Series Two, developed in partnership with the Society for Health Communication, focuses on preventive care, maternal health and community resilience

WASHINGTON, Aug. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — HCN Global is expanding its Leadership for a Culture of Health webinars with a second series of programming developed in partnership with the Society for Health Communication (SHC). The new series will bring health communicators, community leaders, health workers and advocates together to explore structural barriers to preventive care and maternal health—and practical ways communications can help communities navigate those barriers and advocate for change.

Leadership for a Culture of Health is part of HCN Global’s broader Culture of Health / la Cultura de Salud initiative, which initially started as a multicultural, bilingual multimedia program addressing social determinants of health affecting Latino and Black communities across the United States.

Series Two builds on the first Leadership for a Culture of Health installment, launched earlier this year to help community leaders recognize, discuss and address structural racism and its impact on health. The next phase turns to two additional areas where systemic barriers continue to drive inequitable outcomes: access to preventive care and maternal and reproductive health. Across both topics, the series will also examine the effects of chronic stress and systemic barriers on mental health, well-being and community resilience.

“Culture of Health / la Cultura de Salud has always been about turning awareness into action, and this next peer-to-peer learning series does that. Community leaders and health communicators are on the front lines of these conversations promoting equitable solutions every day. Our job is to make sure they have the tools, the language, and confidence to meet the moment,” says Alison Rodden, CEO, HCN Global.

Webinars Focused on Health Equity and Action

Hosted by the Society for Health Communication in partnership with HCN Global, the two webinars pair expert perspectives with practical frameworks and real-world examples that participants can apply in their own organizations and communities. Both sessions are free and open to health communicators, community leaders, health workers, advocates, and others working with communities affected by health inequities.

Preventive Care & Healthcare Navigation – August 28, 2026
This session will examine how factors including health coverage, language access, transportation, and immigration-related concerns can affect access to preventive care. Participants will explore ways community leaders and health communicators can help reduce barriers, improve navigation, and connect people with trusted information and resources.
Register: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nKtYoT6uSYWUbJqX6JrAnQ

Maternal & Reproductive Health – November 2026
This session will explore disparities in maternal health outcomes, with particular attention to Black and Latina mothers and infants, and examine communications and systems-level approaches that support healthier outcomes. Speakers and registration details will be announced closer to the session.

Extending the Impact Beyond the Webinars

The partnership brings together HCN Global’s longstanding experience in culturally grounded health communications and community engagement with SHC’s national network of health communication professionals.

Through the partnership, SHC and HCN Global will extend the reach of the series across professional and community networks, including La Red Hispana, Melanin Thriving, and LatinEQUIS, while connecting participants with resources that can support continued learning and action beyond the live sessions. Both webinars will also be recorded and made available on demand.

“Preventive care and maternal health are two of the clearest examples of how structural barriers show up in everyday outcomes — and health communicators have a real role to play in closing those gaps. This partnership with HCN Global gives our members culturally grounded examples and tools they can use, not just another conversation about the problem.” – Dana Chomenko MA, PMP, Executive Director, Society for Health Communication

HCN Global has dedicated webpages that continue to house resources designed to help community leaders and organizers continue this work beyond the live sessions. Resources for Latino and Black audiences are available through LatinEQUIS at wearelatinequis.com/leadership-for-a-culture-of-health and Melanin Thriving at melaninthriving.com/leadership-for-culture-of-health. Additional Spanish-language resources can be found on La Red Hispana at laredhispana.org/liderazgo-para-una-cultura-de-salud/.

About HCN Global. HCN Global is a human-centered, award-winning, data-informed, full-service marketing, communications, advertising, public relations and grassroots activation organization. For more than 40 years, HCN Global has worked alongside communities to develop culturally grounded campaigns, programming and content designed to inform, connect and inspire action. Through La Red Hispana, LatinEQUIS, and Melanin Thriving, HCN Global reaches 10+ million people weekly across multicultural and rural multimedia, trusted local leaders, and health worker networks in the US and beyond. For more information, visit, hcnglobal.com.

About the Society for Health Communication. The Society for Health Communication is a member-driven association uniting public health, healthcare, digital health, academia, and research under one professional home. By breaking down silos and connecting health communicators at every career stage, SHC is building a powerful, unified voice that shapes and advances the field of health communication nationwide. For more information, visit, societyforhealthcommunication.org/.

Contact: LeShaundra Cordier
Email: leshaundra.cordier@hcnglobal.com
Phone: 770.634.5377

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SOURCE HCN GLOBAL, LLC

The round led by Business Development Bank’s (BDC) Growth Venture Fund lifts Helcim’s valuation to $250 million CAD, with participation from Curql Collective, Gold House Ventures, and existing investors.

CALGARY, AB, Aug. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Helcim, a Calgary-based payments company that powers small and mid-sized businesses across North America, today announced it has closed a $53 million CAD Series C funding round led by Business Development Bank’s (BDC) Growth Venture Fund. The round also included participation from new investors Curql Collective, a strategic investment fund backed by more than 160 North American credit unions, and Gold House Ventures, alongside continued investment from existing backers Headline, Aquiline, Information Venture Partners, Vesey Ventures, Clocktower Ventures, and Alberta Accelerate Fund.

The financing brings Helcim’s total equity raised to $100 million since its 2022 Series A and lifts the company’s valuation to $250 million, up from $97 million at its Series B in 2024. It follows a year in which Helcim crossed $150 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), grew its team to 200 people, expanded its merchant base to more than 22,000 active businesses across Canada and the U.S., and is on track to process nearly $10 billion in annual payment volume.

The raise lands at a pivotal moment for the industry: several of Canada’s largest banks have recently sold off or outsourced their merchant services businesses, leaving a vacuum for small and mid-sized companies in need of a partner built specifically for them. Helcim is moving to fill that gap for small businesses – and, increasingly, mid-market companies – with three commitments: transparent pricing, an open merchant platform for accepting in-person and online payments, and great customer service.

“There’s a real void in the market right now – merchants are coming to Helcim faster than ever, looking for a modern alternative,” said Nic Beique, Helcim’s Founder and CEO. “This round lets us act on this at scale: expanding our platform, growing our team, and moving up-market so no business outgrows what we can offer them.”

Helcim launched as its own payments company in 2020, building its end-to-end infrastructure from the ground up rather than reselling another processor’s technology. That decision is what lets Helcim offer volume-based interchange plus pricing today instead of the inflated flat-rate fees many providers pass on to merchants.

In January 2026, Helcim released an AI-powered Payment Extension that lets merchants self-integrate Helcim’s payments processing into the software they already use, giving merchants the freedom to choose their preferred payment processor rather than being locked into a single embedded-payments provider. Adoption of the tool has scaled quickly since launch, and it’s one of the clearest signals of the demand now underpinning this round.

“Helcim is having a unique moment, growing fast and building a real advantage in the market,” said Jack Fraser, Partner at BDC Capital’s Growth Venture Fund. “Their recent AI-powered integration tool is a good example of the kind of fast-moving innovation we’re backing, and exactly what it will take to capture that opportunity.”

Helcim plans to use the new capital to continue investing in its payments platform and to grow into additional financial services for its merchants. The company is also expanding partnerships with regional banks and credit unions that are moving away from traditional providers themselves, in search of a modern payments platform for their small business members.

“Credit unions need to continue to upgrade their product offering for their small business members in the communities they serve if they want to remain relevant, compete and retain deposits,” said Nick Evens, President and CEO at Curql. “Helcim’s payment hub is the best we have seen and their value proposition for the CUs is far more robust than what is currently in market.”

To learn more about Helcim, visit helcim.com.

About Helcim

Helcim is on a mission to build the world’s most loved payments company. Launched in 2020 and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Helcim provides an all-in-one payments and software platform – including point of sale, invoicing, online checkout, a smart terminal, and embedded payments tools – built specifically for small and mid-sized businesses. Helcim serves more than 22,000 active merchants across North America and processes billions in payments annually. For more information, visit helcim.com.

About BDC

BDC focuses on small- and medium-sized business owners, providing them financing, investment, and advice. As Canada’s development bank, they also support entrepreneurs who don’t fit the traditional mold working with a network of partners and help develop underserved markets to unlock economic potential. Their mission is to build strong, resilient businesses that drive Canada’s economic growth. BDC is a perennial Canada’s Top 100 Employer and B Corp certified. Learn more at bdc.ca or connect on social media.

About Curql Collective

Curql, a collective of over 160 credit unions jointly investing in fintech, brings timely solutions to the credit union industry. With over 50 fintech investments in the portfolio, Curql ensures that technology is designed specifically for credit unions, allowing them to better serve their members and remain competitive in an evolving financial landscape. Interested in learning more about how Curql brings fintech to credit unions? Visit curql.com

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SOURCE Helcim

The new 15.6- and 27-inch Spatial AI displays combine on-display 3D processing, high-speed eye tracking and a growing 3D software ecosystem for gaming, entertainment and professional applications.

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ViewX, a developer of next-generation spatial display technology, today announced the Kickstarter launch of its new two-display lineup: ViewX Liber 15.6-inch and ViewX Immer 27-inch.

ViewX introduces the world’s first glasses-free 3D Spatial AI Display, combining intelligent hardware, AI-powered processing and a growing 3D software ecosystem to make immersive spatial 3D more accessible and natural.

Unlike traditional PC-based 3D solutions that can require complex configurations, specialized software and substantial GPU resources, ViewX takes a more integrated approach. On PC, users can access free real-time 2D-to-3D conversion software and game-specific 3D support, leveraging the host device for processing when needed. At the same time, ViewX’s built-in AI SoC can perform 2D-to-3D conversion and other 3D processing directly on the display, providing an additional on-device processing option and reducing reliance on the host device.

Designed for Real-Time 3D

ViewX is designed to deliver a true native 3D refresh rate, where the advertised refresh rate reflects actual 3D frame delivery rather than relying solely on host performance, helping provide a smoother and more responsive spatial experience with reduced stuttering and latency.

With On-Display 3D Processing, supported 3D rendering, AI processing and eye-tracking functions can be handled directly on the display. For applications that require host-side processing, ViewX is designed around Low Host-PC Requirements, with recommended configurations starting from an NVIDIA RTX 2060 Series GPU, Intel Core Ultra Series processor, or tested AMD RDNA 3 or newer GPU/APU platforms — making advanced 3D experiences accessible without requiring an extremely high-end PC in every scenario.

The displays also feature 180 FPS Eye-Tracking Camera, Native Game Depth and True 4K Lossless 2D, allowing users to move between conventional high-resolution viewing and glasses-free spatial 3D on the same display.

“We believe the future of 3D should not require users to choose between immersion and simplicity,” said Gavin, CEO of ViewX.

More Than a Display: A Growing 3D Ecosystem

ViewX is building a broader 3D software and content ecosystem around its spatial displays.

The ViewX software ecosystem currently supports 100+ games and continues to expand, with dedicated applications including SpatialGateway, DepthTransformer and 3D Playground.

The ecosystem also supports compatibility with professional 3D and VR-related technologies including ReShade, Portal VR, Oku3D and Geo-11, further expanding the range of games, applications and content that can be experienced on ViewX displays.

The ecosystem is developed in collaboration with Tencent Games, leveraging its gaming expertise and industry insights to help optimize and validate the 3D gaming experience. By combining intelligent display hardware, AI computing and software technologies, ViewX aims to create an expanding platform for spatial 3D experiences rather than a standalone 3D monitor.

From Gaming and Entertainment to Professional Visualization

PC and handheld gaming PCs can deliver SBS 3D through Tencent-powered software, while content from PlayStation 5, Xbox and Nintendo Switch can be converted into 3D in real time by ViewX’s built-in NPU.

Beyond gaming, ViewX is developing its spatial display technology for a broader range of applications, including:

Video and entertainmentSportsHealthcare and medical visualizationAutomotiveEngineering and designEducation and trainingSpatial computing

Two Displays, One Spatial Vision

The ViewX Liber 15.6-inch is designed as a compact and portable spatial display for users who want to take glasses-free 3D beyond a fixed desktop environment. Its portable form factor makes it suitable for gaming, creative work, presentations, demonstrations, events and professional meetings.

The ViewX Immer 27-inch brings the same core spatial display technology to a larger format, providing a more expansive viewing experience for immersive gaming, entertainment, content creation, 3D visualization and professional environments.

Both models launch on Kickstarter on August 25, 2026. Early-bird pricing will range from $1,099 to $1,499, compared with planned retail prices of $1,699 to $2,099, depending on the model and configuration.

To learn more about ViewX and support the Kickstarter campaign, visit:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/viewx/viewx-liber-glass-free-spatial-ai-3d-display

About ViewX

ViewX is built by a multidisciplinary engineering team with expertise in display technology, optical engineering, embedded hardware and AI software. Drawing on years of experience in display development, manufacturing and real-time 3D rendering, the team is turning complex engineering into practical glasses-free spatial experiences.

ViewX: 3D Everything

Media Contact
ViewX Limited
service@viewx3d.com 
www.viewx3d.com

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SOURCE ViewX Limited