicine
• Mary Jane Minkin, MD, FACOG — Clinical Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine
• Erica S. Spatz, MD, MHS — Associate Professor of Cardiology and Epidemiology, Yale University School of Medicine; Director, Preventive Cardiovascular Health Program
• John Eden, MB, BS, MD, RCOG, RANZCOG, CREI — Conjoint Professor, School of Women and Children’s Health, University of New South Wales; Head of the Menopause Unit, Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney
• Nicole Jaff, PhD, MSCP — Board of Trustees, International Menopause Society; Executive, South African Menopause Society; Honorary Lecturer, University of the Witwatersrand and University College London
• Prof. Cecilia M. Lindgren, PhD, FMedSci — Executive VP Applied AI & Robotics and Principal Scientist, Ellison Institute of Technology; Visiting Professor in Statistics, University of Oxford

“In the clinic, we see how often midlife women are trying to connect symptoms that don’t fit neatly into one category,” said Mary Jane Minkin, MD, FACOG, clinical professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine. “Clinicians need clearer, more practical guidance that reflects how these issues actually show up in real patients.”

Those challenges are not limited to individual patient visits but extend to how knowledge is generated, shared, and applied across the field.

InAWH will also be governed by a board of directors with experience spanning global health, biotechnology, and philanthropy, providing strategic oversight and guiding its long-term direction:

• Connie Collingsworth, Chair — Former chief operating officer, Gates Foundation
• Dr. Annalisa Jenkins OBE — Former head of R&D at Merck Serono and CEO of Dimension Therapeutics
• Anna Samuelsson — Partner and managing director, Factory Capital

InAWH was founded by Factory Capital, an Australia-based investment firm specializing in women’s health. While navigating care for perimenopausal symptoms, which can begin when a woman is in her thirties, managing director Anna Samuelsson was told she was too young for treatment despite clear evidence to the contrary. This led her to identify a broader structural gap in women’s midlife health.

“The opportunity in women’s health is well understood; what’s been missing is the infrastructure required to turn that demand into investable businesses,” Samuelsson said. “We created InAWH to address that gap directly, by building the foundations that allow better care models, better data, and ultimately better companies to emerge.”

Today’s announcement represents the first step in a broader effort by InAWH to convene stakeholders, build partnerships, and define priority areas for action. The organization will host its first convening in October 2026, bringing together leaders across healthcare, research, and policy to shape the initial phase of work.

About Institute Advancing Women's Health

The Institute Advancing Women’s Health (InAWH) is a global nonprofit focused on closing the gap between what science knows about women’s midlife health and how care is delivered. By translating evidence into practical tools, care pathways, and training, InAWH works to make midlife care more integrated, accessible, and effective worldwide. For more information, visit www.inawh.org.

Media Contact

Bethany Hardy
bethany.hardy@newtonstreet.com
+1 202-277-3848

The Central Asia Justice Initiative (CAJI) today opened a confidential channel to receive information from current and former employees of the National Bank of Uzbekistan, and from any individual in possession of documented evidence of possible abuses, exceeding of official authority, conflicts of interest, improper use of regulatory and investigative mechanisms, pressure on business, concealment of material information, manipulation of internal procedures, breaches of good governance, and other actions that may constitute matters of public interest. The anticorruption hotline is available at nbu.caji.org

The organization is launching a preliminary independent review of information concerning the possible use of administrative resources, opaque decision-making, selective application of authority, interference in commercial disputes, pressure on market participants, mishandling of internal documentation, and other actions that may have caused harm to the legitimate interests of business, investors, and citizens. CAJI is interested exclusively in facts capable of verification and substantiation through documents, official correspondence, internal directives, financial records, or testimony from persons with direct knowledge of the circumstances.

CAJI urges potential informants to act responsibly and within the law. The organization seeks information of substantial public significance bearing on questions of governance integrity, the legality of officials’ conduct, and adherence to legal procedure. Particular attention will be paid to reports concerning possible abuse of regulatory powers, the use of criminal-law instruments in commercial conflicts, the granting of preferences to affiliated structures, the concealment of risk, improper influence on financial market participants, and other practices incompatible with the principles of transparent governance.

All submissions will undergo independent review. CAJI will take reasonable measures to protect the confidentiality of every communication to the extent permitted by applicable law and stands ready, where appropriate, to facilitate secure communication through attorneys and partner human rights organizations.

The organization emphasizes that it does not seek rumors, political statements, or unverified accusations. It seeks good-faith, verifiable information capable of supporting an investigation of genuine public significance.

Potential informants may contact CAJI through secure channels for a preliminary consultation regarding the procedure for submitting materials, applicable legal risks, and available measures to protect confidentiality. Decisions on further action with respect to each submission will follow verification of credibility and legal materiality.

Against the backdrop of the announced course of decisive anti-corruption action, civic responsibility and the alignment of society with state policy take on heightened importance. This is not about formal endorsement. It is about real participation: the readiness to record violations, transmit facts, and refuse to look away from abuses.

About Central Asia Justice Initiative (CAJI)

The Central Asia Justice Initiative (CAJI) is an independent organization dedicated to documenting and examining issues of governance integrity, rule of law, and the protection of investor and civil rights across the Central Asian region. CAJI conducts preliminary independent reviews of credible, documented evidence of institutional misconduct and works in coordination with attorneys and partner human rights organizations to ensure that submissions of public significance receive rigorous legal evaluation. For more information, visit caji.org.

Media Contact

Keith D. Silverstein, Esq.
Central Asia Justice Initiative
info@caji.org

Crescendo, the only AI-Native customer experience solution built to run CX as one unified system, today announced that it has been named a winner in the Newsweek AI Impact Awards 2026 in the category of AI Customer Service, Best Outcomes - Customer Satisfaction.

The Newsweek AI Impact Awards celebrate organizations that are setting a new standard for the practical and responsible application of AI. Winners are recognized for developing technologies and strategies that enhance operations, solve complex challenges, and create meaningful business and societal impact.

“Artificial intelligence is rapidly redefining the way organizations operate, innovate, and compete,” said Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jennifer H. Cunningham. “Crescendo’s recognition through the Newsweek AI Impact Awards reflects its thoughtful application of AI in customer experience and its forward-looking approach to improving how organizations support and engage customers.”

Crescendo joins an impressive group of honorees that include AWS, Intuit, Salesforce, and Zoom. The recognition is driven by its industry-first Multimodal AI technology that unifies voice, chat, text and image sharing into a single, uninterrupted customer conversation, reducing friction for customers while giving both human and AI agents full situational awareness in real time.

“Being named a Newsweek AI Impact Award winner is a proud moment, and it belongs to our entire team,” said Matt Price, CEO and co-founder of Crescendo. “We’ve always believed that CX should be judged by outcomes, not promises. This award validates that belief, and every person at Crescendo who helped deliver faster resolutions, stronger satisfaction, and measurable revenue impact for our customers played a part in earning it. I’m proud to see our work recognized.”

For more information about the Newsweek AI Impact Awards 2026, visit their official announcement.

Crescendo will showcase the AI-native approach behind this recognition at Crescendo Live San Francisco 2026 on May 21, where CX leaders and operators will share an operator-led look at what’s working in AI for CX today. Please register for Crescendo Live San Francisco 2026 to secure your spot.

About Crescendo

Crescendo is the only AI-Native Customer Experience solution built to run CX as one unified system. By combining autonomous AI with embedded CX expertise, performance continues to improve after launch. Founded in San Francisco in 2023, Crescendo powers 500+ AI deployments worldwide across retail, financial services, healthcare, technology, and consumer services.For more information, visit crescendo.ai.

About Newsweek AI Impact Awards

The Newsweek AI Impact Awards recognize organizations applying artificial intelligence to drive innovation, improve operations, solve complex challenges, and create measurable business or societal impact. The program highlights companies demonstrating practical, responsible, and forward-looking uses of AI across industries.

About Newsweek

Newsweek is the global digital news organization built around the iconic 93-year-old American magazine. Newsweek reaches 100 million people monthly with its thought-provoking news, opinions, images, graphics, and video delivered across a dozen print and digital platforms. Headquartered in New York City, Newsweek also publishes international editions in EMEA and Asia.

Media Contact

Sylvie Tongco
Crescendo
sylvie.tongco@crescendo.ai

Launchsquad for Crescendo
crescendo@launchsquad.com

ARKIE AI, an AI-native application ecosystem platform, today announced a partnership with Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of global technology company Tencent, to support its growing cloud infrastructure needs. 

The collaboration, which covers compute, hosting, and storage, will see ARKIE AI leveraging Tencent Cloud’s GPU Services, Cloud Virtual Machine (CVM), and Cloud Object Storage (COS) to support the platform’s development, including requirements for security, reliability, and scalability.

The announcement was made at the ARKIE AI Ecosystem Co-Creation Summit, held in Bangkok on May 16, where ARKIE AI introduced its platform and shared its vision for building an AI-native application ecosystem with partners and ecosystem participants.

Building an AI-Native Application Ecosystem

ARKIE AI is an AI-native application ecosystem platform designed to serve as a "universal assistant" capable of summoning global AI capabilities for users worldwide. It eliminates the need for users to research models, compare parameters, or learn prompt engineering; simply by expressing their needs through a natural chat interface, global AI capabilities will automatically collaborate to fulfill them. Simultaneously, ARKIE AI is dedicated to building a decentralized AI collaborative network, co-created by global users, developers, creators, and computing nodes. The platform provides developers, creators, and enterprise users with one-stop services ranging from model fine-tuning and low-code application building to commercial distribution — ensuring that every interaction and contribution becomes an integral part of the network's collective growth. As the platform continues to develop, ARKIE AI is focused on building a technical foundation that can support stable operations, platform security, and future scalability. 

ARKIE AI was created with the goal of not only building a trusted AI-native application ecosystem, but also constructing an open network where intelligence flows freely. Just as the internet enabled the flow of information and blockchain enabled the flow of value, ARKIE AI aims to enable the flow of intelligence — ensuring that AI does not belong to any single company, but to every participant. Our partnership with Tencent Cloud provides the underlying digital infrastructure needed for the ARKIE AI Ecosystem to scale,” said Dr. Carmelo Ippolitto, founder and Chief Executive Officer of ARKIE AI.

Stable and Secure Infrastructure for Platform Growth

As ARKIE AI continues to develop its platform, cloud infrastructure will play an important role in supporting compute requirements, hosting stability, and storage capacity. Through the partnership, Tencent Cloud’s GPU Services will support ARKIE AI’s compute needs, CVM will support cloud hosting, and COS will support object storage requirements as the platform develops.

“Collaboration is key to supporting the next phase of digital innovation in Southeast Asia. Tencent Cloud is pleased to support ARKIE AI as it develops its AI-native application ecosystem, providing cloud infrastructure capabilities across compute, hosting, and storage to help strengthen the platform’s stability, security, and scalability,” said Kenneth Siow, Regional Director for Southeast Asia and General Manager for Singapore & Malaysia, Tencent Cloud International.

The collaboration supports ARKIE AI’s broader goal of building a trusted AI-native application ecosystem on a stable and secure cloud foundation.

About ARKIE AI

ARKIE AI is a full-spectrum AI agent ecosystem built for the decentralized AI era. Anchored by three core systems — AI Chat (understanding), Agents (execution), and Generate (creation) — ARKIE AI is dedicated to making intelligence both a productive capability and a fundamental right for every individual. For more information, visit www.arkieai.io.

About Tencent Cloud

Tencent Cloud, one of the world's leading cloud companies, is committed to creating innovative solutions to resolve real-world issues and enabling digital transformation for smart industries. Through our extensive global infrastructure, Tencent Cloud provides businesses across the globe with stable and secure industry-leading cloud products and services, leveraging technological advancements such as cloud computing, Big Data analytics, AI, IoT, and network security. It is our constant mission to meet the needs of industries across the board, including the fields of gaming, media and entertainment, finance, healthcare, property, retail, travel, and transportation. For more information, visit www.tencentcloud.com.

Media Contact

Lee Zong Heng
support@arkieai.xyz

Botanic Tonics, the leader in kava-centric botanical tonics, today announced a limited-edition feel free CLASSIC® bottle created in honor of America’s 250th anniversary. Now available at retailers nationwide and online at BotanicTonics.com starting on May 22, the commemorative release celebrates what summer freedom is all about: the freedom to be fully present for the moments that matter most.

Freedom Feels Different in Summer

Inside is the same feel free CLASSIC tonic you know and love. On the outside, the limited-edition design is something worth holding onto. feel free CLASSIC’s 250th Anniversary bottle pairs trusted ancient botanicals with a design that captures the spirit of summer, connection, and being present for the moment.

Drawing on noble kava root’s centuries of traditional use and pairing it with natural kratom leaf — with no synthetic ingredients, no alcohol, and no chemical extracts — feel free CLASSIC delivers a balanced lift in mood, energy, and focus. Stay present throughout summer’s biggest moments: from backyard gatherings and beach days to concerts, road trips, and long evenings with friends, feel free CLASSIC keeps you in the moment all summer long.

Celebrating 250 Years of American Craftsmanship

"America’s 250th anniversary is our generation's Bicentennial and it only comes once,” said Cameron Korehbandi, CEO of Botanic Tonics. “This limited-edition feel free CLASSIC bottle is our tribute to the American summer: the smell of a cookout, the sound of a screen door, the kind of afternoon that stretches on forever and somehow still ends too soon."

All Botanic Tonics products are manufactured at its headquarters in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma in an FDA-registered, cGMP-certified facility.

Available While Supplies Last

The limited-edition feel free CLASSIC bottle is available now at select retailers nationwide. Starting May 22, it’s also available online at BotanicTonics.com — while supplies last at both.

About Botanic Tonics

Botanic Tonics is the leader in botanical supplements. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, our feel free® product line harnesses the wisdom of ancient botanical traditions to support energy, focus, and mood. Our flagship product, feel free CLASSIC®, combines noble kava root and natural kratom leaf, in a formulation that contains no synthetic ingredients, alcohol, or chemical extracts and is for responsible consumption, adults 21+. We deliver botanical pairings that deliver sustained, grounded energy without the jitters associated with artificial energy drinks in our newest innovation, Kava Maté. With more than 129 million servings sold, feel free CLASSIC® maintains the strongest safety record of any kratom product on the market, backed by government testing, gold-standard clinical trials, and expert medical review. Botanic Tonics’ products are manufactured in an FDA-registered, cGMP-certified facility and undergo multiple tests for consistency and safety. Botanic Tonics continues to lead the energy and supplement category in education and transparency through extensive consumer education. For more information about Botanic Tonics and its commitment to responsible consumption, please visit botanictonics.com.

Disclaimer

Warning: feel free CLASSIC contains natural kratom leaf which, like caffeine and alcohol, can be habit-forming and harmful if consumed irresponsibly. Avoid if you have a history of substance abuse. When consumed as recommended, feel free CLASSIC has not been shown to cause any serious physical or social harm. The level of addiction risk is lower than nicotine and alcohol.

Caution: Not for consumption by or sale to persons under the age of 21. May interact with certain medications: consult a licensed, qualified healthcare professional before use. Do not consume with excessive alcohol. This product is not intended for those who are sensitive to the active ingredients or women who are pregnant, nursing, or trying to become pregnant. To learn more, visit our Consumer Education page.

Media Contact

Botanic Tonics
media@botanictonics.com

Texas Capital today announced the launch of MAP™, the Texas Capital Mortgage Asset Platform powered by Black Lake Digital Markets. MAP is an end-to-end platform purpose-built for financing, hedging, pricing, trading and transferring mortgage assets, across agency loans, non-QM loans and mortgage servicing rights (MSRs). Operated by Texas Capital and powered by Black Lake's proprietary Dealer-in-a-Box™ technology, MAP brings institutional-grade trading infrastructure and integrated warehouse connectivity to a market that has long been defined by manual workflows and fragmented systems.

Mortgage asset trading remains one of the largest and least standardized segments of U.S. fixed income. Whole loans, pools and MSRs still trade based on spreadsheets and disconnected vendor stacks, creating execution risk for sellers and information asymmetry for buyers. MAP fills that void with a single environment that consolidates the full asset lifecycle.

MAP delivers a unified workflow for institutional participants trading agency loans and other residential mortgage assets such as non-QM, second liens, HELOCs, scratch and dent, home equity participations and reverse mortgage assets, as well as MSRs. Qualified counterparties deliver loan tapes, price competitively, commit to trades and receive auto-generated proposed purchase parameters through a central order book. Post-trade, MAP employs Black Lake's Hyperdrive™ trading and execution technology, including integrated third-party diligence and data review, to ensure quality control, settlement and asset transfer. This delivers a clean, fully documented handoff with end-to-end audit trails.

For counterparties with warehouse financing, Texas Capital MAP integrates directly with Texas Capital's mortgage lending platform, allowing originators and aggregators to finance, hedge and resell mortgage assets through a single connected workflow. This integration collapses the traditional gap between warehouse funding and secondary market execution and reduces operational friction and streamlines the funding to sale life cycle.

“Our clients value competitive pricing, transparent execution and an efficient asset transfer process. MAP brings these capabilities to residential mortgage assets in one place,” said Daniel Hoverman, Texas Capital’s Head of Corporate & Investment Banking and President of Texas Capital Securities. “Our platform reflects the digital evolution of how modern mortgage asset capital markets should operate and evolve to meet our clients’ transaction needs.”

“By pairing Texas Capital's mortgage finance offerings and execution capabilities along with Black Lake's technology, we are bringing industry-leading infrastructure to buying and selling mortgage assets,” said Al Qureshi, CEO and co-founder of Black Lake Digital Markets.

About Texas Capital

Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ®: TCBI), a member of the Russell 2000® Index and the S&P MidCap 400®, is the parent company of Texas Capital Bank (“TCB”). TCBI Securities, Inc., doing business as Texas Capital Securities, is a subsidiary of Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc., and an affiliate of TCB. TCBI Securities, Inc. is a member of FINRA and SIPC and has registered with the SEC, MSRB, and other state securities regulators as a broker dealer. Texas Capital is the collective brand name for TCB and its separate, non-bank affiliates and wholly owned subsidiaries. Texas Capital is a full-service financial services firm that delivers customized solutions to businesses, entrepreneurs and individual customers. Founded in 1998, Texas Capital is headquartered in Dallas with offices and financial centers in Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Fort Worth and has built a network of clients across the country. With the ability to service clients through their entire lifecycles, Texas Capital has established commercial banking, consumer banking, investment banking and wealth management capabilities. Deposit and lending products and services are offered by TCB. For deposit products, Member FDIC. For more information, please visit texascapital.com.

About Black Lake Digital Markets

Black Lake Digital Markets (“Black Lake”) operates a comprehensive end-to-end mortgage technology ecosystem spanning underwriting, pricing, trading, transfer, settlement, and third-party staging. By unifying every stage of the mortgage lifecycle on a single platform, Black Lake delivers institutional-grade infrastructure that makes mortgage markets faster, more transparent, and more efficient for all participants. For more information, visit blacklakedigital.com and blacklakeinvestmentsolutions.com.

Disclaimer

Texas Capital is the collective brand name for Texas Capital Bank (“TCB”) and its separate, non-bank affiliates and wholly owned subsidiaries.

Deposit and lending products and services are offered by TCB. For deposit products, Member FDIC. TCB is not a registered broker-dealer or registered investment adviser and does not offer brokerage or investment advisory services.

Trading in securities and financial instruments, strategic advisory and other investment banking activities are performed by TCBI Securities, Inc., doing business as Texas Capital Securities (“TCS”), which is a member of FINRA and SIPC and is registered with the SEC, MSRB and other state securities regulators as a broker-dealer. TCBI Securities, Inc. is a subsidiary of Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. and an affiliate of Texas Capital Bank. All investing involves risks, including the total loss of principal invested, and performance is not guaranteed. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Securities and other investment products offered by TCS are not FDIC-insured, may lose value and are not bank guaranteed.

Black Lake is the marketing name for a group of affiliated companies providing a range of services. All services are provided through separate agreements with each company. This material is for general information purposes only and is not intended to provide specific advice or a specific recommendation. Black Lake Investment Solutions LLC wholly owns Black Lake Services LLC d/b/a Black Lake Digital Markets and Black Lake Investments LLC. Black Lake Digital Markets offers non-advisory proprietary technology services for the pricing, trading, financing, and transfer of mortgage assets. Black Lake Investments is registered with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and provides both investment advisory and non-advisory services. You can find Black Lake Investments’ Brochure at adviserinfo.sec.gov.

Black Lake does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. Black Lake is not a licensed insurance company and does not underwrite or sell insurance products.

North Korea’s state-sponsored hackers have been attributed to six of nine major attacks on South Korean crypto exchanges since 2018, with confirmed theft exceeding $120 million, according to a new report from Crystal Intelligence. The 2026 South Korea Country Assessment Report also identifies $7.1 billion in illegal crypto transactions between 2021 and August 2025.

Of the $7.1 billion in identified illegal transactions, $6.4 billion is linked to a single cross-border laundering method known as Hwanchigi. Hwanchigi works by converting funds into cryptocurrency offshore, routing them through domestic exchanges, and cashing out in South Korean won — a method that is difficult to detect without cross-chain tracing capability. Combined estimated losses from all nine exchange incidents between 2017 and 2025 reach $196 million to $225 million. The most recent, a November 2025 attack on a major domestic exchange worth $30.4 million, remains under investigation.

The report documents a sharp rise in crypto-enabled fraud targeting South Korean citizens. Pig-butchering investment scams cost victims $70.6 million in 2025, a 48% year-on-year increase across 1,565 reported incidents. Approximately 1,000 South Koreans are detained in scam compounds across Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, with 73 nationals repatriated from a single deepfake-driven fraud network in January 2026.

South Korea’s regulatory response has been aggressive. All virtual asset service providers must register with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) and maintain real-name verified accounts linked to domestic banks — among the strictest requirements in Asia. In March 2026, KoFIU issued its largest ever enforcement action against a domestic exchange — a $24.6 million fine and six-month partial suspension for 6.65 million anti-money laundering violations. The suspension was subsequently overturned by Seoul Administrative Court in May 2026.

Despite tightened oversight, Crystal Intelligence’s original scan of 247 peer-to-peer advertisements across four platforms in March 2026 shows where unregulated activity persists. Foreign domestic payment systems appear as settlement methods — introducing a cross-border payment layer that sits outside South Korea’s real-name verification system and complicates transaction traceability for compliance teams. A privacy-focused cryptocurrency is also present, an asset the report flags as carrying elevated money laundering risk.

“South Korea is one of the most important crypto markets in Asia and one of the most complex to navigate. This report gives compliance teams, law enforcement, and VASPs the verified intelligence they need to operate with confidence,” said Navin Gupta, CEO, Crystal Intelligence.

The full report is available at crystalintelligence.com/resources/south-korea-report.

About Crystal Intelligence

Crystal Intelligence provides blockchain intelligence solutions for financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, virtual asset service providers, and regulators. The company’s platform enables organizations to detect crypto fraud, trace digital funds across over 330 blockchains, and maintain regulatory compliance. The company is ISO 27001 and GDPR compliant. For more information, visit crystalintelligence.com.

Media Contact

Lesia Klochai
PR & Communications
press@crystalintelligence.com

NEQSOL Holding set out the strategic agenda of its newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, Kirill Rubinski, following the group’s annual townhall held in Baku on May 1, 2026. Addressing the company’s entire leadership and employee community, Rubinski used his first major internal platform to define NEQSOL’s next chapter — one built on pace, integration, and a deliberate push toward becoming a globally recognised institution.

Rubinski assumed the role effective May 1, 2026, following the transition of Yusif Jabbarov to Chairman of the Board. He acknowledged the strength of the platform he inherits while making clear that maintaining the status quo is not his objective.

“Yusif and the team have built an incredible foundation — one that is resilient, diverse, and powered by nearly 20,000 exceptional people across 11 countries. My goal isn’t just to maintain what we have; it’s to build on this strength and accelerate our journey,” said Rubinski.

A Four-Pillar Strategic Agenda

At the townhall, Rubinski detailed four strategic pillars that will anchor the group’s direction under his leadership.

1.  Digitalization and Innovation

Rubinski identified digital transformation as the group’s primary growth engine, framing it not as a modernisation exercise but as a competitive imperative. While noting that individual business units have begun exploring artificial intelligence applications, he was direct that the group has “barely scratched the surface” of what is possible. Central to this pillar is NEQSOL’s commitment to building world-class infrastructure that positions Azerbaijan as a genuine node on the global digital network — anchored by two landmark projects already underway: the Digital Silk Way and the Trans-Caspian Fibre-Optic Cable.

2.  Integration: One Team, One Vision

Operating across six distinct verticals and 11 countries, NEQSOL’s scale is simultaneously its greatest asset and its most complex management challenge. Rubinski articulated a vision of a group that works as a single, coherent entity — one where structural silos are dismantled, internal processes simplified, and shared purpose transcends business-unit boundaries.

3.  Unlocking New Growth

NEQSOL currently serves more than 25 million customers globally and employs over 20,000 people. Rubinski signalled that this footprint is a foundation to build upon, not a ceiling. The group’s expansion agenda will target selective strategic partnerships and new market entries, with Europe, Africa, and Asia all identified as regions of interest.

4.  International Standards and Institutional Governance

As the group deepens its engagement with international capital markets and institutional partners, Rubinski placed particular emphasis on the non-negotiable role of transparency, compliance, and world-class governance. This pillar reflects a broader strategic evolution among large, privately-founded conglomerates seeking to attract outside capital and operate credibly at a global scale.

Townhall as a Statement of Intent

The choice to deliver this agenda through an all-company townhall, rather than limiting it to board-level or senior management audiences, was itself a signal. The event - attended by management and employees across the group and structured around presentations from every functional leadership team — included a dedicated panel discussion moderated by Rubinski himself on the subject of positioning Azerbaijan on the global digital map. The panel, which drew on participants from NEQSOL’s L.E.A.P. employee programme, explored the practical strategies and structural reforms required to attract international technology investment to the region, reinforcing the connection Rubinski draws between the group’s commercial ambitions and broader national economic development.

In his remarks, Rubinski was unambiguous about where the group’s success ultimately resides.

“Everything I’ve mentioned — the digital infrastructure, the global expansion, the market leadership — is impossible without you. Success isn’t a ‘management’ thing; it’s a ‘people’ thing. My approach is simple: clear priorities, honest communication, and giving you the ownership to do your best work,” said Rubinski.

The new CEO also confirmed that he will conduct a structured series of visits to the group’s offices in the coming weeks, with the explicit purpose of meeting employees across all levels, hearing ideas directly, and building a ground-level understanding of the organisation’s strengths and opportunities.

About NEQSOL Holding

NEQSOL Holding is a diversified international group of companies headquartered in Amsterdam, with operations spanning energy, telecommunications, hi-tech, construction materials, and mining. The group operates across 11 countries, serving more than 25 million customers and employing over 20,000 people in Europe, the CIS, the United Kingdom, the United States, Türkiye, and the UAE. For more information, visit www.neqsolholding.com.

Media Contact

Nazrin Gadimova
Communications Manager, NEQSOL Holding
ngadimova@neqsolholding.com
+994 55 444 49 31

Wrapmate today announced the launch of its new website, introducing capabilities that have never existed in the vehicle wrap industry. Whether customers want to personalize their vehicle, change its color using vinyl, or wrap a fleet of business vehicles, Wrapmate’s AI can create a custom design in less than thirty seconds and provide pricing instantly — so they can decide to move forward on their own terms.

Customers can create up to 12 designs completely free and see each one rendered in 3D on their exact vehicle. The platform delivers accurate pricing for any year, make, model, and trim spanning over 60 years of vehicle data — and for the first time in the industry, customers can start their project without talking to anyone. During the soft launch alone, customers created over 50,000 unique designs.

“For decades, getting a vehicle wrap meant calling around to local shops, waiting days for a quote, and hoping the design would turn out right. We’re eliminating every single one of those friction points. We’ve built the first self-service experience for vehicle wraps, and the best way to experience and purchase vehicle wraps anywhere in the industry,” said Chris Loar, founder and CEO of Wrapmate.

The new site also features the largest repository of completed vehicle wrap projects anywhere on the web. With tens of thousands of unique, individual one-off projects executed to date, Wrapmate has curated its most recent 1,000 into a searchable gallery spanning every vehicle size, shape, and design style imaginable. Wrapmate is building the largest vehicle wrap design and content repository on the internet, giving customers real proof of what’s possible before they commit.

The new platform serves the full spectrum, from individuals looking to change the color of their car, to small business owners branding a single van, to enterprise fleet operators managing thousands of vehicles. Wrapmate’s nationwide network of over 2,000 professional 3M-certified installers ensures consistent quality regardless of project size or location.

The new wrapmate.com is live now. All design tools, pricing, and self-service features are available immediately to customers nationwide.

About Wrapmate

Wrapmate is a technology-driven, full-service platform that reimagines the buy-and-sell experience in the vehicle graphics industry. With innovative customer experiences, efficient fulfillment, and a network of over 2,000 local installers, Wrapmate efficiently serves business owners, fleet managers, franchises, OEMs, advertisers, and consumers coast-to-coast. Learn more about Wrapmate’s vehicle wrap solutions at wrapmate.com.

Media Contact

Wrapmate Press
press@wrapmate.com

PayModum, an online payment gateway providing over 150 online payment methods, today announces its acquisition of Floid Inc., a Delaware-incorporated entity that holds direct relationships to enable local, instant online bank payments for merchants. 

Jake Dovey, CEO of PayModum, commented, "The acquisition represents a huge step forward for PayModum, as it becomes a major participant in the rapidly growing, increasingly popular market for enabling instant online bank payments across the U.S." 

With the increasing demand for instant payment rails, especially those providing account information services (i.e., DOB, name, address and other information required to verify the entity of the payee), the acquisition represents a significant improvement to current payment processes, which fail to provide such information. With regulation constantly evolving, it is now more important than ever for online merchants to support their business with a deeper understanding of the underlying payment information they collect, something that other payment methods simply do not provide. 

Daniel Bessmert, Local Director at Floid, added, "As a local director of the business, we are excited to continue the growth of this exciting proposition to online merchants. We aim to deliver a market-leading payment experience, trust and reliability for end users and merchants. Whilst the U.S. is known for being a market driven by credit cards, we are seeing an increased uptake in the popularity of local bank payment."

About PayModum

PayModum is a global payment gateway helping online merchants expand into new markets, improve payment performance, and increase acceptance rates. Through a single integration, the platform provides access to over 150 payment methods worldwide, including card payments, bank transfers, e-wallets, and alternative payment methods. PayModum combines payment technology with hands-on industry expertise to help businesses simplify global payment operations and scale across international markets. For more information, visit paymodum.com.

Media Contact

PayModum Marketing Team
marketing@paymodum.com
+40 767 283 635

Nutifood has officially announced that its proprietary FDI Formula for digestive and immune support has been granted a patent (U.S. Patent 12,527,342 B2) by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The achievement underscores Nutifood’s internationally recognized nutritional science capabilities, while marking a significant milestone for Vietnam’s dairy industry in the global intellectual property arena.

The patent announcement ceremony took place as part of the anniversary celebration of Nutifood GrowPLUS+, a dairy brand developed based on FDI Formula. The event was attended by Mr. Hoang Minh, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology; Mr. Bui Ta Hoang Vu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade; Ms. Pham Khanh Phong Lan, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety; Mr. Tran Xuan Thuy, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs; Ms. Melissa A. Brown, U.S. Consul General; and Mr. Glenn Millar of the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), along with Nutifood’s leadership team and strategic partners from Vietnam and abroad.

USPTO Patent: International Recognition for Nutifood FDI Formula

Developed since 2020 by the Nutifood Nutrition Research Institute in Sweden (NNRIS) under Nutifood, FDI Formula (Foundation of Digestion & Immunity) combines advances in European nutritional science with insights into the specific nutritional needs of Vietnamese children. Instead of focusing solely on individual nutrient supplementation, Nutifood adopted a foundational approach centered on two critical systems — digestion and immunity —helping children absorb and metabolize nutrients more effectively during their early developmental years.

The FDI Formula combines 2’-FL HMO and FOS (*), aiming to build a strong “healthy immunity, good digestion” foundation for children. 2’-FL HMO is a natural oligosaccharide found in breast milk that supports immune system development, while FOS and Inulin are plant-based soluble fibers that help balance beneficial gut bacteria.

The effectiveness of the FDI Formula was evaluated by Vietnam’s National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) through a clinical study involving young children in 2021. The study showed that the Nutifood FDI Formula helped improve common digestive issues in children such as loss of appetite, constipation, and diarrhea, while also supporting a reduced risk of respiratory infections.

Over the past five years, the FDI Formula has accompanied millions of Vietnamese families and become the specialized nutritional foundation across the entire Nutifood GrowPLUS+ product portfolio. Building on this foundation, each product is fortified with essential nutrients in optimized formulations tailored to children’s nutritional needs and developmental stages.

In 2026, the USPTO patent further reinforces the scientific credibility of the FDI Formula. Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading intellectual property systems, USPTO is known for its rigorous evaluation process and stringent standards for novelty, utility and real-world applicability.

According to the USPTO’s assessment, the FDI Formula is distinguished by its proprietary combination ratio of 2’-FL HMO and FOS, supported by a clinical evaluation system demonstrating simultaneous benefits for both digestive and immune health in young children.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the federal agency responsible for granting patents and registering trademarks in the U.S., playing a key role in fostering innovation and global competitiveness. Established in 1790, the USPTO is now one of the world’s most influential intellectual property systems, with more than 12 million patents granted to date. USPTO is currently operated by a team of more than 13,000 technical, legal and examining professionals, serving as a key driver of setting standards and advancing international cooperation in intellectual property protection.

Nutifood Nutritional Science: Advancing from Vietnam into Global Markets

The granting and protection of the FDI Formula by the USPTO further affirms Nutifood’s research capabilities in line with international standards. Founded by a team of doctors and nutrition experts, Nutifood has consistently pursued the development of evidence-based nutritional solutions driven by its mission of “Improving nutritional standards for Vietnamese people."

At the event, Mr. Hoang Minh, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, emphasized that in an increasingly competitive global environment, science, technology, and intellectual property are becoming core competitive advantages for businesses. According to him, the USPTO patent granted to Nutifood’s FDI Formula demonstrates that Vietnamese enterprises are fully capable of creating scientifically valuable products that meet international standards and gradually integrate more deeply into the global market through proprietary technologies.

Mr. Tran Bao Minh, Vice Chairman of Nutifood, said: “Nutifood FDI Formula being granted a patent by the USPTO is evidence of Nutifood’s serious commitment to investing in nutritional science research. This achievement further strengthens our confidence in the journey we have steadfastly pursued for many years — from researching age-specific nutritional needs and developing formulas, to conducting clinical studies and applying them in specialized products — with the goal of creating internationally standardized nutritional solutions for Vietnamese children.”

In Vietnam, FDI Formula is regarded as a core nutritional foundation contributing to the success of Nutifood GrowPLUS+, a brand that has maintained a leading position for many years in the ready-to-drink powdered milk segment for children. This investment strategy in nutritional science has also created a foundation for Nutifood to expand its international presence.

At the event, Nutifood also announced the establishment of Nutifood America-Nutrition Science. The company has entered into a strategic partnership with a U.S.-based partner to expand an A2 Organic dairy farm in the United States, while also evaluating investment plans for a spray-drying facility to supply premium and high-purity A2 Organic ingredients to Vietnam for the manufacturing of products under the Nutifood American Nutrition Science brand.

The new brand is built on the proprietary Nutifood FDI Formula patented by the USPTO, integrating advanced U.S. nutritional science and technology, utilizing premium A2 protein sourced from purebred A2 dairy herds and essential nutrients. Nutifood America-Nutrition Science aims to develop premium A2 GrowPLUS+ formula nutrition product lines to meet consumers’ growing nutritional demands.

Ms. Melissa A. Brown, U.S. Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, recognized Nutifood’s efforts to expand cooperation with leading U.S. partners. She noted that scientific initiatives and commercial collaboration between Vietnamese and U.S. enterprises would contribute to fostering innovation while strengthening bilateral economic ties.

Meanwhile, Mr. Glenn Millar, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Global Markets, California Milk Advisory Board, noted that USPTO-patented FDI Formula provides a strong foundation for Nutifood to further develop specialized nutritional solutions aligned with international standards. He added that an approach combining modern nutritional science with research into children’s physical conditions and specific nutritional needs would unlock new opportunities for innovation in the future of children’s nutrition.

About Nutifood

Nutifood was founded by a team of doctors and nutrition experts with the mission of “improving nutritional standards for Vietnamese people.” After more than 25 years of development, Nutifood has continuously expanded its nutritional ecosystem — from sourcing regions and dairy farms to internationally certified manufacturing facilities in Vietnam, Sweden and Australia. Nutifood’s portfolio includes GrowPLUS+ for children, NuVi for ages 3-12, Värna for adults and NutiMilk for families. The company is also strengthening its international cooperation through the Nutifood Nutrition Research Institute in Sweden (NNRIS), the Nutifood Australia Nutrition Research Institute (ANS), and global nutrition partners such as BASF, DuPont and DSM-Firmenich to develop internationally standardized nutritional solutions. In 2025, Nutifood further expanded its international presence through a partnership with ViPlus Dairy, a 130-year-old nutrition company from Gippsland, known as Australia’s “dairy capital” to introduce the premium dairy brand GippsNature.

Media Contact

Tú Nhã Lý
tunha@socialelite.io

Lucra, the leading social competition platform, today announced a partnership with UrbanBall, the global street football competition ecosystem built around live events, creator-led content, and AI-powered match infrastructure. Through Lucra's white-label SDK, UrbanBall will power real-money and free-to-play tournaments, user-generated competitions, and an integrated gaming wallet directly within the UrbanBaller App, launching this June alongside UrbanBall's U.S. activation tour.

UrbanBall connects players through a unified global ranking and competition system that bridges live activations and digital play. The platform is co-founded by Sean Garnier, one of the most recognized names in freestyle football with over 25 million followers across Instagram and TikTok, and is backed by Red Bull across its global events. UrbanBall has built a community of more than 1,000 ambassadors worldwide and generated over 1.8 billion views across its competition content to date. At the core of the platform is UrbanBall's AI-powered match verification system, which uses video analysis to automatically detect goals, fouls, and skill moves — solving the trust gap that has historically prevented decentralized street football from scaling competitively.

The Lucra integration goes live in the UrbanBaller App later this summer, timed to a moment when football culture in the United States is at a historic high. With FIFA World Cup 2026 set to be hosted across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, interest in the sport at every level — from stadium seats to street courts — is accelerating. UrbanBall's U.S. activation tour kicks off in Dallas on June 5, with events across seven cities throughout the month and a New York City finale on June 28 and 29. Players will be able to enter peer-to-peer real-money competitions, join client-hosted and user-generated tournaments, and convert winnings to gift cards — all without leaving the app. Lucra handles payments, compliance, fraud prevention, and settlement automatically.

"UrbanBall has always sat at the intersection of culture and competition — billions of views, 1,000+ ambassadors, Sean Garnier at the center," said Toli Makris, co-founder of UrbanBall. "Partnering with Lucra gives us the tournament infrastructure and compliance framework to scale that across the U.S. market first, with the foundation to expand globally as the partnership grows. Every freestyle match in our ecosystem becomes a real platform moment, not just a one-off activation."

"Street football has a passionate global following and UrbanBall has built a serious platform around it," said Dylan Robbins, CEO of Lucra. "This is our first partnership in the soccer and street sports vertical, and we're going live during a U.S. tour with real events, real players, and real stakes. That's exactly the kind of launch that shows what this technology is actually for."

The partnership also lays the groundwork for international expansion, with UrbanBall's roadmap targeting growth across the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. As the platform scales and its sanctioned tournament network grows, Lucra's competition infrastructure will expand with it.

About Lucra

Lucra is a plug-and-play SDK that integrates into apps or websites, enabling peer-to-peer competitions with real-money or rewards. It handles compliance, payments, fraud prevention, and settlement out of the box, so partners can instantly offer gamified experiences without building or managing complex infrastructure themselves. Top entertainment, hospitality, and consumer brands, including Five Iron Golf, Puttshack, Backyard Sports, ChessKings, TouchTunes, and more, use Lucra's white-label technology to power tournaments and challenges, build loyalty, and drive new revenue. Learn more at lucrasports.com.

About UrbanBall

UrbanBall is a global street football competition ecosystem combining live events, creator-led content, AI-powered match infrastructure, and gaming engagement into one platform built around the next generation of football culture. Co-founded by freestyle football icon Sean Garnier, UrbanBall connects players through a unified global ranking and competition system spanning physical activations and digital play. For more information, visit urbanball.io.

Disclaimer

Real-money competitions are subject to eligibility requirements, geographic restrictions, and applicable laws and regulations. Certain features described in this release may not be available in all jurisdictions or to all users. No purchase is necessary to participate in free-to-play competitions. Skill-based competitions offered through the UrbanBaller App are void where prohibited. Lucra provides competition infrastructure, payments, compliance, fraud prevention, and settlement services and does not operate or sponsor any gambling activities. Gift card redemption options are subject to applicable terms and conditions. Event dates, locations, launch timing, and product features are subject to change.

Media Contact

Lindsay Linhart
Brand Strategist, Lucra
lindsay@lucrasports.com