Motive Companies Launches Motiveone.com, Completing its Brand Refresh to Motive

New website and updated logo bring Motive's energy and connectivity capabilities together as one seamless solution.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Motive Companies, LLC has launched motiveone.com, a digital destination that completes the consolidation of brands across the Motive organization and emphasizes the company's position as one singular partner for commercial and industrial customers.

The new site synthesizes the solutions previously spread across motivecompanies.com, motiveenergy.com, motiveis.com, and motivems.com. The launch continues the developments that began with the Motive Energy rebrand introduced in 2024 and the company's acquisition of GXC private cellular that same year, both of which marked the beginning of a broader refresh across Motive to establish itself as one singular energy and connectivity partner.

"Customers do not think about their operations in silos, so they don't need separate vendors moving in separate directions." said Bob Istwan, CEO of Motive. "Motiveone.com reflects how Motive works today: one partner with the capabilities to support complex customer environments."

Motiveone.com gives customers a clearer and simpler way to navigate the company's full scope of work, telling the full Motive story while also allowing them to explore solutions based on industry, product, service, and operating need. The structure helps customers understand not only what Motive provides, but how those capabilities work together across real operating environments to create more comprehensive solutions.

Motive's legal structure, ownership, contracts, purchase orders, invoicing, affiliates, and account teams will remain unchanged.

About Motive

Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, Motive Companies, LLC provides integrated energy and connectivity solutions for commercial and industrial customers. Its portfolio includes sustainable energy solutions, industrial and automotive batteries, chargers, EVSE, solar and storage, energy management, private wireless, managed IT, cybersecurity, monitoring, field services, maintenance, and support. Through self-performing teams and operational expertise, Motive helps customers plan, deploy, maintain, and manage the systems that keep critical operations running. Visit motiveone.com to learn more.

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HOUSTON, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Sallyport, a Houston-based investment firm, today announced the launch of Truss Infrastructure Services ("Truss"), a new platform focused on acquiring and strengthening essential service businesses by connecting domain expertise, purpose-built technology and commercial reach.

Infrastructure operators are facing rising compliance and risk-management demands. At the same time, they are under growing pressure to use technology to operate more efficiently. Truss is assembling specialized service businesses that solve critical operational and asset management challenges, with a focus on embedding purpose-built technology directly into how those services are delivered.

"Truss represents an exciting opportunity to create a great business in a market Sallyport knows well and has successfully invested in before," said Kyle Bethancourt, Managing Partner of Sallyport. "Aging infrastructure, increasing compliance requirements and the need to safely modernize critical assets are creating greater demand for specialized service providers with deep industry expertise."

Louis Krannich will serve as Chief Executive Officer of Truss, bringing experience both as an operator of major energy infrastructure and as a leader of service businesses supporting those operators. He began his career with El Paso Corporation and PG&E before becoming Chief Executive Officer of Sallyport-backed Remote Operations Center ("ROC"), which he scaled into the largest third-party control center in the U.S. Following EverLine's acquisition of ROC in 2019, Krannich helped scale the combined business through acquisitions, new market entry and technology deployment. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Summit Midstream.

"Having spent my career on both sides of this industry, I believe there is a compelling opportunity to build a different kind of infrastructure services company," said Krannich. "We're focused on essential services where judgment and execution remain critical, and where technology can meaningfully improve how the work gets done and how customers are served."

"We've had the opportunity to partner with Louis before, and we're excited to do it again," said Ryan Howard, Managing Partner of Sallyport. "He brings a unique perspective to the market and shares our long-term approach to creating value. Partnering with him again was an easy decision."

Submar, a leading provider of erosion remediation and maintenance services, became the first company to join Truss earlier this summer. The Louisiana-based business protects critical pipeline infrastructure with engineered erosion control systems delivered through a turnkey approach spanning site assessment, engineering, design, permitting and installation.

"Since partnering with Sallyport and Truss, we've been impressed by their approach to working with our team," said Joseph Fournet, President of Submar. "They took the time to understand our business, our people and our customers, and have been thoughtful about where they can help us grow. That gives us a lot of confidence about what we can accomplish together."

The name Truss reflects the power of connection. A truss brings individual components together to create a stronger whole. Truss seeks to connect specialized businesses in ways that benefit each company and the broader portfolio. Each business builds on its distinct strengths while gaining access to broader capabilities, knowledge and resources.

"We're building Truss for the long term," said Krannich. "The goal is not to make every company look the same. It's to give each business capabilities and insight that can be difficult to develop on its own, while building on the strengths that earned the trust of its customers."

About Sallyport

Founded in 2023 and based in Houston, Texas, Sallyport is an investment firm dedicated to providing capital and leadership to growing companies across various industries. As a value-add partner, Sallyport collaborates closely with management teams to grow and build thriving businesses. Its mission is to create enduring value for investors, companies and communities. For more information, visit www.sallyportinvestments.com.

About Truss

Founded in 2026 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, Truss Infrastructure Services builds and strengthens essential service businesses supporting critical infrastructure operators. Truss creates value by connecting domain expertise, commercial reach and purpose-built technology across a growing network of specialized companies. For more information, visit www.trussinfrastructure.com.

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Companies building on Crossmint can now offer Tala-underwritten credit to their users, while Tala embeds Crossmint smart wallets starting with 1M+ customers in Mexico.

MIAMI and SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Crossmint, the all-in-one stablecoin and wallet infrastructure, and Tala, the AI-native credit infrastructure connecting global capital to the global majority, today announced a partnership that pairs stablecoin wallet and payment infrastructure with on-chain credit infrastructure.

The initial launch consists of two integrations. Tala's on-chain Credit-as-a-Service is now available to companies using Crossmint, enabling them to offer credit underwritten by Tala to their users. Tala has embedded Crossmint smart wallets infrastructure in its app, launching the experience first in Mexico.

The partnership expands access to stable digital assets, payment rails, and credit in a single stack to more of the global majority.

Bridging the global credit gap

The majority of adults worldwide don't have financial products that meet their needs. According to the World Bank's Global Findex 2025, 44% of adults in low- and middle-income economies could not reliably access extra money in an emergency. Many more contend with volatile currency, no credit history, and traditional payment infrastructure that does not reach them.

Tala has spent more than a decade solving the credit access problem for thin-file customers across Latin America, Asia, and Africa, with proprietary AI to underwrite users using behavioral and alternative signals.

Crossmint has been solving the money access problem globally. Stablecoins offer easier access to stable digital assets and payment rails. Crossmint builds the infrastructure that makes stablecoins usable at scale, with embedded wallets, on/offramps, and stablecoin orchestration behind one API.

Each solves a critical problem, but together they compound into something greater: access to digital assets that hold their value, rails that reach people without a bank, and AI-native credit infrastructure powered by a decade of proprietary lending data.

"Tala has spent a decade learning how to underwrite people the credit system never looked at," said Rodri Fernández Touza, Co-Founder of Crossmint. "Our non-custodial wallet and stablecoin infrastructure gives those customers somewhere to hold that money in a currency that keeps its value, and be able to move it in seconds."

Self custody wallets and rewards for 1M+ users in Mexico

Tala is launching a new wallet experience within its app initially for 1M+ active customers in Mexico, built on Crossmint smart wallet and stablecoin payment infrastructure. Customers hold a balance in a digital asset pegged to the Mexican peso on Solana, and earn rewards for repaying their loans on time. Rewards land in seconds rather than days, and are theirs to hold, spend, or convert to withdraw as cash.

From this initial launch, Tala plans to explore more digital asset financial services into the embedded wallet, including balance-based benefits and inbound cross-border transfers, all accessible through the Tala experience, and extend these capabilities to more of the markets it serves.

Tala's Embedded Credit-as-a-Service, available globally

Crossmint is also integrating Tala's Credit-as-a-Service into its platform. A neobank, remittance provider, or payroll company using Crossmint Wallets can now add credit to its product without building a lending stack, hiring a risk team, or putting its own balance sheet behind loans. Tala provides the capital and the AI-native underwriting. Crossmint provides the wallet the money lands in and the rails the repayment travels back through.

"Integrating Tala's credit engine into Crossmint's wallet infrastructure means companies building on Crossmint have a direct path to Tala's lending stack wired in," said Shivani Siroya, Founder and CEO of Tala. "With Tala, they can turn on unsecured credit and provide instant liquidity for their users within days. This is the latest milestone in our mission to deliver frictionless, accessible financial services to the global majority."

"Credit access is a natural extension of our goal to give fintechs the ability to build better financial products for more users around the world," says Rodri Fernandez. "Now any developer using Crossmint infrastructure can offer Tala-underwritten credit to their users."

Developers can learn more about how to add credit in the Crossmint documentation.

About Crossmint

Crossmint is the leading all-in-one stablecoin and wallet infrastructure platform. Trusted by global brands and Fortune 500 financial institutions, Crossmint provides embedded smart contract wallets, frictionless on/offramps, and multi-chain stablecoin orchestration through one API. Crossmint abstracts blockchain complexity, handling compliance, asset delivery, and fraud protection globally. Backed by Ribbit Capital, Franklin Templeton, and other top investors. Learn more at crossmint.com.

About Tala

Tala is the AI-native credit infrastructure that connects global capital to the global majority. We combine proprietary risk intelligence with an expanding network of capital and distribution partners to power credit access at scale. Backed by more than $500 million in funding, Tala has distributed more than $9 billion in capital to more than 14 million customers across Africa, Latin America, and Asia—building the definitive contextual dataset on thin-file borrowers in emerging markets.

Media Contact

Brett Li

Head of Marketing

[email protected]

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Keynotes from industry leaders will show organizations how to move beyond AI pilots

and turn AI capabilities into measurable business value

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Scaled Agile, Inc. (SAI), provider of SAFe®, the world's most trusted system for business agility and AI-Native enterprise training solutions, announced the SAFe & AI Summit San Diego, which will take place September 14-18 at the Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center. The event will bring together business leaders, transformation practitioners, and Agile professionals to explore how AI is reshaping the way organizations deliver business outcomes.

AI is changing how work gets done, and to meet the needs of organizations working to become AI-Native, Scaled Agile has developed AI-Native SAFe to help guide and accelerate their journey. The need is great. Despite unprecedented investment in AI, a survey from the Return on AI Institute of 1,000 C-suite executives found that only 9% report realizing significant value from generative AI. The barrier to achieving ROI is not technical, but rather a lack of an operating model that helps organizations govern AI, transform how work gets done, and consistently turn AI capabilities into business value.

The summit's main keynote, AI-Native SAFe, The Operating Model for the Age of AI, will be delivered by Andrew Sales, SAFe's chief methodologist and Scaled Agile's chief product officer. Andrew will explain how the bottleneck has shifted from building faster to validating value responsibly and how Lean-Agile principles provide the foundation for scaling AI with confidence. The session will show how AI-Native SAFe reimagines teams, Agile Release Trains, leadership and governance to help organizations become faster, more adaptive and fundamentally AI-native.

Additional main-stage keynotes will feature Lindsay Wirthlin of the Red Cross, Kate O'Neill, author of Tech Humanist, and Mik Kersten, author of Project to Product, who will preview ideas from his upcoming book Output to Outcome. Their sessions will examine how funding, leadership, and team structures must evolve as AI systems generate far more output than traditional organizations are built to absorb, and why Fortune 500 operating models need to be rewired to optimize for outcomes rather than output.

The two-day summit will combine customer-led case studies, partner showcases, and hands-on labs so attendees will not just learn about AI-Native practices but also apply them. Participants will build an AI-enabled workflow, create a 90-day AI roadmap and practice new ways of working with AI inside SAFe. Additionally, on Sept. 14, Scaled Agile will host a partner day, a SAFe Practice Consultant Trainer (SPCT) master class and immersive preconference training. Sept. 17-18, Scaled Agile will conduct post-conference training to further equip leaders with real, prioritized plans and applications to drive change upon their return.

Speakers and sessions at the summit will draw on organizations already applying SAFe and AI-Native SAFe in practice, including AWS, Collins Aerospace, Barclays, Benco Dental, Navy Federal Credit Union, Panasonic, the VA Office of Clinical Informatics, and VW Credit.

"Large organizations know they need to become AI-native, but seeing real ROI from AI requires changing the way work happens, and that's a difficult task to do all on your own," said Andrew Sales, chief methodologist at Scaled Agile. "AI-Native SAFe provides a framework for AI transformation built on proven Agile principals, and the SAFe & AI Summit provides hands-on experience, practical application, and content focused on achieving business outcomes from AI such as increased speed, improved quality, and significant ROI."

To register for the SAFe AI Summit in San Diego, visit the registration site.

About Scaled Agile, Inc.

Scaled Agile, Inc. is the provider of SAFe®, the world's most trusted system for business agility, and the creator of AI-Native, a transformation system that helps organizations scale AI from proof-of-concept to enterprise-wide impact. With more than 2 million professionals trained across 60-plus countries and more than 20,000 enterprises and government agencies in its global network, Scaled Agile brings over 15 years of enterprise transformation experience to today's AI-driven world. Learn more at scaledagile.com.

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Knox Systems now supports customers seeking IL5 accreditation, one of the government's most stringent security environments, that enables software providers to work with the U.S. military.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Knox Systems (Knox), the largest FedRAMP and DISA-managed cloud provider, today announced its Impact Level 5 (IL5) environment, sponsored by the U.S. Space Force.

The new environment provides a secure, mission-ready landing zone for commercial software and AI applications supporting the Department of War's (DoW) most sensitive workloads, including Controlled Unclassified Information and mission-critical National Security Systems.

Purpose-built as a separate, dedicated boundary, the Knox IL5 landing zone will extend its existing FedRAMP High and Impact Level 4 DoW capabilities, which Knox has held since 2019. The platform is designed to meet the elevated security, isolation, and operational requirements necessary to support high-impact defense missions while enabling technology companies to enter the environment faster and without building and operating a standalone government cloud deployment.

"The American warfighter deserves the same leading edge technology the private sector can access - without sacrificing security," said Irina Denisenko, CEO of Knox Systems. "The Space Force's sponsorship of the Knox IL5 environment makes this possible at speed and scale. I'm proud that, together, we'll help enable the next phase of defense innovation."

Hemant Baidwan, former CISO of the Department of Homeland Security and current Executive CISO at Knox, added, "Government should not have to choose between the strongest security standards and access to the best commercial technology. IL5 raises the bar for both. With Space Force's sponsorship, we're bringing mission-ready capabilities into some of the Department of War's most sensitive workloads, both at the height of security and at speed."

Knox operates a managed federal cloud through which commercial technology providers can deploy secure government versions of their products. Rather than requiring each software company to independently build, authorize, and maintain its own government environment, Knox provides a hardened cloud boundary, continuous security operations, and a path for government customers to inherit an existing authorization.

Today, Knox has 16 sponsors across federal agencies and the DoW. The Knox IL5 environment builds on the company's growing portfolio and its experience operating mission-critical software environments for the U.S. government. Knox currently supports leading SaaS and AI providers, including Adobe, Sierra, Vannevar, Sift and others.

About Knox Systems

Knox Systems operates the largest managed government cloud, trusted by leading agencies and partners across the defense and civilian sectors. Built for speed, resilience and compliance, Knox delivers a faster path to government authorization—turning one of the biggest bottlenecks in government technology into a platform for secure modernization. With the support of sponsors from 17 agencies including DHS, DoW, FEMA, NIH, and more, Knox serves over 100 leading AI and SaaS providers, accelerating the delivery of mission-ready technology.

Learn more at knoxsystems.com.

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AI Call Summaries handle the note-taking so care center teammates can focus on clients, resolving needs faster and delivering more personalized service.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Truist Financial Corp. (NYSE: TFC) today announced the full deployment of AI Call Summaries across its care centers, using generative AI to automatically convert client conversations into concise, structured summaries within seconds. By handling the note-taking and post-call documentation automatically, the technology frees care center teammates to stay fully present with clients, resolve needs faster and deliver more personalized, informed service on every call.

Since its implementation in the third quarter of 2025, the capability has scaled rapidly, generating more than 4.5 million summaries, in the second quarter of 2026 alone, and supporting more than 70% of care center inbound client interactions. The average Truist care center phone call lasts more than eight minutes, making the ability to quickly capture key themes, client needs and resolution outcomes particularly valuable. Based on average time savings of approximately 30 seconds per call, AI Call Summaries saved teammates more than 36,000 hours in the second quarter of 2026.

"At Truist, listening to clients is central to how we improve the experience across the client journey," said Truist Head of Digital, Client Experience, and Marketing Sherry Graziano. "By using AI-powered capabilities, we can consolidate feedback, organize insights and get answers to clients more efficiently. This is a great example of being digitally empowered yet deeply relational, equipping teammates with the tools they need to serve our clients with greater care."

Across Truist Care Centers, AI Call Summaries help teammates access key information from prior interactions and prepare for follow-up conversations. "Deploying generative AI-powered call summaries across our care centers is a meaningful step forward in how we support our teammates and serve our clients," said Truist Head of Truist Care Centers Kimberly Dorsett. "Instead of manually capturing conversation details, teammates can use AI-generated summaries to quickly understand and respond to clients with greater confidence."

AI Call Summaries represent a foundational step in Truist's broader strategy to embed AI into everyday workflows, improve the client experience and reimagine how work gets done across the organization. As one of Truist's earliest enterprise-scale generative AI applications approved for broad use, the capability reflects the bank's commitment to scaling AI responsibly. Truist plans to extend the capability to additional areas of the bank, demonstrating how targeted AI use cases can deliver immediate value while creating a foundation for greater operational consistency, institutional knowledge capture and better decision-making across the organization."

About Truist

Truist Financial Corporation is a purpose-driven financial services company committed to inspiring and building better lives and communities. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Truist has leading market share in many of the high-growth markets in the U.S. and offers a wide range of products and services through wholesale and consumer businesses, including consumer and small business banking, commercial and corporate banking, investment banking and capital markets, wealth management, payments, and specialized lending businesses. Truist is a top 10 commercial bank with $549 billion as of March 31, 2026. Truist Bank, Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Learn more at Truist.com.

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Timed to NFL Kickoff, Acorns Matches Lost Bets Up to $50 to Flip Sunday Night Regret into a First Investment

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Acorns, the financial wellness company helping everyday Americans grow their money, today announced the launch of "Investinall," a spoof pharmaceutical product that cures a losing bet, designed to turn Sunday night regret into a first investment.

27% of Americans and half of men ages 18–49 (52%) say they have an active account with an online sportsbook, yet 96% lost money from online betting. Not because they didn't know better, but because the industry was designed that way: variable rewards, near-miss notifications, and in-game micro-bets engineered to keep the dopamine loop running.

Sports betting isn't the only product built this way. Day-trading platforms sell volatility as opportunity, and prediction markets gamify everything from stock prices to reality television to world events. What they have in common: they're all engineered to exploit impulse, and they're all being marketed hardest to a generation trained to expect instant results. "Investinall" is the opposite. It's a 100-year-old idea dressed up as a product launch. It looks like a real product. It reads like a real product. It ships like a real product. Active ingredient: time and a chance at compound interest. Inactive ingredients: diversification and patience.

"People want more money, and if they're led to believe there's a faster way to get it, they're going to pursue that. But the reality is that getting rich happens slowly," said Noah Kerner, CEO of Acorns. "There's no shortcut - not trading, not predicting, not gambling. We made "Investinall" because people might not listen to us preaching this, but maybe a good dose of medicine will do the trick."

Acorns received feedback from a customer who said they had a gambling problem and spent $8,000 in a single month that they could have saved, and reached out asking if Acorns could block them from withdrawing their own money to protect themselves from gambling it away.

To turn Sunday night regret into Monday morning momentum, Acorns is matching lost bets up to $50, giving new customers the opportunity to turn a losing wager into the first deposit of a long-term investment portfolio. Because for the 1 in 4 sports bettors who have missed a bill because of gambling, the best next move isn't another bet.

Starting today, Americans who lose a bet can head to Acorns.com/Investinall to receive up to $50 as their first bonus investment deposit. Available exclusively to new Acorns customers who set up a recurring investment, because one deposit is a moment, but a habit is how wealth actually gets built.

The average surveyed sports bettor spends $3,284 a year on gambling - $274 a month. If that same person invested $274 a month instead at a historical average return of 8% annually, they could grow that to over $950,000 after 40 years. One disappears before the 4th quarter. The other works while you sleep.

Investinall launches today across digital, social, and out-of-home channels, targeting NFL regular season kickoff to meet everyday Americans at the intersection of culture, sports, and financial reality. The campaign is amplified by a network of creators sharing their own "lost bet" moments, turning a universal Sunday night feeling into a cultural conversation about what that money could have become instead. Offer runs through 12/1/2026.*

About Acorns

Acorns is the financial wellness company helping everyday Americans grow their money for the long term. Since 2014, Acorns has grown into a global company with multiple life stage products serving the needs of kids, teens, adults and parents. Named one of America's Best Financial Services of 2026 by TIME, Acorns has served over 16 million people, and helped customers save & invest over $33 billion dollars, much of it from spare change and small amounts.

Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Please consider your objectives, risk tolerance, and Acorns' fees before investing. Investment advisory products and services offered by Acorns Advisers, LLC (Acorns), an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Brokerage products and services are provided by Acorns Securities, LLC, an SEC registered Broker Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. For more information visit Acorns.com.

Acorns Invest is an individual investment account which invests in a portfolio of ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) recommended to customers based on their responses to the Acorns investor profile questionnaire.

*$1–$50 bonus investment offer for first time Acorns customers who: (1) use the slider at acorns.com/investinall to select a self-reported gambling loss amount; (2) open an Acorns Invest Account; and (3) complete a recurring investment of at least $5. Valid 12:00 a.m. ET on 9/9/26 to 11:59 p.m. ET on 12/1/26. Legal U.S. residents 18+ only. Limit 1/person. Terms apply.

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Teacher-judged award program validates PLTW Engineering and PLTW Gateway as trusted solutions for high-impact STEM and CTE pathways

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a national nonprofit dedicated to preparing PreK–12 students for careers, college, and life through hands-on curriculum, is proud to announce that it has been named a winner in two categories of the Educators Pick Best of STEM® 2026 Awards. PLTW Engineering was awarded "Best of STEM: Engineering Education," and PLTW Gateway was recognized as the winner for "Best of STEM: Hands-on Learning for Middle School."

The Educators Pick Best of STEM Awards is the only awards program judged entirely by certified science and STEM educators. Operated in partnership with MCH Strategic Data, the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA), and the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT), the program spotlights innovative products, technologies, and services that are changing the world of STEM education. Each entry is rigorously evaluated and validated for classroom suitability by certified classroom teachers, specialists, and district leaders.

"Educators need trusted, field-tested solutions that deliver real-world impact. This recognition means more because it comes from educators who see the results firsthand," said David Dimmett, President and CEO of Project Lead The Way. "PLTW Engineering and PLTW Gateway give students the chance to design, build, and solve real problems, the kind of experience that prepares them not just for a career, but for success in school, work, and life."

PLTW Engineering equips high school students with technical expertise and career-ready skills by immersing them in real-world engineering challenges that connect classroom learning to modern industry applications. Through a hands-on, project-based approach, PLTW Engineering encourages innovation and problem-solving, creating scalable pathways that prepare students for higher education and future careers in engineering and STEM-related fields.

"PLTW Engineering provides a comprehensive, career-connected learning experience for students that has a nice combination of technical knowledge aligned with building durable skills," said the educator judge for Best of STEM: Engineering Education. "Because it offers hands-on, project- and problem-based challenges, it enables students to engage in impactful learning as they design, build, test, and improve their solutions, and to explore different areas such as aerospace engineering, civil engineering, robotics, and more."

PLTW Gateway introduces middle school students to real-world learning opportunities across multiple disciplines. Through collaborative projects and problem-based activities, students actively explore robotics, skilled trades, medical science, engineering design, app creation, aerospace, and automation. By emphasizing experiential learning and career exploration during a critical developmental stage, PLTW Gateway inspires personal confidence and builds sustained interest in STEM pathways that extend into high school.

"PLTW Gateway offers exactly what is most needed in today's educational arena: hands-on, relevant, career-oriented curriculum that values the needs of present-day students," said the educator judge for Best of STEM: Hands-on Learning for Middle School. "With their Activity - Project - Problem-Based Learning approach, PLTW provides educators and students with a meaningful and robust way to not only expose students to over 60 diverse careers, but also ensure soft skills like collaboration, perseverance, communication, and overcoming failure are practiced in significant ways."

Learn more about PLTW at https://www.pltw.org/.

About Project Lead The Way

Project Lead The Way (PLTW) is a nationwide nonprofit offering a complete PreK–12 STEM and CTE ecosystem that connects classroom curriculum to real-world application through immersive experiences, purposeful industry partnerships, grant-supported access, and educator training—helping schools develop and demonstrate a career advantage through meaningful, applied learning that supports engagement, confidence, and future-ready skill development.

For nearly 30 years, PLTW has given students opportunities to solve problems, create, collaborate, and apply what they learn in meaningful ways, from standards-aligned, project-based early exploration to advanced coursework and work-based learning.

Discover why more than 12,200 schools, 116,000 trained educators, and millions of students across all 50 states choose PLTW to build the skills they need for careers, college, and life. Learn more at PLTW.org.

Media Contact:

Stephanie Grau

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SOURCE Project Lead The Way

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U.S.-Led Round Follows Expert Roster Growth and Recognition Among Canada's Top 100 AI Startups

MONTREAL, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Onix, the company behind Personal Intelligence®, a new category of AI built on trusted experts rather than the average internet, today announced $5 million USD (approximately $7 million CAD) in pre-seed funding led by Alpha Edison, with participation from Garage Capital, Ride Home Fund, and strategic investors including Jeremy Zimmer, co-founder of UTA, and JS Cournoyer, co-founder of Real Ventures.

The round marks the company's first institutional capital and reflects growing confidence in its fundamentally different approach: private, expert-owned intelligence systems trained exclusively on licensed expert knowledge and governed by the experts themselves. The funding will accelerate platform development, expert onboarding, research and evaluation, as Onix heads to public availability. This momentum comes at a time when more people turn to AI for health advice, while trust and provenance emerge as defining challenges for the AI industry.

"The next generation of AI will be defined by trust," said Nick Grouf, Managing Partner at Alpha Edison. "Onix has built a fundamentally different approach around human expertise and privacy. That's why we invested."

Early participants are already seeing the impact. "I was skeptical of digital medical advice. Then Jordan Metzl's onix actually changed my behaviour, and no app has ever done that," said James Schauer, a startup founder who used the platform while managing a knee injury. Cindy P., a Hashimoto's patient dismissed for almost 30 years, said McCall McPherson's onix "coached me exactly how to advocate for myself. My doctor did a complete 180."

Experts see the same gap from the other side. "All the work we put into our careers, the biggest problem is it never reaches the people who need to hear it," said Dave Rabin, MD, PhD. "Onix is going to demonstrate that AI can scale that knowledge and help heal the world."

The financing stands out in a tight Canadian venture market. According to the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA), the round is more than seven times the average Canadian pre-seed deal in 2025 and exceeds the average Canadian seed round. It also comes as U.S. investor participation in Canadian pre-seed venture deals fell from 23% in 2024 to 8% in 2025, making a U.S.-led investment in a Canada-based company a notable signal of confidence.

The funding comes amid significant momentum for Onix, including the addition of new health experts, a partnership with Mila, the Montreal-based AI research institute founded by Yoshua Bengio, and recognition as one of Canada's Top 100 AI Startups for 2026 by ALL IN. New health experts joining the platform include Tim Westbrook, MS, addiction recovery expert; Robin Berman, MD, psychiatrist and parenting expert; Aric A. Prather, PhD, sleep psychologist; Dr. Sanjay Bhojraj, MD, integrative cardiologist; Nathalie Niddam, CNP, BPC, longevity and biohacking expert; Shivani Gupta, PhD, Ayurvedic practitioner focused on inflammation; and Ashley Shrader, DNP, IFMCP, family nurse practitioner.

Onix was co-founded by David Bennahum, a former WIRED contributing editor and serial technology entrepreneur, and Dr. Nicholas Nadeau, who scaled humanoid robotics company 1X as CTO.

It launched with a cohort of Founding Experts across key health and wellness categories, including William Li, MD; Jordan Metzl, MD; Michael Rich, MD; Dave Rabin, MD, PhD; Jill Carnahan, MD; Krista Ramonas, MD; Joel "Gator" Warsh, MD; Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, MD; Elissa Epel, PhD; Nicole Beurkens, PhD; Meenal Agarwal, OD; Christian Drapeau, MSc; Juliana Hauser, LMFT; Ashley Koff, RD; McCall McPherson, PA-C; and Mark Sisson.

"Today's AI dilutes knowledge, depriving people from accessing true expertise that defines the standards of human care," said David S. Bennahum, Co-founder and CEO of Onix. "We believe the future belongs to technologies that preserve provenance, authorship, and human judgment, so people know who they're learning from and experts retain ownership of the knowledge they've spent a lifetime building."

"The AI industry optimized for scale by scraping everything public," said Nicholas Nadeau, PhD, Co-founder and CTO of Onix. "But the most valuable knowledge was never public: the unpublished frameworks, the case notes, the judgment an expert builds over a career. You can't scrape that; you have to earn it. Onix builds with experts, so their knowledge reaches people intact and stays theirs."

Onix is currently available in early access on iOS. Full commercial availability is expected later this year, with Android to follow.

To learn more, visit Onix.life and follow Onix on Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and YouTube.

ABOUT ONIX

Onix is the world's first Personal Intelligence® solution, a private, expert-driven AI built from the minds you'd most want in your corner to solve life's hardest problems.

Onix doesn't replace humans; it amplifies them. Participants get guidance from the experts they trust, anytime, anywhere, with personal, private advice. Onix gives experts a way to license their knowledge intentionally and maintain governance over how their intelligence systems operate, while scaling their work to help more people without surrendering their IP to centralized AI platforms.

PRESS CONTACT

Sara White

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832-314-2640

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FIN enables Splititto integrate with SilverLake® core banking platform and Banno digital banking platform

ATLANTA, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Splitit, the global leader in bank-linked installment payments, today announced its integration with Jack Henry's SilverLake® core banking platform and Banno Digital Platform™ through the Jack Henry®Fintech Integration Network (FIN). The Fintech Integration Network is designed to help ensure that Jack Henry's customers can easily deploy third-party products.

Splitit debit card installments integrate with SilverLake through jXchange™ services-based programming interfaces that enable third-party fintechs and financial institutions to securely access core data and business rules. These integrations maintain data integrity by managing access through a service layer that governs all interactions, ensuring consistent and secure data exchange across platforms.

Eligible banks and credit unions can now offer embedded installments to debit and demand accountholders, enabling them to generate new fee income and compete more effectively with BNPL providers – without building new technology, becoming the lender of record, or requiring users to adopt a third-party app.

Every time a customer chooses a third-party Buy Now, Pay Later app instead of their bank, the bank loses more than a loan. It loses transaction visibility, fee income, engagement and another opportunity to strengthen the primary banking relationship. Over time, payment innovation shifts away from the financial institution and into the hands of third parties.

Splitit was built to reverse that trend. Splitit's white-label platform, integrated with Jack Henry, enables banks and credit unions to bring payment innovation back inside the banking relationship. By unlocking installment capabilities for deposit accounts and debit cards, institutions can offer seamless payment flexibility at checkout and after purchase while retaining the accountholder relationship, transaction data and economics.

"Banks and credit unions shouldn't have to watch their most loyal customers leave the banking relationship every time they want more payment flexibility," said Ran Landau, CTO of Splitit. "Consumers increasingly expect their trusted financial institution to offer installment payments that are as seamless and embedded. Building and continuously evolving an AI-powered installment platform that keeps pace with changing expectations isn't something most financial institutions should have to do on their own. That's exactly why we built Splitit. Together with Jack Henry, we're giving banks and credit unions a faster path to innovation – one that strengthens relationships, creates new revenue opportunities and helps them remain at the center of the payment experience."

Accountholders benefit from a seamless experience before and after purchase. At checkout, eligible users can select installment payments in real time with participating merchants, marketplaces and wallets. After purchase, eligible transactions will be converted into personalized installment offers, through Splitit's AI-powered personalization engine, directly within the institution's digital banking experience. In both cases, accountholders remain within the trusted banking relationship they already know.

Jack Henry's FIN takes the accountholder out of the middle, providing fintechs with direct access to Jack Henry's technical resources and test systems. FIN inclusion is not an endorsement of the fintech's product.

About Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.®

Jack Henry® (Nasdaq: JKHY) is a well-rounded financial technology company that strengthens connections between financial institutions and the people and businesses they serve. We are an S&P 500 company that prioritizes openness, collaboration, and user centricity – offering banks and credit unions a vibrant ecosystem of internally developed modern capabilities as well as the ability to integrate with leading fintechs. For 50 years, Jack Henry has provided technology solutions to enable clients to innovate faster, strategically differentiate, and successfully compete while serving the evolving needs of their accountholders. We empower approximately 7,400 clients with people-inspired innovation, personal service, and insight-driven solutions that help reduce the barriers to financial health. Additional information is available at www.jackhenry.com.

About Splitit

Splitit is the only global installment payments platform built to work inside a bank's own digital experience, not around it. By turning existing credit relationships into flexible, card-linked installment plans, Splitit gives financial institutions a way to deepen customer engagement, strengthen deposit retention, and unlock new revenue, all without requiring customers to open a new account or download a third-party app. Banks and credit unions retain full control over eligibility, credit policy, and the customer relationship throughout. Trusted by financial institutions and leading brands across luxury retail, digital marketplaces, and technology, Splitit operates in more than 100 countries and powers embedded installment experiences — including inside Samsung Wallet — at scale. Learn more at Splitit.com.

The Harris Agency for Splitit David Resnic or Chrissy Carney [email protected]

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