Bolton-based Gemini.co.uk goes live with a full suite of short-term loan products and a free 28-guide financial education library, targeting the millions of UK consumers left underserved by mainstream lenders

BOLTON, England, April 18, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Gemini, a new FCA-authorised credit broker, today officially launches at Gemini.co.uk, offering UK consumers access to short-term loans from £100 to £5,000 alongside one of the most comprehensive free financial guidance resources available online.

Operated by Swift Money Limited, a company with an established track record of helping over one million UK residents access short-term finance. Gemini has been built from the ground up with transparency, regulatory compliance and genuine consumer value at it’s core.

Filling a Gap the High Street Won’t Touch

Despite rising demand for smaller, accessible loans, every major UK high-street bank, including HSBC, Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds, and Santander, sets the minimum personal loan amount at £1,000. Data published by the Financial Conduct Authority shows the average short-term loan taken out in the UK is approximately £250, a product that mainstream lenders structurally do not offer.

Gemini starts from £100.

The platform connects a single application to a carefully selected panel of FCA-regulated specialist lenders, covering five distinct product areas: small loans, payday loans, short-term loans, bad credit payday loans, and same day loans. All products are governed by the FCA’s price cap for high-cost short-term credit, meaning interest is limited to 0.8% per day, default fees are capped at £15, and consumers will never repay more than double the original amount borrowed.

Gemini is a credit broker, not a lender, and charges no fees to borrowers at any stage.

Free Financial Guidance – No Sign-Up Required

Alongside its lending products, Gemini launches with a library of 28 free financial guides covering borrowing, credit scores, debt management, money management, benefits entitlements, and financial difficulty. Written in plain English and requiring no registration to access, the guides represent a significant investment in financial education for the consumers Gemini serves.

Topics include how to budget, how to improve your credit score, what a CCJ means for your finances, how to deal with debt collectors, and how to build an emergency fund, among others.

What Gemini Offers Consumers

Loans from £100 to £5,000 over 1 to 36 monthsInstant eligibility decision via soft credit search, no impact on credit scoreSame day funding via the UK Faster Payments Service, operating 24/7Bad credit considered – decisions based on current affordability, not credit history aloneZero broker fees – completely free to use28 free financial guides – no sign-up requiredFull FCA price cap protection on every loan arranged

Spokesperson Quote

Mark Scott, Company Director at Gemini, said:

“We built Gemini because there is a very real and largely ignored gap in the UK lending market. When someone needs £200 for an emergency car repair, their bank will tell them the minimum they can borrow is £1,000. That is not a solution, it is a problem that leaves people with nowhere to turn.

“Gemini exists to fill that gap properly: with regulated products, complete transparency, and no fees. But we also wanted to do something more than just match people with loans. Our free guides library is designed to give people the financial knowledge to make better decisions, whether that means taking a loan, or realising they don’t need one.

“We are proud to be launching a product that genuinely puts the customer first, backed by FCA regulation and consumer protections that people deserve.”

About Gemini

Gemini is a trading name of Swift Money Limited, an FCA-authorised and regulated credit broker (FCA Reference: 738569, Company Number: 07552504). Based in Bolton, Greater Manchester, Gemini connects UK consumers with a panel of FCA-regulated specialist lenders offering short-term finance from £100 to £5,000. Gemini charges no fees to borrowers and is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO Registration: ZA069965).

Website: gemini.co.uk FCA Register: register.fca.org.uk (Ref: 738569) Registered Office: Hamill House, 112-116 Chorley New Road, Bolton, BL1 4DH Telephone: 0330 088 2359

Notes to Editors

Gemini is a credit broker, not a lender, and does not make credit decisionsAll loans arranged through Gemini are subject to the FCA’s price cap for high-cost short-term creditRepresentative APR: 79.5% variable. Min APR 48.1%, Max APR 1721%. Terms from 1 to 36 monthsRepresentative example: £1,000 borrowed over 18 months at £89.22/month. Total repayable £1,605.96. Fixed interest rate 59.97% per annum. 79.5% APR variableWarning: Late repayment can cause you serious money problems. For help, visit moneyhelper.org.ukHigh-resolution brand assets and additional background information available on request

Press contact: Gemini / Swift Money Limited: press@gemini.co.uk, 0330 088 2359

Media Contact

Mark Scott, Swift Money Limited, 44 0330 088 2359, Mark@Gemini.co.uk, https://www.Gemini.co.uk

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SOURCE Swift Money Limited

Professor Attilio Scienza, host of the Italian Wine Podcast show “Everybody Needs a Bit of Scienza”, has been awarded Vinitaly’s highly prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at a formal inauguration ceremony in Verona on Sunday 12 April 2026. Launched in 2025, the Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes figures who have made a fundamental contribution to the Italian wine sector.

VERONA, Italy, April 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Professor Attilio Scienza is a prominent academic, geneticist, and one of the world’s leading experts in viticulture and oenology. A full professor at the University of Milan (now retired), he has led important research on the physiology, genetics, and agricultural techniques of the grapevine, and has authored over 350 scientific publications. Alongside Stevie Kim, he has hosted the popular “Everybody Needs a Bit of Scienza” podcast show in which he responds to questions from the international wine community, since 2017. He is also the Chief Scientist of the Vinitaly International Academy which trains and certifies a global network of Italian Wine Ambassadors.

Professor Scienza remains extremely active in the wine community and is a highly sought after speaker and oenological consultant. At this year’s Vinitaly, he delivered advanced seminars on the subjects of Italy’s autochthonous vines, Sangiovese and the concept of vocation, and the complex inter-relationship between woodlands and vineyards. He also found time to launch his latest book, An Italian Wine Pilgrimage, another successful collaboration with Italian wine evangelist Stevie Kim.

Translation of Professor Attilio Scienza’s acceptance speech (delivered in Italian): “Vinitaly should have the courage to become not just an annual showcase, but also a think tank. It should produce a manifesto. A manifesto that clearly states the current critical issues, the sector’s priorities, and proposals to address them. A cultural and political platform, a meeting point for producers, consumers, institutions, research, and regions. European wine can defend itself if it can reposition itself within a broader narrative, capable of speaking not only to producers but to society, one that rethinks wine as one of the most significant forms of Mediterranean and European culture, one that has allowed it to become an extraordinary “tool” for socialization. The annual meeting at Vinitaly should include French, Spanish, and Greek partner institutions. Perhaps it’s just a dream, but one day I hope it will even be possible for Italy and France to come together with the common purpose of promoting their wine together.”

Stevie Kim, Professor Scienza’s co-host on the Italian Wine Podcast, said “I am absolutely delighted that Vinitaly has recognized the truly remarkable contribution of my friend and mentor, Professor Attilio Scienza. Not only is he the world’s leading academic expert on Italian wine, with a depth and breadth of knowledge that is mind blowing, he is also unfailingly generous with his time and expertise, sharing his passion and knowledge of Italian wine and his gift for storytelling with the Italian Wine Podcast’s international audience of listeners and the global community of students of the Vinitaly International Academy. We are truly blessed to have him.”

The motivation accompanying Professor Scienza’s Lifetime Achievement Award reads: “A central figure in the history of Italian wine, an internationally renowned academic, vine geneticist, agronomist, and narrator of the anthropology of wine, Attilio Scienza has opened new horizons in the study and understanding of wine as an expression of culture and in education, thereby defining key concepts such as terroir, identity, and tradition. As Chief Scientist of the Vinitaly International Academy since 2018, he continues to inspire producers, students and enthusiasts by translating scientific knowledge into narratives that ennoble Italian winegrowing and strengthen the positioning of Italian wine in the global scientific and cultural panorama, thereby opening new perspectives on the link between science, culture and wine storytelling”.

About the Italian Wine Podcast: Cin Cin with Italian Wine People! launched in 2017 as a project dedicated exclusively to the Italian wine world. The program uncovers the unique world of Italian wine in conversation with some of its key protagonists. Under the umbrella brand of Mamma Jumbo Shrimp, Italian Wine Podcast aims to inform, educate, and entertain listeners with content for wine professionals and casual listeners alike. The only daily wine podcast in the world, content includes wine business, food & travel, diversity and inclusion, wine producers, science, and marketing and communication. Italian Wine Podcast is available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, XimalayaFM (for China), and on the official website. It now boasts over 2,600 recorded episodes with a growing online following of over 8 million listens. Donations to the show are welcomed and help fund a portion of the show’s equipment, production, and publication costs. To advertise on the show, please request a prospectus and/or customized advertising plan from info@italianwinepodcast.com. Cin Cin!

www.italianwinepodcast.com
Listen on SoundCloud, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher and XimalayaFM
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SOURCE Italian Wine Podcast

The initiative is designed to support the tokenization and commercialization of 100 companies formed around acquired innovation-related intellectual property.

FULLERTON, Calif., April 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Akemona, Inc., a provider of tokenization and digital asset issuance infrastructure, announced today that a tokenized offering for Industrialized Innovation Impact Portfolio I LLC is now available through the Akemona platform.

The initiative is centered on 100 companies formed through the acquisition of innovation-related intellectual property and associated commercialization rights. Tokenization is intended to support the commercialization of these companies through a structured digital asset framework.

According to information provided to Akemona, Industrialized Innovation Impact Portfolio I is designed to offer diversified exposure to 100 early-stage companies created through FyrstGen’s Company Building as a Service (CBaaS®) model. The portfolio is structured through a special purpose vehicle and is intended to hold 50% equity positions in 100 FyrstGen companies spanning sectors such as green energy, sustainable agriculture, public health, and other innovation-driven markets.

Industrialized Innovations has stated that the portfolio is part of a broader effort to transform underutilized intellectual property into commercially oriented operating companies. The underlying companies are built and run by FyrstGen itself through its proprietary CBaaS® platform. Acting as the centralized entrepreneur, CBaaS® executes company formation, strategic planning, commercialization, scaling, and exit preparation end-to-end — eliminating founder dependency by design.

“Through our partnership with Akemona, for the first time ever, we can standardize the refinancing of innovation — a major milestone in the global rollout of our new ecosystem,” said Philipp Assmus, Chief Executive Officer of Industrialized Innovations and Fyrst Limited. Clémence Kopeikin, Chief Operating Officer at FyrstGen, added, “For too long, entire regions, communities, and brilliant minds have been excluded from value creation. We’re opening the door for those who have historically been left out of the process, all while bringing innovation to market, addressing some of the world’s biggest challenges.”

The initiative comes at a time when tokenization is receiving increased attention in the United States as policymakers and regulators work toward greater clarity for digital assets and tokenized securities. Recent developments, including the House passage of the CLARITY Act in 2025 and SEC staff guidance on tokenized securities in January 2026, have added momentum to the broader market discussion, even as the legislative process continues.

For Akemona, the project reflects how tokenization can be applied not only to individual assets but also to larger multi-company structures. Akemona’s technology is designed to support digital asset issuance, blockchain-based ownership records, investor access workflows, and smart contract-enabled transaction infrastructure.

“Tokenization is moving beyond isolated use cases and becoming a serious infrastructure layer for modern capital formation,” said Alex de Lorraine, Chief Executive Officer of Akemona. “This initiative stands out because of its scale and architecture. Bringing 100 companies into a single tokenized framework demonstrates how blockchain technology can support more structured, transparent, and efficient approaches to private market participation.”

The offering materials provided to Akemona state that the portfolio companies are derived from intellectual property sourced from universities and independent research, with an emphasis on commercial potential and real-world impact. The stated use of proceeds includes supporting commercialization infrastructure, initial product orders, and portfolio scaling activities intended to position the companies for future acquisition pathways.

Akemona provides blockchain-based infrastructure for digital asset issuance and management, helping businesses and financial institutions modernize capital formation through tokenized securities and other blockchain-native financial instruments. The company’s platform supports digital issuance workflows, investor onboarding, smart contract deployment, and ownership administration for tokenized assets.

Additional information about the offering is available through the Akemona platform at https://investors.akemona.com/offerings/impact.

Media Contact
Email: info@akemona.com

Disclaimer
This press release is provided for informational purposes only and is intended solely to notify the public about an upcoming offering expected to become available through the Akemona platform.

Akemona, Inc. is distributing this communication solely in its capacity as a technology platform provider. Akemona does not recommend or endorse any issuer, investment opportunity, or offering, and does not provide investment, legal, tax, accounting, or other professional advice. Nothing in this press release should be construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation to purchase, sell, or hold any security.

Any offering referenced in this communication is the responsibility of the applicable issuer and is expected to be conducted pursuant to Rule 506(c) of Regulation D, or another available exemption from registration. The securities referenced herein have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities regulator, and may be offered and sold only to investors who are verified as accredited investors under applicable law. Such securities will be subject to restrictions on transfer and resale.

No federal or state securities regulator, including the SEC, has approved, passed upon, or endorsed the merits of any offering, or determined whether this communication is accurate or complete. Any investment decision should be made only after careful review of the applicable offering materials and in consultation with the investor’s own legal, tax, financial, accounting, and other professional advisers.

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SOURCE Akemona, Inc.