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Rockefeller Foundation Commits US$100 Million to Serve 100 Million Children Nutritious School Meals

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5-year effort announced at Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Paris summit to expand support to more than a dozen countries worldwide and in the United StatesThe Rockefeller Foundation and partners to strengthen countries’ food systems, while boosting nutrition and investment in locally and regeneratively sourced foods

PARIS, March 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — As part of the 2025 Nutrition for Growth Summit (N4G), hosted by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, The Rockefeller Foundation announced a new US$100 million commitment to address rising global nutrition insecurity by supporting more than a dozen countries’ efforts to expand and further develop their school meal programs. This five-year effort, which builds on initial work in Brazil and Kenya, aims to reach 100 million children worldwide and in the United States with more nutritious, locally, and regeneratively grown school meals. A partner of the School Meals Coalition, The Rockefeller Foundation will collaborate with others, including Novo Nordisk Foundation and the UN World Food Programme (WFP), to help strengthen the resilience of countries’ food systems, improve the nutritional quality of school meals, mobilize finance, and help design procurement standards that incentivize investment in locally and regeneratively sourced foods. 

During a special session titled, “Together to Feed the World: Mobilizing the Private Sector and Philanthropists for Global Food,” President of the Republic of France Emmanuel Macron, who announced that France would commit €750 million for projects promoting nutrition, said that, “Our health depends on what we eat and therefore the health of our soil, our plants, and our animals. We see how much this fight for nutrition is twinned with our fight for health, biodiversity, and the environment.” He also thanked The Rockefeller Foundation for its US$100 million commitment, noting it “will allow us greatly to accelerate our work…adding even more strength to it.”

Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation, said: “The world can’t stand by and let kids go hungry. We need to come together behind bold, innovative solutions like locally grown, sustainable school meals that address today’s urgent needs while safeguarding against tomorrow’s urgent threats. This announcement reflects The Rockefeller Foundation’s commitment to delivering results for people in the United States and around the world by investing in solutions and working with a range of partners that can advance the food security of children, economic opportunities for farmers, businesses, and communities, and the health of our planet.”

Today, over 2.8 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet, and according to the WFP, 153 million children and young people go to bed hungry every night. In addition to the estimated 550,000 people who could die worldwide within a year due to cuts in food aid, per the Center for Global Development, nutrition insecurity leads to a multitude of negative physical and mental outcomes. This includes high rates of anemia, lower academic performance, and increased absenteeism, along with other long-term consequences.

In response, The Rockefeller Foundation, in collaboration with others, plans to advance a range of public, private, and non-profit efforts over the next five years across three core areas:

Supporting countries as they expand their school meal programs and improve the nutritional quality of meals. For example, The Rockefeller Foundation will help improve the nutritional quality of school meals by increasing consumption of micronutrient-rich, locally grown, indigenous, and more resilient crops like millet, teff, and sorghum on school menus. It will also continue to support nutrition research, including on fortified whole grains and adapted crops, to more deeply understand the nutritional, environmental, and economic benefits of incentivizing better sourcing for school meals.

Cultivating local economic development and facilitating a stable market. This includes generating a supply chain for school meals from local farmers and production by working with investors and other philanthropies to provide upfront capital for regenerative agriculture transitions along supply chains connected to school meal programs. The Rockefeller Foundation will start with “proof point” countries that will model the initial investment before scaling the effort with partners to other countries. For example, countries like Brazil have demonstrated the power of effective procurement with 30% of school meals sourced from family farms. With additional incentives to shift to agroecological practices, according to research by IPEA in Brazil, the program led to income gains ranging from 23-106% for farmers.  

Working with partners to mobilize financing and galvanize support for countries’ school meal efforts. The Rockefeller Foundation will also collaborate with cross-sectoral coalitions, including, but not limited to, the Agroecology Coalition, which has 300 public and private sector members across 55 countries committed to agroecological food system transformation; Global Alliance Against Poverty and Hunger, which is part of Brazil’s G20 presidency; World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a CEO-led organization of over 225 international companies; and Regenerative and Agroecological Finance for Transition (RAFT), a collaborative initiative between 32 philanthropic partners aiming to accelerate and scale regenerative and agroecological approaches to transform global food systems.

School meals, which feed an estimated 418 million children worldwide, have consistently been shown to improve nutrition, increase attendance, improve education outcomes (especially for girls), and drive economic growth and development. Providing a significant return on investment, ranging from US$7 to US$35 for every dollar spent, the WFP also calculates that for every 100,000 school meals served, 1,377 jobs are created.

“Today’s announcement brings The Rockefeller Foundation’s total investment in global nutrition to more than $220 million,” said Elizabeth Yee, Executive Vice President of Programs at The Rockefeller Foundation, during the special session at the French Foreign Ministry. “Our $100 million in new funding will reach 100 million children with more nutritious meals, by connecting the demand for school feeding programs, with the supply of locally grown food – creating new opportunities for farmers, children and the planet alike. Bottom line: school meals are more than just food; they’re the fuel for opportunity and a brighter future.”

This new US$100 million commitment to advance universal locally grown and regenerative school meals both in the United States and around the world is part of a more than US$220 million that The Rockefeller Foundation has committed to nutrition initiatives benefiting people, the planet, markets, jobs, and beyond. This includes The Rockefeller Foundation’s ‘Big Bet’ of US$100 million to advance Food is Medicine solutions in the United States and over US$20 million for the Periodic Table of Food Initiative, which is providing standardized tools, data, and training to map food quality of the world’s edible biodiversity.

Statements of Support:

“As the world’s largest humanitarian organization, WFP fights hunger on the ground in 120 countries supporting millions of people every year. We have the global reach, the scale, and the ability to help our partners deliver assistance where it matters most. Our work with governments and partners like The Rockefeller Foundation supports school meals programs that transform the lives of children, boost local economies, and help vulnerable communities tackle the root causes of food insecurity all across the world. Together, we can ensure that no child goes to bed hungry.” ― Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme

“With this substantial investment, The Rockefeller Foundation will be playing a key role in advancing school meals at the global and national levels. We look forward to growing our strong collaboration around the world and in Brazil.” — Daniel Balaban, Director of the WFP’s Centre of Excellence Against Hunger in Brazil

“Good nutrition is the building block for lifelong learning, earning, and good health. In a world of increasing pressure and complexity, it is more important than ever for us to scale solutions that break silos – delivering all the things that future generations need to thrive. Universal school meals are exactly this kind of solution, and we applaud The Rockefeller Foundation for their exciting commitment to this work.” — Matt Freeman, Executive Director of Stronger Foundations for Nutrition

“I am excited about this bold intervention from The Rockefeller Foundation focused on propelling catalytic capital, innovation, locally led solutions, and strategic partnerships to transform and scale school meal programs in more than a dozen countries This visionary program will ensure that 100 million children around the world obtain the nutrition they need to thrive and live full and meaningful lives, empower farmers and communities, and build a more sustainable future.” ― Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, President and CEO of the ONE Campaign and member of The Rockefeller Foundation Board of Trustees

About The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation that enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We make big bets to promote the well-being of humanity. Today, we are focused on advancing human opportunity and reversing the climate crisis by transforming systems in food, health, energy, and finance. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at www.rockefellerfoundation.org/subscribe and follow us on X @RockefellerFdn and LinkedIn @the-rockefeller-foundation.

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SOURCE The Rockefeller Foundation

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Texas Athletics and McCombs School of Business Launch New Bevo Lab, Bringing Together Sports, AI and Analytics

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October 23, 2026

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Dell Technologies, Google Cloud and SHI International join Texas Athletics to power a first-of-its-kind hub for sports intelligence, data analytics, research, and talent development

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — University of Texas Athletics and the Business of Sports Institute (BOSI) in the McCombs School of Business, in cooperation with Longhorn Sports Properties, today announced the launch of Bevo Lab, a unique collaboration that will serve as higher education’s premier sports intelligence platform and living laboratory—bringing together sports, technology, data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) to elevate human performance while expanding hands-on learning opportunities for students.
 

Joined by Dell Technologies, Google Cloud, and SHI International, Texas Athletics is building the premier sports intelligence platform in higher education, creating a standard of excellence that spans 21 intercollegiate teams and over 500 student-athletes. Bevo Lab will leverage AI-driven research and data analytics to deliver real-world solutions to help athletes and coaches become more efficient in their training and preparation while developing a pipeline of students with hands-on experience for sought-after careers in technology and sports analytics.

“With the help of our nationally ranked academic leaders and cutting-edge technology brand sponsors, Bevo Lab will become the global benchmark for innovation in sports AI and data analytics, making Texas Athletics the most data-driven athletic program in the country,” said Chris Del Conte, vice president and Folger Family Athletics Director at The University of Texas. “What starts here changes the world, and this vision will transform collegiate athletics. There is no bigger stage, no more powerful brand and no better time than now to lead in this new evolution of sports technology.”

Del Conte will officially announce Bevo Lab today at Texas’ Business of College Sports Summit.

Named for the university’s esteemed and powerful live mascot, Bevo Lab will be a part of BOSI, an academic and research center in McCombs that combines business education, on-field/on-court performance analytics, applied research, and industry participation. The lab will engage as many as 40 student researchers annually in managing the modeling and data projects under the direction of acclaimed sports data analyst, author, and BOSI executive director Kirk Goldsberry, Ph.D.

“The AI and emerging technologies provided by our industry partners will empower our students and researchers to deliver improved efficiency and increased speed in data analysis to boost performance and improve success,” added Goldsberry. “Bevo Lab will reinforce Texas as a leader in sports analytics and AI and will serve as the blueprint for the future of sports.”

Key innovations driving the Bevo Lab:

Bevo Lakehouse: A unified data warehouse that consolidates previously siloed sports-specific data such as game film and wearable technology into a single platform—starting with football, before expanding across all 21 varsity sports.Predictive AI & analytics models: Custom machine learning frameworks, including “transfer AI” for roster evaluation, designed to give coaches actionable insights for game strategy, scouting, and player development.Tailored front-end applications: Intuitive visual and natural language interfaces built specifically for the distinct daily workflows of athletes, coaches and athletic executives.Next-generation skills training: A hands-on program for UT students to gain AI skills and deploy live applications alongside athletic teams. Through a first-of-its-kind Google Public Sector ambassador program, students will also get to work directly with engineering teams, gaining high-stakes industry experience to launch careers in tech and sports analytics.

Dell Technologies: Powering a New Era in College Athletics

Dell Technologies is deepening its decadeslong relationship with The University of Texas as the premier founding sponsor and the Official Technology Infrastructure Sponsor of Bevo Lab. Building on a broad history of collaboration that spans groundbreaking research at the Texas Advanced Computing Center and technology innovation across Texas Athletics, Dell is providing the secure AI-ready infrastructure that powers Bevo Lab, enabling students, researchers, coaches and student-athletes to transform data into actionable insights, accelerate innovation and elevate human performance.

“Bevo Lab represents the next chapter in Dell Technologies’ longstanding relationship with The University of Texas and our shared commitment to innovation,” said Geraldine Tunnell, chief marketing officer, Dell Technologies. “By providing the secure, AI-ready infrastructure that powers this initiative, we’re enabling students, researchers, coaches and student-athletes to turn data into insight, accelerate innovation and unlock new possibilities for human performance. Together, we’re helping shape the future of sports analytics, research and education.”

Google Cloud: Pioneering AI Breakthroughs from Campus to Game Day

Google Cloud joins Bevo Lab as the Official Cloud Provider and Enterprise AI Provider, establishing a secure, powerful data foundation built for the future of collegiate athletic performance. By leveraging Google Cloud and Gemini, Google’s advanced multimodal, agentic AI, student researchers and athletic staff members can quickly unify vast athletic datasets to generate real-time sports intelligence. Google Public Sector’s Rapid Innovation and Specialty Engineering Teams will collaborate directly with UT coaches and students to prototype new sports technology while mentoring future sports and technology leaders. In fact, early collaboration with Google Public Sector has already introduced AI-driven workflows that save UT coaches more than 15 hours per week in game preparation, giving them critical time back to focus on strategy and player development.

“As a proud UT alum, I am thrilled to see my alma mater leading the charge at the intersection of collegiate sports, academic research, and artificial intelligence,” said Matt Renner, president and chief revenue officer of Google Cloud. “Bevo Lab will establish a new global benchmark for sports innovation, directly enhancing how the Longhorns will train, game plan, and compete on the field while providing a premier launchpad for the next generation of tech and sports analytics leaders. By putting our advanced data analytics platforms and Gemini models into the hands of UT students, coaches, and researchers, we are building a secure foundation for sports intelligence that will define the future of the industry.”

SHI International: Uniting Strategy and Integration for the Win

Founding sponsor SHI will serve as the strategic technology and solutions integrator of Bevo Lab, translating Texas Athletics’ vision into a secure, scalable technology architecture. Drawing on its deep expertise across IT infrastructure, cloud, AI and cybersecurity, SHI will orchestrate the partner ecosystem, ensuring multiple technologies across Bevo Lab operate as one unified platform for sports innovation that will evolve with the university’s athletic performance and provide research and workforce development opportunities for students managing the data analytics projects.

“For nearly four decades, customers have trusted SHI to bring together the right technologies, partners and expertise to build, manage and secure some of the world’s most complex IT environments,” said Jack Hogan, vice president of Advanced Growth Technologies at SHI International. “As the strategic technology and solutions integrator of Bevo Lab, we are thrilled to turn best-of-breed infrastructure, cloud, data, AI and security technologies into one trusted, scalable environment that enables Texas Athletics, coaches, student-athletes and researchers to achieve greatness on the playing field, in the lab, in the classroom and throughout their post-college careers.”

Strategic Collaboration Across Athletics and Industry

Longhorn Sports Properties, the Austin-based division of college media and technology leader Learfield, assisted in the development of Bevo Lab and secured its founding corporate sponsors.

“Bevo Lab is a cutting-edge collaboration that will make a tremendous positive impact on our coaches, our student-athletes and the university,” said Lucas Motta, vice president of Longhorn Sports Properties. “We are excited to lock arms with Dell Technologies, Google Cloud and SHI as leaders within their industry, and together we will help power Texas Athletics to even more championships while preparing our students for the new era in the tech workforce.”

Bevo Lab will be housed in Innovation Tower adjacent to the UT campus and in the heart of Austin’s Innovation District. A dedicated microsite that details Bevo Lab and its research will be available at texaslonghorns.com/bevolab.

About Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) helps organizations and individuals build their digital future and transform how they work, live and play. The company provides customers with the industry’s broadest and most innovative technology and services portfolio for the AI era.
 

About Google Cloud
Google Cloud offers a powerful, optimized AI stack—including AI infrastructure, leading models like Gemini, data management capabilities, multicloud security solutions, developer tools and platform, as well as agents and applications—that enables organizations to transform their business for the Agentic Era. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted technology partner.

About SHI International
SHI International is a $16 billion transformational technology solutions integrator serving the needs of more than 17,000 corporate, enterprise, public sector and academic customer organizations around the world. It helps companies achieve business goals through the use of technologies ranging from software licensing and end user computing devices to innovative cloud and edge solutions. With over 7,000 employees worldwide, SHI is the largest Minority and Woman Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) in the U.S.

About Learfield
Learfield is the leading media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield’s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative revenue generation solutions, student-athlete marketing initiatives, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions. 

Media contacts:
University of Texas Athletics: John Bianco, john.bianco@athletics.utexas.edu, 512-471-1346

Longhorn Sports Properties/Learfield: Tammy Purves, tammy.purves@learfield.com, 404-932-3266

McCombs School of Business: Judie Kinonen, Judie.Kinonen@mccombs.utexas.edu, 409-356-3324

Dell Technologies: Lauren Mauro, media.relations@dell.com.

Google Cloud: press@google.com

SHI: Kaitlynn Cooney, SHI-PR@walkersands.com

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SOURCE Learfield

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XbotGo Named World’s No. 1 Consumer Team Sports AI Tracking Camera Brand

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October 23, 2026

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XbotGo recognized as the market leader in consumer team sports AI tracking technology based on 2025 unit sales.  

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — XbotGo is proud to announce that it has officially been recognized as the World’s No. 1 Consumer Team Sports AI Tracking Camera Brand by China Insights Consultancy (CIC), a premier independent market research and consulting firm.  

The certification, issued in October 2026 under research registration number ⁠CIC-2026-985176⁠, is based on a comprehensive evaluation of global unit sales volume throughout the 2025 calendar year. The market research specifically measures consumer-grade camera devices designed for team sports, such as basketball and football, that leverage advanced computer vision and artificial intelligence algorithms to automatically track athletes and capture dynamic gameplay without manual operation.  

“This global market recognition is a powerful testament to the hard work of our engineering teams and the trust our community places in us every day,” said Dr. David Tan, CEO of XbotGo. “From everyday parents and local youth coaches to elite amateur athletes, our mission has always been to make professional-grade sports analysis and hands-free recording accessible to everyone. Being named the global sales leader proves that our vision is resonating worldwide.”

The XbotGo Falcon series combines ultra-sharp 4K resolution, intelligent multi-player tracking, instant highlight creation, and seamless livestreaming capabilities into a compact, subscription-free device. By eliminating the need for a dedicated camera operator, XbotGo empowers teams and families to preserve and analyze every pivotal moment effortlessly.

To learn more about the XbotGo Falcon and explore its award-winning AI tracking technology, visit xbotgo.com.

About XbotGo

XbotGo was founded in 2021 by Dr. David Tan—a computer vision expert, hardware innovator, and devoted soccer dad. Like every parent on the sidelines, he found traditional cameras either too complex or too costly to capture his child’s moments on the field. That frustration sparked a vision: to make sports recording accessible to all through AI. Today, XbotGo is a global AI sports technology company owned by Blink Tech, headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, with R&D centers across Silicon Valley, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Suzhou.

Media Contact:
XbotGo
Gabriel Roxas
PR@xbotgo.com

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DataBeyond Showcases PICKINGMAN in Global Livestream from Operating Waste-Sorting Facility

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October 23, 2026

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DONGGUAN, China, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — DataBeyond showcased PICKINGMAN, its embodied AI robot for mixed municipal solid waste sorting, during the robot’s first global public livestream at 8 a.m. Beijing time on October 22. The broadcast took place at the Liaobu Municipal Solid Waste Integrated Treatment Center in Dongguan.

Built for Waste-Sorting Conditions

The broadcast demonstrated the robot working on an operating sorting line, highlighting the application of embodied AI to demanding industrial tasks involving mixed materials, dirty conditions and repetitive manual labor. PICKINGMAN began operating at the facility on September 22.

PICKINGMAN features dual arms with a total of 14 degrees of freedom, IP65-rated dust and water protection, and a maximum picking rate of 3,600 picks per hour. Designed to support continuous 24/7 operation, it can sort recyclables including PET bottles and trays, PP containers, PE items, aluminum cans and glass. It coordinates perception, decision-making and motion control to identify and pick target materials on a moving conveyor.

Project Results

Jointly developed by DataBeyond and Guangdong Dongshi Environment Co., Ltd., the Liaobu project combines robotic picking with AI optical sorting and other processing equipment. According to project data, the complete sorting line can process 50 metric tons of mixed municipal solid waste in four hours, achieving approximately 35% waste reduction and 25% resource recovery. Previously, sorting recyclables from the same volume required four skilled workers working for eight hours.

The integrated line separates recyclables for downstream recovery before residual waste is compressed and sent for further treatment, connecting resource recovery with existing waste management operations.

Workforce Benefits and Next Steps

For operators facing recruitment and retention challenges, robotic picking offers an alternative to repetitive manual sorting. The project aims to reduce workers’ direct contact with waste and enable personnel to focus on equipment inspection, production coordination and other technical roles.

“During the livestream, we identified areas where the robot still needs improvement,” said DataBeyond’s Mo Zhuoya. “Bridging the gap between R&D and industrial deployment requires engineering experience. We will accelerate product iteration and conduct longer global livestreams.”

About DataBeyond

DataBeyond develops AI-powered optical sorting equipment and robotic solutions for recycling and solid waste processing. The company integrates AI and multisensor technologies to improve material separation and support resource recovery.

Media Contact

Felix WU
marketing@databeyond.com

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SOURCE DataBeyond

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