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Zircuit Closes Mainnet Funding Round with Support from Arcanum Capital

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Arcanum Capital and 35+ investors join to help improve blockchain security to prevent smart contract exploits.

NEW YORK, Aug. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Arcanum Capital is excited to announce its participation in Zircuit’s recent Mainnet Funding Round, co-investing alongside Binance Labs, Mirana, and Nomad Capital, among other industry-leading investors in previous rounds including Pantera Capital, Dragonfly, and Arthur Hayes’ Maelstrom. Zircuit’s unique value proposition lies in its ability to improve Layer 2 blockchain security by integrating AI at the sequencer level.

“Modularity is a key theme in the investment thesis for our second fund in collaboration with Luganodes,” said Arcanum Capital co-founder and managing partner, James McDowall. “The Ethereum ecosystem has experienced immense growth over the years but faced scalability issues as a consequence. Optimistic roll ups have gained popularity due to their ease of implementation on the EVM, but they encounter lengthy transaction finality times and potential security risks. Zircuit aims to help address both of those limitations.”

ZK rollups have emerged to address these problems but have proven to be more difficult to implement due to their complexity. Zircuit is an EVM-compatible zero-knowledge rollup, integrating elements of both optimistic rollups and zero-knowledge (zk) proofs to optimize transaction processing and validation capabilities.

Zircuit recently launched its Public Testnet, attracting an impressive $3.5B of TVL in just three months. This is testament to the strength of the Zircuit team and its strong community of over 300,000 members across social media platforms.

“As the Web3 space accelerates toward mainstream adoption, Zircuit will empower this growth by providing the necessary infrastructure to onboard the masses,” said Martin Derka, Co-Founder of Zircuit. “Our years of research into rollups and blockchain security have allowed us to build an L2 network with unparalleled security and scalability. We’re proud to have the support of Binance Labs, Mirana Ventures, and our other investors as we approach our first phase of Mainnet and establish Zircuit as a cornerstone in the industry.”

About Arcanum Capital

Arcanum Capital is a venture capital firm focused on supporting enterprising and forward-thinking teams that are establishing decentralized networks and applications for the global blockchain ecosystem. Arcanum Capital’s team consists of experienced investment professionals who understand what it takes to evaluate, incubate and scale promising teams and ideas. We have been on the ground as operators, investors, and incubators in frontier and emerging markets, including India, since 2013, and have worked with startups, decentralized networks, and publicly listed companies. During this time, we have cultivated powerful networks and partnerships that are invaluable in helping our portfolio entities transition from idea to market and scale on the global stage.

About Luganodes

Luganodes is a AAA rated institutional-grade staking service provider and one of the top leaders in staking volume. Globally, Luganodes’s client base stakes digital assets across 30+ proof-of-stake networks with 99.99% uptime. It is one of the top validators on the Polygon network and the super representative on the Tron network. With Luganodes, enterprises and individuals can take part in validating blockchain transactions and earning staking rewards.

About Zircuit

Zircuit is a ZK rollup with AI-enabled sequencer-level security and parallelized circuits. Built by a team of web3 security veterans and PhDs in computer science, algorithms, and cryptography, Zircuit’s unique architecture combines the best of both worlds of performance and security.

Media Contact

Tim Sprinkle, Venture Capital Marketing, 1 720-722-1266, tim@venturecapitalmarketing.com

View original content:https://www.prweb.com/releases/zircuit-closes-mainnet-funding-round-with-support-from-arcanum-capital-302222141.html

SOURCE Arcanum Capital

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Vipshop Holdings Limited to Hold Annual General Meeting on December 8, 2026

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GUANGZHOU, China, Nov. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Vipshop Holdings Limited (NYSE: VIPS), a leading off-price retailer in China (“Vipshop” or the “Company”), today announced that it will hold an annual general meeting of shareholders at Vipshop Headquarters, 128 Dingxin Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510220, People’s Republic of China on December 8, 2026 at 10:00 a.m., Beijing time.

No proposal will be submitted for shareholder approval at the annual general meeting. Instead, the annual general meeting will serve as an open forum for shareholders and beneficial owners of the Company’s American depositary shares (“ADSs”) to discuss Company affairs with management.

The board of directors of the Company has fixed the close of business on November 9, 2026 as the record date (the “Record Date”) for determining the holders of the Company’s ordinary shares that are entitled to receive notice of, and to attend, the annual general meeting or any adjourned or postponed meeting thereof.

Holders of record of the Company’s ordinary shares at the close of business on the Record Date are entitled to attend the annual general meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof in person. Beneficial owners of the Company’s ADSs are welcome to attend the annual general meeting in person.

The Company has filed its annual report on Form 20-F (the “Annual Report”), which includes the Company’s audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Company’s Annual Report can be accessed on the investor relations section of its website at https://ir.vip.com/, as well as on the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov/.

Holders of the Company’s ordinary shares or ADSs may obtain a hard copy of the Annual Report free of charge by emailing Jessie Zheng, Vipshop Holdings Limited, at ir@vipshop.com or by writing to:

Vipshop Headquarters, 128 Dingxin Road
Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510220
People’s Republic of China
Attention: Jessie Zheng

About Vipshop Holdings Limited

Vipshop Holdings Limited is a leading off-price retailer in China. Vipshop offers high-quality and popular branded products to consumers throughout China at deep discounts through diverse online and offline channels. Since its founding in 2008, the Company has built a large and loyal customer base and extensive brand partnerships. For more information, please visit https://ir.vip.com/.

Investor Relations Contact

Tel: +86 (20) 2233-0732
Email: IR@vipshop.com 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vipshop-holdings-limited-to-hold-annual-general-meeting-on-december-8-2026-302937352.html

SOURCE Vipshop Holdings Limited

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Mews Announces New Alliance Partnership With Preferred Hotels & Resorts, The World’s Largest Independent Hotel Brand

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Mews becomes the latest addition to Preferred Hotels & Resorts’ Alliance Partner Program, providing hospitality technology solutions to its global portfolio of independent luxury properties

NEW YORK, Nov. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Mews today announced its new affiliation with Preferred Hotels & Resorts as the latest addition to the brand’s Alliance Partner Program. Through the partnership, Preferred Hotels & Resorts member properties across the Americas and EMEA can access Mews, the AI operating system for hospitality, at preferential pricing, with solutions spanning PMS, POS, RMS, Housekeeping and Payments.

Mews brings reservations, payments and guest preferences into one connected system, helping hotel teams reduce manual work and avoid switching between systems. The partnership expands the resources available to Preferred Hotels & Resorts’ global portfolio of more than 650 distinctive hotels, resorts, residences, and unique hotel groups across 80 countries.

Because Mews is configurable to each property’s way of working, members can keep what sets them apart, from bespoke guest journeys to their own rate structures and service style.

“Our members tell us they want to run efficient operations without losing what makes their hotel unique,” said Michael Osgood, Vice President of Preferred Hotels & Resorts. “Mews gives them one connected system for the front desk, payments and guest experience. That frees teams to spend less time on manual work and more on the personal touches guests remember.”

“Many independent hotels are running lean operations, with the owner, the GM and the front desk team as the heart of the brand, so every hour lost to clunky systems is an hour taken away from their guests,” said Matt Welle, CEO of Mews. “Mews gives them that time back, so the team can get on with looking after guests. Preferred Hotels & Resorts has built a community around individuality, and its members are some of the most distinctive hotels out there.”

More than 15 independent luxury hotels, resorts and residences in the Preferred portfolio already run on Mews, including: Maison Albar – Le Victoria, Hotel des Grands Voyageurs, Hotel 9Confidentiel, Hotel Golf Chateau de Chailly and Castello Dal Pozzo Resort Lago Maggiore.

“Mews has been a fantastic addition to our daily operations,” said Inès Delaval, Revenue Manager at Maison Albar – Le Victoria. “It is incredibly user-friendly, intuitive, and fun to work with, while being a comprehensive solution that meets all our needs. It makes our team’s daily workflow seamless and pleasant, allowing us to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional guest experiences.”

Members interested in Mews can contact their Preferred representative or Gari Poniatowski at Mews at gari.poniatowski@mews.com.

About Mews

Mews is the AI operating system for hospitality, unifying workflows across revenue, operations and the guest journey so teams can automate the mundane and focus on memorable guest experiences. Mews spans PMS, POS, RMS, Housekeeping and Payments, helping hoteliers move from property management to profit management. Powering 15,000 customers across 85 countries, the company was named Best PMS (2024, 2025, 2026), Best POS (2026) and listed among the Best Places to Work in Hotel Tech for six years running by Hotel Tech Report.

Media contact: press@mews.com 

About Preferred Hotels & Resorts

Preferred Hotels & Resorts is the world’s largest independent hotel brand, representing more than 650 distinctive hotels, resorts, residences, and unique hotel groups across 80 countries. Through its curated global collections, Preferred Hotels & Resorts connects discerning travelers to the singular luxury hospitality experience that meets their life and style preferences for each occasion. Every property within the portfolio maintains the high-quality standards and unparalleled service levels required by the Preferred Hotels & Resorts Integrated Quality Assurance Program. The I Prefer™ Hotel Rewards program, Preferred Residences℠, Preferred Pride℠, and Preferred Golf™ offer valuable benefits for travelers seeking a unique experience. For more information, visit PreferredHotels.com.

Learn more: https://preferredhotels.com/

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SOURCE Mews

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OpenAI increases its ChatGPT Ads presence in 44 countries through an exclusive reseller partnership with Aleph

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Agreement with OpenAI strengthens Aleph’s AI advertising portfolio with local support for brands and agencies across Latin America, Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific

DUBAI, UAE, Nov. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — OpenAI increases its ChatGPT Ads presence into 44 countries through an exclusive reseller partnership with Aleph. Starting today, brands and agencies across 14 markets in Latin America, 16 in Europe and Central Asia, 10 in the Middle East and Africa, and 4 in Asia-Pacific can contract, pay and get support locally through Aleph, OpenAI’s exclusive reseller.

ChatGPT is a new kind of advertising environment, where people come to learn, explore and make decisions. For Aleph, the partnership with OpenAI is about connecting businesses across these markets with ChatGPT, one of the defining products of the AI era. For advertisers, it means buying ChatGPT Ads through a partner with local teams and its own payments infrastructure.

“AI is giving businesses a new way to connect with people. Starting today, advertisers in 44 markets can work with OpenAI through a local team that speaks their language, bills in their currency and extends credit. That is what Aleph does best: turning global technology into local growth.” — Gastón Taratuta, Founder and CEO, Aleph

Brands and agencies that work with Aleph contract and are invoiced locally, with onboarding and first-line support from Aleph’s teams in each market. The agreement covers 44 markets:

Latin America (14): Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico and UruguayEurope and Central Asia (16): Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and UzbekistanMiddle East and Africa (10): Egypt, Kenya, Kuwait, Morocco, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and the United Arab EmiratesAsia-Pacific (4): Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka

Advertisers and agencies in these markets can learn more and connect with Aleph’s local teams at https://alephdigital.com/OpenAi

Press contacts
Aleph: press@alephdigital.com | fernanda@alephdigital.com 

About Aleph
Aleph operates the largest global infrastructure accelerating media and payments solutions across more than 130 high-growth markets. With 20 years of experience and partnerships with over 50 of the world’s leading digital platforms, Aleph connects media, payments and local market expertise to enable platforms and businesses to grow and operate globally with speed and compliance. With teams in more than 90 offices worldwide, Aleph combines global scale with deep local execution. Beyond business impact, Aleph drives digital inclusion through its education initiative, Digital Ad Expert, recognized by UNESCO’s Global Skills Academy.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/openai-increases-its-chatgpt-ads-presence-in-44-countries-through-an-exclusive-reseller-partnership-with-aleph-302937218.html

SOURCE Aleph Group, Inc

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