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Corastone Brings Permissioned Blockchain Technology to UMB Fund Services’ Alternative Investment Servicing

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StepStone becomes the first UMB client to connect to Corastone’s network, streamlining subscription and lifecycle operations, with recordkeeping support from Envision.

NEW YORK, June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Corastone, the hyperscaler for private-market investing, today announced a partnership with UMB Fund Services, Inc. (UMBFS), a subsidiary of UMB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: UMBF), a national leader in registered and alternative investment fund administration services, to connect UMBFS to Corastone’s private, permissioned distributed ledger technology (DLT) network. The collaboration between Corastone, UMBFS, and Envision replaces manual, document-based workflows and one-off integrations with a shared data standard that supports straight-through processing for all market participants involved in a given transaction. Corastone will act as the underlying transaction infrastructure, enabling market participants to connect and exchange data while preserving their existing client relationships and service models.  

UMBFS will act as a transfer agent and fund administrator on the platform, enabling straight-through processing of alternative investment transactions across the entire fund servicing lifecycle. UMBFS’s transfer agency operations are supported by Envision Financial Systems‘ investor recordkeeping platform, which helps drive automation and operational efficiency across servicing workflows. StepStone Group (Nasdaq: STEP), a leading global private markets investment firm, is the first UMBFS client to connect to the Corastone network — using Corastone’s shared distributed ledger technology to streamline subscriptions, reduce manual reconciliation, and improve data accuracy across all parties to a transaction.  

After initially connecting to Corastone’s network, UMBFS and any of their clients connected to Corastone can exchange standardized investor and transaction data in real time. This eliminates rekeying and minimizes reconciliation breaks, creating a uniform, trusted source of fund information for every participant in the workflow.

“UMB Fund Services is committed to investing in technology that helps our clients operate more efficiently as the alternative investment market continues to grow,” said UMB Fund Services Director of Transfer Agency Operations Brittany Haiser. “By connecting to Corastone’s permissioned DLT network, we are giving clients like StepStone a more standardized, transparent and scalable way to manage subscription and fund servicing workflows. We are excited to partner with Corastone to bring greater automation, accuracy and operational efficiency to an increasingly complex segment of the market.”  

“Envision is proud to support UMB Fund Services with technology that helps modernize operations, increase automation, and improve the client experience. Together, this collaboration with Corastone reflects a shared commitment to creating a more efficient, scalable model for alternative investment servicing,” says Brian Jones, Envision Chief Operating Officer.

UMBFS’s successful integration builds on growing institutional momentum, including Franklin Templeton’s recent partnership with Corastone to launch Private Market Model Portfolios, along with Fidelity, Hamilton Lane and Future Standard joining the platform as investors. The partnership also demonstrates UMBFS’s continued growth amid increasing demand for alternative investment servicing.  

“Fund administrators and transfer agents are the operational backbone of private markets, and digitizing their workflows is essential to supporting the growth of private assets as investor demand increases,” said Hamid Gayibov, Co-Founder and President of Corastone. “Bringing UMBFS live on our network with StepStone as the first client to transact through it shows how shared, permissioned infrastructure can reduce friction across the investment lifecycle without forcing firms to rebuild their systems. As a neutral infrastructure provider, our role is to serve as the connective layer between market participants, helping them scale more efficiently while preserving the relationships and operating models that differentiate their businesses. ”  ”   

As private markets activity continues to expand across wealth and institutional channels, firms are increasingly seeking transaction technology that performs at scale while reducing manual intervention. Corastone, through its proprietary permissioned blockchain network, functions as shared infrastructure and a common data standard for private markets workflows — connecting general partners, wealth managers, transfer agents, and fund administrators on a single platform, while allowing each participant to maintain ownership of its client relationships, servicing model and operating workflows.

About Corastone
Corastone is the hyperscaler for private market investing, providing the modern infrastructure that enables straight-through processing for GPs, wealth managers and fund administrators. Through a single integration, participants gain access to a vast ecosystem of investment opportunities and counterparties, helping them grow their business with confidence. Solely focused on infrastructure, Corastone enables consistent, repeatable processes throughout the investment lifecycle, fostering visibility, control and seamless operations. Built on a permissioned blockchain, Corastone is purpose-built to support new workflows, innovative products and the rapidly evolving private markets. For more information, visit corastone.us

About UMB
UMB Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: UMBF) is a financial services company headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. UMB offers commercial banking, which includes comprehensive deposit, lending, investment and retirement plan services; personal banking, which includes comprehensive deposit, lending, wealth management and financial planning services; and institutional banking, which includes asset servicing, corporate trust solutions, investment banking and healthcare services. UMB operates branches throughout Missouri, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. As the company’s reach continues to grow, it also serves business clients nationwide and institutional clients in several countries. For more information, visit UMB.com, UMB Blog, UMB Facebook and UMB LinkedIn.

About StepStone
StepStone Group Inc. (Nasdaq: STEP) is a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions and advisory and data services to its clients. As of March 31, 2026, StepStone was responsible for approximately $885 billion of total capital, including $233 billion of assets under management. StepStone’s clients include some of the world’s largest public and private defined benefit and defined contribution pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies, as well as prominent endowments, foundations, family offices and private wealth clients, which include high-net-worth and mass affluent individuals. StepStone partners with its clients to develop and build private markets portfolios designed to meet their specific objectives across the private equity, infrastructure, private debt and real estate asset classes.  

About Envision Financial Systems
Envision is the leading real-time investor accounting platform provider, helping its clients identify and solve problems with innovative and flexible solutions. For more than 30 years, asset managers, fund sponsors, administrators, 529 program managers, and brokers have relied on Envision’s solutions to automate processing and optimize efficiency. In total, Envision supports more than $8.5 trillion of investor assets. Founded in 1994, Envision is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California and also serves clients from offices in Denver, Colorado, and Bangalore, India. Learn more at https://enfs.com.

Media Contacts
For Corastone: Forefront Communications for Corastone corastone@forefrontcomms.com

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ITC Validates Again Voltage Energy’s Right to Supply Trunk Bus Solutions to U.S. Market

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Voltage Energy to Continue Serving Domestic Customers with Next-Generation Trunk Bus Solutions

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Voltage Energy Group (“Voltage Energy”), a leading solar and clean energy solutions provider founded in North Carolina, today announced that the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) has issued a final determination confirming that its next-generation trunk bus solutions (“LYNX PLUS”) do not infringe the patents of Shoals Technologies Group, Inc. (“Shoals”) asserted in its second ITC case against Voltage Energy.   

This critical ruling allows Voltage Energy to continue serving domestic customers, including solar developers and EPCs, by ensuring uninterrupted access to its trunk bus solutions for projects nationwide. It also rejects Shoals’ efforts to exclude Voltage Energy’s trunk bus solutions from the market and stifle competition. 

“Today’s decision is a victory for Voltage Energy and reinforces fair competition and reliable access to innovative energy solutions for the domestic solar industry and its customers,” said Li Wang, CEO of Voltage Energy. “Voltage Energy independently developed its trunk bus solutions and will continue to innovate. The solar industry depends on open and fair competition, not efforts to eliminate competitors through litigation and unfair business practices.”

This latest ruling follows a series of favorable outcomes for Voltage Energy in related proceedings. Last January, the ITC found no violation and terminated Shoals’ first ITC investigation, which Shoals had initiated in May 2023 and in which it wrongly accused Voltage Energy’s products of infringing three patents. During that first ITC case, Shoals sought new patents, which were issued in June 2024 and were later asserted in Shoals’ second ITC case and district court complaint against Voltage Energy in January 2025.

Following a recent bench trial, the district court found that Shoals violated an agreement prohibiting its ITC counsel’s involvement in obtaining those new patents.

Voltage Energy appreciates the court’s validation of those concerns, as well as the Court’s recognition that Shoals should not unfairly benefit from that violation, which accelerated Shoals obtaining those patents.  Voltage Energy stands behind its trunk bus solutions, which were independently developed before Shoals obtained the asserted patents, and will continue to defend its innovations, including its latest LYNX PLUS solution, which the ITC confirmed does not infringe the 375/376 patents.  

While related legal matters remain ongoing, Voltage Energy respects valid intellectual property rights and remains committed to competing with integrity, investing in innovation, and delivering dependable, forward-looking solutions to customers. 

About Voltage Energy Group

Founded in 2016, Voltage Energy Group (“Voltage Energy”) is a leading global provider of electrical balance of systems (EBOS) solutions for utility-scale solar projects, with global headquarters in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Voltage Energy delivers innovative, value-engineered technologies and services that improve installation efficiency, enhance safety, and optimize long-term system performance.

We are a group of innovative people who sincerely care about the renewable industry. Learn more at the company’s new website, www.voltageenergy.com.

 

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Validar, Leader in Event-Technology Sector, Secures Debt-Funding Package from Decathlon Capital Partners

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Seattle-based company to expand platform, boost customer-support and sales initiatives

SEATTLE, June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Validar, an innovative provider of event-technology solutions, will launch a significant expansion program after it reached agreement with Decathlon Capital Partners on a growth-funding investment. Validar is headquartered at Seattle.

The venture-debt funding will support expanded features on the Validar platform as well as expanded customer-support and sales-and-marketing initiatives. Financial details of the venture-debt transaction were not disclosed.

Victor Kippes, Founder and CEO of Validar, said the company has worked more than two decades to help marketers of B2B events better understand and articulate their value. At more than 1,000 events around the world, Validar products have enhanced ticketing and registration, provided real-time feedback on the effectiveness of content, and driven leads from the show floor into sales initiatives.

“This important growth-financing package is custom designed to meet the needs of our fast-growing company,” Kippes said. “It provides flexible amortization, doesn’t require any dilution of existing shareholders and doesn’t involve any changes in management control or governance.”

Validar will face no cost for undrawn capital in the transaction, which includes possible additional steps to support Validar’s growth beyond the current investment.

John Borchers, Managing Director of Decathlon Capital Partners, said Validar’s products provide high-value data to organizers of B2B events, allowing them to understand the ROI on the millions of dollars they spend to attract attendees to their events.

“Validar has worked closely with the B2B events industry since 2005. Victor Kippes and his team understand the requirements of event marketers, and they continue to develop technology solutions to meet the needs of their clients worldwide,” Borchers said. “Decathlon Capital Partners is pleased to support the continued growth of Validar.”

About Validar
Validar provides innovative event technology solutions that empower organizers to create engaging, efficient, and data-driven experiences. With a focus on streamlining registration, check-in, tracking attendee behavior, engagement tools, and event analytics, Validar serves a wide range of industries to enhance attendee satisfaction and measure event performance. Learn more at www.validar.com.

About Decathlon Capital Partners 
Decathlon Capital Partners provides growth capital for companies seeking alternatives to traditional equity investment. Through the use of highly customized growth-debt financing solutions, Decathlon provides long-term growth capital without the dilution, loss of control and operational overhead that often comes with equity-based funding. With offices in Palo Alto and Park City, Decathlon is active across a wide range of sectors. Learn more at www.decathloncapital.com.

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PLS Logistics Services Acquires The AGL Group

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Acquisition expands PLS Logistics non-asset-based Service Portfolio

CRANBERRY, Pa., June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — PLS Logistics Services (PLS), a leading third-party logistics provider, today announced the acquisition of The AGL Group, an international freight forwarder and supply chain company based in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The acquisition of AGL enhances PLS’s market position, diversifies its customer base, and expands its product portfolio.

For customers, PLS now offers international forwarding services, including drayage, ocean and customs brokerage, along with its world class domestic freight solutions, including truckload, LTL, TMS, and managed services.

Commenting on the acquisition, PLS Chairman and CEO Greg Burns remarked “The acquisition of the AGL Group brings a proven and reliable international service provider with strong presence in ocean and customs brokerage to the PLS client base. I’m excited that the AGL management team lead by CEO Steve Zambo will be joining the PLS family.”

Added Steve Zambo, CEO of the AGL Group, “The team at AGL is looking forward to further growth opportunities as part of a Billion dollar organization. PLS Logistics is known throughout the industry for its advance supply chain solutions, scaled operations, and outstanding market reputation. The combination will create new opportunities for AGL clients and employees alike.”

The AGL Group will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of PLS Logistics, with Steve Zambo remaining CEO and reporting to PLS President Steven Bergan.

PLS President Steven Bergan commented; “The entire PLS Leadership team has been impressed with the customer and employee centric culture that Steve Zambo has built and we see this as an excellent culture fit with PLS. I look forward to working closely with Steve and his team to further growth opportunities ahead.”

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

ABOUT PLS LOGISTICS SERVICES
PLS Logistics Services is a leading third-party logistics provider specializing in managed transportation and end-to-end supply chain solutions across North America and beyond. Powered by people, process, and proprietary technology, PLS delivers Visibility, Capacity, and Confidence to businesses that depend on their supply chains to perform. For more information, visit www.plslogistics.com.

ABOUT THE AGL GROUP
The AGL Group is a full-service logistics company with more than 40 years of experience in domestic, import, and export freight solutions. With a team of 76 specialists and a global partner network of 600+ providers, AGL delivers comprehensive freight solutions built around one guiding principle: making lives easier. For more information, visit www.theaglgroup.com

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