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The UK’s Fastest-Growing Fertility Clinic Begins International Expansion, Bringing the World’s Most Digitally Advanced AI-Powered Fertility Model to Brazil

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Avenues expands internationally through a strategic partnership with Brazil’s leading fertility experts.

LONDON and SÃO PAULO, July 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Avenues, the UK’s fastest-growing fertility clinic, today announced the launch of Avenues Brazil in São Paulo, marking the company’s first international expansion and the next step in its mission to make world-class fertility care more accessible through artificial intelligence, digital innovation and compassionate care.

Only two years after opening its flagship clinic in London, Avenues has become the UK’s fastest-scaling fertility provider and is preparing to open its second UK clinic in Cambridge in autumn. Now, through a strategic partnership with four of Brazil’s most respected leaders in reproductive medicine, the company is bringing its pioneering model of care to Latin America.

Built to Scale Compassion Without Compromising Quality

When Dr Cristina Hickman founded Avenues in January 2024, the ambition was never simply to build another IVF clinic. It was to create a new blueprint for fertility care, one that combines world-leading embryology, artificial intelligence, robotics, complete digitalisation and compassionate care into a model that can be replicated globally without compromising quality.

Purpose-built from the ground up, every Avenues clinic operates on a fully digital platform that captures more clinical and operational data than any IVF clinic worldwide. Artificial intelligence supports clinicians by reducing administrative burden, optimising laboratory and clinical workflows, personalising patient care and continuously improving decision making. The result is a more efficient clinic, a better patient experience and greater access to high-quality fertility treatment.

Its modular clinic design enables rapid expansion while maintaining identical clinical standards across every location, allowing Avenues to scale without compromising the quality of care that defines the brand. That vision has translated into unprecedented growth.

Since opening in 2024, Avenues has experienced unprecedented growth, now performing approximately 170 egg collections every month, more than 2,000 annually, making it one of the UK’s largest private fertility clinics by treatment volume. The clinic has reached a scale achieved by only a handful of established fertility centres, most of which have taken decades to reach this level, while Avenues has delivered year-on-year growth of more than 227%..

Benchmarking against HFEA-registered clinic data suggests that no UK private fertility clinic has documented a comparable growth rate.

“Our ambition was never to build one exceptional clinic,” said Dr Cristina Hickman, Founder of Avenues, the 13th IVF clinic she built. “It was to build a model capable of bringing exceptional fertility care to millions more people. Technology should never replace compassion, it should amplify it. By removing inefficiencies, giving clinicians better information and creating a truly connected patient journey, we can deliver better care, better outcomes and make fertility treatment more accessible. Brazil is the first step in building a global network of AI-enabled fertility centres.”

A Partnership Built on Shared Excellence

Brazil is recognised internationally for excellence in reproductive medicine, with a long history of scientific innovation and clinical leadership.

Avenues Brazil brings together four highly respected leaders whose expertise spans clinical care, embryology, laboratory science, healthcare innovation and operational excellence.

Dr Edson Lo Turco | internationally recognised reproductive scientist and embryologist with more than 25 years of experience leading innovation, research and laboratory excellence in assisted reproduction.Bernardo Lamounier de Moura | healthcare entrepreneur, clinical embryologist and fertility executive specialising in laboratory operations, governance and scaling high-performing reproductive medicine organisations.Dr Luis Balducci | leading reproductive physician specialising in assisted reproduction, fertility preservation and complex fertility care.Fernando Prado Ferreira | CEO with more than 13 years of leadership experience driving innovation, digital transformation and strategic growth in reproductive healthcare.

Together, they will combine Brazilian clinical excellence with Avenues’ AI-native operating platform to create one of Latin America’s most technologically advanced fertility centres.

“Brazil has some of the world’s finest reproductive specialists,” said Fernando Prado Ferreira. “Avenues has developed one of the world’s most advanced fertility platforms. Bringing those strengths together gives us an extraordinary opportunity, not simply to open another clinic, but to redefine what patients should expect from fertility care. Together, we will build care where technology enhances every decision at every interaction and every patient journey.”

Dr Hickman added:

“Nearly fifty years ago, IVF transformed medicine forever. We believe artificial intelligence will transform how that medicine is delivered over the next fifty. This is not about replacing people with technology. It is about giving exceptional clinicians the tools they need to spend more time caring for patients while intelligent systems continuously improve every part of the patient journey. Our goal is simple: to make outstanding fertility care more accessible and more personal for families around the world.”

About Avenues

Founded in London in 2024 by Dr Cristina Hickman, Avenues is redefining fertility care through artificial intelligence, complete digital transformation and world-leading reproductive science.

The HFEA-licensed clinic has become the UK’s fastest-growing fertility clinic by treatment volume and the first to integrate AI throughout the entire patient journey. Its unique combination of intelligent technology, compassionate care, modular clinic design and advanced embryology is creating a scalable model for the future of fertility treatment.

Following the success of its flagship London clinic, Avenues is expanding across the United Kingdom and internationally,  with its second UK clinic opening in Cambridge in autumn 2026,  while Avenues Brazil marks Avenues’ first international partnership.

 

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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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Amy Johnson Appointed President of GDIT

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RESTON, Va., Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) announced today that Amy Johnson has been appointed as president of GDIT, effective November 3.

Johnson is a 27-year veteran of General Dynamics Mission Systems, where she held increasingly senior roles in engineering, engineering management and business leadership across cybersecurity, defense electronics, space and intelligence systems, most recently as vice president and general manager for Space, Cyber and Intelligence. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and computer systems engineering. 

“Amy has a proven track record of leading teams to solve complex and highly technical challenges for our customers,” said Phebe Novakovic, CEO of General Dynamics. “I am confident that her dynamic leadership, operational rigor and deep commitment to our values and culture will deliver value to our customers, employees and shareholders.”

GDIT delivers digital modernization, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and software development solutions to the U.S. federal government, defense, intelligence agencies and other customers. It is a business unit of General Dynamics, a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; ship construction and repair; land combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; and technology products and services. General Dynamics employs more than 120,000 people worldwide and generated $52.6 billion in revenue in 2025. More information is available at gd.com.

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Yazan Al Homsi Invests US$500,000 in Toronto Drone Maker Arcanus Aerial Systems

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Private investment comes as Arcanus builds out Canadian manufacturing capacity for autonomous aerial systems

DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Yazan Al Homsi, a UAE-based investor and managing partner of Catalyst Communications DMCC, has invested US$500,000 in Arcanus Aerial Systems Inc., a Toronto-headquartered developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems for defence, public safety and critical infrastructure customers. Al Homsi is an investor only and holds no operational, advisory or board role with the company. Other terms were not disclosed.

Arcanus is a Canadian-controlled company. It currently lists more than 15 platforms across heavy-lift, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), cargo, strike and counter-drone missions. According to the company, its published line-up includes:

AB 516e: a long-endurance vertical take-off fixed-wing aircraft rated for three hours of flight.AE 401: a counter-drone interceptor with a top speed of 300 km/h.AC 5250: a cargo platform with a 250 kg payload and a range of more than 2,300 km.

Alongside defence, Arcanus markets its systems for wildfire detection, search and rescue, Arctic sovereignty, border and maritime patrol, and pipeline and power line monitoring.

The company has spent 2026 assembling its domestic production base. In April, Arcanus signed a binding term sheet with Portugal-based Beyond Vision, granting it rights to manufacture, commercialize and support Beyond Vision’s unmanned aerial systems in Canada.

In June, Arcanus announced a five-year agreement appointing FeralX Systems Inc. as a non-exclusive Canadian contract manufacturer for several of its platforms.

“Canada has the engineering talent to build these systems at home, and recent years have shown how much depends on having that capacity domestically,” said Yazan Al Homsi. “What stood out to me about Arcanus was the manufacturing groundwork already in place: licensing, a production partner, and a range of aircraft that serves wildfire crews and search-and-rescue teams alongside defence customers.”

About Yazan Al Homsi

Yazan Al Homsi is a UAE-based investor and managing partner of Catalyst Communications DMCC, which he founded in Dubai in 2018. He was previously based in Vancouver, where he founded Founders Round Capital in 2017 and built a track record of investments in early-stage and small-cap companies. He earned a finance degree from McGill University in 2004 and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Before turning to investing, he spent more than a decade with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Middle East, rising to director and focusing on transaction due diligence and valuation.

Media Contact
Catalyst Communications DMCC
catalyst-wire@protonmail.com

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SOURCE Yazan Al Homsi

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