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Artelus wins Roche Drishti HealthTech Challenge

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Drishti HealthTech Challenge is a joint initiative by DPIIT and Roche Pharma India under the Startup India program80+ startups submitted their applicationsArtelus will receive a financial grant of INR 35 lakhs to co-develop and pilot its winning solution

NEW DELHI, June 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Leading healthcare startup ‘Artelus’ – an AI-based provider of healthtech solutions, aiming to enhance diagnosis and treatment for improved patient outcomes was recognised as the winner of Startup India’s Drishti HealthTech Challenge, a joint initiative by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and Roche Pharma India. This recognition is a testimony to the rapid progress made by homegrown health tech startups who are disrupting India’s healthcare landscape. 

Aimed at identifying and supporting healthtech startups in India to develop transformative, scalable solutions for some of the country’s most important health challenges, the Drishti HealthTech Challenge received high-impact applications from 80+ startups working in the areas of digital health.

The Jury comprising of retinal health experts, startup mentors and select members of the Roche India leadership evaluated the applications through a rigorous, multi-stage evaluation criteria focused on problem relevance, impact potential, market readiness, leadership credibility, and regulatory, legal & IP moats. Artelus emerged as the winner and will receive a financial grant of INR 35 lakhs to co-develop, enhance and pilot its pioneering solution in partnership with Roche Pharma India.

The award ceremony, hosted at the Swiss Embassy in New Delhi in the presence of Her Excellency, Mrs. Maya Tissafi, Ambassador of Switzerland to India and Bhutan, marks another milestone in Indo-Swiss collaboration, driven by Roche’s partnership with Startup India and DPIIT to strengthen the healthcare ecosystem in India.

Her Excellency, Mrs. Maya Tissafi, Ambassador of Switzerland to India and Bhutan, said, “The Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement between EFTA and India has intensified the economic relationship between our countries. It creates a ground for exactly the kind of innovation we see today – such as this initiative by Roche Pharma India and Startup India, which creates platforms for entrepreneurs and supports opportunities for collaboration and brings us closer to real-world impact. I would like to offer special congratulations to the winning start-up, Artelus. Its work shows how healthtech can make early diagnosis more accessible and bring quality healthcare closer to those who need it.”

Shri Ateesh Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary, DPIIT, said, “Fostering an ecosystem where advanced technology seamlessly integrates with grassroots healthcare delivery is key to sustainable economic development. Initiatives like the Roche Drishti HealthTech Challenge underscore the immense potential of the Indian startup community to deliver high-impact solutions. Startup India, DPIIT remains committed to supporting open innovation frameworks that empower homegrown entrepreneurs to scale their impact across the country.”

Roche Pharma India Managing Director & CEO Rajji Mehdwan, said, “Retinal diseases are stealing sight across India. The healthcare community has clinicians dedicated to helping people and the medicines that can truly make a difference. What we didn’t have was a way to make early diagnosis accessible to everyone. Artelus solves that. Their offline AI technology brings screening to places we’ve never been able to reach before—expanding access to a much wider group of people. That changes everything. No patient should lose their vision to something preventable. Our partnership with DPIIT and Startup India reflects Roche’s unyielding commitment to India’s innovation ecosystem, nurturing local, home-grown solutions for India’s unique healthcare challenges.” 

About the winning solution

Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a rapidly growing public health crisis in India, with delayed diagnosis leading to preventable blindness. The Drishti HealthTech Challenge was launched to uncover scalable, tech-enabled solutions to address this gap.

Artelus’s winning innovation—DRISTi (Diabetic Retinopathy Screening)—is an instantaneous, CE Class 1 AI product that completely redefines point-of-care diagnostics. By building a one-of-its-kind ‘AI on a Chip,’ Artelus enables fully offline retinal screening that functions entirely without internet or cloud connectivity. Alongside their backpack-friendly, 5G-enabled OCT systems, this breakthrough tech democratizes healthcare by bringing comprehensive, transparent retinal diagnostics directly to the remotest corners of India.

Girish Somvanshi, Co-Founder & VP, Artelus, said, “Breakthrough therapies save vision only when patients access treatment in a timely manner. The Roche Drishti Healthtech Challenge recognizes the critical importance of closing that gap. At Artelus, we are building the infrastructure to ensure every patient is identified, referred, treated, and followed up – at a population scale optimized for India and the rest of the world.”

About the Roche Drishti HealthTech Challenge

The Drishti HealthTech Challenge, launched on the Startup India platform is a joint initiative by DPIIT and Roche aimed at strengthening India’s innovation ecosystem and advancing transformative solutions in healthcare. It invited applications from startups working in the following areas of retinal health:

AI driven early screening, referral, and treatment pathways for retinal diseasesA unified, interoperable RWE platform that can integrate with existing systems

About Artelus

Artelus is an award-winning Indian healthtech company building innovative AI-powered portable diagnostics, and digital health infrastructure to enable early detection and integrated management of retinal diseases. With a mission to make quality eye care accessible, affordable, and available to populations worldwide, its solutions are deployed across hospitals, public health programs, NGOs, and international markets, helping reduce avoidable blindness at scale.

About Roche Products (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Roche Products (India) Private Limited is as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Roche Group, the world’s largest biotech company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. For 80+ years, Roche has been dedicated to improving lives in India, evolving from Vitamins in the 1940s to advanced, differentiated medicines for cancer, ophthalmology, neurology and blood disorders. For more information, visit www.rocheindia.com

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Club Offers for Travel Enthusiasts in Canada

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TORONTO, Oct 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Travelzoo® (NASDAQ: TZOO), the club for travel enthusiasts, announces three of many new Club Offers for Club Members in Canada.

Rigorously vetted and negotiated for us travel enthusiasts:

$799—COSTA RICA WEEK WITH FLIGHTS & CAR
We think fall is an ideal time to visit Costa Rica; the scenery is lush and the crowds are gone. Drive between volcanic Arenal and the idyllic beaches of Tamarindo on this seven-night trip. Since it’s not as busy, we were able to negotiate a price that saves members up to $648 on departures through mid-December.

$899—BARCELONA: 5 NIGHTS WITH FLIGHTS
Explore Barcelona’s world-class museums and architectural masterpieces in the quieter winter months to pack more into your trip. You won’t waste hours in lines and can access top restaurants that are fully booked in summer. We save $300 on travel this January and February, when temperatures are still spring-like. Roundtrip flights from Toronto, hotel and daily breakfast are included.

$999—ST. KITTS GETAWAY FOR 2, REG. $2083
Most visitors to St. Kitts book months in advance, but when we pointed out that travel enthusiasts are more spontaneous, this resort gave us a terrific rate for stays this November and December. Spend four nights in Frigate Bay and get an upgraded Oceanview room, too.

Are you a travel enthusiast? Join the club today: https://travelzoo.com

Who are we?
We, Travelzoo®, are the club for travel enthusiasts. We reach 30 million travellers. Club Members receive Club Offers negotiated and rigorously vetted by our deal experts around the globe. Our relationships with thousands of top travel companies give us access to irresistible deals. Our club and its benefits are built around the lifestyle of a modern travel enthusiast.

Media Contact: 
Amanda Ieraci – Toronto
+1 437 866 8540
aieraci@travelzoo.com

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SOURCE Travelzoo

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Howard Hughes Holdings Set to Join S&P SmallCap 600

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NEW YORK, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HHH) will replace Arcosa Inc. (NYSE: ACA) in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective prior to the opening of trading on Wednesday, October 28. S&P 500 constituent CRH plc (NYSE: CRH) has acquired Arcosa in a deal that closed today, October 23.

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

October 28, 2026

S&P SmallCap 600

Addition

Howard Hughes Holdings

HHH

Real Estate

October 28, 2026

S&P SmallCap 600

Deletion

Arcosa

ACA

Industrials

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

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SOURCE S&P Dow Jones Indices

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Chelsea FC announces multi-year sleeve partnership with Sokin, the business payments and FX platform

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Chelsea FC name fast-growing fintech platform as Principal Partner

LONDON, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chelsea Football Club has today announced a multi-year partnership with Sokin, the embedded finance and payments company used by businesses worldwide. Sokin will be named a Principal Partner and Official Business Payments and FX Partner of Chelsea FC and Chelsea FC Women.

As a Principal Partner, Sokin will be represented on the sleeves of the Chelsea FC men’s, women’s and academy home, away, and third kits from the 2026/27 season.

The partnership brings together two ambitious London-headquartered organisations with worldwide reach – a club with millions of fans across the world and a fintech platform through which businesses move more than $11 billion a year. A club of Chelsea’s scale works in many currencies every day, with partners, competitions and supporters around the world, and needs a financial partner built to handle that.

Sokin gives finance teams business payments, multi-currency accounts, foreign exchange, checkout and treasury in one place, so they spend less time juggling banks and providers and keep more of what they move.

As Official Business Payments and FX Partner, Sokin will simplify how Chelsea FC sends, receives and manages money in the currencies the club operates in.

The Sokin logo will feature on the sleeve of the Chelsea shirt for the first time [when the men’s team host Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Saturday 24th October.]

Jason Gannon, President at Chelsea FC said:

“At Chelsea, we seek to partner with organisations that share our ambition and innovative mindset. Sokin’s expertise in business payments, and their focus on making both simpler for the businesses they serve, makes them a natural fit for the Club. We are pleased to welcome Sokin to the Chelsea family and look forward to working together in the years ahead.”

Vroon Modgill, CEO and founder at Sokin said:

“Chelsea plays on the biggest stage in world football, and its business runs in dozens of currencies. Sokin was built for that with regulated, multi-currency payments and foreign exchange for organisations that operate internationally. We’re proud to be the platform behind the business payments and FX of one of the most iconic teams in football. Sokin’s platform serves businesses in more than 170 countries. We’re thrilled to be partners for the season ahead. An organisation as sophisticated as Chelsea doesn’t leave its finances to chance.”

About Sokin

Sokin is the financial layer global business runs on. Businesses can transact, convert and hold money in 70+ currencies across 170+ countries. Some businesses use Sokin to manage global finance in-house. Others build it into their products to power financial experiences for their customers. Businesses move more than $9 billion a year on licenses Sokin holds in 36+ countries and infrastructure Sokin owns. Founded in 2019, Sokin has raised over $100 million from investors including Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and Prysm Capital.

About Chelsea Football Club

Chelsea Football Club is one of the biggest, most successful football clubs globally and our men’s team are reigning world champions, having won the four-yearly FIFA Club World Cup in 2025. Our women’s team, Chelsea Women, are also multiple trophy winners.

Founded in 1905, Chelsea is London’s most central football club, based at the iconic 40,000-capacity Stamford Bridge stadium. Nicknamed the Blues, the club lifted the Champions League for the first time in 2012 and domestically has won the Premier League five times, the FA Cup eight times, the Football League Cup five times and the Football League Championship once, in 1955.

The Chelsea Women’s team have enjoyed a huge amount of success and in 2025 won the FA Women’s Super League for a sixth consecutive year and the eighth time overall. The Women’s FA Cup has been won on six occasions. We have also captured the FA Women’s League Cup four times as well as reaching the UEFA Women’s Champions League final in 2021. In two seasons, 2020/21 and 2024/25, a domestic treble of trophies was secured.

The Chelsea Foundation boasts one of the most extensive community initiatives in sport, helping to improve the lives of children and young people all over the world.

Media Contacts:

Taina Biggs
taina.biggs@sokin.com 

Nerissa Chesterfield
nerissa.chesterfield@chelseafc.com 

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