SMM Plus, a Telegram-focused growth and visibility platform, provides a testing-centric framework for channel owners, digital brands, and communities that want to evaluate engagement metrics before they launch large-scale promotional efforts. By offering testing services through the expanded program, SMM Plus aims to reduce uncertainty regarding audience quality, visibility performance, and Telegram social proof within the Telegram ecosystem. The expanded testing program offers support to Telegram creators who want a transparent way to assess performance indicators of Telegram channel growth and engagement visibility.

Why Telegram Channels Need Testing Before Scaling

While the volume of competition across Telegram communities is increasing, many channel owners are having a difficult time evaluating the authenticity of their audiences, as well as evaluating consistency in their engagement, and overall visibility performance.

The relevance of this issue is growing in the educational community, crypto-focused channels, media publishers, agencies, and other digital brands that utilize Telegram as a major communication platform.

Many creators are investing in their growth activities without fully understanding how the engagement signals they receive will impact their channel's perception, Telegram audience signals of trust, and visibility of the content being created.  

Industry experts expect to see an increase in the use of Telegram social proof indicators (such as engagement with posts, keeping up with the consistency of members in the group, the pacing of engagement, etc.) as a means of evaluating Telegram communities in the future.

The testing-first approach of SMM Plus allows creators to utilize these indicators and helps reduce the risk of implementing a larger scale growth strategy based on those indicators.

Telegram Testing Tools Added to Expanded Initiative

As part of their newly expanded initiative, SMM Plus has launched a number of testing tools that will measure different types of growth indicators and the behavior of audience members within Telegram. As it currently stands, this testing will occur in the existing testing ecosystem through:

• Visibility of Telegram premium members
• Evaluation of Telegram post views
• Engagement of Telegram reactions
• Member retention monitoring
• Tracking of BotStart performance

Each type of testing will supply creators with the ability to see all the different forms in which audiences signal to them and how visible their engagement will be in the Telegram community.

Testing-First Telegram Growth Approach

The company has said that instead of focusing on numerical growth, they will evaluate how visibility indicators, along with engagement patterns among users of their channels, contribute to the trust and credibility of those channels.

The company’s stated goal of the initiative is to encourage creators on Telegram to use an analytical and performance-based approach for building their channels. The company also mentioned that many creators are now increasingly comparing the quality of their engagement rates and how consistent their retention rates are, as well as comparing user behaviour with regard to visibility of their channels before increasing their campaigns or working with a third-party growth provider.

“The Telegram community is evolving to be much more sophisticated in how they assess the level of Telegram channel trust and engagement they have with Creators," stated Michael Carter, Head of Growth Strategy at SMM Plus. "As a result, creators no longer just look at how many people are connected with their channels. They now review visibility signals, quality of interaction and how their channel will appear to new visitors before making long-term growth decisions.”

He also added that creators may benefit from having an environment that tests and validates Telegram channel growth and engagement with users to help them feel more confident about making long-term growth decisions.

As competition for audience attention continues to intensify, industry analysts have also pointed to a larger trend within the industry toward validating Telegram performance and promoting transparency of engagement signals between social media and messaging platforms.

Telegram Growth Trends and Creator Behavior

As more and more communities join Telegram, the visual authority and the engagement perception become crucial elements of their growth strategy. It has been suggested that creators begin to evaluate the effectiveness of their channels according to their evaluation metrics, engagement rate and Telegram performance indicators based on interactions within the Telegram community.

Furthermore, the growth through testing could also be attributed to shifting behavior of creators who rely heavily on their experiments and performance metrics when choosing campaigns and audiences.

SMM Plus announced that its initiative will adapt accordingly to changing preferences of creators as well as Telegram engagement trends.

About SMM Plus

SMM Plus is a technology company specializing in Telegram visibility, engagement analysis, and social performance ecosystems. The company develops products that facilitate the analysis of Telegram audience signals, interaction metrics, channel engagement indicators, and overall growth trends among creators on the platform. Its ecosystem includes visibility testing solutions, engagement analytics tools, and Telegram growth products designed to help users better understand and optimize their performance on Telegram. For more information, please visit smm.plus.

Media Contact

SMM Plus Media team 
support@smm.plus
+44 7363 085699

FoundersX Ventures, a proud investor in SpaceX, today highlighted the transformative potential of SpaceX’s upcoming IPO as a major catalyst for the convergence of AI and space infrastructure — a market the company values at over $28.5 trillion.

In its recent S-1 filing, SpaceX outlined a bold vision where space becomes critical infrastructure for the next generation of AI. With Starship’s reusability driving launch costs down dramatically, the company is positioned to unlock orbital data centers, real-time space-based AI processing, and enterprise AI applications at global scale.

“SpaceX is not just revolutionizing access to space — it is becoming the foundational infrastructure provider for the AI age,” said Helen Liang, founder and managing partner of FoundersX Ventures. “We are incredibly excited about the upcoming IPO. By slashing launch costs from a historical average of $18,500 per kilogram down to $1,400 with SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, and eventually to below $500 per kilogram, SpaceX will make building large-scale data centers in orbit not only viable but economically compelling. This will trigger explosive growth in orbital compute, AI infrastructure, and a new wave of innovation across industries.”

FoundersX has strategically invested across the full stack of this emerging AI-Space ecosystem:

• SpaceX: The clear leader enabling low-cost access to space and global connectivity through Starlink.
• Turion Space: Developing agile DROID satellites for space domain awareness, satellite inspection, rendezvous operations, and future in-space servicing — critical infrastructure for a crowded and active orbital environment.
• FS2: Building next-generation, high power-efficiency chips using 2D materials to address the AI compute memory wall, enabling more efficient AI training and inference both on Earth and in orbit.
• World Labs: Building advanced spatial intelligence and generative 3D world models. Its technology enables highly realistic simulation of complex orbital environments, making it possible to virtually design and optimize large-scale data centers in space before physical deployment.
• Charge Robotics: Automating solar farm construction to rapidly scale renewable energy capacity needed to power the surging demand of AI data centers. The company could take on building solar farms in space. 
• mBodi AI: Creating an intuitive robotics brain that allows industrial robots to learn complex tasks through natural language and demonstrations, accelerating physical automation for manufacturing and infrastructure. The company could take on robotics training for building data centers in space. 

As AI demand continues to surge, the need for massive, power-hungry data centers is outstripping Earth’s available land, energy, and cooling capacity. Orbital data centers offer compelling advantages: unlimited solar power, natural cooling in space, and low-latency global connectivity via Starlink.

FoundersX believes SpaceX’s ability to slash launch costs by nearly 90% will be the tipping point that makes orbital AI infrastructure a reality, creating enormous opportunities across compute, energy, robotics, and satellite technologies.

“We backed SpaceX 6 years ago because we saw its potential to fundamentally reshape multiple industries,” added Liang. “The upcoming IPO marks a pivotal moment — not just for SpaceX, but for the entire ecosystem that will build the future of AI in space.”

About FoundersX Ventures

FoundersX Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm focused on investing in pioneering tech companies building AI infrastructure and disruptive solutions across industries. The firm partners with visionary founders building transformative solutions to shape the future. Beside Silicon Valley, the firm has offices in Boston and New York City. Selected investments: SpaceX, World Labs, Turion Space, Universal Quantum, Charge Robotics, FS2, Salt Security, Jeeves, Kapital, Alinea Invest, and Solve Intelligence. 

Media Contact

Tor Parawell
tor.parawell@foundersx.com

Pat Eckert, a certified water sommelier and internationally recognised independent beverage professional based in Meckesheim, Germany, assessed products from all six inhabited continents using a 36-criteria framework covering measurable product quality, ingredients, transparency and formulation standards. Top-performing products were submitted for independent laboratory testing and analytical verification.

The project, called the Six Continents Index, is believed to be the world's first objective global ranking of the category, revealing that energy drinks sold in North America differ so fundamentally from their counterparts elsewhere that they are, in effect, a different product. Six Continents Index was designed to be professional, rigorous and free of commercial influence.

What began as an attempt to identify the world's best energy drink became something considerably broader. The data revealed that the category does not follow a single global product philosophy. Regional differences in pasteurisation rates, sugar use, artificial sweetener reliance and vitamin content are so pronounced that the same product category effectively describes different things depending on the continent.

Key Findings

Among the most significant findings from the index:

• 85.7% of European energy drinks were pasteurised, compared with 12% in North America and under 1% in South America.
• 78.9% of energy drinks in Asia used real sugar. The equivalent figure for North America was 8%.
• 84% of North American energy drinks relied entirely on artificial sweeteners, against 4.2% in Europe and near zero across Asia, Australia, South America and Africa.
• Australian products averaged 4.2 vitamins per unit, compared with 2.9 in North America.
• Aspartame, classified by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2B), was detected in 10.5% of products assessed globally. Of those, 43% came from Africa.
• BPA-free labelling was found on just 1.4% of products in the global sample.
• North America — the world's largest energy drink market by revenue — ranked last among the six continents in the overall index.

Rankings

At the continental level, Europe achieved the highest overall score. Australia and Oceania ranked second, followed by Asia in third place.

At the brand level, HELL Energy of Hungary achieved the highest overall score for objective product quality across the entire index. Second place went to 28 BLACK of Germany, followed by TAKE OFF, also from Germany.

Notable Observations

Two brands stood out for reasons beyond the rankings. Red Bull was the only energy drink label identified in virtually every market assessed worldwide. Japan's Lipovitan-D was the oldest brand in the study, having been on the market since 1962.

"Nobody had ever applied a consistent global framework to this category before. What we found was not just that some products are better than others — it was that the category itself means different things in different parts of the world," said Pat Eckert, lead researcher of the Six Continents Index.

Methodology

Assessed brands were not notified in advance, did not apply to participate and had no involvement in the evaluation. No paid participation, sponsorship or commercial influence played any role in the project. Full methodology and further findings are available on request.

About Six Continents Index

The Six Continents Index was led by Pat Eckert and his team at Fine Liquids, Meckesheim, Germany. Eckert is a German certified water sommelier and independent beverage expert whose previous work has been featured by The Guardian, ABC News, The Telegraph, L'Express, Der Spiegel and the BBC. For more information, visit sixcontinentsindex.com.

Disclaimer

The Six Continents Index is an independent research project conducted by Fine Liquids and led by Pat Eckert. Rankings and findings are based on the study's methodology, selected product samples, and data available during the research period and are intended for informational purposes only. References to health or regulatory classifications are provided for context and do not constitute medical advice or safety determinations regarding any specific product. Product formulations may vary by market and change over time. Claims that the index is the "world's first" are based on the researchers' review of publicly available information and are qualified accordingly.

Media Contact

Pat Eckert
germanypat@fine-liquids.com

GoodVision AI has introduced what it calls the “7-Layer AI Cake” framework, outlining how the company believes the AI industry will evolve as global infrastructure shifts from a model-centric era toward a token-driven economy.

According to the company, the future AI stack will consist of seven interconnected infrastructure layers:

• Power infrastructure
• AIDC (AI data centers)
• GPUs
• Large language models (LLMs)
• Token distribution networks
• Intelligent scheduling systems
• AI agents

GoodVision AI argues that AI is evolving into a large-scale “token industrial system,” where the ability to generate, distribute, orchestrate, and optimize tokens efficiently may become more important than model size alone.

The company said the framework was developed in response to the rapid expansion of AI inference workloads, as AI agents become increasingly embedded across enterprise workflows, consumer applications, robotics, edge devices, and autonomous systems.

Over the past two years, the AI industry has largely been defined by the race to build increasingly powerful foundation models. Parameter counts expanded from hundreds of billions to trillions, while GPU clusters scaled from thousands of chips to tens of thousands. The industry focused heavily on model capability, reasoning performance, and the pursuit of AGI.

But according to GoodVision AI, the next phase of AI may be driven less by model scale itself and more by the infrastructure required to support global token generation, routing, and consumption at scale.

Layer 1: Energy Emerges as the Foundation of AI Infrastructure

As AI infrastructure expands globally, energy is becoming one of the industry’s most important bottlenecks. Large AI data centers can now consume as much electricity as mid-sized cities, while power grid expansion in many regions is struggling to keep pace with surging AI demand.

According to GoodVision AI, this imbalance is pushing the AI industry further upstream into energy infrastructure. The company believes stable baseload energy sources, long-term power access, and energy efficiency will become increasingly strategic as inference workloads continue scaling globally. In the emerging token economy, access to reliable, low-cost energy may become one of the most important competitive advantages in AI infrastructure.

Layer 2: AI Data Centers Become “Token Factories”

The company’s framework positions AI data centers, or AIDCs, as the “token factories” of the AI era. Rather than relying on individual GPUs, modern AI infrastructure depends on large-scale GPU clustering capable of producing tokens at industrial scale.

While traditional AI data center development cycles can take years, power grid expansion often takes even longer. As AI inference demand accelerates, many legacy infrastructure models are struggling to keep pace. At the same time, AI infrastructure is gradually shifting away from purely hyperscale centralized architectures toward more distributed and modular systems.

According to GoodVision AI, inference workloads are increasingly expected to move closer to end users through regional edge-oriented deployment models. Against this backdrop, the company is pursuing a modular AI Factory strategy centered around lightweight, rapidly deployable inference infrastructure. Rather than relying solely on hyperscale facilities, GoodVision AI says it is focusing on smaller inference-oriented AI Factory nodes designed for dense regional deployment and faster integration with local energy infrastructure. The company argues that modular AI Factories are better aligned with the long-term evolution of distributed inference networks.

Layer 3: GPUs Become the Production Equipment of the Token Economy

If electricity represents the energy foundation of AI, GPUs represent the production equipment. During the first phase of the AI boom, GPU demand was driven primarily by model training. But the next wave of infrastructure growth is increasingly expected to come from inference. Unlike training workloads, which remain concentrated among a small number of frontier AI companies, inference workloads are expected to expand across nearly every application, device, and endpoint. Robotics, AI wearables, autonomous systems, and future AI agent collaboration networks all require continuous real-time inference — and therefore continuous token generation and consumption.

According to industry observers, the future of AI infrastructure may ultimately depend on one key metric: how efficiently tokens can be generated per unit of time. As a result, infrastructure layers surrounding GPUs — including networking, power management, liquid cooling, servers, and optical interconnects — are becoming increasingly critical to AI performance and operational efficiency. Industry analysts increasingly view this infrastructure layer as the “picks-and-shovels” foundation of the broader AI economy.

Layer 4: LLMs Evolve Into “Token Production Engines”

Large language models are also evolving beyond simple demonstrations of model capability.

According to GoodVision AI, the market is increasingly shifting away from a pure race for parameter scale and toward a broader focus on inference efficiency, deployment cost, orchestration capability, and scalability. The company argues that models themselves do not directly create value. Instead, value emerges through continuous inference — the repeated generation, routing, and consumption of tokens across real-world applications.

As a result, LLMs are increasingly becoming the “token production engines” of the AI economy. Competition at the model layer is also evolving rapidly. Rather than focusing solely on parameter counts, the market is increasingly evaluating models based on factors such as inference efficiency, token generation cost, long-context processing, multi-agent collaboration, and integration with distributed infrastructure systems.

According to GoodVision AI, future winners at the model layer may not simply be those building the largest models, but those capable of operating models efficiently at global scale. The company says it is developing its own optimization strategy by deploying large language models directly within its AI Factory infrastructure, allowing it to evolve from a traditional compute rental provider into a Token-as-a-Service platform.

Layer 5: Token Distribution Emerges as the “Power Grid” of the AI Era

As AI infrastructure scales globally, another major challenge is becoming increasingly important: how compute resources can be distributed and utilized efficiently at scale. Token distribution networks may ultimately function much like the electrical grids of the industrial era — connecting fragmented GPU resources into unified global infrastructure systems.

As AI adoption expands beyond frontier model developers into enterprises, startups, applications, and AI agent ecosystems, the demand for flexible and scalable compute distribution is rising rapidly. At the same time, the market is beginning to shift away from purely centralized cloud architectures toward more distributed compute networks optimized specifically for inference workloads.

Lighter deployment models, faster provisioning systems, lower-latency routing, and cost-efficient GPU access are becoming increasingly important as inference workloads continue scaling globally.

According to GoodVision AI, token distribution infrastructure is emerging as one of the key connective layers of the AI economy — linking GPUs, AI models, edge nodes, and inference demand into a scalable global compute network.

Layer 6: Intelligent Scheduling Could Become the “Brain” of the AI Economy

As AI infrastructure becomes more distributed, intelligent scheduling and token orchestration are emerging as critical infrastructure layers for the next phase of AI. The future challenge is no longer simply whether sufficient compute exists, but whether compute can be utilized intelligently and efficiently.

The company argues that not every workload should be routed to the most expensive frontier models. Lightweight tasks may be processed locally, privacy-sensitive workloads may remain at the edge, and high-concurrency inference may increasingly rely on hybrid orchestration systems. As a result, AI infrastructure is evolving toward dynamic scheduling architectures capable of routing workloads across different models, compute environments, and inference layers in real time.

GoodVision AI compares this infrastructure layer to modern intelligent power grid systems, where multiple energy sources can operate simultaneously while efficiency depends on dynamic orchestration systems operating in the middle layer. The company believes future AI architectures will increasingly rely on a simple principle: “the right model running on the right compute for the right task.”

According to GoodVision AI, this transition could fundamentally reshape the economics of AI infrastructure, shifting the industry away from simply “selling compute” toward “optimizing compute” through orchestration, inference routing, and token scheduling systems.

Layer 7: AI Agents Could Become the Largest Consumers of Tokens

The final layer of the framework focuses on AI agents. According to GoodVision AI, AI agents may ultimately become the largest drivers of global token consumption.

Unlike traditional AI applications, AI agents can simultaneously call multiple models, tools, APIs, and inference systems while continuously performing reasoning, coordination, planning, and autonomous execution. As a result, future token consumption could far exceed the scale of today’s human-AI interactions.

The company believes the future AI economy may involve not only billions of humans using AI systems, but potentially tens or even hundreds of billions of AI agents continuously operating and interacting with one another. At that scale, the primary bottleneck may shift away from model capability itself and toward token orchestration efficiency.

According to the company, AI agents are gradually evolving from simple software applications into continuously operating economic participants within a global intelligent infrastructure network.

The Next Phase of AI May Depend on Fully Integrated Infrastructure

Despite rapid growth across the AI sector, GoodVision AI believes the industry remains structurally fragmented. Some organizations possess advanced GPU infrastructure but remain constrained by energy supply. Others operate large-scale AI data centers but lack efficient orchestration systems. Some have developed powerful AI models and agents but continue to face high inference costs and latency bottlenecks.

According to the company, the next phase of AI competition will center on connecting these fragmented infrastructure layers into a unified global system.

The company argues that the future AI economy will no longer revolve solely around training increasingly large models. Instead, billions of continuously operating AI agents will require coordinated systems spanning energy, compute, networking, orchestration, and distributed inference infrastructure.

Industry observers increasingly view this transition as a shift away from software-centric infrastructure toward a much broader industrial system spanning semiconductors, cloud computing, energy systems, networking, and intelligent orchestration.

According to GoodVision AI, the most important AI companies of the future may not necessarily be those with the single largest models, but those capable of integrating energy, compute, networking, models, and token flows into one scalable infrastructure system.

About GoodVision AI

GoodVision AI is an AI infrastructure company led by former AWS and IBM executives, building intelligent compute scheduling and distributed edge inference systems for the next generation of AI applications. Founded in 2019, the company’s platform helps enterprises address challenges around token consumption, latency, and cost as AI workloads scale. GoodVision AI combines centralized cloud infrastructure, localized edge compute, and proprietary orchestration technology to dynamically route workloads based on complexity, latency sensitivity, and cost. With infrastructure expansion across Asia and the U.S., the company is building a globally distributed compute network to support real-time, large-scale AI inference.

Media Contact

Joy Chen
media@goodvision.ai

Merge, the connective infrastructure for production AI, announced today that Merge Agent Handler will be available on the Microsoft Agent Store, providing every agent built on Microsoft 365 with secure, governed access to hundreds of third-party business applications.

Today's most capable agents can take action within the tools they're embedded in, like summarizing a meeting, drafting an email, or reasoning over a document. The next level of agent productivity is the ability to take action across external systems, like updating a record in Workday, opening a ticket in Jira, or logging an opportunity in Salesforce. To enable that, companies need a secure, managed infrastructure layer optimized for AI agents to access and take action in business systems. Merge built Agent Handler to be that layer, and chose to bring it to the Microsoft Agent Store because Microsoft 365 is where most enterprise users already work with AI every day.

"We've entered the action era of enterprise AI. The limit is no longer model quality — it's action, and the companies that win will be the ones whose agents can actually do the work, not just talk about it," said Shensi Ding, co-founder and CEO of Merge. "By making Merge Agent Handler available on the Microsoft Agent Store, we're giving every Microsoft 365 customer a single, governed front door to the systems that run their business."

When Agent Handler arrives on the Microsoft Agent Store, administrators will be able to install it once and immediately enable Model Context Protocol (MCP) connectivity to hundreds of business applications spanning HR, CRM, applicant tracking, accounting, ticketing, file storage, and more for all employees.

Agent Handler is built to meet the bar enterprise security teams set for production AI. It's SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, and ISO 27001 compliant, with SSO/SCIM support, role-based access controls, and data loss prevention layers built in. Security teams can define exactly which actions an agent is allowed to take in each downstream system, and every read and write is captured in immutable audit logs. Agents working inside Microsoft 365 Copilot, Teams, Outlook, Word, and Excel can discover available actions, execute them under the right scopes, and feed the results back into Microsoft 365 workflows, with consistent governance across every surface.

"Our partner ecosystem is one of the ways customers extend Microsoft 365, and integrations are one of the hardest pieces of any production agent rollout," said Chantrelle Nielsen, Principal Product Management for Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft. "Working with Merge to bring Agent Handler to the Microsoft Agent Store gives our shared customers a clear path to take their agents from conceptual to operational."

For Microsoft 365 Copilot customers, the result will be a step change in what agents can do. On day one of availability, an enterprise will be able to connect once and open agent-driven actions across talent systems (Workday, Greenhouse, Ashby), customer and revenue systems (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk), finance and accounting systems (NetSuite, QuickBooks, Xero), collaboration systems (Google Drive, Box, Dropbox), and more. IT and security leaders will be able to set guardrails on which actions agents can perform, and monitor every agent invocation from a single console.

Bringing Agent Handler to the Microsoft Agent Store marks an ambitious expansion of Merge's footprint. Merge already powers integrations for OpenAI, Perplexity, Netflix, Dropbox, Ramp, and thousands of other AI and enterprise software companies. Extending that same connectivity layer to Microsoft 365 Copilot customers gives organizations across every industry a path to put agents to work against the systems that already run their business.

Merge Agent Handler is expected to arrive on the Microsoft Agent Store in the coming weeks. Customers interested in early access can register at merge.dev/copilot-connector.

About Merge

Merge is the connective infrastructure for production AI. Its unified platform lets AI access business data, take action across SaaS systems, and control how models run in production. Instead of building integrations, agent infrastructure, and model management in-house, teams integrate with Merge once. Thousands of companies, from AI-native product teams to Fortune 500 engineering orgs, trust Merge to get AI from pilot to production faster. For more information, visit www.merge.dev.

Media Contact

Pritak Patel
pritak@merge.dev

BlockBooster, a full-stack alternative asset management firm, announced today that its Digital Venture Fund I invested $10 million in SignalPlus, an institutional-grade crypto derivatives infrastructure platform, anchoring the company’s $50 million Series B1 financing round, with Goldman Sachs serving as sole financial advisor.

SignalPlus operates the industry's leading trading terminal for institutional digital asset options and derivatives, trusted by the largest market makers, exchanges, and trading institutions worldwide. The company is now extending its institutional-grade infrastructure into traditional finance and preparing to launch SignalPlus 2.0, a platform upgrade that brings agentic AI into the trading workflow.

“This investment reflects our conviction that institutional capital will flow into digital assets through credible, institutional-grade infrastructure,” said Samuel Gu, founder and CEO of BlockBooster. “SignalPlus is one of the most established teams in digital asset derivatives, and we are excited to support their next stage of growth.”

The investment in SignalPlus is aligned with BlockBooster’s strategy of backing category-defining infrastructure at the intersection of AI and digital asset markets, with a focus on trading, asset management, and tokenization primitives that can scale across both crypto-native and traditional financial institutions.

"SignalPlus has built the leading institutional infrastructure for digital asset derivatives, and we are now expanding globally and into traditional finance. We're pleased to welcome BlockBooster, a full-stack alternative asset manager with deep institutional reach and expertise across tokenization and on-chain finance, and we look forward to working closely as we enter our next phase," said Chris Yu, co-founder and CEO of SignalPlus.

BlockBooster is investing from its first fund, a $50 million Digital Venture Fund I focused on four core verticals: AI infrastructure, on-chain trading ecosystems, on-chain asset management, and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.

About BlockBooster

BlockBooster is a next-era alternative asset management firm for the digital age. The firm leverages blockchain technology to invest in, incubate, and manage the core assets of this new era, from digital-native projects to real-world assets (RWA). As value co-creators, BlockBooster is dedicated to unlocking the long-term potential of these assets, capturing exceptional value for its partners and investors in the digital economy. For partnership inquiries and more information, please visit www.blockbooster.io.

About SignalPlus

Headquartered in Hong Kong, SignalPlus builds institutional-grade derivatives trading infrastructure for the converging capital markets. Its platform provides professional options analytics, real-time risk management, and execution tools to hedge funds, market makers, proprietary trading desks, and asset managers across digital and traditional financial markets. The company partners with the industry's leading exchanges and trading institutions, and is backed by HashKey Capital, AppWorks, Tencent, and other prominent technology and financial investors.

Media Contact

Annie Shi
media@blockbooster.io

Precoro, a procurement centralization and automation platform that delivers enterprise-level capabilities to mid-market organizations, today announced an API integration with BILL (NYSE: BILL), the intelligent finance platform trusted by nearly half a million businesses to manage, move, and maximize their money. Through this integration, mid-market finance and procurement teams can now connect purchasing workflows directly to payment execution, helping them reduce manual work, eliminate financial blind spots, and automate the full procure-to-pay cycle.

“We’re focused on giving mid-market companies enterprise-level control without the complexity of traditional ERP systems,” said Andrew Zhyvolovych, CEO of Precoro. “Integrating with BILL allows us to connect procurement and payments into one continuous workflow, giving teams real-time visibility and enabling them to scale efficiently while maintaining full control over every transaction.”

As companies grow, procurement, approvals, invoicing, and payments are often managed across separate systems, creating gaps between purchasing decisions and financial execution. This disconnect forces finance teams to rely on manual reconciliation, work with delayed or incomplete data, and apply controls inconsistently — leading to errors, late payments, and limited visibility into actual cash flow and liabilities. 

The BILL API integration addresses this challenge by connecting Precoro’s spend governance to BILL throughout the entire procurement process. Organizations that have established procurement policies and approval workflows in Precoro can now ensure that only validated, pre-approved spend flows into BILL for payment, and receive real-time payment status updates in Precoro through the integration. This creates a seamless P2P workflow where every transaction is validated before payment and fully traceable after, giving teams complete visibility and confidence in every dollar spent.

“At BILL, innovation is driven by the real-world needs of the nearly half a million businesses we serve,” said Mike Cieri, Chief Product Officer at BILL. “As businesses grow, their financial systems must scale with them. We design our technology to connect seamlessly with the tools finance teams rely on every day. By integrating with Precoro through our API, we’re helping customers unify critical workflows so they can operate more efficiently and scale with confidence.”

Highlights of the BILL integration:

Through the integration with BILL, customers can:

• Enforce proactive spend governance across all entities: Ensure every purchase aligns with budgets and company policies before any commitment is made, effectively eliminating overspend and maverick buying.
• Accelerate purchasing and invoice processing with AI-powered precision: Replace manual data entry with AI for intake, receipts, and invoices, paired with automated three-way matching, ensuring that only validated, pre-approved data flows into BILL for seamless payment execution.
• Eliminate financial blind spots with real-time synchronization: Gain a unified view of spend through a robust two-way sync that updates payment statuses instantly across both platforms, giving teams total clarity on cash flow and upcoming financial commitments.
• Scale complex operations through connected workflows: Support multiple subsidiaries and high transaction volumes by streamlining P2P workflows, allowing growing teams to manage more spend without increasing administrative headcount.

The Precoro and BILL integration is available today.

About Precoro

Precoro is an AI-powered procurement centralization and automation platform that enables businesses to centralize procurement across multiple subsidiaries, improving visibility and control over spend and reducing risks from fragmented processes. To learn more, visit precoro.com.

Media Contact

Maryna Marochko
Head of Growth Marketing
marina@precoro.com
+1 929-284-2615

The American Kratom Association (AKA) today welcomed the announcement by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that federal researchers will move forward with groundbreaking research into compounds derived from natural kratom leaf as a potential tool in addressing opioid use disorder.

This announcement represents a major milestone in the scientific evaluation of kratom and should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers across the country who continue to rely on outdated narratives and misinformation about natural kratom products.

Perhaps most importantly, this study could not have been approved without a rigorous review of the available scientific evidence regarding human safety. Before any clinical study involving human participants can proceed, researchers must satisfy strict ethical and scientific standards designed to protect study subjects from unreasonable risks.

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and federal research oversight authorities do not authorize human studies unless they are convinced that the risks to participants have been appropriately evaluated and minimized. The approval of this research reflects the growing body of scientific evidence demonstrating that natural kratom leaf can be studied in humans without presenting unreasonable safety concerns under controlled research conditions.

“For years, opponents of kratom have attempted to portray natural kratom leaf as a public health threat,” said Mac Haddow, Senior Fellow on Public Policy for the American Kratom Association. “The decision by NIH to move forward with this research sends exactly the opposite message. Federal scientists believe the available evidence justifies studying kratom’s potential role in helping address one of the most devastating public health crises in America, the opioid overdose epidemic.”

The NIH announcement is significant for another reason. Federal researchers are not merely studying kratom’s safety. They are studying whether compounds derived from natural kratom leaf may provide meaningful benefits for individuals suffering from opioid use disorder.

That distinction matters.

While critics continue to focus on unsupported allegations and anecdotal claims, NIH researchers are focused on answering a far more important question: Can kratom help save lives?

The AKA believes this research reflects what many consumers, clinicians, and researchers have observed for years: that natural kratom leaf may serve as a valuable harm-reduction tool for individuals seeking alternatives to dangerous opioids. The AKA also urged state legislators, governors, county commissioners, city councils, and public health officials to carefully consider the implications of the NIH decision.

“State policymakers should take confidence from the fact that the nation’s premier biomedical research agency has determined that kratom deserves serious scientific investigation,” Haddow said. “This is not the action of an agency that views natural kratom leaf as an imminent threat to public health. It is the action of an agency seeking to determine whether kratom can be part of the solution to the opioid crisis.”

The AKA cautioned policymakers against confusing natural kratom leaf products with the rapidly expanding market for chemically manipulated 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) products.

These products are fundamentally different from traditional kratom products. Many are manufactured through chemical conversion processes that dramatically increase concentrations of 7-hydroxymitragynine and create products with pharmacological profiles far different from those found in natural kratom leaf.

Federal officials have increasingly expressed concerns about these chemically manipulated products. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration have specifically identified synthetic and chemically manipulated 7-OH products as posing significant public health concerns and have recommended federal scheduling actions against these substances.

Unfortunately, many of these products continue to be marketed using the word “kratom,” creating confusion among consumers and policymakers alike. “Natural kratom leaf is not the problem,” Haddow said. “The real threat comes from chemically manipulated opioid products that are being falsely marketed as kratom."

Policymakers should focus their enforcement efforts on these dangerous products rather than depriving responsible adult consumers of access to properly manufactured natural kratom leaf products.”

The AKA reiterated its support for strong consumer protection standards, including age restrictions, product testing, labeling requirements, contaminant controls, and limits on 7-OH levels in products marketed as kratom.

The NIH announcement should encourage policymakers to follow the science, not the fear. As the nation’s leading scientists continue to investigate kratom’s potential role in reducing opioid-related harm, the evidence increasingly points toward a simple conclusion: natural kratom leaf deserves fair, objective, science-based regulation that cannot and should not be confused with highly addictive and dangerous 7-OH opioids.

Special Congressional Briefing on Kratom

The American Kratom Association invites members of Congress, congressional staff, and members of the media to attend a special congressional briefing on kratom. The briefing will examine the latest science, the critical distinction between natural kratom leaf and chemically manipulated 7-OH products, and the policy path forward in light of the NIH’s decision to advance clinical research.

• Date and time: Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, 11:00 a.m. ET
• Location: United States Capitol Building, Room HVC 201, Washington, D.C.
• Hosted by: Dr. Rahul Gupta, former Director of National Drug Control Policy

Legislators, staffers, and media members can find event details and RSVP at protectkratom.org/congress.

About American Kratom Association (AKA)

American Kratom Association (AKA) is a consumer-based, nonprofit organization, focused on furthering the latest science as guidance for kratom public policy. AKA works to give a voice to millions of Americans by fighting to protect their rights to access safe and natural kratom. For more information, visit www.americankratom.org and learn more at kratomanswers.org.

Media Contact

Mac Haddow
press@americankratom.org
+1 571-294-5978

Fitch Learning, the global leader in financial services education, and Founderz, Europe’s premier AI business school, today announced a strategic partnership that will provide learners worldwide with innovative, personalized training that combines Fitch’s deep expertise in financial services education with Founderz’s award-winning, multilingual AI learning platform and global community reach.

The partnership is underpinned by a strategic investment in Founderz by HearstLab, a Hearst investment arm. HearstLab invests globally in women-led companies building high-potential, category-defining businesses. Fitch Learning is part of Fitch Group, which is owned by Hearst.

“HearstLab's investment in Founderz reflects our long-term commitment to dynamic, women-led technology startups, as well as advancing Fitch Group’s education mission,” said Eve Burton, Executive Vice President, Hearst and Co-Founder & Chairwoman of HearstLab. “This partnership represents an investment model for us to connect companies building great technology with the operators across Hearst looking to scale innovation and maintain their competitive edge in an AI-first world.”

HearstLab's international portfolio now extends to more than twenty investments outside the United States. "Founderz is a powerful reminder of the importance of international markets. Hubs like Barcelona are producing extraordinary companies with the ambition, talent, and technology to scale globally and connect with leading corporations anywhere in the world," said Azahara García, Director, HearstLab International.

Both enterprise clients and individual professionals will benefit from critical learning solutions to reduce skill gaps, support compliance and help scale across languages and geographies. 

Fitch Learning serves more than 1,200 financial institutions and develops over 125,000 professionals annually, across every financial services sector: banking, global markets and trading, wealth and asset management, private credit and insurance. 

“HearstLab’s investment in Founderz signals a step change in how professional skills will be developed in the years ahead. By partnering with Founderz, Fitch Learning is ensuring that financial services organizations can access these next-generation capabilities — empowering their people to learn faster, adapt quicker and stay ahead in an increasingly AI-driven world,” said Andreas Karaiskos, CEO of Fitch Learning.

Founderz is an AI business school and a Microsoft Worldwide Training Partner that specializes in artificial intelligence and business education. With a global community of over 630,000 learners across five continents, it delivers practical and accessible AI learning for professionals and organizations.

“Founderz has built a platform engineered to scale personalized learning, real-world practice, and AI adoption across languages and geographies,” said Anna Cejudo and Pau Garcia-Milà, Co-Founders, Founderz. “Working with Fitch Learning and HearstLab means those capabilities will be applied to content developed by practitioners who know financial services inside out, combining learning paths, simulations, and AI teammates to deliver measurable outcomes that organizations and learners can trust.”

“This partnership is an exciting new step for Fitch Group, designed to future-proof industry learning by delivering a best-in-class solution to our clients. Crucially, by combining Fitch Learning and Founderz, this will be AI-enabled learning built from inside financial services — not generic AI training applied to it from the outside,” said Paul Taylor, President & CEO of Fitch Group.

About Fitch Learning

Fitch Learning, part of Fitch Group, is a trusted global provider of financial education. Built on deep expertise in credit and strengthened by broad experience across financial services, we deliver impactful learning solutions through client-focused programs, courses and professional qualifications. Harnessing digital innovation and AI-driven learning tools, we empower organizations worldwide to build future-ready teams. Fitch Learning owns the Canadian Securities Institute, Certificate in Quantitative Finance Institute (CQFI), and the Global Institute of Credit Professionals, dedicated to supporting finance professionals throughout their career journeys. For more information, visit fitchlearning.com.

About HearstLab

HearstLab is a strategic corporate venture fund providing cash investments and operational support to women-led startups. Founded in 2016, HearstLab has invested globally in more than 90 companies with a combined valuation exceeding $3 billion. Portfolio companies benefit from access to resources across Hearst's 370+ businesses and a Scout network of more than 200 women leaders who provide expertise and strategic guidance. HearstLab invests from the pre-seed to Series A stages with a goal of closing the gender gap in venture funding. For more information, visit www.hearstlab.com.

About Founderz

Founderz is an AI business school and a Microsoft Worldwide Training Partner founded in 2021 by Pau Garcia-Milà and Anna Cejudo. The company helps professionals and organizations understand, adopt, and scale artificial intelligence in their day-to-day operations.Through a combination of proprietary technology, practical learning content, AI agents, and learning experiences designed with industry experts, Founderz teaches how to apply AI in an ethical and responsible way to solve real-world problems, optimize processes, improve decision-making, and accelerate team and organizational transformation. With more than 630,000 people trained and over 1,600 companies supported worldwide, Founderz has built a global community focused on applied AI learning. For more information, visit founderz.com.

Media Contact

Ellen Schneidau
Fitch Learning
ellen.schneidau@allisonworldwide.com

Ashanti Pratt
HearstLab
Ashanti.Pratt@hearst.com

Mireia Català
Founderz
mireia.catala@founderz.com

The $200 million Long Bay Zen Resort — a 113-key luxury property on Antigua's eastern coastline — officially launched Thursday. Demolition begins immediately, and major construction is set for the fourth quarter of 2026.

Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez called it a new direction for Antigua's tourism, adding that the project is "tangible proof" of how strategic investment can drive economic activity and create jobs.

Developer Sophie Zhong said the resort answers Prime Minister Browne's "Smart Island" vision. Features include green energy, a desalination plant, AI butler service, automated vehicles, and an on-the-water chapel.

Building green, the developer chose CCECC as the construction partner for its proven expertise in low-carbon building, ecological protection, and international green construction standards — bringing mature Low Impact Development (LID) experience to the project.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne highlighted that the resort's room rates could reach $5,000 per night — a figure that places Antigua firmly among the world's premium luxury destinations. He also described Long Bay Zen Resort as "the prototype" for the next generation of quiet luxury properties in Antigua.

The resort is part of Antigua and Barbuda's Tourism Vision 2030.

Media Contact

Rachel Zhao
Ediacaran Hotel Limited
media@longbayzen.com

The fifth SBC Summit Ukraine 2026 All-Ukrainian Sports Marketing Conference took place at Kyiv’s Parkovy Exhibition and Convention Center. Betting brand GGBET, the event’s premium sponsor, presented the panel discussion on Gen Z’s behavior and habits regarding watching sporting events, consuming content and spending on sports. Panelists discussed the transformation of sports content, the change in the audience’s habits, and new challenges in the fight for their attention.

The discussion was attended by GGBET UA CEO Sergii Mishchenko, Tribuna.com editor-in-chief Oleh Shcherbakov, Adidas Ukraine general director Ihor Marynych, and Head of Media at FC Polissya Oleksandr Fedoryshyn. Sports blogger Dmytro Povoroznyuk served as the moderator.

GGBET presented the results of a sports audience study conducted among FC Polissya fans, GGBET UA’s audience, subscribers of Tribuna.com and Sports Business Media, and Dmytro Povoroznyuk’s audience. A total of 937 individuals took part in the survey.

First off, the study refuted the widespread belief that zoomers in Ukraine almost never watch matches due to their short-form content consumption habits. The results showed that 54% of Gen Z members not only watch matches, but do so regularly, i.e., several times a week or more. In this regard, there’s almost no difference between them and millennials or Gen X.

In addition to that, zoomers are the most active consumers of short-form content. They have the greatest demand for a variety of content, particularly entertainment content.

During the discussion, GGBET UA CEO Sergii Mishchenko shared three principles for sharing content that the GGBET UA team put together after analyzing its own advertising campaigns. He stated that effective sports content today must adhere to three criteria: be exclusive, unique, and timely.

“As one of the top betting operators in Ukraine, GGBET UA produces and publishes a large volume of content. The only way to attract and retain an audience is to constantly be in their information bubble. 

We present players as real-life people, just like the fans. We record quizzes, challenges, and Q&As with them, and basically give a behind-the-scenes look,” Sergii Mishchenko said.

Some of the interesting insights from the study include the following:

• Online is the primary way people interact with sports (94% of zoomers, 96% of millennials, and 94% of Gen X watch sports events online).
• Zoomers are the most social offline: 37% want to interact with players, and for 65%, a match is an opportunity to spend time with friends.
• Alternative broadcasts with streamers have the lowest demand among all generations compared to other types of content.
• While only 16% of all respondents go to the stadium, a significant proportion does so regularly. 
• Only zoomers have subscriptions and content (33%) at the top of their sports-related spending.

The SBC Summit Ukraine 2026 conference brought together approximately 1,200 participants and over 60 speakers, including representatives of federations, brands, and media and sports organizations. The event served as a platform to discuss top trends in the sports industry, developing partnerships, communications, and interacting with the target audience. This wasn’t GGBET UA’s first time at the event. Last year, the brand organized a panel discussion entitled "Ukraine in esports: facts and fakes" at SBC Summit Ukraine 2025, which was the first professional dialog among esports industry experts in SBC Summit Ukraine’s history.

Disclaimer

This release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute advertising, an offer, or an invitation to participate in gambling activities. Gambling involves risk and may be addictive. Participation is restricted to persons of legal age in accordance with applicable laws. Please gamble responsibly.

Media Contact

Press Office
pr@ggbet.ua

Inperium announces a new affiliation with KidsPeace, a leading behavioral and mental health organization that has supported children and families for more than 140 years. The affiliation reflects a shared commitment to strengthening community support systems while helping nonprofit organizations adapt to changing social and technological realities.

KidsPeace operates a broad continuum of behavioral and mental health services for children, families, and communities across the United States. The organization provides inpatient and outpatient programs, foster care services, educational support, community programs, and crisis intervention resources. According to Michael Slack, President and CEO of KidsPeace, the challenges facing children today continue to evolve as social relationships, school pressures, anxiety, and depression increasingly shape the experiences of young people and their families.

Slack explains that KidsPeace has adapted its programs and outreach efforts over time to ensure children and families can access support in ways that reflect modern life. He points to initiatives such as TeenCentral, where young people can ask questions and receive guidance about emotional and behavioral challenges, as well as the organization’s podcast and Healing Magazine, which serves professionals and caregivers working in the mental health space. From his perspective, maintaining open channels of communication remains essential as the needs of children continue to change.

The affiliation also comes at a time when many nonprofit organizations are navigating the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Slack notes that the disruption of school routines, peer relationships, and social interaction created emotional strain for many children. He also explains that care professionals experienced significant burnout during the pandemic, contributing to workforce shortages across the behavioral health field.

“Our business is people helping people, and that human connection remains at the center of everything we do,” Slack says. “Technology can improve access and create efficiencies, but meaningful care still depends on relationships, trust, and consistent support for children and families.”

Ryan Dewey Smith, Founding Executive Chairman and CEO of Inperium, says the organization’s affiliate model is designed to help nonprofit providers strengthen sustainability, operational support, and innovation while continuing to focus on mission-driven care. According to Smith, the affiliation with KidsPeace reflects a broader effort to support organizations responding to rapidly changing community expectations and technological developments.

“Organizations serving children and families are facing new pressures that require thoughtful collaboration and long-term support,” Smith explains. “This affiliation reflects a shared commitment to helping communities adapt while ensuring organizations like KidsPeace have the resources and strategic support needed to continue their important work.”

Leaders from both organizations emphasize that innovation will remain an important part of the relationship moving forward. As digital communication, virtual services, and emerging technologies continue to shape healthcare and nonprofit operations, both organizations see value in using technology to expand access while preserving the human relationships that remain central to effective care.

According to Smith, the affiliation also reflects a broader philosophy centered on innovation through collaboration. By supporting affiliates with operational expertise and shared resources, Inperium aims to help mission-driven organizations continue serving communities while adapting to rapid social and technological change.

For KidsPeace, the affiliation represents another step in the organization’s long history of evolving alongside the communities it serves. For Inperium, the relationship demonstrates its continued focus on supporting organizations that are addressing some of the most urgent challenges facing children and families today.

The affiliation brings together two organizations committed to strengthening access, expanding support, and helping communities respond to a changing world.

Media Contact

Inperium Team
info@inperium.org

On May 29, Parkland Group unveiled the complete blueprint at a worldwide launch event for Guangzhou One Pengrui, its "globally influential residential complex." The event also announced a prospective partnership with Raffles and debuted the world's first immersive indoor-outdoor golf facility.

Independently developed by Pengrui, this pioneering golf facility features three major technological breakthroughs: IMAX-scale screen immersion, dynamic putting greens, and seamless indoor-outdoor integration. By eliminating the distance and weather constraints of traditional golf, this innovation delivers an all-weather, premium sports and social hub right in the heart of the city.

Furthermore, Guangzhou One Pengrui has curated an extraordinary portfolio of amenities, integrating the Bay Song Art Center, the 214-acre ecological Beidisha Island, and the expansive 10,000-square-meter Guangzhou Shenwan Club. Anchored by the prospective partnership with the century-old, legendary Raffles Hotel, alongside upcoming additions to the North District — including Michelin-starred dining, global ultra-luxury brands, and the One Art Museum — the development establishes a holistic international lifestyle ecosystem that seamlessly encompasses living, socializing, business, sports, and the arts.

With its world-class amenities and an ever-evolving lifestyle ecosystem, Guangzhou One Pengrui not only bolsters Guangzhou’s competitive edge as a global city but also offers the world a definitive new paradigm for ultra-luxury living in China.

About Parkland Group

Parkland Group is a diversified enterprise with operations spanning real estate development, healthcare, commercial operations, property management, and private equity investment. Driven by a commitment to creating high-quality urban living experiences, forward-thinking planning, refined management practices, and a focus on innovation, sustainability, culture, and design, Parkland has established a strong presence in China's high-end real estate sector. As it expands across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and beyond, the company aims to contribute to modern urban development while delivering world-class communities for residents, businesses, and future generations. 

Media Contact

Li Yun
liy07@szprl.com

Skill Shot Golf today announced a partnership with John Daly alongside the launch of their real-money golf competition app. The platform utilizes patent-pending video validation and ball tracking technology to transform everyday golf rounds into nationwide closest-to-the-pin contests. For the first time, golfers can now compete from their favorite local course against players across the country for thousands in cash prizes.

Daly’s involvement goes beyond a traditional endorsement deal. As an equity partner, he has a direct stake in Skill Shot Golf’s long-term success and will play a visible role across the brands marketing campaigns, networking, and promotions. Known for his unfiltered personality, massive loyal fan base, and lifelong connection to the everyday golfer, Daly represents exactly who Skill Shot Golf was built for: golfers who love the game and seek the thrill of competing with something at stake.

A New Way to Compete, Anywhere You Play

At the core of the Skill Shot Golf experience is a simple but powerful concept: side games golfers are already playing, scaled nationally, verified digitally, and settled securely.

Competitions are 100% skill-based, not gambling. Through its partnership with Lucra, Skill Shot Golf’s free-to-play contests are legal at over 17,000 courses in all 50 states, so golfers across the country can participate with confidence.

“Our platform amplifies what most golfers are already doing by scaling friendly local competitions into nationwide contests,” said Kevin Reed, CEO of Skill Shot Golf. “The off-course golf market has exploded by offering players gamified, digital experiences. Skill Shot Golf injects that same energy into traditional, on-course golf.”

“I’ve been golfing my whole life and one thing hasn’t changed — golfers want to compete for something,” said John Daly. “I’ve seen first-hand how much golfers are playing for on the course. Skill Shot takes this to the next level.”

Real-Money Beta Tournaments Are Live

Golfers interested in competing can download the app here and enter Skill Shot Golf’s $1,000 cash prize beta tournaments for free — no purchase required.

Pay-to-play contests for larger payouts, as well as curated golf experiences like VIP tickets to the WM Open and opportunities to golf with celebrities will be announced in conjunction with the full-scale launch later this summer.

About Skill Shot Golf

Skill Shot Golf is a skill-based mobile golf competition platform that enables players to compete in live contests for real cash prizes across the United States. Designed to be fun, competitive, and social, Skill Shot Golf unites golfers through exciting contests, digitally verified scoring, live leaderboards, and instant cash payouts, all based on players’ real-world performance. For more information, please visit www.skillshotgolf.com. Partnership and investment inquiries can be emailed to marshall@skillshotgolf.com. 

Media Contact

Marshall Threw
Co-founder, CFO, Skill Shot Golf
marshall@skillshotgolf.com

On May 30, 2026, emerging brand AVIDLOVE, in collaboration with SHOWYOO and AVIDLOVE PLAY, presented a boundary-pushing visual spectacle at the historic pool of the Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel during Miami Swim Week.

Scene-Breaking: From Bedroom to Beach — Lingerie as Outerwear Becomes Everyday Grammar

The entire show stayed true to the "Sparks Fly" theme, turning the venue into a real "vacation with AVIDLOVE." Three themed fantasy light shows — Comfort, Awakening, Desire — took the stage one after another. Professional models walked alongside influencers with millions of followers, showcasing everything from casual outerwear-ready looks to sexy styles made for the outdoors. Shimmering pool waters and high-energy DJ beats created an electric atmosphere.

Daytime street style, nighttime party ready. AVIDLOVE uses design to shatter the barrier between indoor and outdoor spaces, proving that lingerie is no longer confined to the bedroom , it can be confidently worn on beaches, streets, and social scenes. Paraiso, with its long-standing heritage, has laid a classic foundation for this lingerie-as-outerwear revolution.

It is worth noting that the independent brand AVIDLOVE PLAY was featured in a guest-style showcase, receiving frequent interactions from media and influencers and becoming a hot topic of discussion at the show, marking the transition of the "self-pleasure economy" from concept to reality.

Influencer Spotlight: The Self-Love Image Elevated

On the influencer front, the show united UN Impact Award winner Victoria Jancke, fashion model Zarinayeva, and pageant champion Nadia Mejia on the same runway. Each carries a personal brand built on female confidence and rehabilitation advocacy — a perfect match for AVIDLOVE's core identity of "self-love and confidence."

Brand Voice: Every Woman Deserves the Ultimate Experience of Unleashing Her Charm

AVIDLOVE CMO Mr. Sun said, "Miami feels like the perfect place for AVIDLOVE. It's vibrant, confident, diverse, and full of energy — everything we love about the women we design for. Over the years, we've been fortunate to earn the trust of millions of customers through quality products and genuine customer feedback. As we continue to grow, our focus is simple: making it easier for customers to discover and shop AVIDLOVE wherever they prefer — whether that's on Amazon, TikTok Shop, our website, or hopefully soon in more retail stores."

From poolside starlight to underwear worn proudly on the street, from charitable impact to fashion crossover — AVIDLOVE lit up a new island-resort style with the fire of self-love. Looking ahead, the brand will continue to deepen its multi-scenario fusion, joining women worldwide in igniting the confident spark that belongs to every one of them.

For more information, please visit the AVIDLOVE website and its Amazon storefront, or connect with AVIDLOVE on Facebook and Instagram.

JumboBee, a U.S.-based online marketplace for used heavy equipment, has launched a platform aimed at digitizing one of the most fragmented segments of cross-border industrial trade.

The platform integrates verified buyer and seller onboarding, sanctions screening, instant shipping cost estimates for domestic and international routes, in-platform negotiation, and direct messaging across buyers, sellers and shipping coordinators — functions that have traditionally required coordinating multiple separate companies to complete a single transaction.

“The rapid evolution of large language models opens up enormous potential for the heavy equipment space, and we are already actively leveraging them to improve product data quality and transaction analytics,” said Dmitry Bashkirov, JumboBee’s Head of Product.

The launch comes as the United States posted a record $1.24 trillion goods trade deficit in 2025, with an overall trade gap of $901.5 billion, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Heavy machinery has remained one of the country’s stronger export categories, though cross-border transactions in the segment have long been hampered by limited digital infrastructure.

The global heavy construction equipment market was valued at $224.5 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $286.5 billion by 2030, expanding at a compound annual rate of 5.0%, according to MarketsandMarkets. Demand for used machinery is growing fastest in Asia, Latin America and parts of Africa, where contractors source equipment from the U.S. and Europe to manage cost and supply constraints.

JumboBee was founded by Maryana Serafinas, who also founded and leads Atlantic Project Cargo, a heavy equipment freight company.

Atlantic Project Cargo is a division of Atlantic Express Corp., a licensed Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier under the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission. Established in 1992, the company has more than three decades of international logistics experience across agricultural, construction, mining and industrial equipment categories.

“The U.S. is one of the largest sources of high-quality used heavy equipment in the world, but the friction of moving that equipment across borders has kept a lot of demand on the table,” Serafinas said. “We built JumboBee so that an international buyer doesn’t need to coordinate five to ten different companies to close one deal.”

JumboBee is in early-stage rollout and is onboarding buyers and sellers. The platform supports both U.S.-to-international and domestic transactions across categories including tractors, harvesters, excavators, loaders, mining machinery and oilfield equipment, and draws on a global logistics network of more than 1,000 partners.

The company said it expects to expand its verified seller network and deepen financing integrations through 2026.

About JumboBee

JumboBee is a global marketplace with integrated logistics solutions for heavy equipment. JumboBee connects trusted sellers and buyers in the agriculture, construction, and industrial sectors, offering end-to-end support from listing to delivery. For more information, visit jumbobee.com.

Media Contact

Dana Martynova
dana@jumbobee.com
+1 800-383-7073

Palmetto Commercial Properties, LLC is proud to announce the promotion of Jenna S. Philipp, CCIM, to the position of Partner.

With a remarkable track record in the commercial real estate brokerage sector, Ms. Philipp has distinguished herself as a leading expert and a dedicated professional. Her contributions extend beyond her career, as she actively engages in our community. Ms. Philipp currently serves as Vice President of the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors’ Commercial Investment Division (CID) and has held the role of President of the North Charleston Chamber of Commerce for three consecutive years. Her leadership in these organizations exemplifies her commitment to fostering growth and collaboration within the local business community.

In addition to her professional achievements, Ms. Philipp is passionate about mentoring the next generation of brokers at Palmetto Commercial Properties. She balances her professional responsibilities with family life, raising two young boys alongside her husband, Gavin. Ms. Philipp is a graduate of Summerville High School and Clemson University, Ms. Philipp's dedication to both her work and community is an inspiration to many.

Eddie Buxton, Broker-in-Charge, states about Ms. Philipp: “I am very proud to welcome Jenna as a Partner.  Her commitment to the real estate industry, her coworkers, and fellow brokers, as well as loyalty to the company, is unparalleled. The future is bright at Palmetto!”

Richard Morse, CCIM, states about Ms. Philipp: “Jenna is one of the hardest working brokers in our market, and her promotion to Partner at our firm is well deserved. Her passion for real estate and leadership amongst her peers will take Palmetto Commercial Properties to new heights!"

Media Contact

William Allen
Palmetto Commercial Properties
william.allen@pcpsc.com

"The King of Trash," a feature-length documentary about David Duong and his family, is entering the final stage of its private screening tour with upcoming screenings in Washington, D.C. and Orlando, Florida.

The film has already been privately screened in San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento, Irvine, Dallas, and Houston, drawing thousands of attendees and receiving coverage from more than 40 media outlets and publications nationwide. But beyond the numbers, the documentary has struck audiences for a deeper reason. It tells a story many families understand, the story of losing almost everything, surviving what should have broken you, and choosing to build anyway.

Directed by award-winning cinematographer Errol Webber, The King of Trash follows David Duong from the fall of Saigon in 1975 to the open sea, where his family faced hunger, fear, and uncertainty with no promise they would survive. Like many Vietnamese refugees, they carried the pain of leaving home, the weight of starting over, and the quiet hope that life could still be rebuilt.

For David Duong, survival was only the beginning.

In America, he did not inherit opportunity. He created it through discipline, sacrifice, and years of work that few people ever saw. From those beginnings, the Duong family built California Waste Solutions in Oakland and later Vietnam Waste Solutions in Ho Chi Minh City, creating a family-owned environmental services legacy that now reaches across two countries.

The King of Trash looks beyond the public image of business success. It shows the private cost behind the achievement, the long days, the family sacrifices, the pressure of responsibility, and the belief that a company should do more than make a living. It should serve people. It should create jobs. It should improve communities. It should carry a family’s values into the future.

At the center of the film is not only a businessman, but a father and refugee who turned loss into duty. The documentary shows how David Duong’s life became tied to family, work, environmental responsibility, and community service. His story reflects a generation of immigrants who rarely spoke about their pain, but showed their strength through what they built.

Across the six-city screening tour, thousands of audiences have responded with emotion because the film does not present success as something easy or polished. It presents success as something earned through hardship, patience, and the willingness to continue when there is no guarantee of recognition.

Many attendees described the film as deeply personal, especially for refugee and immigrant families who saw parts of their own history reflected on screen. Others connected with its broader message about family, forgiveness, resilience, and the responsibility that comes with achievement.

“This film is powerful because it does not only ask people to look at what David Duong built,” said a representative of the production team. “It asks people to understand what he survived, what his family carried, and why those legacy matters.”

The documentary has also connected with business leaders and civic audiences because it presents a different kind of American success story. It is not only about growth, expansion, or recognition. It is about building a family-owned company with roots in service, responsibility, and long-term commitment to the communities it serves.

As The King of Trash moves to Washington, D.C. on June 11 in the United States Navy Memorial, followed by Orlando on June 14, the film enters its final private tour stops before broader release. These screenings will bring the documentary to new audiences, including community leaders, civic leaders, cultural organizations, business leaders, and families.

The film’s journey across the country has shown that David Duong’s story is not limited to one community. It speaks to anyone who has known struggle, carried family responsibility, or tried to build something meaningful from difficult beginnings.

As the team prepares for wider distribution, The King of Trash continues to stand as a story of survival, family, forgiveness, work, and service. It is a reminder that legacy is not built in one moment. It is built over a lifetime, through the choices people make after they have survived the storm.

Upcoming Screening Events

Washington, D.C.:

• Date: Thursday, June 11, 2026
• Time: 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT
• Location: United States Navy Memorial
• 701 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004

Orlando, Florida:

• Date: Sunday, June 14, 2026
• Time: 11:30 AM – 3:30 PM EDT
• Location: Regal Winter Park Village Stadium
• 510 N Orlando Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789

About The King of Trash

"The King of Trash" is a feature-length documentary directed by award-winning cinematographer Errol Webber. The film tells the true story of David Duong and the Duong family, Vietnamese refugees who survived the fall of Saigon, rebuilt their lives in America, and founded California Waste Solutions and Vietnam Waste Solutions. The documentary has completed a six-city private screening tour across the United States and is continuing toward wider distribution. For media inquiries or event information, contact info@thekingoftrash.us or visit www.thekingoftrash.us.

Media Contact

Wendy Nguyen
info@thekingoftrash.com

Lazarev.agency, an AI-native digital product design agency headquartered in San Francisco, became a winner at the 30th Annual Webby Awards in the AI – Visual Design category for Elva – AI art director, a voice-first AI video editor designed end to end by the agency. The win sits inside the Webbys' newly expanded suite of dedicated AI categories, introduced for the 30th edition to reflect how comprehensively AI has reshaped consumer software since the prior cycle.

Elva - AI art director win is Lazarev.agency's third consecutive year of Webby recognition for AI products. The agency was previously recognized for Accern at the 28th Webbys in 2024 (Features & Design – Best Homepage) and for VT News at the 29th Webbys in 2025 (Responsible Technology – Responsible Information).

"Three Webby cycles in a row. Three different AI products. Three different categories. The Webby Academy and the public have both said the same thing about how we design AI — and that is what we set out to be measured on when we started to design the first AI products in 2017," said Kirill Lazarev, CEO and founder of Lazarev.agency.

Elva is a voice-first AI video editor for mobile. Users speak a request — for example, "make a travel reel from last weekend" — and Elva selects clips from the camera roll, cuts the edit to rhythm, scores it to a mood, and produces a social-ready video. Lazarev.agency delivered the full product system, including brand identity, AI persona, agentic conversation design, voice-first in-app UX, an intelligent in-view finder camera, onboarding and App Store optimization, and a context-aware monetization layer.

Lazarev.agency has been practicing AI product design since 2017, when "AI-native" had not yet entered the industry vocabulary. The agency has shipped over 30 AI products and more than 600 total digital product design engagements across fintech, logistics, media, edtech, and AI / ML, with clients backed by Tribe Capital, Allianz Strategic Ventures, Fusion Fund, Mighty Capital, Plug and Play Ventures, 10X Capital, Viaduct Ventures, TMT Investments, and Evolution Ventures. Named clients include Peel (acquired by Shopify), AspenTech (a part of Emerson Electric; NYSE: EMR), Nimble (a 3PL robotics unicorn), AfroTech (the largest community of Black tech professionals, entrepreneurs, and investors), Blade (a travel-industry unicorn, now: Strata Critical Medical, Inc; NASDAQ: SRTA), Unico Logistics, and more.

About Lazarev.agency

Lazarev.agency is an AI-native digital product design agency headquartered in San Francisco. Since 2015, the agency has shipped more than 600 digital products, including over 30 AI products, for founders and product leaders at venture-backed startups, scaleups, and enterprise platforms. Lazarev.agency has been recognized at three consecutive Webby cycles for AI product design — Accern (2024), VT News (2025), and Elva – AI art director (2026) — with the 2026 win in the AI – Visual Design category at the 30th Annual Webby Awards. Engagements typically run four to eight months, on time-and-materials billing. Service programs include AI product launch, AI and data product UX redesign, AI UX patterns, generative AI design systems, and brand and website demos for AI products. Learn more at lazarev.agency.

About The Webby Awards

The Webby Awards have honored excellence on the internet since 1996, and have been called "the Internet's highest honor" by The New York Times. The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences receives more than 13,000 entries each year from more than 70 countries. The 2026 AI category honorees include Anthropic's Claude Code (Best Product or Service, AI Features & Innovation), Google Gemini 3 (Best AI Technical Achievement), Waymo Safety Hub (Best Responsible AI Implementation), Flow (Creative Tools, AI Experiences & Applications), and Lazarev.agency's Elva – AI art director (Best Visual Design for AI). For more information, visit www.webbyawards.com.

Media Contact

Yuliia Holomedova
Head of Content, Lazarev.agency
y.holomedova@lazarev.agency

Nearly a year after the FDA recommended in July 2025 that the DEA schedule synthetic 7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) — drawing a clear line between concentrated synthetics and natural kratom plant products — there is still no federal legislation, guidance, or coherent policy to back it up, leaving state legislators confused and pursuing conflicting directives. The American Kratom Association (AKA) will host a Congressional Briefing to cut through that confusion on one of the fastest growing and most misunderstood products in America. Reporters are invited to attend, hear directly from leading scientists and policy experts, and arrange interviews.

The briefing arrives at a pivotal moment: the FDA’s distinction between synthetic 7-OH and the natural kratom plant has yet to be matched by clear federal action, even as synthetic products marketed to look like natural kratom proliferate. AKA experts will explain what the scheduling recommendation does and does not target, and how proposed federal legislation would close the regulatory gaps that leave both consumers and the states without a consistent framework.

• Who: The American Kratom Association (AKA), joined by expert presenters in kratom science, pharmacology, and public policy.
• What: 2026 Congressional Briefing on FDA 7-OH Action, Kratom, and Consumer Protection Legislation — an on-the-record briefing for members of Congress, staff, stakeholders, and media.
• When: Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. ET.
• Where: Capitol Visitor Center, Room HVC 201, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.

Why It Matters

Kratom is used by an estimated 20 million Americans, yet no federal framework governs how it is manufactured and sold. This briefing will:

• Clarify the distinction between natural kratom and concentrated, synthetic 7-OH products.
• Explain the Federal Kratom Consumer Protection Act — how it would complement FDA and DEA activity, close regulatory gaps, and establish robust consumer protections.
• Provide scientific and policy context on a nuanced issue affecting millions of consumers, including many veterans.

Expert presenters will detail how a balanced regulatory framework can protect public safety while preserving consumer access to natural kratom products.

For Reporters

• Interviews: Subject-matter experts and AKA policy leadership will be available for one-on-one interviews before and after the briefing. Advance interviews can be arranged on request.
• B-roll / visuals: Briefing presentations and supporting materials will be available to credentialed media.
• Credentials: Access to the Capitol Visitor Center requires valid press credentials. Reporters without a Congressional press pass should contact AKA in advance to coordinate entry.
• RSVP: Media are asked to RSVP to confirm attendance and receive logistical details. Walk-ups welcome as space allows.

About American Kratom Association (AKA)

American Kratom Association (AKA) is a consumer-based, nonprofit organization, focused on furthering the latest science as guidance for kratom public policy. AKA works to give a voice to millions of Americans by fighting to protect their rights to access safe and natural kratom. For more information, visit americankratom.org and learn more at kratomanswers.org.

Media Contact

Mac Haddow
Senior Fellow on Public Policy
press@americankratom.org