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Ukrainian and United States Partners Launch MITS – The Primary Accelerator for Ukrainian Defense Tech Startups

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KYIV, Ukraine, Feb. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — There is a stereotype that defense institutions can only work with large defense companies and organizations and are biased against startups. However, the defense sector is currently undergoing significant transformations and requires bold decisions. The impetus for these changes was strong Ukrainian resistance and Ukraine’s creative approach to warfare. The solution is to cooperate with startups – small technology companies – whose fast and innovative proposals influence the course and outcome of combat operations here and now. All this allows us to significantly contribute to the development of the Ukrainian and global defense ecosystem and accelerate the development of technologies.

To this end, leading Ukrainian and American companies, and experts in the field of defense, technology solutions, and education announced the launch of the MITS (inspired by Ukrainian word for “Might”), an international defense accelerator on February 23, 2024, in Kyiv.

It aims to become a driver of Ukraine’s defense tech, to help young technology companies find the best partners and scale up, and to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine get the best defense technology products into use as soon as possible. MITS offers startups an investment of $200,000: $100,000 in direct investment in the company and $100,000 in unique expertise provided by the accelerator in cooperation with the private American university in Ukraine, American University Kyiv, as well as a post-acceleration program aimed at further assisting startups in attracting investment and scaling.

MITS and American University Kyiv, powered by Arizona State University (No. 1 in innovation among American universities in the newly released annual “Best Colleges” 2024 rankings by U.S. News & World Report), have developed a unique business program to help startups reach the world level of defense tech products, gain new competencies and become market leaders.

The acceleration program has two stages, each lasting three months: business acceleration and post-acceleration support. The program also consists of 2 training blocks:

1) development of business thinking – raising the level of business education, fundraising, management, and financial management with the involvement of industry experts from different countries according to the highest standards of Arizona State University;

2) practical component, which considers the specifics of defense production and is aimed at the successful execution of a defense order. The practical part will involve the heads of Ukrainian and international defense companies, representatives of customers, military, and defense tech experts. The accelerator’s unique value lies in access to a global network of highly qualified mentors and specialists who will provide unique knowledge and skills.

The post-acceleration program aims to prepare companies for future exports and attract foreign investment. Close collaboration with the BRAVE1 Defense Technology Cluster and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine will provide teams with direct support at every stage of contracting and execution, including testing, certification, and codification.

MITS is looking for teams with a working MVP (Minimum Viable Product, TRL 4-6 Levels) or who are as close to a functional product as possible.

The following startup categories will be targeted for acceleration in this phase:

Ground robotic systemsUnmanned aerial vehiclesUnmanned surface vehiclesUnmanned underwater vehiclesElectronic warfare (EW)Communications, optical, and acoustic reconnaissance equipmentMilitary transportMining/demining equipmentSoftware, AI, and cybersecurity solutionsAmmunitionEquipment for the “soldier of the future”

The organizers state that they aim not only to form a technological defense ecosystem in Ukraine, but also to develop the MITS Venture Fund, which will help startups after acceleration. The fund will focus on startups that have successfully completed the MITS accelerator program and other defense, dual-use and deep-tech companies.

Teams that offer innovative defense solutions that can help accelerate Ukraine’s victory are invited to apply for the accelerator from February 23 to March 14, 2024, by filling out the form on the MITS website.

About MITS:

The founders of the accelerator comprise a group of American investors with substantial experience in defense and investment spheres, led by Perry Boyle, a former member of the executive committee of Point 72, LP, one of the leading global investment management firms.

MITS has established a Supervisory Board comprising experts from the defense industries of NATO countries.

The Supervisory Board will be Co-Chaired by Dr Phillip Karber, a former Strategic Advisor to US Secretary of Defense, NATO SACEUR and Governments, and Ernest Herold, a former NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Defense Investment.

The board will also include well-known experts in defense and investment sectors such as:

David Bonfili, co-founder of ACME General Corp., who served as a senior executive at investment firms Citadel, BlackRock, and Two Sigma and as a Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses, a DC-based federally-funded research and development center that works primarily for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).

Monique Brown, Chief of Strategy and Business Development at Actus Advanced Systems, Former Regional Director, International Business Development at Lockheed Martin, and others.

Anton Melnyk, one of the co-founders of the open association of participants in Ukraine’s technological ecosystem “UATechosystem” and Alina Lovchynovska, Ukrainian Army Support activist since 2014, will coordinate the accelerator’s activities in Ukraine.

American University Kyiv is a strategic partner of MITS and Lyudmila Dolhonovska and Yuriy Bots from the American University Kyiv are coordinators in creating the acceleration program.

Media contact:
Alina Lovchynovska
373441@email4pr.com
+380504042040

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SOURCE MITS Capital LLC

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62% of financial services professionals say an AI-generated error has reached a client

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New Macabacus report finds AI adoption has outpaced the guardrails needed to keep client-facing models and documents accurate.

NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Macabacus, the leading M365 productivity platform for finance and professional services teams, today released the report: GenAI for Financial Services: Velocity and Verification. The report finds that AI now sits at the core of model creation and client presentation development, but most firms lack the review and verification layer needed to catch AI-generated errors before they reach clients.

New Macabacus report finds AI adoption has outpaced the guardrails to keep client-facing models and documents accurate

Drawing on a survey of Macabacus’ 75,000 users and analysis of conversations with hundreds of clients and prospects, the report quantifies the gap between how fast AI is being adopted and how slowly firms are building guardrails to ensure their clients can trust their deal content.

“AI is now involved in the majority of models and documents that reach clients, with 87% of firms saying they use AI daily or weekly for this work,” said Paul Ross, Chief Marketing Officer, Macabacus. “Deal teams should not slow down their use of AI. They need guardrails that let them move faster while maintaining accuracy and their clients’ trust. That is what Macabacus is built for.”

Key findings include:

62% of respondents believe an AI-generated error has reached a client or internal decision-maker in the past 12 months, with 46% saying an error has “probably” landed in a deliverable without anyone catching it.87% use AI daily or weekly to generate financial models and client presentations, but only 23% have comprehensive guardrails (approved tools, accuracy checks, brand compliance, and review workflows) in place.AI has created a divergence in confidence at the review handoff stage for models and presentations: 43% of analysts and associates say AI has made them more confident in their work, while only 29% VPs, directors, and MDs state the same. That leadership group is also 6 points more likely to say AI has made them less confident.

Download the report here:  https://macabacus.com/lp/2026-ai-report

About Macabacus

Macabacus is the leading Microsoft-native productivity platform for finance and professional services teams. When a deal document has to be right, professionals use Macabacus. Trusted by 3,000 firms and 75,000 users across investment banking, private equity, asset management, consulting, advisory, and corporate finance, Macabacus helps users rapidly create and check financial models and deal documents. By combining powerful productivity tools with AI-powered review and automation, Macabacus enables organizations to execute with greater speed, accuracy, and confidence. Learn more at www.macabacus.com

Media Contact

Paul Ross

paul.ross@macabacus.com

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SOURCE Macabacus Inc.

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ChipMOS to Participate in UBS Taiwan Summit 2026

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HSINCHU, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC. (“ChipMOS” or the “Company”) (Taiwan Stock Exchange: 8150 and Nasdaq: IMOS), an industry leading provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test services (“OSAT”), today announced that it will present to institutional investors at UBS Taiwan Summit 2026, at the W Taipei Hotel on September 15 and 16, 2026.

Management from the Company, including Jesse Huang, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Investor Relations, will discuss the Company’s recent financial results, business trends and growth opportunities. The Company’s investor presentation is available on the investor relations’ section of its website at www.chipmos.com.

About ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC.:

ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC. (“ChipMOS” or the “Company”) (Taiwan Stock Exchange: 8150 and Nasdaq: IMOS) (www.chipmos.com) is an industry leading provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test services. With advanced facilities in Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu Industrial Park and Southern Taiwan Science Park in Taiwan, ChipMOS is known for its track record of excellence and history of innovation. The Company provides end-to-end assembly and test services to leading fabless semiconductor companies, integrated device manufacturers and independent semiconductor foundries serving virtually all end markets worldwide.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as ‘believes,’ ‘expects,’ ‘anticipates,’ ‘projects,’ ‘intends,’ ‘should,’ ‘seeks,’ ‘estimates,’ ‘future’ or similar expressions or by discussion of, among other things, strategies, goals, plans or intentions. These statements may include financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding current macroeconomic conditions, including the impacts of high inflation, foreign exchange rates and risk of recession, on demand for our products, consumer confidence and financial markets generally; changes in trade regulations, policies, and agreements and the imposition of tariffs that affect our products or operations, including potential new tariffs that may be imposed and our ability to mitigate with respect to future operations, products and services, and statements regarding future performance. Actual results may differ materially in the future from those reflected in forward-looking statements contained in this document, based on a number of important factors and risks, which are more specifically identified in the Company’s most recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) filings. Further information regarding these risks, uncertainties and other factors are included in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC and in its other filings with the SEC.

Contacts:

In Taiwan

Jesse Huang

ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC.

+886-6-5052388 ext. 7715

IR@chipmos.com

In the U.S.

David Pasquale

Global IR Partners

+1-914-337-8801

dpasquale@globalirpartners.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chipmos-to-participate-in-ubs-taiwan-summit-2026-302873463.html

SOURCE ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC.

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NGP VAN Overhauls Bulk Upload, Making a Critical Campaign Workflow Faster and Easier

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New experience catches errors before imports begin and reduces the manual work required to bring data into NGP VAN

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NGP VAN, the leading technology provider for Democratic and progressive campaigns, today announced major improvements to Bulk Upload, making one of the platform’s most frequently used workflows faster, more intuitive, and less prone to errors.

The improved Bulk Upload experience addresses longstanding pain points for campaign staff and data managers. The new workflow automatically detects the file type, identifies formatting and matching issues before an import runs, and intelligently maps spreadsheet columns to the appropriate fields in NGP VAN.

“Bulk upload is something we do constantly, and the struggle has always been real,” said Laurie Van Hall, Partner at Bee Compliance. “Smarter column mapping and catching errors up front before the import runs is the kind of upgrade that actually changes how a day goes. Really glad to see NGP VAN tackling this one.”

The improvements arrive as campaigns and organizations head into the busiest stretch of the election cycle, when the volume and urgency of critical data moving into NGP and VAN peaks. By surfacing potential issues before an import begins and reducing repetitive manual mapping, the redesigned workflow helps users spend less time troubleshooting uploads and more time acting on their data.

“The new Bulk Upload workflow lowers the learning curve for new NGP VAN users,” said Candy Emmons, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Oregon. “With new people joining our team throughout the cycle, making these tools more intuitive helps staff become confident, independent users much more quickly.”

The updated experience includes:

Automatic file-type detection that eliminates the need for users to manually identify the data type they’re importing.Pre-validation checks that surface formatting and matching issues before an import runs.Improved column mapping that automatically matches spreadsheet columns to NGP VAN fields and reduces repetitive setup.A redesigned upload experience, with streamlined opening steps, a cleaner mapping screen, and a refreshed status page built on a modernized foundation.

“We’re hyperfocused on our users and how we can make their jobs easier every single day. Nearly every user I’ve spoken with has had something to say about Bulk Upload – and rarely was it good,” said Francis Brown, Senior Product Manager at NGP VAN. “We listened, pulled together a team, and went after the things that were creating the most frustration. This is exactly the kind of investment we want to make in the core NGP VAN experience – improving the workflows our users rely on every day. The response from beta testers has been incredibly encouraging, and I’m excited for users to get their hands on the new experience. “

The improved Bulk Upload experience does not change existing upload specifications, data models, field mappings, access permissions, or supported file formats. It will be optional at launch, and the existing Bulk Upload workflow will remain available.

About NGP VAN
NGP VAN is the winningest technology platform in the history of democratic and progressive causes, working tirelessly to innovate and advance the technology our clients rely on to bolster our democracy. A proud unionized employer, we help power the trailblazers, campaigners, and advocates fighting up and down the ticket for equality, racial justice, reproductive freedom, democracy, climate reform, and more—including the national Democratic committees and progressive organizations, thousands of Democratic campaigns, hundreds of labor unions, advocacy organizations, progressive and non-partisan PACs, and other organizations.

Press Contact:
Simone Hassan-Bey
NGP VAN
press@ngpvan.com

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SOURCE NGP VAN

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