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SIGMA LITHIUM CO-CHAIRS CONCLAVE AT SAUDI ARABIA’S FII SUMMIT IN BRAZIL; HOSTS DELEGATION FROM THE WHARTON SCHOOL AT ITS GREENTECH PLANT IN VALE DO JEQUITINHONHA

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FUTURE INVESTMENTS INITIATIVES      

Sigma Lithium was honored to join a delegation from Saudi Arabia, the President of Brazil, the Governor and Mayor of Rio de Janeiro and business leaders at Saudi Arabia’s Future Investments Initiatives Priority Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, ahead of the 2024 G20 summit in Brazil.

Under the theme “Invest in Dignity,” Saudi Arabia’s first flagship summit in Brazil explored investing in the energy transition, technology, and how social inclusion can build a global order that prioritizes dignity for all.

Sigma Lithium’s Vice President of Institutional Relationships and Government Affairs, Ligia Pinto, co-chaired a discussion conclave with Saudi Aramco on “Transforming Foundations Beyond Energy: The Imperative of Materials Transition” and joined the CEO of Vale and the President and CTO of Lilac Solutions in a discussion about the “Geoeconomics of Mining & Critical Resources.”
Sigma Lithium shared its sustainability journey on a topic that is at the core of the Company’s purpose and ethos: improving the lives of the people of Brazil’s Jequitinhonha Valley, where its operations are based.

WHARTON

Sigma Lithium also hosted a delegation of professors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania at its industrial site in Brazil’s Vale do Jequitinhonha in Minas Gerais. The tour provided a concrete experience of Brazil’s burgeoning role in the global lithium industry and the energy transition and an opportunity to learn more about the production of Sigma Lithium’s Quintuple Zero Green Lithium.

SÃO PAULO, Brazil, June 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Sigma Lithium Corporation (“Sigma Lithium” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SGML, BVMF: S2GM34, TSXV: SGML), a leading global lithium producer dedicated to powering the next generation of electric vehicles with carbon neutral, socially and environmentally sustainable lithium concentrate, was honored to join the Saudi Arabian delegation, the President of Brazil, the Governor and Mayor of Rio de Janeiro and several prominent business leaders at Saudi Arabia’s Future Investments Initiatives Priority Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, ahead of the 2024 G20 summit in Brazil.

FII: INVEST IN DIGNITY

Under the theme “Invest in Dignity,” Saudi Arabia’s first flagship summit in Brazil explored investing in the energy transition, technology, and how social inclusion can build a global order that prioritizes dignity for all.

Sigma Lithium’s Vice President of Institutional Relationships and Government Affairs, Ligia Pinto, Co-Chaired with Saudi Aramco the Conclave “Transforming Foundations Beyond Energy: The Imperative of Materials Transition.”

Sigma Lithium shared its sustainability journey on a topic that is at the core of the company’s purpose and ethos: improving the lives of the people of Brazil’s Jequitinhonha Valley, where its operations are based.

“Invest in Dignity” is a theme that’s close to Sigma Lithium’s founding principles and to the people of Brazil’s Jequitinhonha Valley, where Sigma Lithium’s operations are based. Formerly one of the country’s poorest regions, the valley’s economy is now growing by 20% a year, a result of the creation of over 14,000 jobs, billions of reals in planned investments and Sigma Lithium’s social inclusion programs (microcredit and family agriculture support, amongst Brazil’s largest).  

“We delivered to the world a new lithium project in the Brazilian way, socially and environmentally sustainable,” Pinto said.

Pinto also spoke in the panel discussion “Geoeconomics of Mining & Critical Resources”, where she joined the CEO of Vale, the President and CTO of Lilac Solutions (a U.S.-based designer and builder of lithium extraction solutions backed by Gates Ventures) and Jose Luis Manzano, (President of Argentina’s Integra Capital). Here, she stressed that “the world ought to ponder putting aside geoeconomic rivalries to achieve a just and inclusive energy transition that collectively accelerates tackling climate change”.

“Brazilians should be proud of Sigma because it has brought worldwide good practices to the lithium industry,” said Jose Luis Manzano, President of Argentina’s Integra Capital.

“At Sigma Lithium we are enablers,” Pinto said. “We’re shipping a new product to the world, the Quintuple Zero Green Lithium, which has superior technical qualities and embodies the environmentally sustainable just transition as it is produced in line with the ethos of electric vehicles. We are here to supply every supply chain focused on these attributes, in all countries.”

“A stark reminder of the urgency of tackling climate change for humanity is demonstrated by Brazil’s recent tragic experience with the floods in the south of the country, leaving hundreds of thousands Brazilians displaced from their homes” She added.

WHARTON

Sigma Lithium also hosted a delegation of professors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania at its industrial site in Brazil’s Vale do Jequitinhonha in Minas Gerais.

Following the Wharton Global Forum, which was hosted in São Paulo this year, the tour provided a concrete experience of Brazil’s burgeoning role in the global lithium industry and the energy transition and an opportunity to learn more about the production of Sigma Lithium’s Quintuple Zero Green Lithium (zero carbon, zero usage of potable water, zero tailing dams, zero dirty power, zero toxic chemicals).

The senior group of professors visited Sigma Lithium’s integrated mining and processing facilities at Araçuaí and met some of the more than 700 female entrepreneurs who have participated in Sigma’s microcredit program.

ABOUT SIGMA LITHIUM

Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ: SGML, TSXV: SGML, BVMF: S2GM34) is a leading global lithium producer dedicated to powering the next generation of electric vehicle batteries with carbon neutral, socially and environmentally sustainable chemical-grade lithium concentrate.

Sigma Lithium operates at the forefront of environmental and social sustainability in the EV battery materials supply chain and is currently producing Quintuple Zero Green Lithium concentrate from its Grota do Cirilo Project in Brazil. Phase 1 of the project entered commercial production in 2Q23 and has an annual capacity of 270,000 tonnes of concentrate (36,700 LCE annually). The Company has issued a Final Investment Decision formally approving plans to nearly double capacity to 520,000 tonnes of concentrate through the addition of a Phase 2 concentrate mine and associated mine. The project produces lithium concentrate at its state-of-the-art Greentech lithium plant that uses 100% renewable energy, 100% recycled water and 100% dry-stacked tailings.

Please refer to the Company’s National Instrument 43-101 technical report titled “Grota do Cirilo Lithium Project Araçuaí and Itinga Regions, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Amended and Restated Technical Report” issued March 19, 2024, which was prepared for Sigma Lithium by Homero Delboni Jr., MAusIMM, Promon Engenharia; Marc-Antoine Laporte, P.Geo, SGS Canada Inc; Jarrett Quinn, P.Eng., Primero Group Americas; Porfirio Cabaleiro Rodriguez, (MEng), FAIG, GE21 Consultoria Mineral; and William van Breugel, P.Eng (the “Updated Technical Report”). The Updated Technical Report is filed on SEDAR and is also available on the Company’s website.

For more information about Sigma Lithium, visit https://www.sigmalithiumresources.com/

Sigma Lithium
LinkedIn: Sigma Lithium
Instagram: @sigmalithium
Twitter: @SigmaLithium 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release includes certain “forward-looking information” under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including but not limited to statements relating to timing and costs related to the general business and operational outlook of the Company, the environmental footprint of tailings and positive ecosystem impact relating thereto, donation and upcycling of tailings, timing and quantities relating to tailings and Green Lithium, achievements and projections relating to the Zero Tailings strategy, achievement of ramp-up volumes, production estimates and the operational status of the Groto do Cirilo Project, and other forward-looking information. All statements that address future plans, activities, events, estimates, expectations or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur is forward-looking information, including statements regarding the potential development of mineral resources and mineral reserves which may or may not occur. Forward-looking information contained herein is based on certain assumptions regarding, among other things: general economic and political conditions; the stable and supportive legislative, regulatory and community environment in Brazil; demand for lithium, including that such demand is supported by growth in the electric vehicle market; the Company’s market position and future financial and operating performance; the Company’s estimates of mineral resources and mineral reserves, including whether mineral resources will ever be developed into mineral reserves; and the Company’s ability to operate its mineral projects including that the Company will not experience any materials or equipment shortages, any labour or service provider outages or delays or any technical issues. Although management believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that these assumptions and expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information inherently involves and is subject to risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to that the market prices for lithium may not remain at current levels; and the market for electric vehicles and other large format batteries currently has limited market share and no assurances can be given for the rate at which this market will develop, if at all, which could affect the success of the Company and its ability to develop lithium operations. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. For more information on the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ from current expectations, please refer to the current annual information form of the Company and other public filings available under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

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SOURCE Sigma Lithium Corporation

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AvePoint Set to Join S&P SmallCap 600

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NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — AvePoint Inc. (NASD: AVPT) will replace LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE: LXP) in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective prior to the opening of trading on Monday, November 2. Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are acquiring LXP Industrial Trust in a deal expected to close soon, pending final closing conditions.

Following is a summary of the changes that will take place prior to the open of trading on the effective date:

Effective Date

Index Name

Action

Company Name

Ticker

GICS Sector

Nov 2, 2026

S&P SmallCap 600

Addition

AvePoint

AVPT

Information Technology

Nov 2, 2026

S&P SmallCap 600

Deletion

LXP Industrial Trust

LXP

Real Estate

ABOUT S&P DOW JONES INDICES

S&P Dow Jones Indices is the largest global resource for essential index-based concepts, data and research, and home to iconic financial market indicators, such as the S&P 500® and the Dow Jones Industrial Average®. More assets are invested in products based on our indices than products based on indices from any other provider in the world. Since Charles Dow invented the first index in 1884, S&P DJI has been innovating and developing indices across the spectrum of asset classes helping to define the way investors measure and trade the markets.

S&P Dow Jones Indices is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), which provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies, and governments to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

S&P Dow Jones Indices
index_services@spglobal.com

Media Inquiries
spdji.comms@spglobal.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/avepoint-set-to-join-sp-smallcap-600-302921327.html

SOURCE S&P Dow Jones Indices

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Archera Surpasses $5.6 Billion in Cloud and AI Spend Under Management, Closes Series C Led by Pivot Investment Partners, and Expands Insurance-Backed Cloud Commitments

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The round will help Archera expand its guaranteed cloud commitments, bringing insurance-backed financial protection to companies navigating unpredictable AI and cloud spending. The company has delivered more than $700 million in customer savings and now manages approximately $5.6 billion in annual cloud and AI spend.

BELLEVUE, Wash., Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As artificial intelligence makes cloud spending harder to predict, companies face an increasingly expensive choice: commit to long-term cloud and AI contracts to unlock significant discounts or preserve flexibility and leave savings on the table. Archera has raised a $15 million Series C to expand its Guaranteed Commitments and change that equation.

The cloud economics company today announced it closed its Series C funding round, led by Pivot Investment Partners, with participation from existing investors including HighSage Ventures. The financing brings Archera’s total funding to $38.3 million. It will support the expansion of Archera’s Guaranteed Commitments and its suite of free cloud cost tools, including its FinOps Agent and MCP.

Insurance-backed financial protection is central to Archera’s next phase of growth. Archera purchased a policy on a surplus lines basis from Crum & Forster Specialty Insurance Company to back its guarantee. This model helps businesses pursue cloud commitment savings while managing the financial risk of usage changes.

The company has delivered more than $700 million in savings to over 2,200 organizations, including PubNub, Art.com, and Astronomer. The thesis behind Archera is simple: companies shouldn’t have to predict AI’s future to commit and save money on today’s infrastructure.

Why Cloud and AI Commitments Need to Change

Cloud providers reward customers who commit to spending over one- to three-year periods with substantial discounts and access to capacity. Historically, those commitments have helped businesses reduce infrastructure costs. But AI is changing the risk and economics of that decision.

A new model launch can multiply GPU spending in months. A more efficient model, a shift in architecture, or a move to a different service can reduce it just as quickly. Long-term commitments that once looked financially sound can become expensive liabilities.

Companies are left choosing between overcommitting and risking unused spend, or undercommitting and missing out on available discounts. Many choose the latter, sacrificing potential savings to preserve flexibility.

Archera believes that the trade-off is unnecessary. Its Guaranteed Commitments provide resource-level cloud and AI discounts with terms as short as 30 days. If usage declines and a covered commitment goes unused, Archera covers the cost under the terms of its guarantee.

The result is a different way to approach cloud purchasing. Businesses can pursue deeper discounts and unlock capacity otherwise gated behind a commitment, without bearing the entire financial consequence when actual usage diverges from forecasts.

Turning Cloud Optimization Into a Financial Product

Traditional cloud cost management tools provide visibility, recommendations, automation, and forecasting, but they can’t eliminate the financial risk of unused commitments. Archera combines its free FinOps platform and Agent with a financial guarantee that addresses inaccurate forecasts.

“Every tool in this market is trying to forecast your cloud usage a little better. We think that’s the wrong bet,” said Aran Khanna, co-founder and CEO of Archera. “Nobody can forecast AI demand, not the customer, not the cloud provider. So instead of predicting it, we guarantee it, and we have purchased an insurance policy to back that guarantee. If covered usage drops, we address the unused commitment cost under the terms of our guarantee. That’s a new way to purchase cloud, not another dashboard, and it’s why we’ve been able to return $700 million to our customers.”

The approach positions cloud commitments as a financial risk decision, helping finance and engineering leaders manage budgets while adapting to changing technology.

Built for CFOs, CTOs, and the Teams Managing AI Costs

The approach addresses a growing challenge across finance and engineering: how to control infrastructure costs without constraining the business.

For CFOs: Capture commitment-level discounts while reducing exposure to eligible unused spend under the guarantee.For CTOs and engineering leaders: Preserve flexibility to adopt new AI models, change architectures, and scale workloads without letting past commitments dictate future decisions.For FinOps teams: Increase commitment coverage with a financial backstop when usage changes, without more back-and-forth with engineering teams to get perfect forecasts.For cloud partners and resellers: Give customers a differentiated way to pursue cloud savings that can be reinvested in new cloud services while managing commitment risk.

Archera’s platform connects to AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud billing data in read-only mode and analyzes actual usage. It then recommends and automates the purchasing of both native commitments and Archera Guaranteed Commitments.

Customers can evaluate their potential savings before making any purchasing decision. Commitments remain in the customer’s own cloud account, preserving end-to-end control over cloud purchasing strategy.

Archera earns when customers save through its guaranteed commitments, aligning its commercial model with the outcomes customers seek.

Customers Are Rethinking the Commitment Model

For organizations accustomed to treating cloud commitments as a single, high-stakes decision, Archera offers a more flexible approach.

“Working with Archera meant rethinking commitments as a spectrum rather than a single, high-stakes decision,” said James Hamilton, VP of Operations and Controller at PubNub. “This was a big mind shift for us. We needed to think about how our commitments could be broken up into a spectrum of purchases versus a single one-time buy.”

That flexibility is particularly valuable as companies adopt AI workloads, where technology choices and resource requirements can shift faster than traditional budgeting cycles.

Instead of making one large bet on future usage, businesses can take a more measured approach while still securing meaningful discounts.

A Series C to Expand Insurance-Backed Cloud Purchasing

Archera has been operating profitably at scale. It raised a Series C to support larger guarantees, expand its reach, serve more customers, and upgrade the insurance policies backing its guarantee to serve larger global clients.

The company plans to use the capital in three ways:

Accelerate go-to-market efforts.Expand its global partner network across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Japan, and Latin America.Serve more teams focused on AI-driven workloads.

“Archera has built a capital-efficient and differentiated business at the intersection of cloud infrastructure and risk management,” said Dinkar Jetley, co-founder and managing partner at Pivot Investment Partners. “The team pairs a deep understanding of the cloud ecosystem with a rigorous approach to underwriting, and the result is a compelling value proposition that a fast-growing roster of customers relies on as their cloud spend scales. We are privileged to have led this Series C round and look forward to working closely with Aran and the management team in the years ahead.”

Built by People Who Understand Cloud Infrastructure

Aran and Nikhil Khanna founded Archera in 2019. Aran previously planned capacity for Azure’s core compute and database services at Microsoft and was a founding member of AWS’s deep learning team leading launches, including SageMaker, DeepLens, and the Neuron SDK, behind Amazon’s Trainium and Inferentia AI chips.

His research on deep learning model efficiency has been cited more than 1,900 times, and he serves on the FinOps Foundation governing board.

As AI transforms infrastructure economics, Archera aims to make cloud savings more accessible without forcing businesses to assume unnecessary financial risk.

To explore potential savings, request a free assessment at Archera.ai.

Free savings assessment: https://app.archera.ai/savings-estimate?utm_source=forbes&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=series-c-2026

Name: Sarah
Email Address: shiara@archera.ai
Phone Number: +13018255007

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SOURCE Archera

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Creative Technology Releases Creative XF1, a Hi-Res Extreme Fidelity Speaker that Elevates Every Listening Experience

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SYDNEY, Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Creative Technology Ltd launches Creative XF1, a new Hi-Res speaker system designed for users who care about both sound quality and aesthetics, and want more vivid music, more cinematic movies, and more engaging listening. Creative XF1 offers sleek design, bi-amplified architecture, 72W RMS output, dual Hi-Res Audio certification, next-gen connectivity, and personalisation with the Creative Nexus app.

Creative XF1 brings out details in music that many compact 2.0 speakers in this price range do not reproduce, from the rasp in a voice to the rumbling bass under a game soundtrack. With a bespoke FEA-optimised 3-inch woofer, Creative XF1 adds extra punch and close-range clarity. The 72W RMS bi-amplified design delivers a clear, powerful sound that is easy on the ear.

“For many of us, the desktop has become the centre of work, entertainment and creation,” said Ernest Sim, CEO and Executive Chairman, Creative Technology Ltd. “Creative XF1 is built to deliver room-filling power with richer depth and clarity, so every note, voice and effect sounds closer, more vivid and more real at your desk.”

Besides advanced connectivity via Bluetooth® 6.0, USB audio, and AUX input, users can also connect a subwoofer for richer bass and an easy 2.1 upgrade.

Crafted by in-house audio specialists, the Creative Nexus app offers a 10-band parametric EQ and 120+ presets for different music genres and games. Users can personalise their sound for focused work, movie nights, gaming sessions, or unwinding, all from one intuitive interface.  

Pricing and availability

Creative XF1 is priced at A$339.95, and is available at creative.com.

About Creative
Since its founding in 1981, Creative Technology has been driven by a singular mission: to reimagine the way the world experiences sound. Creative introduced the groundbreaking Sound Blaster®, the invention that gave personal computers the gift of sound — and forever changed the landscape of PC multimedia.

Guided by a legacy of bold ideas and breakthrough technologies, Creative continues to lead at the intersection of engineering and imagination.

At its core, Creative remains committed to pushing the boundaries of what audio can achieve — enriching lives, elevating experiences, and defining what’s next in sound.

This announcement relates to products launched in Australia. Availability is subject to change without notice and may differ elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements. Creative, and the Creative logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd in the United States and/or other countries. The Bluetooth® word mark and logo are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Creative Technology Ltd is under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE Creative Technology Ltd

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