The company strengthens its executive team across EMEA, APAC, Africa, and LatAm to drive localization and merchant support, as well as product and operational excellence across 20+ emerging markets

CURITIBA, Brazil, Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — EBANX, a global technology company specializing in payment services for emerging markets, today announced a significant expansion of its senior leadership team. By appointing new Vice Presidents and Directors across key global hubs, EBANX reinforces its regionalization strategy designed to place executive leadership closer to its merchants’ headquarters and high-growth operational markets.

The leadership expansion follows a landmark year in which EBANX achieved 48% growth in Total Payment Volume (TPV), cementing its global presence across 60+ countries worldwide, considering operations, team locations, and merchants, and its position as the primary bridge for global brands from North America, Europe, and Asia operating in emerging markets across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

“Great leadership stays close: close to the client and to the processing countries, where growth truly happens,” said João Del Valle, CEO and Co-founder of EBANX. “The mission of our team is to decode complex, dynamic markets so global businesses can scale fast. By embedding our senior leadership directly within the regions, we are aligning global strategy with localized expertise,” Del Valle pointed out.

New Vice Presidents

With over 15 years of experience in cross-border payments, James Booth joins EBANX as Vice President of Commercial for EMEA. Booth has spent his career helping global merchants expand into emerging markets and building high-performing commercial teams across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the United States. Originally from South Africa and based in Europe for nearly two decades, he most recently served as Head of Revenue at Verto, following close to a decade at PPRO.

From Latin America, José Maurício Orsolini Filho took on the role of Vice President of Product at EBANX, leading three critical areas: Financial Products, Payouts, and Product Marketing. He stepped into the position following Eduardo de Abreu‘s appointment to CPO and regional CEO of EBANX Singapore, and relocation to the country. Before his new role, Orsolini Filho served as VP of Operations at Loft, COO at Doctoralia, and General Manager of Didi’s Fintech business unit in Brazil.

Closer to global brands, closer to markets

As part of its regionalization strategy, EBANX has also placed senior leaders closer to its merchants. The company now has teams across 22 countries.

At EBANX’s APAC HQ, located in Singapore, Marcela Farima joined EBANX as Director of Merchant Success, focused on APAC-based enterprises expanding across emerging markets as well as global companies looking to grow their operations across Asia. Also in Singapore, Henrique Simião assumed the role of Director of Product, contributing to the global Product strategy and focusing on payment solutions and services across Africa, Asia, and Turkey. The new appointments build on EBANX’s established APAC headquarters and reinforce it as a center for merchant services and products for enterprise merchants worldwide. In China, Liqian Zhang was promoted to Director of Merchant Success, serving Chinese brands as they expand globally.

Based in Uruguay, Juliana Etcheverry, who was previously Director of Country Growth for South LatAm, stepped into a newly created position as Director of Issuer Engagement & Growth to drive initiatives to optimize authorization rates, keep reducing transactional friction, and help maximize revenue growth for global merchants. Also in Uruguay, Javier Kaniewicz was named the new Director of Country Growth for South LatAm, overseeing EBANX operations across Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, and adding to the executive team dedicated to LatAm operations. In Brazil, Camila Alcalde joined as Director of Business Development and Engagement, working with global brands seeking to expand across Latin America.

Wiza Jalakasi, formerly Director of Africa Market Development at EBANX, stepped into an expanded scope as Commercial Lead for Africa and the Middle East. Based in South Africa, he will be focusing on driving merchant growth across MEA, building strategic partnerships, and expanding EBANX’s footprint in the region.

Global roles supporting EBANX’s operations

Alongside these regional appointments, EBANX has strengthened its global functions with a combination of internal promotions and strategic external hires. Anderson Sato became Director of Staff and Growth, partnering closely with the executive leadership team to drive strategic priorities. Additionally, Guillermo Miro assumed the role of Director of Commercial Excellence & Revenue Operations.

Among the senior market hires, Alexandre Amorim Silveira joined the company as Director of Operational Excellence, Paulo Machado Simões as Director of Regulatory, Alain Delcourt as Director of Strategic Channel Partnerships, Leandro Magalhães as Director of People Operations, and Rafael Teixeira was promoted to Director of Information Security.

ABOUT EBANX

EBANX is the leading payments platform connecting global businesses to the world’s fastest-growing digital markets. Founded in 2012 in Brazil, EBANX was built with a mission to expand access to international digital commerce. Leveraging proprietary technology, deep market expertise, and robust infrastructure, EBANX enables global companies to offer hundreds of local payment methods across Latin America, Africa, and Asia. More than just payments, EBANX drives growth, enhances sales, and delivers seamless purchase experiences for businesses and end-users alike.

For further information, please visit:
Website: https://www.ebanx.com/en/  
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ebanx

Media Contact:
Shan Huang
shan.huang@ahgstrategies.com

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SOURCE EBANX

The validation involved a review of the products’ technical performance and material compatibility, alongside Castrol’s business and global supply-chain resilienceThe milestone strengthens Castrol’s position in liquid cooling as AI drives demand for more powerful, higher-density data centres

PANGBOURNE, England, Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Castrol announced today that two of its direct-to-chip cooling fluids — Castrol ON PG25 and PG25T — have been validated to meet NVIDIA’s requirements for AI factory and data centre infrastructure. This validation gives data centre operators, equipment manufacturers and cooling-system providers additional confidence when selecting fluids for high-performance AI infrastructure.

AI and high-performance computing are packing more processing power into data centres, generating high heat levels that can be difficult to manage with air cooling alone. Direct-to-chip cooling addresses this by circulating fluid through cold plates fitted to components such as Central Processing Units and Graphics Processing Units. Castrol ON PG25 is designed for these environments and forms part of Castrol’s wider portfolio of direct-to-chip cooling fluids. As a closed-loop system, the fluid circulates continuously without atmospheric exposure, minimizing evaporative water loss and improving the water usage effectiveness (WUE) of AI factory infrastructure.

Castrol ON PG25 and PG25T were validated following a technical review covering corrosion resistance, thermal stability, dilution-water quality, propylene glycol base-fluid purity and compatibility with wetted materials — the metals, plastics, seals and other components that come into contact with fluid inside a liquid-cooling system. The wider review also considered Castrol’s business and global supply-chain resilience.

“As AI infrastructure scales, the industry needs cooling solutions that are effective, practical to deploy and reliable over the long term,” said Peter Huang, Global President of Thermal Management & Data Centres at Castrol. “The inclusion of Castrol ON PG25 and PG25T within NVIDIA-Validated AI Factory Infrastructure gives customers added confidence in both the fluids’ performance and Castrol’s ability to provide consistent global support across markets. It is an important step towards making liquid cooling a dependable part of AI factory design and operation.”

Sung A. Kim, Data Centre Global Technology Manager at Castrol, said: “We evaluate every thermal management fluid under rigorous test conditions before it reaches the market. The validation from NVIDIA confirms that PG25 (OAT) and PG25T (IAT) hold up to that standard, even at the scale and intensity of today’s AI infrastructure.”

About Castrol

Castrol, one of the world’s leading lubricant brands, has a proud heritage of innovation and fuelling the dreams of pioneers. Our passion for performance, combined with a philosophy of working in partnership, has enabled Castrol to develop lubricants and greases that have been at the heart of numerous technological feats on land, air, sea, and space for over 125 years. Castrol is part of the bp group and serves customers and consumers in the automotive, marine, industrial and energy sectors. Our branded products are recognized globally for innovation and high performance through our commitment to premium quality and cutting-edge technology. For more information, please visit: www.castrol.com.

About Castrol Thermal Management

Castrol’s thermal management business develops fluids for data centres and energy storage systems under the Castrol ON brand. We serve markets in the US, Europe, the Middle East, China, Australia and Southeast Asia.

Castrol ON offers data centre cooling fluids for AI, machine learning, and cloud computing workloads, which can support thermal management across the lifecycle of a data centre.

SOURCE Castrol Limited

Search data reflects emerging interest around lesser-known cultural celebrations, giving accommodation partners fresh opportunities to connect with travelers through Agoda’s Mega Sale campaign

SINGAPORE, Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Digital travel platform Agoda has identified growing accommodation interest around local festivals across Asia, highlighting how cultural and international celebrations can create new travel moments and commercial opportunities for accommodation partners beyond traditional tourism seasons and established destinations.

This reflects a broader shift towards experience-led exploration as travelers continue seeking engaging experiences that create lasting memories instead of simply ticking off destinations. Agoda’s 2026 Travel Outlook Report revealed that surveyed travelers are increasingly drawn to secondary destinations for the authenticity and immersive cultural experiences they offer. Cited by 25% of surveyed Asian travelers, cultural exploration is among the top three trip motivations, making festivals a timely opportunity to connect travelers with destinations known for local culture and community celebrations.

“Travel planning is increasingly being shaped by the experience travelers want to have and social media is further amplifying awareness of cultural moments and local festivals to a much wider audience. Nagaoka City in Niigata Prefecture is a great example showing how quickly that can translate into travel interest. Accommodation searches for the host location of the Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks were 50x higher during the event period than before it, demonstrating how local celebration can put a destination on travelers’ radar. Through initiatives like the Agoda Mega Sale campaign, we’re helping accommodation partners turn that interest into booking opportunities,” said Andrew Smith, Senior Vice President, Supply at Agoda.

As travelers plan around festivals and local experiences in these destinations, Agoda’s upcoming Mega Sale campaign gives participating accommodation partners an opportunity to put relevant offers in front of them during key booking moments. The campaign runs in three phases, beginning with VIP Priority Access for Agoda VIP members from 13 to 16 August, followed by the main sale from 17 to 31 August, where travelers can access hotel offers of up to 60% off.

A special Flash Sale on 19 August will feature selected offers of up to 70% off. Participating properties can use the campaign to increase visibility for stays and packages that complement experience-led trips, from city breaks and cultural itineraries to longer festive getaways.

Agoda’s Key Considerations for Accommodation Partners

Alongside participation in Agoda’s Mega Sale, accommodation partners can continue to strengthen their readiness for festival-led travel interest by considering the following suggested strategies.

Plan for Event-Led Demand

Festivals can create concentrated demand outside conventional holiday periods. Accommodation providers should review festival dates early, keep room availability current and align inventory and offers with expected booking windows. Properties can also consider options that encourage travelers to arrive before or remain after the main celebration, while presenting festival information accurately and with respect for its cultural or religious context.

Turn Property Listings into Local Travel Guides

Travelers unfamiliar with a destination may need more than basic room information. Partners should clearly highlight proximity to festival venues, transport options, nearby dining, heritage sites, cultural attractions and other practical information that can make trip planning easier. Accurate descriptions and relevant amenity tags can also help properties appear when travelers refine their searches.

Localize the Festival Experience

Properties should tailor their value proposition to the needs of relevant source markets, including translated information and clear guidance on local customs where appropriate. Partners collaborating with guides, restaurants, artisans and other local businesses can help guests discover more of the destination while supporting wider community participation in the visitor economy.

With a global marketplace of over six million accommodation listings, more than 130,000 flight routes, and over 300,000 activities, Agoda helps accommodation partners connect with travelers and tap into end-to-end trip-planning interest through one integrated platform.

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SOURCE Agoda