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Minister Vandal announces federal investments to support clean technology advancements across Alberta

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More than $21 million through PrairiesCan to build on Alberta’s strengths in commercializing innovative technologies that benefit people and communities in the green Prairie economy

CALGARY, AB, July 4, 2024 /CNW/ – As global markets increasingly look for more sustainable ways of doing business, innovators across Alberta have new opportunities to create and commercialize technologies that offer benefits for both the economy and the environment. Alberta is already a national and global leader across key sectors that contribute to Canada’s prosperity—from energy, environment and aerospace to digital technology, life sciences and value-added agriculture.

Through improved coordination across federal departments and in partnership with all levels of government and industry, the Government of Canada is committed to enabling Alberta’s small- and medium-sized businesses to continue capitalizing on these and other opportunities that build on Alberta’s established strengths in creating products and services that the world needs. 

Today, the Honourable Dan Vandal, Minister for PrairiesCan, announced federal funding of more than $21.9 million for 13 projects to bolster Alberta’s clean technology sector through the commercialization and adoption of new applications that offer environmental benefits across a wide range of industries. Examples of projects receiving support include:

Alberta Innovates is receiving $10 million to launch a production and testing facility to support the commercialization of new technologies that help produce low-cost carbon fibre using bitumen.

The Battery Metals Association of Canada is receiving $850,000 to support growth of the battery metals sector in Western Canada by enhancing collaboration and educating stakeholders.

Carbon Management Canada is receiving $1,168,000 to enhance its emission management technology validation facility where small- and medium-sized businesses can test, refine, and commercialize carbon capture products and technologies.

Kuva Canada is receiving more than $4 million in repayable funding to grow market share of its automated methane monitoring products and software which safely detect methane leaks more accurately, faster and at a lower cost than traditional methane inspection technologies.

The Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) is receiving $174,000 to conduct a comprehensive review of the Métis Housing portfolio energy efficiency plan that will provide prioritized recommendations to increase the energy efficiency of homes and support their Climate Change Action Plan.

Projects receiving funding will have significant environmental and economic benefits across the Prairies, including supporting more than 415 jobs and enabling Alberta firms to take advantage of growing market demand for clean energy solutions. Today’s federal investment leverages about $7 million in additional funding through other levels of government and industry.

This announcement exemplifies key principles of the Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy, which was tabled in Parliament in December 2023 as a long-term commitment to seize new possibilities to build good-paying jobs in a globally competitive green economy by working collaboratively to build on the region’s strengths in clean resource development, agriculture and manufacturing, and the service industry.

Quotes

“Our government is making strategic investments to build on Alberta’s proven ability to commercialize innovative clean energy solutions that have environmental and economic benefits. Today’s investment in these 13 projects will help ensure that Alberta businesses can capitalize on new opportunities to meet global demand for clean technology know-how and expertise. These investments, in conjunction with enhanced collaboration supported by the Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy, will help build a stronger and more sustainable economic future across the Prairies.”
–The Honourable Dan Vandal, Minister for PrairiesCan

“Today’s announcement is about making sure Alberta businesses remain at the forefront of Canada’s innovation. These projects will create sustainable jobs and demonstrate Alberta’s proven capacity to create clean technology and energy – pushing us towards great global market opportunities.”
–The Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages

“Alberta is home to world-leading businesses and entrepreneurs who punch above their weight in innovation and ingenuity. Clean technology and clean energy are fields in which our province is gaining a global reputation for excellence. Today’s investments will further bolster that capability so that we can create a sustainable economy and good jobs for Albertans for years to come.”
– George Chahal, Member of Parliament for Calgary Skyview

“We congratulate Alberta Innovates on the success in the Regional Innovation Ecosystems program competition. The award will create markets and opportunities for Alberta that haven’t previously existed. We look forward to the results of the Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge, which has the potential to create jobs in a new industry, and to attract investment.”
–The Honourable Nate Glubish, Minister of Technology and Innovation, Government of Alberta

“This investment of more than $21 million is a vote of confidence in our city’s ability to lead the charge towards net-zero. As the heart of Canada’s energy sector and home to the biggest concentration of Alberta’s cleantech companies, our local businesses are at the forefront of developing technologies that will shape a greener future. This support will undoubtedly accelerate their efforts to bring these solutions to global markets.”
– Jyoti Gondek, Mayor, City of Calgary

“This initiative will support our commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve housing sustainability and build internal capacity within Métis Housing, accelerating climate action for our Housing portfolio and ensuring that our staff are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to drive sustainable change from within our community. Together, we are laying the groundwork for a more sustainable and resilient future for generations to come.”
– Jason Chernow, Calgary Elbow Métis District 6 Citizens’ Representative and Secretary of Environment and Climate Change, Otipemisiwak Métis Government of the Métis Nation within Alberta

“This funding will accelerate the development and commercialization of carbon fibre technologies in Alberta. Carbon fibre can be a key pathway to a net-zero emissions future – dramatically reduce emissions and enable a new Canadian competitive advantage in a low-carbon economy. The facility will allow carbon fibre producers and manufacturers to meet the needs of climate sensitive markets and get a step closer new advanced materials industry.”
– Michael Mahon, PhD, Interim, CEO, Alberta Innovates

“BMAC’s mission is to foster the growth of Canada’s emerging battery industry to develop a strong and sustainable domestic value chain in support of the clean energy transition. As a small non-profit organization with a large mandate, the investment BMAC has received from PrairiesCan has been instrumental in enabling us to connect with Canada’s battery industry and provide key resources and support to aid in its success.”
– Sean De Vries, Executive Director, Battery Metals Association of Canada

“We are thrilled to have been selected for investment by PrairiesCan. This funding will enable us to accelerate growth by investing into increasing our Calgary-based team and commercialising additional features while helping our oil and gas customers see, size and solve their methane emission challenges to meet emission reduction goals.”
– Stefan Bokaemper, President, Kuva Canada  

Quick facts

Federal funding for these 13 projects is being provided through PrairiesCan. PrairiesCan programs and services help businesses, not-for-profits and communities grow stronger: its mandate is to support economic growth and diversification in the Prairie provinces and advance the interests of the region in national economic policy, programs, and projects.The Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy is a long-term commitment to work differently; through stronger coordination among federal departments on investments for the Prairies, and closer collaboration with Prairie partners on their priorities for a prosperous and sustainable Prairie economy that respects provincial jurisdictions and supports Indigenous economic reconciliation.In Alberta specifically, the Framework is intended to encourage greater collaboration on regional investment opportunities, such as supporting decarbonization by advancing the hydrogen ecosystem and critical minerals opportunities; growing a sustainable agriculture sector by catalyzing more value-added activity and reducing environmental impact; and strengthening our support for community economic development capacity and initiatives, especially in Indigenous and rural communities.

Backgrounder

PrairiesCan is investing over $21 million for 13 projects in Alberta through several federal programs, including the Alberta Indigenous Clean Energy Initiative; the Business Scale-up and Productivity program; and the Regional Innovation Ecosystems program. These investments are expected to support over 415 jobs and help Alberta organizations seize opportunities resulting from the integration and development of clean technologies. Adopting and commercializing new technologies offers the potential of environmental and economic benefits across a wide range of industries.

Alberta Indigenous Clean Energy Initiative (AICEI) – $926,450

The AICEI supports renewable energy generation or energy efficiency projects that are led by, or for the benefit of, First Nation and Métis communities in Alberta. AICEI is funded through the Strategic Partnerships Initiative which is led by Indigenous Services Canada to provide a way for federal partners to coordinate their efforts, reduce administrative burden and pool resources in support of Indigenous communities. Today, PrairiesCan announced AICEI support for four projects: 

Cold Lake First Nations ($124,000)
Complete a feasibility study to determine the suitability of a geothermal system to heat and cool a new pre-construction events centre as well as the existing Casino Dene and Hotel Dene.Métis Nation of Alberta ($174,000)
As part of the Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) Climate Change Action Plan, conduct a comprehensive review of the MNA housing portfolio and develop a report which gives prioritized recommendations to increase the energy efficiency of homes.
Neyaskweyak Group of Companies Inc. (Ermineskin Cree Nation) ($373,450)
Complete a feasibility study to support the approval and construction of a new solar farm in Ermineskin Cree Nation.Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) ($255,000)
As part of a partnership between SAIT’s Green Building Technologies research division and the Alberta Native Friendship Centre Association (ANFCA), upgrade ANFCA Friendship Centres in Fort McMurray, Medicine Hat, and St. Paul with energy efficient building systems to reduce emissions and operating costs.

Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) Program – $5,986,395

The BSP program supports high-growth businesses that are seeking to improve productivity, scale-up and commercialize technology. It offers interest-free, repayable funding to incorporated businesses that have been in operation for a minimum of two years. Today, PrairiesCan announced BSP support for two projects:

Kuva Canada ($4,079,895)
Expand marketing, operations, and product development initiatives to grow market share of its automated methane monitoring products and software which safely detect methane leaks more accurately, faster and at a lower cost than traditional methane inspection technologies.RJ Maclean Tank Services ($1,906,500)
Incorporate product improvements and launch marketing initiatives to increase international sales of its robotic tank cleaning system which uses less water and produces less waste than traditional industrial storage tank cleaning processes.

Regional Innovation Ecosystems (RIE) Program – $15,070,112

The RIE program helps create, grow, and nurture inclusive regional ecosystems that support business needs to facilitate innovation. Through the RIE program, targeted investments in not-for-profit organizations support businesses in priority sectors to innovate, grow and compete globally. The RIE program also promotes inclusive growth by helping underrepresented groups more fully participate in the innovation economy. Today, PrairiesCan announced RIE support for seven projects:

Alberta Energy Efficiency Alliance ($500,000)
Lead stakeholder engagement sessions and technology demonstrations to increase the adoption of energy reducing technologies and support collaboration in Alberta’s energy industry.Alberta Innovates ($10,000,000)
Establish a specialized production and testing facility to commercialize technologies that convert bitumen into carbon fibre at a significantly lower cost than traditional carbon fibre manufacturing processes.
Alberta Motor Transport Association and the University of Alberta ($1,400,000)
Expand hydrogen heavy vehicle trials and demonstrations across Alberta, including in rural areas and Indigenous communities. This latest funding builds on PrairiesCan’s previously announced funding of $3 million, bringing total PrairiesCan funding to $4.4M.Battery Metals Association of Canada ($850,000)
Support growth of the battery metals sector in Western Canada by enhancing collaboration and educating stakeholders.Carbon Management Canada ($1,168,000)
Purchase and install new equipment to enhance its emission management technology validation facility where small- and medium-sized businesses can test, refine, and commercialize carbon capture products and technologies. This latest funding builds on PrairiesCan’s previously announced funding of $1,573,500, bringing total PrairiesCan funding to $2,741,500.Pembina Institute ($752,112)
Establish a new Centre for Carbon Dioxide Removal based in Calgary which will provide resources and workshops to advance a market for innovative technologies that remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere.Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada ($400,000)
Provide technical, business and marketing support to help businesses in Alberta export their clean technology innovations to international markets.

Associated links

Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan)The Framework to Build a Green Prairie EconomyGreen Prairie Economy

Stay connected
Follow PrairiesCan on Twitter and LinkedIn
Toll-Free Number: 1-888-338-9378 
TTY (telecommunications device for the hearing impaired): 1-877-303-3388

SOURCE Prairies Economic Development Canada

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Cboe Clear U.S. Receives SEC Approval to Expand Clearing Capabilities

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October 23, 2026

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SEC registration enables Cboe Clear U.S. to clear binary securities options alongside futures, positioning it to support innovation across the market

CHICAGO, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), a leading global markets operator and pioneer in equity and index derivatives, today announced that Cboe Clear U.S., LLC (CCUS) has received temporary registration from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate as a Covered Clearing Agency.

The registration expands CCUS’s clearing capabilities beyond its existing authorities as a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-registered Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) to clear securities products in addition to futures and swaps products. Together with recent enhancements to its regulatory framework and product scope, the milestone positions CCUS to support innovation and emerging opportunities across a broad range of assets and markets.

CCUS will initially use its SEC registration to clear Cboe’s binary securities options tied to specified corporate key performance indicators (KPIs), which are planned to list on Cboe Options Exchange and be available on Robinhood in the fourth-quarter 2026. CCUS also recently received CFTC approval to clear margined futures broadly and continues to clear digital asset derivatives under its DCO designation.

“Clearing plays a critical role in bringing innovation to market,” said Dale Michaels, Head of Cboe Clear U.S. “These expanded capabilities position Cboe Clear U.S. to become an innovation lane to support new products and meet evolving customer needs, while maintaining the rigorous risk management standards that are fundamental to our business.”

These efforts complement Cboe’s longstanding partnership with The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC)® and Cboe’s continued commitment to supporting the established clearing infrastructure for traditional equity options.

The development builds on the growth of Cboe’s established European clearing business, where Cboe Clear Europe has become the leading pan-European equities central counterparty, while expanding into new services such as securities financing transaction clearing. Together, these advances demonstrate Cboe’s ability to extend its clearing capabilities across markets and asset classes.

To support its own future growth, CCUS has strengthened its infrastructure over the past year, including electing in June to become a Subpart C DCO. In doing so, CCUS is voluntarily adopting the enhanced standards the CFTC applies to systemically important DCOs for financial resources, risk management and operational resilience, aligning with those applied to leading global clearing organizations.

About Cboe Global Markets

Cboe Global Markets (Cboe: CBOE) is a leading global markets operator with a long history of innovation in equity and index derivatives. Since launching the world’s first listed options exchange in 1973, Cboe has pioneered landmark products, including the introduction of S&P 500® index options and the creation of the VIX® Index, the world’s leading gauge of market volatility, reshaping how investors manage risk and access opportunity. Today, Cboe operates derivatives, equities, and FX markets, providing trading, clearing, and investment solutions for customers worldwide. To learn more, visit www.cboe.com.

Cboe Media Contacts

 

Cboe Analyst Contact

 

Angela Tu

+1-646-856-8734

atu@cboe.com

Tim Cave

+44 (0) 7593-506-719

tcave@cboe.com

Kenneth Hill, CFA

+1-312-786-7559

khill@cboe.com

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Cboe®, Cboe Global Markets®, and VIX ® are registered trademarks or service marks of Cboe Exchange, Inc and S&P 500® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. 

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “might,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue,” and the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. All statements that reflect our expectations, assumptions or projections about the future other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

We operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the loss of our right to exclusively list and trade certain index options and futures products; economic, political and market conditions; compliance with legal and regulatory obligations; price and new products and services competition and consolidation in our industry; decreases in trading or clearing volumes, market data fees or a shift in the mix of products traded on our exchanges; legislative or regulatory changes or changes in tax regimes; our ability to protect our systems and communication networks from security vulnerabilities and breaches; our ability to attract and retain skilled management and other personnel; increasing competition by foreign and domestic entities; our business and operational dependence on and exposure to risk from third parties; factors that impact the quality and integrity of our and other applicable indices; our ability to manage our global operations, growth, and strategic acquisitions, wind downs, divestitures, or alliances effectively; increases in the cost of the products and services we use; our ability to operate our business without violating the intellectual property rights of others and the costs associated with protecting our intellectual property rights; our ability to minimize the risks, including our credit, liquidity, market, investment, counterparty, and default risks, associated with operating our  clearinghouses; our ability to accommodate trading and clearing volume and transaction traffic, including significant increases, without failure or degradation of performance of our systems; misconduct by those who use our markets or our products or for whom we clear transactions; challenges to our use of open source software code; our ability to meet our compliance obligations, including managing our business interests and our regulatory responsibilities; the loss of key customers or a significant reduction in trading or clearing volumes by key customers; damage to our reputation; the ability of our compliance and risk management methods to effectively monitor and manage our risks; restrictions imposed by our debt obligations and our ability to make payments on or refinance our debt obligations; our ability to maintain an investment grade credit rating; impairment of our goodwill, long-lived assets, investments or intangible assets; the accuracy of our estimates and expectations; and litigation risks and other liabilities. More detailed information about factors that may affect our actual results to differ may be found in our filings with the SEC, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and other filings made from time to time with the SEC.

We do not undertake, and we expressly disclaim, any duty to update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.

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SOURCE Cboe Global Markets, Inc.

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Hears Everything, Uploads Nothing: VoxNexus Launches Android’s First Low-Power On-Device Always-On Voice Artificial Intelligence (AI)

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October 23, 2026

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VoxNexus’ new on-device ambient listening solution runs for 12 hours on 2.49% of a phone’s battery and never sends audio to the cloud

MADRID, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — VoxNexus (www.VoxNexus.ai) released VoxEdge, an on-device voice stack that brings speech recognition, translation and speech synthesis to affordable Android devices, entirely offline. VoxEdge supports speech recognition in 36 languages, translation in 103 languages, and speech synthesis in 45 languages—all running with no connection, no data bundle, and no cloud token bills.

AI should work for everyone, not just for speakers of a handful of mainstream languages. Yet across much of Africa, voice AI has been held back by scarce training data and the lack of targeted fine-tuning. Everyday speech also includes code-switching and dialect variation, while cloud-based inference costs can make deployment at scale expensive. 

VoxNexus’s solutions run entirely on device, and every query is free once the model is installed on the device. Its speech recognition model has as few as 65 million parameters and achieves a lower word error rate than open-source models nearly ten times its size.

“Under-resource languages aren’t small languages. Hundreds of millions of people speak them. Until now, AI models just haven’t learned them yet,” said Charles Shi, CEO of VoxNexus.

VoxNexus also launched VoxSense, an on-device ambient listening solution that uses only 162 mAh for 12 hours of continuous listening, around 2.5% of a 6,500 mAh phone battery. By keeping all processing on device, VoxSense makes always-on listening practical without draining the battery and without sending any audio to the cloud. Developers and device makers can easily integrate it through a license and a simple SDK. Developers can request a free trial here: www.VoxNexus.ai.

VoxSense and VoxEdge were unveiled at the MediaTek Dimensity 9600 launch in Madrid on October 19.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of VoxNexus AI. 

About VoxNexus:
VoxNexus builds AI that hears and speaks — for everyone, everywhere, all the time. Its audio intelligence runs entirely on-device, delivering low latency, built-in privacy, and zero token cost across any device with a chip. VoxNexus is headquartered in Singapore. Website: www.VoxNexus.ai. Contact: public@voxnexus.ai  

VoxNexus demonstrates live on-device speech recognition at the MediaTek Dimensity 9600 launch in Madrid on Oct. 19, 2026. Spanish and English conversations were transcribed in real time on the phone, with no cloud connection. (Photo: VoxNexus) 

Speaks Your Language, No Internet Needed: VoxNexus Brings On-Device Voice Artificial Intelligence (AI) in 100+ Languages to Affordable Android Devices

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SOURCE VoxNexus AI

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team.blue extends €1.1 billion of its Term Loan B to 2032 in the largest software Euro term loan issuance in the last 12 months

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October 23, 2026

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GHENT, Belgium, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — team.blue, a leading pan-European provider of digital solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) backed by Hg, CPP Investments and Sofina, today announces the successful pricing of an amendment and maturity extension for €1.1 billion of its existing €1.35 billion Term Loan B. The transaction priced on 22 October 2026, with the refinanced tranche extended from September 2029 to July 2032, reinforcing the Company’s prudent capital structure approach.

Strong demand from a broad group of institutional investors enabled team.blue to upsize the transaction twice in-market, taking the final deal size to €1.1 billion from a minimum initial launch size of €500 million, despite recent credit market volatility. Pro forma for the transaction, c.90% of team.blue’s term debt now matures in 2032.

The transaction comes at a time of significant momentum for team.blue, with continued double-digit revenue growth and strong cash generation supporting its deleveraging trajectory. Its products help Europe’s SMBs get online, get customers, get paid and stay compliant, and AI-enabled products are increasingly driving new customer growth. team.blue continues to innovate across its portfolio, from smarter tools within its brands to secure European cloud hosting built for customers’ growing AI workloads. Its category-leading SaaS brands are also integrating with leading AI assistants, bringing team.blue’s products to customers wherever they work.

Transaction highlights

The largest software Euro term loan issuance in the last 12 months€1.1 billion Term Loan B, borrowed by team.blue Finco S.à r.l., maturing July 2032Priced at E + 425bps with a 0% floor and an OID of 98.5Upsized twice from an initial €500 million, reflecting a heavily oversubscribed order bookCorporate and facility ratings of B3 (Moody’s) and B (S&P), both with stable outlooksBofA acted as Global Coordinator and Left Lead Physical Bookrunner, alongside Barclays. ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, Citi, ING and J.P. Morgan acted as Bookrunners

Jonathan Thackray, Chief Financial Officer of team.blue, said:
“We set out to extend €500 million of our Term Loan B, and the depth of support from our institutional investor base allowed us to go much further. This reflects confidence in team.blue’s highly recurring, cash-generative model and our position as a leading digital partner for Europe’s SMBs. It gives us the flexibility to keep innovating and investing in the digital and AI-enabled tools our customers rely on.”

About team.blue
team.blue is the pan-European digital partner for small and medium businesses, serving more than 3.5 million customers in 24 countries. From web hosting, domains, email and cloud and AI infrastructure to e-commerce, engagement, payments and compliance tools, team.blue helps SMBs get online, get customers, get paid and stay compliant. Supported by more than 4,000 employees, team.blue’s vision is to make online business success simpler, with artificial intelligence at every step. 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/teamblue-extends-1-1-billion-of-its-term-loan-b-to-2032-in-the-largest-software-euro-term-loan-issuance-in-the-last-12-months-302918306.html

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