Technology

HONEYWELL AND BOMBARDIER SIGN LANDMARK AGREEMENT TO DELIVER THE NEXT GENERATION OF AVIATION TECHNOLOGY; HONEYWELL UPDATES 2024 OUTLOOK

Published

1 year ago

December 2, 2024

Agreement includes collaborative research and development centered on Honeywell Anthem avionics, selection of more powerful engines, and next-generation satellite communications technologies for Bombardier aircraftAftermarket offerings and new technologies provide Honeywell revenue potential of up to $17 billion over life of agreement All legacy pending litigation between the companies has been resolved

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) announced the signing of a strategic agreement with Bombardier, a global leader in aviation and manufacturer of world-class business jets, to provide advanced technology for current and future Bombardier aircraft in avionics, propulsion and satellite communications technologies.

The collaboration will advance new technology to enable a host of high-value upgrades for the installed Bombardier operator base, as well as lay innovative foundations for future aircraft. Honeywell estimates the value of this partnership to the company at $17 billion over its life.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to co-innovate and advance next generation technologies, including Anthem avionics and engines,” said Vimal Kapur, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell. “Growing our long-term collaborative relationship with Bombardier is directly connected to Honeywell’s focus on compelling megatrends — automation, the future of aviation, and energy transition.”

“This new partnership creates unprecedented opportunities for Bombardier,” said Eric Martel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bombardier. “Honeywell’s differentiated technology is the key reason we decided to collaboratively build a bright future with them.”

Honeywell and Bombardier will collaborate on the development of Honeywell avionics to provide unparalleled adaptability to specific mission requirements, enabling exceptional situational awareness and enhanced safety. In addition, the collaboration’s propulsion-based workstreams will focus on evolutions of power, reliability and maintainability, led by the next-generation model of Honeywell’s HTF7K engine.

“Working together, we will generate significant value for Bombardier’s operator base by providing the latest technologies to enable safe and efficient flight,” said Jim Currier, President and CEO of Honeywell Aerospace Technologies. “We are committed to investing in these key technologies with Bombardier, which will not only drive substantial growth for Honeywell, but lead the industry further into the future of aviation.”

As part of the partnership, Bombardier and Honeywell will work together to certify and offer JetWave X for the Bombardier Global and Challenger families of aircraft for both new production and aftermarket installations. Bombardier will also have access to Honeywell’s full suite of next generation L-Band satellite communications products and antennas that will provide future safety services capabilities.

Additionally, all legacy pending litigation between the companies has been resolved.

Honeywell Updates 2024 Outlook

While the commercial agreement impacts near-term Honeywell financials, the company is confident it will lead to long-term value creation for Honeywell shareowners.

Given the required investments associated with this agreement, Honeywell has updated its full-year sales, segment margin2, adjusted earnings per share2,3, and free cash flow guidance1. A summary is provided in the table below.

TABLE 1: FULL-YEAR 2024 GUIDANCE

Guidance

Impact of Agreement

Updated

Guidance

Sales

$38.6B – $38.8B

($0.4B)

$38.2B – $38.4B

Organic1 Growth

3% – 4%

~(1%)

~2%

Segment Margin2

23.4% – 23.5%

(0.8 %)

22.6% – 22.7%

Expansion2

Down 10 – Flat bps

(80 bps)

Down 90 – 80 bps

Adjusted Earnings Per Share2,3

$10.15 – $10.25

($0.47)

$9.68 – $9.78

Adjusted Earnings Growth2,3

7% – 8%

(5 %)

2% – 3%

Operating Cash Flow

$6.2B – $6.5B

($0.4B)

$5.8B – $6.1B

Free Cash Flow1

$5.1B – $5.4B

($0.5B)

$4.6B – $4.9B

TABLE 2: FOURTH QUARTER 2024 GUIDANCE

Guidance

Impact of Agreement

Updated

Guidance

Sales

$10.2B – $10.4B

($0.4B)

$9.8B – $10.0B

Organic1 Growth

2% – 4%

(4 %)

(2%) – Flat

Segment Margin2

23.8% – 24.2%

(2.9 %)

20.9% – 21.3%

Expansion2

Down 60 – 20 bps

(290 bps)

Down 350 – 310 bps

Adjusted Earnings Per Share2,3

$2.73 – $2.83

($0.47)

$2.26 – $2.36

Adjusted Earnings Growth2,3

1% – 5%

(17 %)

(16%) – (12%)

See additional information at the end of this release regarding non-GAAP financial measures.

Segment margin and adjusted EPS are non-GAAP financial measures. Management cannot reliably predict or estimate, without unreasonable effort, the impact and timing on future operating results arising from certain items excluded from segment margin or adjusted EPS. We therefore, do not present a guidance range, or a reconciliation to, the nearest GAAP financial measures of operating margin or EPS.

Adjusted EPS and adjusted EPS V% guidance excludes items identified in the non-GAAP reconciliation of adjusted EPS at the end of this release, including the impact of amortization expense for acquisition-related intangible assets and other acquisition-related costs, and any potential future items that we cannot reliably predict or estimate such as pension mark-to-market.

Bombardier, Global and Challenger are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.

Honeywell is an integrated operating company serving a broad range of industries and geographies around the world. Our business is aligned with three powerful megatrends – automation, the future of aviation, and energy transition – underpinned by our Honeywell Accelerator operating system and Honeywell Connected Enterprise integrated software platform. As a trusted partner, we help organizations solve the world’s toughest, most complex challenges, providing actionable solutions and innovations that help make the world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.

Honeywell uses our Investor Relations website, www.honeywell.com/investor, as a means of disclosing information which may be of interest or material to our investors and for complying with disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor our Investor Relations website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, webcasts, and social media.

We describe many of the trends and other factors that drive our business and future results in this release. Such discussions contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act). Forward-looking statements are those that address activities, events, or developments that management intends, expects, projects, believes, or anticipates will or may occur in the future and include statements related to the proposed spin-off of the Company’s Advanced Materials business into a stand-alone, publicly traded company. They are based on management’s assumptions and assessments in light of past experience and trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments, and other relevant factors, many of which are difficult to predict and outside of our control. They are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results, developments, and business decisions may differ significantly from those envisaged by our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update or revise any of our forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law. Our forward-looking statements are also subject to material risks and uncertainties, including ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, such as lower GDP growth or recession, supply chain disruptions, capital markets volatility, inflation, and certain regional conflicts, that can affect our performance in both the near- and long-term. In addition, no assurance can be given that any plan, initiative, projection, goal, commitment, expectation, or prospect set forth in this release can or will be achieved. These forward-looking statements should be considered in light of the information included in this release, our Form 10-K, and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking plans described herein are not final and may be modified or abandoned at any time.

This release contains financial measures presented on a non-GAAP basis. Honeywell’s non-GAAP financial measures used in this release are as follows:

Segment profit, on an overall Honeywell basis;Segment profit margin, on an overall Honeywell basis;Organic sales growth;Free cash flow; andAdjusted earnings per share.

Management believes that, when considered together with reported amounts, these measures are useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in the analysis of ongoing operating trends. These measures should be considered in addition to, and not as replacements for, the most comparable GAAP measure. Certain measures presented on a non-GAAP basis represent the impact of adjusting items net of tax. The tax-effect for adjusting items is determined individually and on a case-by-case basis. Refer to the Appendix attached to this release for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.

Appendix

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The following information provides definitions and reconciliations of certain non-GAAP financial measures presented in this press release to which this reconciliation is attached to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Management believes that, when considered together with reported amounts, these measures are useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in the analysis of ongoing operating trends. Management believes the change to adjust for amortization of acquisition-related intangibles and certain acquisition- and divestiture-related costs provides investors with a more meaningful measure of its performance period to period, aligns the measure to how management will evaluate performance internally, and makes it easier for investors to compare our performance to peers. These measures should be considered in addition to, and not as replacements for, the most comparable GAAP measure. Certain measures presented on a non-GAAP basis represent the impact of adjusting items net of tax. The tax-effect for adjusting items is determined individually and on a case-by-case basis. Other companies may calculate these non-GAAP measures differently, limiting the usefulness of these measures for comparative purposes.

Management does not consider these non-GAAP measures in isolation or as an alternative to financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. The principal limitations of these non-GAAP financial measures are that they exclude significant expenses and income that are required by GAAP to be recognized in the consolidated financial statements. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgments by management about which expenses and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. Investors are urged to review the reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate Honeywell’s business.

Honeywell International Inc.
Definition of Organic Sales Percent Change

We define organic sales percentage as the year-over-year change in reported sales relative to the comparable period, excluding the impact on sales from foreign currency translation and acquisitions, net of divestitures, for the first 12 months following the transaction date. We believe this measure is useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in analysis of ongoing operating trends.

A quantitative reconciliation of reported sales percent change to organic sales percent change has not been provided for forward-looking measures of organic sales percent change because management cannot reliably predict or estimate, without unreasonable effort, the fluctuations in global currency markets that impact foreign currency translation, nor is it reasonable for management to predict the timing, occurrence and impact of acquisition and divestiture transactions, all of which could significantly impact our reported sales percent change.

Honeywell International Inc.
Reconciliation of Operating Income to Segment Profit, Calculation of Operating Income and Segment Profit Margins
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in millions)

Three Months Ended
December 31,

Twelve Months Ended
December 31,

2023

Operating income

$ 1,583

$ 7,084

Stock compensation expense1

202

Repositioning, Other2,3

569

952

Pension and other postretirement service costs3

Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles

292

Acquisition-related costs4

Segment profit

$ 2,300

$ 8,598

Operating income

$ 1,583

$ 7,084

÷ Net sales

$ 9,440

$ 36,662

Operating income margin %

16.8 %

19.3 %

Segment profit

$ 2,300

$ 8,598

÷ Net sales

$ 9,440

$ 36,662

Segment profit margin %

24.4 %

23.5 %

Included in Selling, general and administrative expenses.

Includes repositioning, asbestos, environmental expenses, equity income adjustment, and other charges.

Included in Cost of products and services sold and Selling, general and administrative expenses.

Includes acquisition-related fair value adjustments to inventory.

We define operating income as net sales less total cost of products and services sold, research and development expenses, impairment of assets held for sale, and selling, general and administrative expenses. We define segment profit, on an overall Honeywell basis, as operating income, excluding stock compensation expense, pension and other postretirement service costs, amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, certain acquisition- and divestiture-related costs and impairments, and repositioning and other charges. We define segment profit margin, on an overall Honeywell basis, as segment profit divided by net sales. We believe these measures are useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in analysis of ongoing operating trends.

A quantitative reconciliation of operating income to segment profit, on an overall Honeywell basis, has not been provided for all forward-looking measures of segment profit and segment profit margin included herein. Management cannot reliably predict or estimate, without unreasonable effort, the impact and timing on future operating results arising from items excluded from segment profit, particularly pension mark-to-market expense as it is dependent on macroeconomic factors, such as interest rates and the return generated on invested pension plan assets. The information that is unavailable to provide a quantitative reconciliation could have a significant impact on our reported financial results. To the extent quantitative information becomes available without unreasonable effort in the future, and closer to the period to which the forward-looking measures pertain, a reconciliation of operating income to segment profit will be included within future filings.

Acquisition amortization and acquisition- and divestiture-related costs are significantly impacted by the timing, size, and number of acquisitions or divestitures we complete and are not on a predictable cycle, and we make no comment as to when or whether any future acquisitions or divestitures may occur. We believe excluding these costs provides investors with a more meaningful comparison of operating performance over time and with both acquisitive and other peer companies.

Honeywell International Inc.
Reconciliation of Earnings per Share to Adjusted Earnings per Share
(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended December 31,

Twelve Months Ended December 31,

2023

2024(E)

2023

2024(E)

Earnings per share of common stock – diluted1

$ 1.91

$2.03 – $2.13

$ 8.47

$8.76 – $8.86

Pension mark-to-market expense2

0.19

No Forecast

0.19

No Forecast

Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles3

0.09

0.17

0.35

0.50

Acquisition-related costs4

—

0.02

0.01

0.10

Divestiture-related costs5

—

0.04

—

0.04

Russian-related charges6

—

0.03

Net expense related to the NARCO Buyout and HWI Sale7

—

0.01

—

Adjustment to estimated future Bendix liability8

0.49

—

0.49

—

Indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment9

—

0.06

Impairment of assets held for sale10

—

0.19

Adjusted earnings per share of common stock – diluted

$ 2.69

$2.26 – $2.36

$ 9.52

$9.68 – $9.78

For the three months ended December 31, 2023, adjusted earnings per share utilizes weighted average shares of approximately 660.9 million. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, adjusted earnings per share utilizes weighted average shares of approximately 668.2 million. For the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024, expected earnings per share utilizes weighted average shares of approximately 653 million and 655 million, respectively.

Pension mark-to-market expense uses a blended tax rate of 18%, net of tax benefit of $27 million, for 2023.

For the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023, acquisition-related intangibles amortization includes $62 million and $231 million, net of tax benefit of approximately $14 million and $61 million, respectively. For the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024, expected acquisition-related intangibles amortization includes approximately $110 million and $330 million, net of tax benefit of approximately $30 million and $85 million, respectively.

For the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023, the adjustment for acquisition-related costs, which is principally comprised of third-party transaction and integration costs and acquisition-related fair value adjustments to inventory, is approximately $2 million and $7 million, net of tax benefit of approximately $0 million and $2 million, respectively. For the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024, the expected adjustment for acquisition-related costs, which is principally comprised of third-party transaction and integration costs and acquisition-related fair value adjustments to inventory, is approximately $20 million and $65 million, net of tax benefit of approximately $5 million and $15 million, respectively.

For the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024, the expected adjustment for divestiture-related costs, which is principally comprised of third-party transaction costs, is approximately $25 million, net of tax benefit of approximately $5 million.

For the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023, the adjustments were a benefit of $2 million and $3 million, without tax expense, respectively. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, the expected adjustment is a $17 million expense, without tax benefit, due to the settlement of a contractual dispute with a Russian entity associated with the Company’s suspension and wind down activities in Russia.

For the the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, the adjustment was $8 million, net of tax benefit of $3 million, due to the net expense related to the NARCO Buyout and HWI Sale.

Bendix Friction Materials (“Bendix”) is a business no longer owned by the Company. In 2023, the Company changed its valuation methodology for calculating legacy Bendix liabilities. For the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023, the adjustment was $330 million, net of tax benefit of $104 million, (or $434 million pre-tax) due to a change in the estimated liability for resolution of asserted (claims filed as of the financial statement date) and unasserted Bendix-related asbestos claims. The Company experienced fluctuations in average resolution values year-over-year in each of the past five years with no well-established trends in either direction. In 2023, the Company observed two consecutive years of increasing average resolution values (2023 and 2022), with more volatility in the earlier years of the five-year period (2019 through 2021). Based on these observations, the Company, during its annual review in the fourth quarter of 2023, reevaluated its valuation methodology and elected to give more weight to the two most recent years by shortening the look-back period from five years to two years (2023 and 2022). The Company believes that the average resolution values in the last two consecutive years are likely more representative of expected resolution values in future periods. The $434 million pre-tax amount was attributable primarily to shortening the look-back period to the two most recent years, and to a lesser extent to increasing expected resolution values for a subset of asserted claims to adjust for higher claim values in that subset than in the modelled two-year data set. It is not possible to predict whether such resolution values will increase, decrease, or stabilize in the future, given recent litigation trends within the tort system and the inherent uncertainty in predicting the outcome of such trends. The Company will continue to monitor Bendix claim resolution values and other trends within the tort system to assess the appropriate look-back period for determining average resolution values going forward.

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, the expected impairment charge of indefinite-lived intangible assets associated with the personal protective equipment business is $37 million, net of tax benefit of $11 million.

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, the expected impairment charge of assets held for sale is $125 million, with no tax benefit.

Note: Amounts may not foot due to rounding.

We define adjusted earnings per share as diluted earnings per share adjusted to exclude various charges as listed above. We believe adjusted earnings per share is a measure that is useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in analysis of ongoing operating trends. For forward-looking information, management cannot reliably predict or estimate, without unreasonable effort, the pension mark-to-market expense as it is dependent on macroeconomic factors, such as interest rates and the return generated on invested pension plan assets. We therefore do not include an estimate for the pension mark-to-market expense. Based on economic and industry conditions, future developments, and other relevant factors, these assumptions are subject to change.

Acquisition amortization and acquisition- and divestiture-related costs are significantly impacted by the timing, size, and number of acquisitions or divestitures we complete and are not on a predictable cycle and we make no comment as to when or whether any future acquisitions or divestitures may occur. We believe excluding these costs provides investors with a more meaningful comparison of operating performance over time and with both acquisitive and other peer companies.

Honeywell International Inc.
Reconciliation of Expected Cash Provided by Operating Activities to Expected Free Cash Flow
(Unaudited)

Twelve Months
Ended
December 31,
2024(E) ($B)

Cash provided by operating activities

~$5.8 – $6.1

Capital expenditures

~(1.2)

Free cash flow

~$4.6 – $4.9

We define free cash flow as cash provided by operating activities less cash for capital expenditures.

We believe that free cash flow is a non-GAAP measure that is useful to investors and management as a measure of cash generated by operations that will be used to repay scheduled debt maturities and can be used to invest in future growth through new business development activities or acquisitions, pay dividends, repurchase stock, or repay debt obligations prior to their maturities. This measure can also be used to evaluate our ability to generate cash flow from operations and the impact that this cash flow has on our liquidity.

Contacts:

Media

Investor Relations

Stacey Jones

Sean Meakim

(980) 378-6258

(704) 627-6200

stacey.jones@honeywell.com

sean.meakim@honeywell.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/honeywell-and-bombardier-sign-landmark-agreement-to-deliver-the-next-generation-of-aviation-technology-honeywell-updates-2024-outlook-302320054.html

SOURCE Honeywell

Technology

New Atlas Maps Carbon Storage Opportunities Across Eastern Canada — From Industrial-Scale Hubs to Local CCS Solutions

Published

7 minutes ago

April 21, 2026

CALGARY, AB, April 21, 2026 /CNW/ – Canadian Discovery Ltd. (CDL) is pleased to announce the upcoming release of the Geological Carbon Storage Atlas of Eastern Canada on April 28, 2026. Co-funded by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), carbon removal project developer Deep Sky, and CDL, this project was led and delivered by CDL in collaboration with NRCan CanmetENERGY. The Atlas delivers a comprehensive regional assessment of carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage potential across Quebec and Atlantic Canada, providing detailed analysis of storage opportunities, costs, and geological risks to support the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. While previous studies have examined parts of Eastern Canada, this is the first to provide a fully integrated regional assessment of CO₂ storage in deep saline aquifers and depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Effective CO₂ storage is essential to achieving Canada’s climate objectives, with the International Energy Agency estimating that up to 95% of captured CO₂ worldwide will need to be permanently stored.1 Recognizing the importance of advancing carbon storage knowledge, the Government of Canada announced more than $11 million in funding for cutting-edge, made-in-Canada carbon utilization and storage projects during the 2025 G7 Presidency. The Geological Carbon Storage Atlas of Eastern Canada was selected as one of the projects supported through this investment.

As Canada seeks solutions to reduce emissions, the research conducted in this Atlas reveals that Eastern Canada possesses meaningful and geologically credible CO₂ storage potential. Across the basins assessed, significant variability was observed in prospective CO2 storage resource size, sealing capacity, reservoir quality and estimated storage costs. These differences reflect the diverse geological settings, geographical variability and data maturity across the region. Some storage complexes are well suited to large-scale, hub-style CCS developments with substantial capacity and strong containment, while others are better aligned with smaller, bespoke projects targeting localized emitters and more modest storage volumes.

The Atlas provides project developers with geological context to scope appraisal programs, regulators with a scientific reference for evaluating proposed operations, and policymakers with the spatial intelligence needed to design effective incentive frameworks. Equally, by presenting data transparently and accessibly, this Atlas supports inclusive dialogue with Indigenous communities, municipalities, industry, and governments responsible for CCS development demands.

“Quebec and Atlantic Canada represent an enormous opportunity for carbon storage, and this Atlas is a landmark step in unlocking it. By combining comprehensive subsurface analysis with cost and economic modelling, we’re giving stakeholders across industry, government, and communities the tools they need to move from ambition to action — and positioning Eastern Canada as a serious player in the global decarbonization landscape.” said Matt Scorah, CDL’s VP of Decarbonization.

“Deep Sky was proud to support this work because rigorous, detailed subsurface data strengthens the entire carbon removal ecosystem. The Atlas provides valuable regional insight for Eastern Canada and helps inform the next phase of site-specific technical assessments required to advance safe, durable carbon storage. This comes at an important time as Québec advances the development of its carbon storage framework,” said Mathieu Bouchard, vice-president of public policy and regulatory affairs for Québec at Deep Sky.

The Atlas is publicly available and can be downloaded from the official project website. The comprehensive datasets and shapefiles compiled and produced during the Atlas’ development can be licensed through CDL upon request.

CDL brings extensive experience in CCS projects across North America and is proud to add the Geological Carbon Storage Atlas of Eastern Canada to this growing body of work. Project findings will be shared through a two-part webinar series on April 28 and May 5, followed by a presentation at GeoConvention in Calgary on May 13. Additional presentations are planned throughout the summer and fall. Details and registration are available at canadiandiscovery.com.

About Canadian Discovery Ltd.
Canadian Discovery Ltd. (CDL) is a global leader in subsurface intelligence, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. For over 35 years, we’ve combined geoscience and engineering expertise to deliver reservoir- to basin-scale evaluations — assessing subsurface geology, pressure, fluid flow, fluid chemistry, and geomechanics for clients worldwide.

Today, CDL is at the forefront of the energy transformation, applying our deep subsurface knowledge to Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS), geothermal energy, critical minerals, hydrogen production, and water solutions. We don’t just understand what’s beneath the surface — we unearth the opportunities within it.

About Deep Sky
Montreal-based Deep Sky is the world’s first tech-agnostic carbon removal project developer aiming to remove gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere and permanently store it underground. As a project developer, Deep Sky brings together the most promising direct air carbon capture companies under one roof to bring the largest supply of high-quality carbon credits to the market, commercializing and catalyzing carbon removal and storage solutions like never before. With $130M in funding, Deep Sky is backed by world class investors including Investissement Québec, Brightspark Ventures, Whitecap Venture Partners, OMERS Ventures, BDC Climate Fund, BMO, National Bank of Canada, Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, and more. For more information, visit deepskyclimate.com.

1 IEA (2021). Net Zero by 2050. https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050

SOURCE Canadian Discovery Ltd

Technology

Convergent Research and ARIA Launch Two New UK Focused Research Organizations

Published

7 minutes ago

April 21, 2026

Meridial and Echo Labs aim to build new scientific infrastructure for living-brain connectivity mapping and ecological intelligence

LONDON, April 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Convergent Research, a mission control for frontier technology, and the United Kingdom’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) today announced the launch of two new UK Focused Research Organizations, or FROs: Meridial and Echo Labs. Developed through Convergent’s UK FRO Founder Residency with ARIA, the two organisations represent a new way to build scientific institutions around specific technical bottlenecks that are too engineering-heavy, operationally complex, or long-horizon for conventional labs or startups to address effectively. Convergent’s FRO Founder residency programme was piloted through Convergent’s role as an Activation Partner to ARIA, with the aim of identifying and refining FRO-shaped projects aligned with ARIA opportunity spaces and building the capability to launch and support new FROs in the UK.

Focused Research Organizations are nonprofit, startup-like scientific organisations built to tackle clearly defined scientific or technological bottlenecks over a fixed period of time, often by creating public goods such as tools, datasets, platforms, methods, and technical infrastructure that can unlock broader downstream progress. Convergent has used this model to launch ten FROs in the US, and the UK residency with ARIA extended that playbook into a cohort-based format designed to source, incubate, launch, and support ambitious new UK organisations. The UK is Convergent’s first major expansion outside the US.

“Building the right institution can matter as much as having the right idea,” said Pippy James, Deputy CEO at ARIA. “ARIA is working to expand what’s possible for high-risk, high-reward science, and FROs are a powerful way of doing that. Meridial and Echo Labs are tackling the kinds of bottlenecks and opportunities this approach is designed to address, and we’re excited to see what new capabilities they make possible.”

Each of the two new organisations is tackling a different bottleneck, but both are built around the same core premise: that some forms of scientific progress require purpose-built organisations, not just new grants or new labs. Both organisations align with a distinct ARIA opportunity space, targeting areas where new infrastructure could unlock significant progress.

These new organisations are:

Meridial, launching with an initial £14 million award from ARIA and aligned with its Scalable Neural Interfaces opportunity space, is building a microscopy platform designed to map and track synaptic connections in living animals over time. By making it possible to observe how brain connectivity changes across development, disease, learning, and therapeutic intervention, Meridial aims to help bridge an important gap between molecular mechanisms and circuit-level function. Over its funded period, the organisation will work to develop and operate a platform capable of mapping and longitudinally tracking synaptic connections across local and long-range brain circuits over extended time periods.

“Many of the most important questions in neuroscience and brain health relate to how living circuits change over time. Today, when we seek to observe such changes with high resolution, we are often limited by scale, or must infer dynamics from static snapshots of extracted tissue. Meridial is being built to overcome these challenges with a platform for mapping and tracking synaptic connections in living animals over extended periods. We think infrastructure like this could help open up new ways of understanding development, disease, learning, and therapeutic intervention,” said Mehmet Fisek, Founder and CEO of Meridial.

“Progress in brain science and brain health has been constrained for too long by the limits of our tools. Meridial is exciting because it is building infrastructure that could let researchers observe how neural circuits change over time, rather than inferring those changes indirectly after the fact. That kind of capability could open up important new routes for understanding disease, development, and recovery,” said Jacques Carolan, Programme Director at ARIA.

Echo Labs, launching with an initial £7 million award from ARIA and aligned with its Scoping Our Planet opportunity space, is building new infrastructure to represent the natural world and make it legible enough to model, compare, and forecast. If the state of an ecosystem can be measured as a dynamic system, the implications extend beyond observation. Just as weather and human health became understandable through shared measurements and modeling, ecosystem condition could become a measurable, continuously updated layer of intelligence.

“Today, ecology generates fragmented observations but lacks the integrated representation needed to understand ecological complexity and translate it into usable signals. Ecosystems underpin our economies and societies, but we still lack the scientific infrastructure to measure and forecast ecological condition with anything like the precision we bring to other natural or engineered systems. We envision a world in which global ecosystem condition is continuously observed, modeled, and useful for science, governance, finance, and stewardship happens before collapse occurs, rather than after,” said Kaja Wasik, PhD, CEO of Echo Labs.

“Responsible stewardship requires sufficiently good understanding. Yet for most species, ecological interactions, and ecosystems, our ability to measure and forecast remains frustratingly limited. Echo Labs aims to build foundational infrastructure for ecological intelligence, enabling intentional action that complements well-established approaches to supporting nature,” said Yannick Wurm, Programme Director at ARIA.

Meridial and Echo Labs join a growing UK FRO landscape that includes Bind Research, a UK-based not-for-profit focused on making disordered proteins druggable. Together, these efforts suggest a broader institutional shift: one in which new scientific organisations are designed not around disciplines alone, but around bottlenecks, capabilities, and the shared infrastructure required to unlock downstream progress.

“Scientific progress is often slowed not by a lack of ideas, but by a lack of institutions designed to turn important ideas into shared capabilities,” said Anastasia Gamick, President and co-founder of Convergent Research. “Focused Research Organizations are built for exactly that gap. We’re excited to see this model continue to take root in the UK through organisations that are technically ambitious, tightly scoped, and built to create public goods with broad downstream value. We can’t wait to share more from these two teams and our ongoing work with ARIA.”

Meridial and Echo Labs are expanding their teams in 2026. More information about each organisation, including information about career opportunities and technology releases, will be available at meridial.org and echolabs.org.

About ARIA

The Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) is an R&D funding agency created to unlock technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone. Created by an Act of Parliament, and sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, ARIA funds teams of scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of what is scientifically and technologically possible.

About Meridial

Meridial is a UK-based Focused Research Organization building a microscopy platform for mapping and tracking synaptic connections in living animals over time. Its mission is to develop scientific infrastructure that enables researchers to observe how neural connectivity changes across development, disease, learning, and therapeutic intervention. Meridial is supported by Convergent Research and powered by ARIA.

About Echo Labs

Echo Labs is a UK-based Focused Research Organization building scientific infrastructure for ecological monitoring and forecasting. Its mission is to make ecosystem condition more measurable and forecastable through new combinations of environmental data, models, and software. Echo Labs is supported by Convergent Research and powered by ARIA.

About Convergent Research

Convergent Research brings together scientific founders and funders to design, launch and operate Focused Research Organizations (FROs) across a range of fields. Our FROs, like Meridial and Echo Labs, build pivotal infrastructure that bridges gaps to breakthrough scientific research, proving out a new operating model for science that enables a high level of team science and systems engineering for public goods creation.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2961292/Convergent_Research_Image.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2961293/Convergent_Research_Image.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2961294/Convergent_Research_Image.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/convergent-research-and-aria-launch-two-new-uk-focused-research-organizations-302748582.html

Technology

ECRI Spins Out Healthcare Spend Management and Recall Management Solutions

Published

7 minutes ago

April 21, 2026

Staritas established with growth investment from Accel-KKR to transform healthcare supply chain through data-driven intelligence

WILLOW GROVE, Pa., April 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ECRI, a global healthcare quality and safety nonprofit organization, today announced that it has spun out its Spend Management and Recall Management solutions as an independent company, Staritas. Powered by investments from Accel-KKR, a global technology-focused investment firm, Staritas will continue to build on its pioneering leadership in healthcare supply chain intelligence.

“For five decades, ECRI’s award-winning Spend Management solutions have helped healthcare supply chain leaders navigate supply disruptions with resiliency, save millions of dollars, and benchmark purchasing decisions using the industry’s most comprehensive, independent datasets,” said Marcus Schabacker, CEO, MD, president of ECRI. “Now, by spinning out Staritas, powered by Accel-KKR to supercharge the power behind the data, improve the user experience, and accelerate innovation, healthcare supply chain leaders can realize even greater value from the platform.”

The healthcare supply chain of the future will no longer be driven by reactive, event-driven decisions, but proactive, continuous strategies, powered by AI and real-time intelligence. As an independent company backed by Accel-KKR, Staritas will expand on the development and delivery of AI-powered solutions and insights that empower leaders to manage the growing complexity of supply chains with greater intelligence.

“We are excited to partner with ECRI and support the launch of Staritas, a new company with a 50- year track record of pioneering work in spend and recall management,” said Park Durrett, Managing Director at Accel-KKR. “Staritas’s unmatched independent datasets and domain expertise create a strong foundation for growth and customer impact. We’re proud to build on Staritas’s legacy and remain committed to the transparency, independence, and objectivity that define its work. We look forward to partnering with the talented Staritas team to keep building on a market-leading platform that delivers greater value to healthcare organizations and stakeholders worldwide.”

Staritas: Making Every Choice Clear

In today’s healthcare environment, leaders face rising costs, margin pressure, supply chain disruptions, and increasing complexity, often making decisions with fragmented information, such as supplier pricing without benchmarks, or investments without a clear view of total cost.

Staritas solves this problem by combining the largest independent source of healthcare supply and capital datasets with deep expertise and advanced analytics to help organizations in over 70 countries understand market trends and better manage their supply chains. Trusted by nearly 90% of the top U.S. hospitals and health systems, Staritas helps customers identify up to $13 billion annually in opportunity savings. With an independent, unbiased view, supply chain leaders can see all their options, seize opportunities through actionable insights, and make confident decisions.

“Staritas is committed to providing data-driven insights and services that help healthcare organizations optimize operations, save money and strengthen decision making,” said Emmet O’Gara, CEO of Staritas. “The data, solutions and people that now make up Staritas are among the best in the field of spend and recall management. We plan to continuously raise the bar in serving healthcare supply chain leaders with next-generation platform and technology advancements that help to protect margins, deliver quality care and boost resiliency.”

Customers will maintain continuity in day-to-day operations, with additional investments planned to enhance platform capabilities and deepen the value delivered across solutions. Users of Staritas products were notified with assurances of a smooth transition and continuity in the personnel and support systems available.

ECRI: Making Healthcare Safer, Stronger, More Resilient

“This move is not a departure, it is a commitment to deepening ECRI’s focus on patient safety, clinical evidence, and system-level change across healthcare,” added ECRI CEO Dr. Schabacker. “ECRI’s services and solutions are now focused exclusively on creating resilient and safe healthcare systems and assessing technologies used in those systems – backed by new investment and commitment to effect transformative change. With this strategic shift, ECRI is investing, at an unprecedented level, in the expert teams, proprietary data assets, and advanced capabilities that allow healthcare organizations to build safety into their culture, their operations, and their systems. Not as a one-time initiative, but as a permanent, self-reinforcing foundation.”

Despite decades of effort nationwide, patient safety in the U.S. is still marked by high rates of preventable harm.

“One in four patient admissions involve an adverse event, and nearly a quarter of those are preventable. That’s tragic and unacceptable,” said Dheerendra Kommala, MD, ECRI Chief Medical Officer. “Through this strategic move, ECRI is now singularly focused on improving patient safety. We plan to expand solutions that can transform healthcare organizations, building on our legacy of advancing evidence-based medicine.”

About ECRI

ECRI is an independent, nonprofit organization improving the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of healthcare. With a focus on patient safety, system design and technology evaluation, ECRI is respected and trusted by healthcare leaders and agencies worldwide. For nearly 60 years, ECRI has built its reputation on integrity and disciplined rigor, with an unwavering commitment to independence and evidence-based care. ECRI is the only organization worldwide to conduct independent medical device evaluations, with labs located in North America and Asia Pacific. ECRI is designated an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ECRI acquired The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) in 2020 to address one of the most prolific causes of preventable harm in healthcare, medication errors; then acquired The Just Culture Company in 2024 to transform healthcare workplace cultures – thus creating one of the largest healthcare quality and safety entities in the world. Visit ECRI.org to learn more.

About Staritas

Staritas helps healthcare supply chain leaders around the world make more informed decisions so they can understand market trends and better manage all aspects of their supply chain. With Staritas, they can see all the options with the largest independent source of supply and capital data, seize the opportunities with access to deep industry expertise, and achieve their organizational goals. That’s why nearly 90% of the top U.S. hospitals and health systems trust our five decades of expertise for their most important supply chain and recall management decisions. And it’s how our clients find up to $13B dollars in opportunity savings every year. Staritas. Make every choice clear. Learn more at Staritas.com.

About AKKR

Accel-KKR is a technology-focused investment firm with over $23 billion in cumulative capital commitments. The firm focuses on software and tech-enabled businesses, well-positioned for topline and bottom-line growth. At the core of Accel-KKR’s investment strategy is a commitment to developing strong partnerships with the management teams of its portfolio companies and a focus on building value alongside management by leveraging the significant resources available through the Accel-KKR network. Accel-KKR focuses on middle-market companies and provides a broad range of capital solutions, including buyout capital, minority-growth investments, and credit alternatives. Accel-KKR also invests across various transaction types, including private company recapitalizations, divisional carve-outs, and going-private transactions. Accel-KKR’s headquarters is in Menlo Park, with offices in London, Atlanta and Chicago. Visit accel-kkr.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ecri-spins-out-healthcare-spend-management-and-recall-management-solutions-302747800.html

SOURCE ECRI