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Loan Trading Platform ORSNN Names New Leaders

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New roles focused on easing the evaluation of loan data

SEATTLE, Oct. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ORSNN, an electronic trading platform for institutional whole loan markets, today announced Aaron Khoo has been named Chief Product Officer, Werner Koepf Chief Technology Officer, and Ken Plank has joined the firm as Senior Advisor, Credit Unions. 

The appointments align product, engineering and credit union lending expertise behind one objective: making loan data easier to evaluate, diligence easier to coordinate and transaction workflows more reliable for banks, credit unions and institutional investors.

“Selling a loan pool correctly starts with understanding it at the loan-level,” said Sean Banerjee, CEO of ORSNN. “Aaron and Werner have built and led product and engineering organizations at scale, and Ken has spent his career on the lending side of the institutions we serve. Working with our existing team, they will focus on delivering capabilities for the institutions we serve.”

Khoo will lead product strategy and prioritization, with a focus on digitizing traditional loan sale workflows and building security, compliance and data fidelity into product requirements. He most recently served as General Manager of AWS Control Tower and Service Catalog, leading product and engineering for cloud governance and management services, following engineering leadership roles at AWS and Microsoft. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Northwestern University and a B.A. in computer science and mathematics from Knox College.

“The whole loan market is still burdened by fragmented data and workflows that make transactions harder than they need to be. ORSNN has an opportunity to change that by bringing together better data, better tools and a more reliable transaction experience,” Khoo said. “I’m excited to help build a platform that institutions can trust for an increasingly important part of their business.”

Koepf will focus on technology strategy and engineering execution, including platform architecture, infrastructure, security and reliability. He previously served as Chief Product & Technology Officer at LILT AI, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Karat and Conversica and has held senior leadership roles at Ticketmaster, Expedia, and Amazon. His experience spans enterprise software, applied AI and scaling engineering organizations. He holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and a master’s degree in physics from the Technical University of Munich, and a B.S. in mathematics and physics from the University of Regensburg.

“What drew me to ORSNN is the opportunity to use technology and AI to make a complex market work better. By turning loan-level data into more efficient, transparent and reliable workflows, we can build tools that deliver real value to financial institutions,” said Koepf. “I’m excited to help build the platform and team to make that happen.”

Plank will advise on the lending and portfolio needs of credit unions, drawing on experience across commercial, mortgage and consumer lending, credit administration and credit risk management. He previously served as Executive Vice President of Lending and Chief Lending Officer at Numerica Credit Union, following earlier banking roles at Washington Trust Bank, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank. He holds a B.S. in business management from Lewis-Clark State College, is a graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School and holds the Certified Chief Executive (CCE) designation from CUES.

“Financial institutions use loan sales and participations to manage liquidity, concentration, and growth. Having been a financial executive for many years, I understand how much work goes into these decisions,” Plank said. “I look forward to working with ORSNN to help financial institutions manage their loan portfolio decisions more effectively.”

The appointments build on ORSNN’s platform activity to date. The platform has supported $3 billion in loan offering volume, and the company completed its SOC 2 Type I examination in the second quarter of 2026. ORSNN is also nearing completion of a capital raise that will support continued product development, engineering execution and expansion into new markets.

About ORSNN

ORSNN is an electronic trading platform for institutional fixed-income whole loan markets. Founded in 2019 by former trader Sean Banerjee and former Amazon engineer Rohit Gopal, ORSNN enables institutions to ingest and model loan-level data, construct and evaluate distinct pools from larger portfolios, coordinate diligence, and execute bulk loan sales and participations through a single digital workflow.

ORSNN serves banks, credit unions, and institutional investors seeking to evaluate, price, and transact whole loans and loan participations.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/loan-trading-platform-orsnn-names-new-leaders-302896721.html

SOURCE ORSNN, Inc.

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RoboParty Unveils RP1, a High-Performance Full-Stack Open-Source Humanoid Robot at IROS

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PITTSBURGH, Oct. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On September 28, 2026, RoboParty publicly unveiled RP1 (ROBOTO 01) at IROS 2026, marking the robot’s global debut. Building on RPO (ROBOTO ORIGIN), its fully open-source humanoid project launched in January 2026 with more than 2,500 GitHub stars, RoboParty positions RP1 as the world’s first high-performance full-stack open-source bipedal humanoid robot — designed for researchers, educators, robotics developers and embodied AI teams.

At the company’s IROS booth, the “Kick Me” interactive demonstration let visitors directly push and kick the robot. RP1 rapidly adjusted its posture and recovered its balance under these external disturbances, testing its dynamic stability, body performance and system-level robustness. These capabilities were supported by PartyOS, RoboParty’s open R&D foundation for humanoid robotics, which integrates UFO — a training framework that discovers humanoid motor skills through unsupervised reinforcement learning, covering skill transitions, disturbance recovery and fall recovery without relying on predefined motion trajectories.

RoboParty is integrating the robot body, actuator modules, low-level control and embodied AI algorithms into one system for continuous joint validation. RP1 delivers peak joint torque of up to 160 N•m, built on in-house-developed Romomo actuator modules and a real-time motion-control system.

For RoboParty, “full-stack open source” means more than releasing mechanical files. The company plans to progressively open its motion-control systems, simulation environments, SDKs, training tools and the PartyOS development foundation, so developers can participate from hardware and low-level control to model training and deployment.

“Humanoid robots should not be closed systems that only a small number of teams can build while everyone else can do little more than watch,” said Yi Huang, founder of RoboParty. “We want RP1 to become an open foundation that developers can access, modify, train and continuously improve.”

RP1 builds on RPO’s validated open-source robot body and workflow, Romomo actuator modules and the dexterous RP Hand, with PartyOS evolving across humanoid locomotion, perceptual interaction, whole-body manipulation and autonomous intelligent humanoids.

Core team members studied at Tsinghua University’s Yao Class, Peking University’s Zhi Class, Harbin Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, Zhejiang University and other leading institutions. RoboParty has built a global community of more than 5,000 developers, and will announce further details of RP1’s open-source roadmap in October 2026, with broader software and hardware releases and a mass-production program to follow later in Q4.

Media Contact: marketing@roboparty.com 

GitHub: https://github.com/Roboparty/roboto_origin

Website: https://roboparty.com/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/roboparty-unveils-rp1-a-high-performance-full-stack-open-source-humanoid-robot-at-iros-302897653.html

SOURCE RoboParty

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‘Global Civilization Dialogues’ Series Arrives in Xi’an with Orchid Awards Guests

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XI’AN, China, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — An international exchange event in the “Global Civilization Dialogues: Rendezvous with the Orchid” series recently took place in Xi’an. The initiative was held under the guidance of China International Communications Group (CICG) and the Publicity Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee, and organized by the Orchid Awards Secretariat, the China Center for International Communication Development (CCICD), and the Publicity Department of the Xi’an Municipal Party Committee.

The Orchid Awards is an international cultural prize founded by CICG to recognize foreign individuals and institutions dedicated to strengthening cultural ties between China and the rest of the world. Over 20 guests—among them final-round judges and participants in the Third Orchid Awards, along with social media creators from Cambodia, Germany, Brazil, and the UK—joined a four-day immersive tour of the ancient capital.

The delegation’s first stop was the Xi’an Museum, whose “Ancient Capital Xi’an” exhibit presents a rich trove of relics spanning the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties through the Ming and Qing—charting the history of a city that served as a capital under 13 dynasties. Guests lingered over the displays, absorbing the depth of Chinese civilization.

They then headed to the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and its Terracotta Warriors. Each figure bears a distinct face, and the craftsmanship is remarkable—a vivid portrayal of the Qin army and a valuable source of physical evidence for studying the era. The underground formation left a lasting impression on Chinese and international visitors alike.

After revisiting ancient history, the delegation proceeded to local tech firms to observe China’s manufacturing innovation up close. At LONGi, they learned about the company’s latest strides in solar and energy storage, including industrial applications of AI and solar-powered green hydrogen. They next toured the exhibition hall at BYD’s Xi’an R&D center, learning about the company’s history, global footprint, and core electric vehicle technologies—and seeing firsthand the advances in China’s electric vehicle industry.

During their stay, guests are also scheduled to participate in the “Orchid • Encounter the Millennium-Old Ancient Capital” International Cultural Salon and visit industrial and cultural sites including the Aiju Grain and Oil Industrial Group and the Chang’an Twelve Hours cultural district. These visits offer further opportunities to explore how Xi’an is preserving its heritage, supporting industrial innovation, and opening up to the world—and to use cultural exchange as a bridge for telling China’s story and Xi’an’s story, deepening mutual understanding between China and other nations.

Since the Orchid Awards was inaugurated, the series has traveled to Beijing, Guangzhou, Dunhuang, Chongqing, Chengdu, and Harbin. Through site visits and face-to-face discussions, the Xi’an stop gives international guests an immersive taste of China’s millennia-old cultural heritage—and a firsthand look at the country’s modern vitality. It provides a forum for deepening cultural exchange between China and the world.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/global-civilization-dialogues-series-arrives-in-xian-with-orchid-awards-guests-302897651.html

SOURCE ORCHID AWARDS SECRETARIAT

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Handmade businesses have a new marketplace – and they own it

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The general public can now both sell and shop unique creations on a better handmade marketplace that’s fully controlled and operated in-house, by artisan hands.

GLADSTONE, Ore., Oct. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Exactly three years after launching it’s beta test, this week Artisans Cooperative opened it’s online marketplace platform for handmade goods run by people and for people. The general public can now both sell and shop unique creations on a better handmade marketplace that’s fully controlled and operated in-house, by artisan hands.

Artisans Cooperative marketplace is a fair, artisan-owned platform that values craftsmanship, transparency, and ethical trade.The massive influx of mass-produced, drop-shipped goods on major platforms like Etsy and Amazon has made it nearly impossible for authentic artisans to survive on mainstream marketplaces. Creative business owners want to be part of something genuine that stands for honesty instead of profits, and cares to market their products directly to customers who value handmade goods and the artisans who create them. Meanwhile, conscious shoppers are looking for shame free shopping where they can make their dollar count in supporting creative livelihoods.

“Artists and crafters NEED a space that isn’t just another venture capital-funded business…So this is exactly the right combination of ideals and beliefs that I’ve been looking for”. – Artisans Member

“It has been harder and harder to find authentic and handmade items for years. I hate having to search through 15 pages of dropship shops before finding an actual artist. Artisans Cooperative makes it easy!” – Artisans Member, Lizzy

Mass-produced, drop-shipped goods and increasingly volatile rules and fees make it nearly impossible for authentic artisans to survive, even with the support of conscious shoppers. None of that is welcome at Artisans. Skill and judgment must be so critical to the creation process of listed products that experienced industry peers can verify the artisan could have potentially ruined listed products in the process, but they didn’t. Simple, transparent commissions from free listings keep authentically handmade goods available at reasonable prices for shame-free shopping by customers who value the story and artistry behind the piece.

“I don’t want to line the pockets of large corporations who only look out for themselves. Instead, I want to support the people who are making things and have a small portion go to … connecting the buyers and sellers”. – Artisans Member, Adam

“I love that my handmade work has a place among … other authentically handmade artisan products. I really appreciate that Artisans Cooperative puts it’s artisans first.” – Artisans Member, Erin

About Artisans Cooperative Artisans Cooperative built a better handmade marketplace for the online creative community following the collective loss of trust in Etsy management after the 2022 #EtsyStrike.

Media Contact

mastress, Artisans Cooperative, 1 503-789-2805, people@artisans.coop, artisans.coop

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/handmade-businesses-have-a-new-marketplace—and-they-own-it-302896862.html

SOURCE Artisans Cooperative

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