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OMAN’S US$5.2 BILLION FUTURE FUND UNVEILS US$1.744 BILLION IN PROJECTS

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MUSCAT, Oman, July 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Future Fund Oman (FFO), a portfolio of Oman Investment Authority (OIA), the Sultanate of Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, has announced a new package of 105 strategic projects and investments worth USD 1.744 billion, as the Sultanate of Oman accelerates its economic diversification.

The portfolio combines USD 585 million in commitments from FFO with around USD 458 million in local investment, spanning renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, tourism, healthcare, medical technologies, innovation and food industries.

“This portfolio directs capital toward nationally prioritized sectors and strengthens Oman’s appeal to global investors,” said His Excellency Mulham Al Jarf, Deputy President of Investment at the Oman Investment Authority. He noted that the Fund has worked to establish itself as an economic catalyst and a trusted investment partner.

The portfolio’s most internationally significant bets place Oman inside global supply chains. Its flagship, Orion Solar, will build an integrated solar cell and module facility in SOHAR Freezone with annual capacity of six gigawatts, the first of its kind in the Middle East and a cornerstone of localizing the solar value chain. Alongside it, Gallant Industrial Project will produce 66,000 tonnes a year of lithium iron phosphate cathode material, a core component of electric vehicle batteries, linking the Sultanate to the fast-growing clean-energy and storage markets.

The Fund is also building capacity across tourism, technology and food security. It is backing the As’ Sodah Island Resort, an integrated development spanning roughly 10 kilometres of pristine coastline, and Terminal 11, Oman’s first integrated innovation hub, which brings startups, venture capital and researchers under one roof. Further investments span Alma, an animal-nutrition manufacturer drawing on Oman’s marine and pastoral resources, and XCyber, a sovereign cybersecurity company using artificial intelligence to protect critical national infrastructure under the joint fund between ewpartners and FFO.

The package also draws marquee international capital into the country. FFO committed USD 200 million each to Vivo Capital, a leading global life sciences fund, and Certares, an international tourism and hospitality investor, and launched a new Healthcare Investment Fund capitalized at USD 130 million to localize medical industries and lift the quality of care.

Beyond large-scale projects, FFO continues to back startups and small and medium-sized enterprises at every stage of growth, from incubation through early growth to established firms.

Established in 2024 with a capital of USD 5.2 billion to stimulate economic recovery in Oman following COVID-19, the Fund continues to build specialized partnerships that bring global expertise and knowledge transfer to priority sectors across the Sultanate of Oman. It underscores FFO’s expanding role in advancing Oman Vision 2040 through economic diversification, venture investment and foreign capital attraction. Investors, entrepreneurs and institutions interested in these opportunities can explore the targeted sectors and apply through the Fund’s digital platform at www.futurefund.om.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/omans-us5-2-billion-future-fund-unveils-us1-744-billion-in-projects-302826729.html

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Power Knot MEA Recognized as THE BIZZ 2026 Winner for Business Excellence

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FREMONT, Calif., Oct. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Power Knot LLC, the market leader for on-site organic waste management solutions, announced that its sister office, Power Knot Middle East (PKME), has been recognized as a THE BIZZ 2026 Winner by the World Confederation of Businesses (WORLDCOB).

The recognition reflects PKME’s business excellence, leadership, and quality standards, highlighting its work to help organizations across the UAE and wider Gulf region improve food waste management.

PKME provides on-site food waste biodigestion technology through the LFC biodigester, an automated system that uses microorganisms and oxygen to digest food waste into wastewater within 24 hours. The regional team supports customers from equipment selection and installation to ongoing technical support.

Designed for commercial operations, the LFC biodigester helps facilities process food waste where it is generated, reducing reliance on storage, collection, and off-site disposal. This approach helps businesses reduce waste handling, improve kitchen hygiene, and lower the costs associated with transporting food waste to landfill.

Power Knot’s complementary equipment, including BCG shredders, SBT bin tippers, and water management systems, supports facilities with different waste volumes and operational requirements.

The award recognizes Power Knot’s commitment to delivering practical solutions backed by reliable equipment and customer support. As organizations across the Gulf seek more efficient ways to manage food waste, the team continues to help customers turn sustainability goals into everyday operational improvements.

About THE BIZZ Awards

The BIZZ Awards, hosted by the World Confederation of Businesses (WORLDCOB), recognize business excellence, innovation, and leadership across more than 130 countries. Winners are evaluated on business leadership, management, quality, innovation, and corporate social responsibility, joining a global network of organizations committed to excellence and continuous improvement.

For more information access https://thebizzawards.com/

About Power Knot

Power Knot provides safe, reliable, and economically sound solutions for commercial, industrial, and military organizations worldwide seeking to reduce waste and lower their environmental impact. Our products help organizations reduce their carbon footprint by efficiently moving, lifting, grinding, digesting, pumping, filtering, and reporting on waste streams. Designed, developed, and manufactured in Silicon Valley, California.

For more information, visit powerknot.com.

marketing@powerknot.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/power-knot-mea-recognized-as-the-bizz-2026-winner-for-business-excellence-302897697.html

SOURCE Power Knot LLC

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SafeGuard Privacy Wins Second AdExchanger Award for Best Privacy Technology

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SafeGuard Privacy has won the 2026 AdExchanger Award for Best Privacy Technology, its second win in the category and fourth straight year as a finalist. The award recognizes its role as the infrastructure behind privacy diligence in digital advertising, from powering the IAB Diligence Platform to bringing privacy diligence into IAB Tech Lab’s agentic buying specs.

NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — SafeGuard Privacy has won the 2026 AdExchanger Award for Best Privacy Technology, its second win in the category and its fourth consecutive year as a finalist. The award recognizes SafeGuard Privacy’s work as the infrastructure behind privacy diligence in digital advertising, including the IAB Diligence Platform and privacy diligence built into IAB Tech Lab’s agentic buying specs.

“When we started SafeGuard Privacy, the industry handled privacy diligence with spreadsheets and hope. Now it runs through a shared standard. As AI agents start buying media, diligence has to move at machine speed without losing its legal rigor.” Richy Glassberg, CEO, SafeGuard Privacy

“When we started SafeGuard Privacy, the industry handled privacy diligence with spreadsheets and hope,” said Richy Glassberg, CEO and Co-Founder of SafeGuard Privacy. “Now it runs through a shared standard, inside the IAB Diligence Platform and the Tech Lab’s agentic buying specs. Seeing AdExchanger recognize that shift, for the second time, means a lot. The next shift is already here. As AI agents start buying media on behalf of brands, diligence has to move at machine speed without losing its legal rigor. That’s what we’re building now, and I’m proud of the team doing it.”

Glassberg brings more than three decades of experience across media, advertising, technology, and privacy, including as a member of the founding team of CNN.com and a co-founder of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Highlights:

Industry standard: The IAB chose SafeGuard Privacy to power the IAB Diligence Platform and built the standardized assessments behind it.Agentic advertising: SafeGuard Privacy is integrated into IAB Tech Lab’s AAMP 2.3, bringing privacy diligence into the Buyer Agent as media buying moves to AI agents.International expansion: The IAB Diligence Platform expanded to Europe through work with BVDW and Nexida in Germany, including certification for the German market.Legal AI: Privacy Assist™ is purpose-built AI for privacy diligence. It suggests assessment answers, drafts RFI responses, and searches across vendors, assessments, and privacy law, turning days of work into minutes.Legal depth: Assessments cover 24+ U.S. states and global privacy requirements, built around how data moves through advertising.Adoption: A thousand companies are on the SafeGuard Privacy platform, including major advertisers, top agency holding companies, and ad tech companies that span the breadth of the industry.Recognition: SafeGuard Privacy has won AdExchanger’s Best Privacy Technology award twice and has been a finalist four consecutive years.

“Establishing a consistent approach to privacy diligence is critical to building greater accountability across digital advertising,” said Michael Hahn, EVP & General Counsel, IAB. “Our work with SafeGuard Privacy on the IAB Diligence Platform has helped make privacy compliance and vendor due diligence more standardized and scalable across the industry. Congratulations to Richy and the entire SafeGuard Privacy team on this well-deserved recognition and their continued commitment to advancing privacy standards.”

SafeGuard Privacy continues to build software that addresses the practical challenges companies face as advertising technology, data use, and privacy requirements become more complex.

“SafeGuard Privacy has helped us make our diligence efforts more efficient and standardized across partners. The ability to easily share assessments and the integration with the IAB Diligence Platform has helped set an industry standard and support our compliance efforts. The new agentic tools only help advance those efforts, and we are excited to leverage them,” said Rachel Glasser, Chief Privacy Officer, Magnite.

As privacy diligence becomes a more fundamental part of how the advertising ecosystem operates, SafeGuard Privacy will continue investing in the standards, software and legal expertise that make it possible to do that work at scale. From the IAB Diligence Platform to the next generation of agentic advertising, the company is focused on building privacy infrastructure that can keep pace with how the industry operates – and how it continues to evolve.

About SafeGuard Privacy

SafeGuard Privacy is the only privacy compliance solution purpose-built for companies that use consumer data. It is the first legal assessment and vendor management platform for leading global brands, publishers, and Ad Tech. The IAB chose SafeGuard Privacy to power the IAB Diligence Platform, creating the industry standard for privacy regulation compliance and vendor due diligence. Standardized, comprehensive, and fully auditable, SafeGuard Privacy now includes Privacy Assist™, the first suite of privacy-specific AI tools that helps compliance and legal teams complete assessments and RFIs faster with transparency and accuracy. SafeGuard Privacy makes it easy for buyers and sellers to accelerate growth while staying ahead of fast-changing privacy risks.

For more information, visit www.safeguardprivacy.com.

Media Contact

Matt Anderson, SafeGuard Privacy, 1 9174074047, matt@safeguardprivacy.com, www.safeguardprivacy.com

Lana McGilvray, Purpose Worldwide, 1 512.970.8310, lana@purposenorthamerica.com, https://www.purposenorthamerica.com/

View original content:https://www.prweb.com/releases/safeguard-privacy-wins-second-adexchanger-award-for-best-privacy-technology-302897501.html

SOURCE SafeGuard Privacy

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ARTBOX, KOREA’S ICONIC LIFESTYLE RETAILER, MAKES U.S. DEBUT WITH LOS ANGELES POP-UP FEATURING GLOBAL K-POP ICON ILLIT

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The Korean retailer, founded in 1984, will open its first U.S. retail activation on Melrose Avenue from October 3–11, marking the first step in ARTBOX’s broader American expansion

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ARTBOX, Korea’s original design-lifestyle retail brand, is officially coming to America. From October 3 through October 11, 2026, the beloved Korean retailer will take over 8250 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046 for its first directly operated U.S. retail activation, introducing American consumers to the products, original characters and sense of discovery that have made ARTBOX a retail destination across South Korea.

Kicking off the nine-day pop-up on October 3, ARTBOX will celebrate its U.S. arrival alongside the global K-pop group and ARTBOX ambassador ILLIT — YUNAH, MINJU, WONHEE, IROHA— bringing K-pop and Korean lifestyle together with ARTBOX’s world of original characters and products on Melrose Avenue. The partnership brings together two Korean names with strong Gen Z audiences, introducing ARTBOX and its distinctly Korean approach to lifestyle retail to U.S. consumers.

The October 3 opening celebration will feature a special appearance by ARTBOX global ambassador ILLIT, who will join the opening remarks and photo call, meet with selected media, and experience the pop-up firsthand through a store tour and DIY decorating activity.

Following the opening celebration, consumers will be invited to step inside the ARTBOX universe through a series of immersive zones combining shopping, original character IP, K-culture and interactive experiences. The current pop-up design includes:

Step Into the Fun Side: An immersive entrance welcoming guests into the ARTBOX world, anchored by oversized ARTBOX characters — including alien character Lazywag — and visual content.Meet the ARTBOX Gang: A dedicated character and IP experience showcasing ARTBOX’s original characters alongside character merchandise, collectibles, stationery and accessories.Immerse in the K-Fever / Unbox the K-Wave: A K-culture experience featuring ILLIT, K-pop and interactive photo moments, connecting ARTBOX’s Korean roots with the global cultural phenomenon surrounding Korean entertainment.DIY at the Cute Custom Corner: A hands-on customization experience inspired by Korea’s decorating culture, with opportunities to personalize items such as journals, phones and accessories.Take Your Treats Home: A shoppable finale featuring ARTBOX products alongside an exciting Gacha experience.

More than a traditional shopping experience, the pop-up is designed as a roughly 40–45 minute journey through ARTBOX’s world of original characters, interactive moments, constantly refreshed products and highly visual spaces.

FROM SEOUL TO LOS ANGELES

Founded in Seoul in 1984, ARTBOX began with a simple premise: everyday objects should never have to be ordinary. What started as a design-led stationery business has evolved over four decades into a major Korean lifestyle retail destination, spanning 222 stores across South Korea and more than 20,000 active SKUs.

Today, ARTBOX extends far beyond stationery, bringing together eight lifestyle categories encompassing character goods and K-culture, stationery and writing, home and living, beauty and wellness, fashion and travel, gifts and seasonal products, digital and mobile accessories, and food and snacks. At the center of the brand are its original character IPs, which extend across products, collectibles, retail experiences, collaborations, licensing and social storytelling. Together, this mix of design, curation, character and culture gives ARTBOX broad appeal across Gen Z and Millennials, families, tourists and K-culture audiences.

Now, ARTBOX is looking beyond Korea.

Los Angeles marks ARTBOX’s first step into the U.S. market, with Southern California serving as the first phase of the retailer’s broader expansion plans. The Melrose pop-up will introduce American consumers to ARTBOX’s retail model, products and in-store experience firsthand.

The move comes as Korean culture continues to shape entertainment, beauty, fashion, food and lifestyle globally, creating an opportunity for ARTBOX to introduce another side of Korean culture to U.S. consumers.

“Los Angeles is a natural starting point for ARTBOX’s U.S. journey, bringing together culture, creativity and diverse communities,” said Kevin Cho, Head of Global Business at ARTBOX. “This pop-up marks an exciting first step as we introduce ARTBOX’s unique take on Korean lifestyle retail to U.S. consumers.” 

The Los Angeles pop-up will also give ARTBOX an opportunity to introduce the brand directly to U.S. consumers as it explores a longer-term footprint in the market. The company is actively exploring long-term retail opportunities with landlords and development partners in the United States.

The ARTBOX Los Angeles Pop-Up will run October 3–11, 2026 at 8250 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046, with public hours from 4:30 PM–8:30 PM on October 3 and 11:00 AM–7:00 PM from October 4–11.

For more information, visit
https://www.instagram.com/artbox.global_official
https://www.tiktok.com/@artbox.global_official
https://www.youtube.com/@artbox_official 

ABOUT ARTBOX
Founded in Seoul in 1984, ARTBOX is Korea’s original design-lifestyle retail brand, transforming everyday objects into experiences people want to discover, collect and share. With 222 stores across South Korea, ARTBOX brings together stationery and writing, home and living, beauty and wellness, character goods and K-culture, fashion and travel, digital and mobile accessories, gifts and seasonal products, and food and snacks through a constantly evolving mix of original design, curation and culture. Built around more than four decades of product development, retail operations and design expertise, ARTBOX creates discovery-driven retail experiences where consumers can shop, explore, play and share.

MEDIA CONTACT
Foundation
artbox@wearefoundation.co

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SOURCE ARTBOX

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