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Powercast & B&Plus Supercharge Japan’s Net-Zero Sustainability Goals with Wireless Power

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Powercast is set to disrupt the Japanese market through a strategic partnership with B&Plus, bringing its advanced RF wireless power solutions to one of the most competitive and technologically sophisticated markets worldwide. By eliminating battery dependency, this collaboration helps businesses reduce costs, minimize waste, and align with the country’s long-term sustainability goals.

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — As Japan accelerates its commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050, the world’s fifth-largest energy consumer faces mounting pressure to optimize efficiency and reduce reliance on traditional power sources, driving an unprecedented demand for innovative energy solutions. (1-2) Powercast and B&Plus are addressing this challenge with a strategic partnership, bringing their cutting-edge solutions to one of the most advanced and competitive markets. “Powercast has already demonstrated the impact of RF wireless power through global deployments, including North America, other countries in Asia and more. Our partnership with B&Plus marks the next step in expanding adoption in Japan, bringing our technology to even more industries seeking sustainable, battery-free solutions,” states Charles Greene, COO & CTO of Powercast Corporation.

“Our partnership with B&Plus marks the next step in expanding adoption in Japan, bringing our technology to even more industries seeking sustainable, battery-free solutions” — Charles Greene, COO & CTO of Powercast Corporation

Powercast is entering a high-stakes environment with the ambition of amplifying its role as a global player. By integrating its RF wireless power into B&Plus’s product designs, the collaboration offers a battery-free alternative that enhances efficiency and reduces reliance on traditional batteries—reshaping industrial and IoT applications with a more sustainable approach to energy consumption.

Redefining Smart Buildings with Wireless, Battery-Free Power Solutions
In a densely populated megacity like Tokyo, sustainability isn’t just a goal—it’s a necessity. With over 37 million people living and working in a space where every square meter matters, efficient energy use is critical. (3)

Traditional batteries, often discarded after a short lifespan, contribute to electronic waste and require costly maintenance. The global lithium-ion battery industry is projected to generate up to 1.0 gigaton of CO₂ emissions annually within the next decade, highlighting the urgent need for smarter, more sustainable power solutions. (4)

By eliminating the need for disposable batteries, Powercast’s wireless power solutions offer a smarter, greener approach to energy consumption. Buildings across Tokyo can benefit from battery-free, wirelessly powered sensors that optimize energy use in real-time. “If nobody’s in a room, you can automatically turn the lights off, adjust the HVAC, and save kilowatts of energy—all with small, battery-free sensors,” points out Greene. “The problem has never been the sensors; it’s been the hassle of running around changing batteries. Wireless power solves that.”

As Japan advances toward its net-zero target, cutting-edge technologies like RF wireless power will play a pivotal role in shaping a more sustainable future.

Wireless Power Applications: Transforming IoT and Consumer Electronics
From Japan’s advanced industrial IoT ecosystems to its globally renowned consumer electronics sector, wireless power is reshaping energy distribution and consumption—aligning with the nation’s push for efficiency, sustainability, and technological leadership.

IoT: Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) is revolutionizing industrial automation by enabling seamless energy delivery to sensors and IoT devices in hard-to-reach locations. Unlike traditional wired or battery-powered solutions, it reduces maintenance costs, enhances system reliability, and improves operational efficiency. Additionally, WPT offers a more scalable and environmentally friendly alternative, minimizing electronic waste and supporting the next generation of smart, energy-efficient industrial systems. (5)

One of Powercast’s most notable integrations is in Samsung’s globally distributed TV remote controls, showcasing its ability to power mass-market consumer electronics with reliability and efficiency. Beyond remotes, Powercast’s technology powers keyboards, mice, smart home sensors, and even illuminated packaging—providing a sustainable alternative to traditional battery-powered devices. These capabilities open doors for further innovation, allowing manufacturers to reduce waste, lower costs, and extend product lifespans.

“Achieving net-zero emissions requires more than renewables—it demands smarter energy use. With B&Plus’s market expertise and Powercast’s wireless power technology, we’re eliminating unnecessary waste at the source and driving real change in industrial efficiency,” explains Greene.

Powering the Future: How Powercast and B&Plus Are Redefining Energy Efficiency
Powercast has cemented its position as a leader in wireless power solutions, driving innovation in sustainability, efficiency, and design across multiple industries. With 300+ patents and 25 million chips shipped, the company is among the few dedicated to RF wireless power, delivering solutions for a diverse range of applications—from industrial sensors and automotive systems to wearables and consumer electronics.

“With Japan’s strong commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency, our partnership with B&Plus comes at the perfect time. We’re here to help businesses embrace wireless power and move toward a smarter, battery-free future,” highlights Greene.

While Powercast provides engineering and product development expertise, B&Plus leverages its deep market knowledge to drive adoption. To showcase the impact of wireless power firsthand, Powercast solutions are now available for demonstration at B&Plus’s showroom in Saitama, Japan (3-1-2 4F, Omiya-ku Miya-cho, Saitamashi,Saitama-ken, Japan 330-0802), where businesses can experience how this technology can transform their operations.

“We have historically developed products using short-range wireless power but have not had long-range RF wireless power until now thanks to our partnership with Powercast,” mentions Atsushi Kameda, CEO of B&Plus. “We chose Powercast’s RF technology because of their 20+ year track record, their RF transmitters and receivers are easy to integrate into systems, and their engineering and manufacturing expertise will help us solve wireless challenges for customers in Japan.”

About Powercast Corporation
Powercast Corporation, founded in 2003 and based in Pittsburgh, PA, is the go-to resource for wireless charging solutions, ranging from short to long distances and from microwatts to kilowatts, with the industry’s broadest technology portfolio backed by over 300 patents worldwide. We design, develop, and manufacture semiconductor chips as well as complete wirelessly powered products, enabling various levels of customer integration.
Powercast’s solutions include RF power-over-distance charging, high-performance inductive charging systems, and low-power sensors with up to 25-year battery life. With flexible magnetic resonance systems, Powercast positions itself as the industry’s most comprehensive source for wireless power technology. For more information, visit https://www.powercastco.com.

About B&Plus Corporation
B&PLUS JAPAN was launched as the Japanese member of the Balluff family of companies, headquartered in Germany as a manufacturer of sensors for major industries. With more than four decades of experience, the company has focused on wireless technology research and advancing mass production.
While many companies are new entrants to the development of wireless power supply technology, B&PLUS JAPAN has more than 40 years of experience in developing and manufacturing wireless power supply devices. Rising above the competition, the company provides wireless power transfer (WPT) technologies with a wide power range solutions and options for signal transmission. With many accomplishments in the WPT field, the company is proud to have the largest product lineup in the world, providing products to manufacturers of automobiles, machine tools, drones, robotics and many others.
https://www.b-plus-kk.jp/

References
1.    L, Jennifer. “Japan Steps up as Carbon Credit Leader with $70 Billion Push for Net Zero.” Carbon Credits, 20 Jan. 2025, carboncredits.com/japan-steps-up-as-carbon-credit-leader-with-70-billion-push-for-net-zero/.
2.    Statista. “Primary Energy Consumption Worldwide in 2023, by Country.” Statista, June 2022, statista.com/statistics/263455/primary-energy-consumption-of-selected-countries/.
3.    The Times of India. “Most Populated Cities in the World 2024 Including Tokyo Delhi Mumbai and More – Times of India.” The Times of India, 2024, timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/most-populated-cities-in-the-world-2024/featureshow/115054260.cms.
4.    Kallitsis, Evangelos, et al. “Think Global Act Local: The Dependency of Global Lithium-Ion Battery Emissions on Production Location and Material Sources.” Journal of Cleaner Production, 1 Mar. 2024, pp. 141725–141725, doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141725.
5.    Makhetha, Molefi J, et al. “Integration of Wireless Power Transfer and Low Power Wide Area Networks in IoT Applications—a Review.” Sensors International, vol. 5, no. 100284, 1 June 2024, pp. 100284–100284, doi.org/10.1016/j.sintl.2024.100284.

Media Inquiries:
Karla Jo Helms
JOTO PR™
+1 727-777-4629
jotopr.com

Media Contact

Karla Jo Helms, JOTO PR™, 727-777-4629, khelms@jotopr.com, jotopr.com

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VERNAL CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. ANNOUNCES PRICING OF $100 MILLION INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING

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May 6, 2026

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NEW YORK, May 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Vernal Capital Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: VECA) (“Vernal”) announced the pricing of its initial public offering (the “IPO”) of 10,000,000 units at $10.00 per unit. The units are expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under “VECAU” beginning May 6, 2026. Each unit consists of one ordinary share and one right to receive one-fourth of one ordinary share upon consummation of an initial business combination. Upon separate trading, the ordinary shares and rights are expected to be listed on NYSE under “VECA” and “VECAR,” respectively.

D. Boral Capital LLC is acting as sole book-running manager of the offering. The underwriters have a 45-day option to purchase up to 1,500,000 additional units to cover any over-allotments. The offering is expected to close on May 7, 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.

A registration statement for these securities was declared effective by the SEC on May 5, 2026. The offering is made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the prospectus may be obtained, from D. Boral Capital LLC, 590 Madison Ave., 39th Floor, New York, New York 10022, by telephone at (212) 970-5150 or by email at dbccapitalmarkets@dboralcapital.com.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or to buy, nor shall there be any sale where such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the applicable securities laws.

About Vernal

Vernal is a blank check company formed to effect a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Vernal’s target search will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements,” including statements regarding Vernal’s IPO. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. No assurance can be given that the offering will be completed on the terms described, or at all. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, beyond Vernal’s control, including those in the Risk Factors section of Vernal’s registration statement filed with the SEC. Copies are available on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. Vernal disclaims any obligation to release publicly updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in Vernal’s expectations, except as required by law.

Contact

Binghan Yi, CFO
binghan@vernal.com
www.vernalspac.com

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RIVANNA nominated for MedTech Scale-Up of the Year at MedTech World Awards 2026 | North America

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May 5, 2026

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Nomination places the Charlottesville-based company among growth-stage medtech leaders recognized for commercial momentum in AI-powered clinical decision support; public voting is open through May 8

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., May 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — RIVANNA®, developer of AI-powered clinical decision-support solutions, today announced that it has been nominated for MedTech Scale-Up of the Year at the MedTech World Awards 2026 | North America. Public voting is open through Friday, May 8, 2026, with category winners to be announced at the inaugural North American Awards Gala on May 11, 2026, at the Hilton West Palm Beach in Florida.

The MedTech Scale-Up of the Year category honors a growth-stage company successfully scaling revenues, partnerships, and adoption across the global medical technology ecosystem. Nominees across the program’s 22 categories were selected through a structured process led by the MedTech World Steering Committee, with category winners determined by a combination of expert evaluation and public voting from the global MedTech community.

“We have built RIVANNA on validation earned from the most rigorous technical buyers in healthcare: competitive federal awards translated into FDA-cleared products, each paired with a commercial program that meets clinicians where they work,” said Will Mauldin, PhD, Co-founder and CEO of RIVANNA. “Being nominated for MedTech Scale-Up of the Year is a meaningful affirmation of that approach and the team executing it.”

Public voting closes Friday, May 8, 2026. Members of the MedTech community are invited to support RIVANNA’s nomination at the official voting page: vote here.

The award nomination follows a year of measurable scaling for RIVANNA:

In October 2025, RIVANNA reported on being named a finalist in MedTech Innovator’s 2025 Early-Stage Grand Prize competition, selected from nearly 1,500 global applicants to represent the top 4% of medtech innovations worldwide.In December 2025, RIVANNA reported on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 510(k) clearance of its Accuro® 3S Needle Guide Kit consumables, building on existing Accuro 3S device clearance.In April 2026, RIVANNA reported on peer-reviewed findings, published in 2025 in the Journal of Emergency Medicine (DOI: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2025.11.011), showing that the Accuro® XV musculoskeletal imaging system enables non-physician operators to acquire diagnostic-quality scans after just one hour of hands-on training.In May 2026, RIVANNA reported on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 510(k) clearance of the Accuro® XV Diagnostic Ultrasound System for musculoskeletal imaging, authorizing commercial use across hospital and clinic settings.The company’s clinical program now spans eight sites nationwide with more than 1,500 patients enrolled.

The 2026 MedTech World Awards | North America, powered by Blue Goat Cyber, will be presented Monday, May 11, 2026, at the inaugural North American Awards Gala at the Hilton West Palm Beach, marking the first time the MedTech World Awards have been hosted in the United States.

About the MedTech Scale-Up of the Year Award
Presented by MedTech World, the MedTech Scale-Up of the Year category recognizes growth-stage medical technology companies demonstrating strong commercial momentum, expanding partnerships, and accelerating real-world adoption. The award is one of 22 categories spanning innovation, clinical excellence, regulatory strategy, investment, and leadership across the global MedTech ecosystem.

About RIVANNA
RIVANNA® is a medical technology company developing clinical decision-support solutions powered by proprietary clinical datasets, AI models, and purpose-built imaging hardware. The company’s platform automates complex anatomical analysis at the point of care, enabling faster, more confident clinical decisions while reducing variability and expanding access to advanced capabilities. The first applications target significant market opportunities in regional anesthesia and fracture care. RIVANNA has built a proven FDA regulatory track record across its Accuro® platform, with device clearances for Accuro® 3S (spinal needle guidance) and Accuro® XV (musculoskeletal imaging), a portfolio of supporting cleared consumables, and AI software modules advancing through regulatory review. The company is backed by 100+ patents and validated through clinical partnerships with leading academic medical centers. RIVANNA is headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia, and operates an FDA-registered, ISO 13485:2016-certified manufacturing facility. Learn more at rivannamedical.com.

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D2L Launch Week Highlights Latest Product Releases

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May 5, 2026

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Latest innovations are designed to save time, simplify workflows, and help drive better learning outcomes

TORONTO, May 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ – D2L, a global leader in learning innovation, hosted its first-ever D2L Launch Week, a four-day virtual webinar series spotlighting the company’s latest product innovations across D2L Brightspace in 2026.

Throughout the week, D2L showcased a range of product releases through live demos and practical customer use cases, highlighting how institutions, school districts and organizations can help to drive engagement and improve learning outcomes. The featured updates include enhancements to D2L Lumi for idea generation, intervention suggestions, quiz creation and summarization; tools to strengthen parent and guardian outreach; and administrative capabilities designed to help large organizations delegate course and configuration management more effectively.

“We’re proud to showcase the ways D2L continues to innovate to help make learning more personalized, efficient, and scalable,” said Christian Pantel, Chief Product Officer at D2L. “From new D2L Lumi features to enhanced communication tools and more flexible distributed administration capabilities, these updates are designed to help our customers save time, improve usability, and deliver better learning experiences at scale.”

Enhancements to D2L Lumi

Among the new capabilities were several updates to D2L’s AI-native tool, D2L Lumi, designed to improve usability, transparency, and alignment across workflows, including:

D2L Lumi Ideas: Generates assignment and discussion ideas directly within Brightspace, making it easier to generate high quality content aligned to learning outcomes.D2L Lumi Insights: Gives educators access to learning intervention suggestions, designed to provide recommended next steps based on learner data.D2L Lumi Quiz: Helps educators generate questions from multiple course content topics and includes a more streamlined question-generation workflow.D2L Lumi Summary: Supports summarization from more content sources, including nested submodules, and can give educators the ability to preview and adjust source text before summarization.

Updates to Parent and Guardian Communications

D2L also introduced new parent and guardian communication enhancements to help K-12 educators strengthen engagement beyond the classroom. Teachers can now send bulk emails to all parents and guardians associated with students in their class. For individual student outreach, teachers can also email parents and guardians of a specific learner, making it easier to share timely updates on student progress and classroom activity.

Manage Distributed Administration at Scale

Distributed Administration gives organizations more flexibility to delegate administrative responsibilities across organization levels. With Distributed Administration, administrators can manage specific areas, enabling them to oversee courses while helping to reduce bottlenecks and free up time.

Learn more about the latest product releases showcased at D2L Launch Week.

About D2L   
D2L is transforming the way the world learns, helping learners achieve more than they dreamed possible. Working closely with customers all over the world, D2L is on a mission to make learning more inspiring, engaging and human. Find out how D2L helps transform lives and delivers outstanding learning outcomes in K-12, higher education and businesses.

D2L Media Contact
PR@D2L.com
X: @D2L
© 2026 D2L Corporation.

The D2L family of companies includes D2L Inc., D2L Corporation, D2L Ltd, D2L Australia Pty Ltd, D2L Europe Ltd, D2L Asia Pte Ltd, D2L India Pvt Ltd, D2L Brasil Soluções de Tecnologia para Educação Ltda and D2L Sistemas de Aprendizaje Innovadores, S. D2 R.L de C.V., and H5P Group AS.

All D2L and H5P marks are owned by the D2L group of companies. Please visit D2L.com/trademarks for a list of D2L marks. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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