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Kymera International Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Fiven ASA, a Leader in Advanced Silicon Carbide Materials

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., June 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Kymera International (“Kymera”), a global leading specialty materials and surface technologies company, has signed an agreement to acquire Fiven ASA (“Fiven”) from OpenGate Capital. The deal is expected to close following customary regulatory approvals.

With production facilities in Norway, Belgium and Brazil, as well as a global distribution network, Fiven is a pioneer in the development of technically advanced silicon carbide materials to a wide range of high-growth end markets. Through its recent R&D initiatives, Fiven has developed and marketed unique, high purity materials for the power electronics industries, such as semiconductors and lithium-ion batteries. Under the leadership of Fiven’s CEO, Falk Ast, the company continues to drive innovation, deep collaborative relationships with its customers and a strong emphasis on ESG.

“Fiven has all of the strong attributes we look for in an acquisition. They have an excellent reputation for quality and service, are aligned with Kymera’s strategy of focusing on attractive end markets such as electronics, aerospace and defense, and have an outstanding management team and dedicated workforce,” comments Barton White, CEO of Kymera. “We are excited to partner with Falk and his team to continue growing Fiven and capitalize on the numerous operational and commercial synergies we have already identified.”

Kymera has been owned by affiliates of Palladium Equity Partners, LLC (collectively, “Palladium”), a middle market private equity firm with over $3 billion in assets under management, since 2018.

“The acquisition of Fiven will accelerate Kymera’s mission to become a high-growth specialty materials and chemicals platform, and unlocks substantial organic growth opportunities for the combined business,” adds Adam Shebitz, Partner at Palladium Equity Partners. “Altogether, Kymera is well on its way towards achieving Palladium’s investment objectives, having more than tripled in size from our initial investment, while creating a more resilient business oriented towards the industries of tomorrow.”

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Kymera’s M&A efforts were advised by Lazard and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and its debt financing was advised by Piper Sandler, Goldman Sachs and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. 

OpenGate Capital was advised by Baird and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.

About Kymera International
Kymera International, through acquisitions, can trace its roots back to the 1800’s. Today, Kymera International is a U.S. owned, leading global developer and manufacturer of advanced specialty materials and high-performance surface coatings. Kymera sells its technically developed products into a wide variety of end markets, including aerospace, defense, medical, electronics, chemical, specialty auto, additive manufacturing, and numerous industrial applications. Kymera International has manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Europe, UK and Asia. For more information, please visit www.kymerainternational.com.

About Palladium Equity Partners, LLC
Since its founding in 1997, Palladium has invested in more than 210 companies (40 platforms and more than 170 add-ons). With over $3 billion in AUM, the firm focuses primarily on buyout equity investments in the range of $50 million to $150 million. Palladium seeks to acquire and grow companies in partnership with founders and experienced management teams by providing capital and strategic guidance. The partners of the firm have meaningful experience in consumer, services, industrials, and healthcare businesses, with a focus on companies they believe will benefit from the growth in the U.S. Hispanic population. For more information, visit www.palladiumequity.com.

About Fiven ASA
Fiven is a global leader in silicon carbide (SiC), a material used a variety of industrial applications. SiC is recognized for superior hardness, high thermal conductivity and chemical inertness, making it the preferred material for demanding applications: abrasive, metallurgy, filtration, technical ceramics and other uses. Fiven has manufacturing sites in Norway, Brazil and Belgium. For more information, please visit www.fiven.com.

About OpenGate Capital
OpenGate Capital is a global private equity firm specializing in the acquisition and operation of businesses to create new value through operational improvements, innovation, and growth. Established in 2005, OpenGate Capital is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with a European office in Paris, France. OpenGate’s professionals possess the critical skills needed to acquire, transition, operate, build, and scale successful businesses. To date, OpenGate Capital has executed more than 40 platform acquisitions across North America and Europe. To learn more about OpenGate, please visit www.opengatecapital.com.

 

SOURCE Kymera International

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Genedata Expands AI Discovery Workflows with NVIDIA BioNeMo Open Models, Including the New RFD4-Proteina Release

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Bringing next-generation binder design models into production discovery

BASEL, Switzerland, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Genedata, a Danaher company, and the leading provider of enterprise software solutions for biopharmaceutical R&D, today announced the addition of the new RFD4-Proteina binder design model into Genedata’s AI-enabled discovery workflows, following the model’s introduction at NVIDIA GTC Berlin. As an early ecosystem partner, Genedata is among the first companies to make RFD4-Proteina available within its production discovery workflows. By connecting AI-generated molecular designs, scientific data, and laboratory results, Genedata helps researchers transform AI predictions into continuous learning cycles that accelerate biologics discovery.

The workflow begins with scientists defining target characteristics and required properties using Genedata’s AI co-scientist. NVIDIA’s open protein design models then generate and evaluate candidate binders within Genedata. As candidates move into laboratory testing, results are captured and linked back to the original designs, helping scientists refine and rank the next round.

“Advances in AI are creating unprecedented opportunities for protein and antibody discovery, but unlocking their full value requires more than access to powerful models alone,” said Othmar Pfannes, Ph.D., President of Genedata. “Researchers need a way to connect molecular design, experimental execution, and scientific data into a continuous learning process. Genedata serves as the digital backbone that brings these elements together, helping scientists evaluate more candidates before testing, preserve the scientific context behind each outcome, and build knowledge from one discovery cycle to the next.”

While advances in generative AI are rapidly expanding what scientists can design, many organizations still struggle to operationalize these models within production scientific research workflows. Genedata provides the orchestration, governance, and scientific data foundation needed to deploy NVIDIA BioNeMo open models, including RFD4-Proteina, directly within the discovery workflows scientists use every day. Researchers can apply AI-generated designs within established processes while maintaining lineage, traceability, and scientific context across the discovery lifecycle.

Within Danaher’s autonomous laboratory initiative, these capabilities connect AI, automation, and scientific data in a closed-loop discovery framework where each experimental outcome informs the next design cycle, creating a continuous learn-and-improve process that advances science while keeping scientists in control.

About Genedata
Genedata, a Danaher company and the leading provider of enterprise software solutions for biopharma R&D, transforms biopharma data into intelligence. Our innovative solutions combine deep science, technology, and AI domain knowledge. Leading biopharma organizations and cutting-edge biotechs partner with Genedata to digitalize and automate complex data workflows. Our advanced analytics and embedded AI enable data-driven decisions. From early discovery through development to the clinic, Genedata solutions drive innovation and maximize ROI being trusted by customers worldwide for more than 25 years.

www.genedata.com
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About Danaher
Danaher is a leading global life sciences and diagnostics innovator, committed to accelerating the power of science and technology to improve human health. Through our connected ecosystem of industry-leading businesses, we work side by side with customers to solve their most complex scientific and clinical challenges—helping move innovations from discovery to delivery faster for patients who depend on them. Powered by the Danaher Business System, our advanced science and technology and proven ability to innovate help enable faster, more accurate diagnoses and reduce the time, cost, and risk required to discover, develop, and deliver life-changing therapies. Through continuous improvement and operational excellence, our approximately 60,000 associates worldwide are focused on delivering lasting impact and improving quality of life around the world, while building a healthier, more sustainable tomorrow. Explore more at www.danaher.com.

Disclaimer

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties related to contract cancellations, developing risks, competitive factors, uncertainties pertaining to customer orders, demand for products and services, development of markets for the Company’s products and services. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

All product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

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SOURCE Genedata

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Bybit AI Empowers Users with Their Personal Financial Edge, Adding Personalization and Memory

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DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Bybit, the New Financial Platform trusted by more than 80 million users worldwide, has announced new personalization and memory features for Bybit AI, its in-app intelligent conversational layer. Bybit AI now builds a profile from each user’s assets, positions, behavior and risk profile, connecting wealth, markets and trading across the Bybit ecosystem.

Launched in September, Bybit AI organically unifies Bybit’s core services within a single chat interface. The newly added features extend its capacity from responding to individual requests to maintaining a continuous understanding of the user, giving each user their personal financial edge.

Putting the user at the center, Bybit AI is evolving on three pillars:

Personalized: With permissions granted and limits set, Bybit AI analyzes actual account information, including financial behavior and risk profile alongside assets and positions, to generate outputs tailored to the individual.Connected: Bybit AI links Markets, Trading, Earn, Card and other Bybit products, drawing on the full picture of a user’s holdings and activity rather than a single product.Remembered: Users can proactively share their preferences with Bybit AI, which retains this context through long-term memory so that each conversation builds on the previous one.

The release also introduces Featured, a set of customized entry points for specific use cases. Each entry point offers predefined prompts, such as generating a wealth management plan based on a user’s assets and risk tolerance, and returns structured analysis with key data, clear insights and suggested next steps.

Bybit AI supports main account operations while giving users the option to deploy it within a dedicated Bybit AI sub-account. The AI-powered assistant is built on a security-first architecture. Outputs are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Instructions are executed in chats only after customer authorizations.

Bybit expects to introduce further updates to Bybit AI as it continues to build toward AI-native financial services, with conversational intelligence positioned as core infrastructure.

To explore Bybit AI and learn more about how it works, users may visit: Bybit AI  – Learn how to use Bybit through conversation.

#Bybit  / #NewFinancialPlatform 

About Bybit

Bybit is The New Financial Platform.

We believe every person should have access to every financial opportunity on earth. That’s why we’re building the first intelligent platform that connects anyone, anywhere to the world’s finance.

Trusted by more than 80 million users worldwide, Bybit brings together investing, trading, payments, and wealth-building in a single secure and intelligent ecosystem. Through the combination of AI-powered technology, deep global liquidity, robust security, and transparent operations, Bybit makes global finance more accessible, efficient, and empowering for everyone.

Built for everyone. Powered by intelligence. Open to the world.

Learn more at Bybit.com.

For more details about Bybit, please visit Bybit Press

For media inquiries, please contact: media@bybit.com

For updates, please follow: Bybit’s Communities and Social Media

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Reddit | Telegram | TikTok | X | Youtube

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Poq is now a Shopify Certified Technology Partner

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LONDON, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ —  poq, the native mobile app platform for retail brands, today announced it has been recognised as a Shopify Certified Technology Partner. Shopify’s certification is reserved for app partners that meet Shopify’s standards for quality, security, performance and support. poq is now listed in the Shopify Technology Partner Directory and the Certified Technology Partner App Store Collection, making it easier for enterprise Shopify merchants to find and adopt a proven native app platform.

poq already powers native iOS and Android apps for joint customers including Ardene, Steve Madden UK, e.l.f. Beauty (globally), Horze (pan-European), Mamas & Papas (UK) and ECO. Modern Essentials (ANZ and UK). Across the poq platform, shoppers convert at 1.8 times the rate of mobile web, based on the median across 21 brands from January 2025 to January 2026.

“Certification from Shopify is independent validation that poq meets the high standard Shopify sets for its technology partners,” said Jay Johnston, CEO of poq. “Our customers use their apps to build loyalty and drive repeat purchases from their most valuable shoppers. This recognition means more Shopify merchants can launch a high-performing native app with confidence, on a platform already proven at scale across four continents.”

Results for Shopify Brands

European equestrian retailer Horze moved to Shopify and chose to stay with poq for its native app. “After choosing to continue working together, I can confidently say that this was absolutely the right decision. The level of motivation, ownership, and commitment the poq team demonstrated throughout the project was truly impressive,” said Dominik Schlag, CFO of Horze.

In the UK, Mamas & Papas uses its poq app to make shopping easier for busy parents. “Our poq app makes shopping with us quick and easy wherever they are, and drives loyalty and repeat purchases,” said Jo Molineux, Digital Director at Mamas & Papas.

About poq

poq is a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that empowers retailers and brands to create and maintain engaging, high-performance native mobile apps. With a focus on driving customer engagement and revenue, poq’s platform enables seamless integration, powerful personalisation, and an enhanced shopping experience for businesses worldwide. Learn more at poqcommerce.com.

Media contact
Emma Williams, Marketing Lead
emma.williams@poqcommerce.com  

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SOURCE Poq

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