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Share Tweet Share Share Email You’ll never believe this based on their recent price action, but Stellar ( XLM) and Litecoin ( LTC) were once mainstays among the top 20 crypto leaders by market capitalization. But that was a good seven years ago—back when Stellar and Litecoin’s price action were at all-time highs. Fast forward to today, and Stellar and Litecoin have fallen precipitously out of the top 20 crypto list, remaining but mere shadows of their former selves even as the market turns bullish. The prognosis is better for innovative newcomers with unlimited upside to pump—one of which is multichain DeFi protocol Lunex Network . Interest in Lunex presale moons amid bullish market sentiment DeFi is being tipped for a major comeback in 2025. That makes investing in undervalued gems with significant potential to capture the incoming liquidity explosion in the sector the big-brained play. One of those opportunities appears to have arrived with the launch of the cross-chain DeFi protocol Lunex Network , which aims to solve the interoperability hurdle that has hampered the wider adoption of blockchain technology. Through the self-custodial Lunex Wallet, users will be able to swap and trade 50,000 tokens across 40 blockchains, reducing the friction involved with having to manually perform the tedious task of connecting your wallet to a potentially vulnerable bridge and wrap your tokens to trade them on the blockchain of your choice. With Lunex Network, every aspect of managing your portfolio—staking, swapping, and interacting with Web3 protocols—is at your fingertips. Through its ability to streamline the Web3 and DeFi user experience, Lunex Network could be in line to play a role in onboarding new users. In turn, that could translate to a parabolic pump for its native token, $LNEX, in 2025. Given its low cap status, Lunex can very well outperform big caps in the list of top 20 crypto tokens by market cap, making it an intriguing play for big game hunters. Can Litecoin price break into the top 20 crypto by market cap? Litecoin hasn’t been “right” since Bitcoin minted its historic all-time high in 2021. Prior to Bitcoin’s first “moon,” Litecoin prices had generally followed the same chart as Bitcoin. Since then, however, Litecoin prices have diverged, leading to a sensational crash. That makes a retest of its 2021 all-time high of $410 look unlikely. Nevertheless, Litecoin ‘s utility for online payments has kept it hovering within earshot of the top 20 crypto list, even as it remains 79% below its all-time high. Stellar picks up the pace in November Stellar is another blast from the past that’s trying to make a comeback in 2024. Once written off as a relic of a bygone era, Stellar defied expectations by enabling smart contracts on its blockchain earlier this year. That has seemed to strike a chord with the investing public. In the past 30 days, Stellar has been on a blistering 150% gain, outpacing even Bitcoin in terms of monthly growth. Between Stellar and Litecoin , the former has more going for it to break into the top 20 crypto list. However, if we’re talking about potential gains, Lunex Network has the higher upside to go on a parabolic run compared to Stellar and Litecoin—making it the best choice for investors looking to make a profit with a small-cap blue chip. You can find more information about Lunex Network (LNEX) here: Website: https://lunexnetwork.com Socials: https://linktr.ee/lunexnetwork Related Items: Litecoin (LTC) , Lunex Network Share Tweet Share Share Email Recommended for you Top Crypto to Buy Before Christmas? Watch Out for Monero, Optimism, and Lunex Top Crypto Gainers You Can’t Afford to Miss: Mantra, Stellar, Lunex Token Discover Why Crypto Whales are Selling off FLOKI and BRETT in Lunex Network Migration CommentsEx-B.C. stock promoter Avtar Dhillon sentenced to prison for fraud in U.S. Former B.C. medical doctor turned stock promoter once teamed up with nephew convicted of drug trafficking to launch Canadian medical marijuana company. Graeme Wood Dec 5, 2024 3:00 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Previous Next 1 / 1 Avtar Dhillon as chairman of B.C. firm Emerald Health Therapeutics in 2018. YouTube screenshot Advertisement Expand Listen to this article 00:13:11 A former prominent Vancouver stock promoter residing in California has been sentenced to four months in jail and one year of supervised release for committing securities fraud through companies he directed in the U.S. In a federal court in Boston, Mass., on Wednesday, Avtar Singh Dhillon learned his fate from Judge Allison D. Burroughs after admitting in October 2022 to wilful failure to disclose stock sales, aiding and abetting the sale of unregistered securities and conspiracy to not disclose touting compensation. Dhillon duped investors Authorities had determined Dhillon and his corporate lawyer Daniel Martinez concealed ownership of shares for Boston-based Arch Therapeutics and New Jersey-based OncoSec Medical Inc. — two “fledgling” biotechnology companies Dhillon was chairman of the board for, between March 2011 and April 2020. Specifically, the U.S Attorney’s Office stated, Martinez made “misleading representations” directly and indirectly to stockbrokers in order to make it appear as if the shares held by Dhillon’s nominees were eligible for unrestricted sale to retail investors. Dhillon then clandestinely sold the shares for $2.1 million, profiting $1.5 million while Martinez gained just under $200,000. As such, Dhillon was ordered to repay $1.5 million as part of his guilty plea. Dhillon also participated in a securities conspiracy involving the non-disclosure of what the U.S. Attorney’s Office called “sham consulting and service agreements” to promote Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals (EHP) , a subsidiary of Dhillon’s B.C.-based investment firm Emerald Health Sciences. Dhillon and the subsidiary (EHP) already settled fraud allegations in separate civil proceedings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) while Martinez pleaded guilty to criminal fraud in October 2023 and was sentenced to one year of supervised release. Avtar Dhillon's Long Beach residence in 2021. File photo Dhillon lied under oath twice but gained leniency from judge Dhillon faced the prospect of up to 63 months in prison; however, his recommended sentence was lowered to 18 months after pleading guilty and testifying against his former business associates in a contemporaneous civil complaint launched by the SEC, in August 2021. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Drabick noted Dhillon lied to the SEC twice under oath thus “digging his hole deeper.” Drabick said Dhillon and Martinez “were not equal partners” and “to be sure, Dhillon directed Martinez to take certain actions at certain times throughout the course of their criminal activity” and Martinez also never lied under oath. Drabick said Dhillon’s guilty plea and consideration for his two young children played a role in lowering the sentencing recommendation. But Burroughs was much more lenient on Wednesday after hearing from Dhillon, who resides in a US$12-million, 9,300-square-foot, yacht-lined waterfront home in Long Beach, Calif. “Avtar Singh Dhillon stands humbly before this Court, having reflected deeply on his conduct, anguished by the hurt to which he has exposed his daughter, son, and wife, and full of genuine remorse for the pain he has caused to his family, friends, and colleagues,” Dhillon wrote to the court in a pre-sentencing memorandum wherein he requested no prison time, no fine and two years of probation. Dhillon stated how he was not a U.S. citizen, unlike his wife Diljit Bains, and that “this case may ultimately have immigration consequences.” Bains stated in a letter to the court her husband’s crimes were contrary to the values she perceived himself to live by: “honesty, compassion, ambition, integrity, hard work, and the desire to make a positive impact on the world.” Bains hails from a prolific farming family, the daughter of the late “Peach King” Didar Bains, who has operations in B.C. Dhillon submitted, via his lawyer George W. Vien, that he wished to “rebuild and repair the relationships in his life, including within his family.” A family doctor before working in Vancouver’s capital markets Dhillon, 63, touted a rags-to-riches type story, telling the court how he was disadvantaged as an immigrant child from Punjab growing up in Canada due to discrimination and bullying as well as a father troubled by alcohol-fuelled violence. But Dhillon overcame those disadvantages, working “in far-away fields under inhumane conditions” but ultimately graduating with a medical degree at the University of B.C. in 1988. However, after a short stint practising medicine, he turned to investment work in the 1990s and moved to the U.S. in 2001 before marrying Bains in 2004. Dhillon’s corporate work occurred largely in the medical and biotechnology fields after graduating from medical school. He once claimed, after an initial career as a medical doctor, to have raised more than $1 billion from investors. Dhillon is the past chairman of the Cannabis Canada Council and is a former member of the securities practice advisory committee to the B.C. Securities Commission. The commission has taken no regulatory action against him, to date. Dhillon part of $1B fraud scheme alleged by SEC and FBI; associated with David Sidoo But south of the border, Dhillon had been subject to an intensive, widespread investigation from the SEC and Federal Bureau of Investigation for his part in an unprecedented and widespread $1-billion stock fraud scheme orchestrated, in part, from Vancouver, between 2011 and 2019, according to the authorities. In August 2021, the SEC filed a civil complaint against Dhillon, who initially pleaded the fifth only to finally admit to his part in the scheme and agree to testify against his associates, allowing him to avoid further criminal charges of obstruction. Dhillon testified in the civil trial that involved seven other B.C. residents since found liable of committing fraud. Some are facing criminal fraud charges in the U.S. Chief among them is former Vancouver lawyer and West Vancouver resident Fred Sharp . Sharp was deemed to be the “mastermind” of the scheme, setting up offshore shell companies to conceal shares for so-called “control groups” of individuals who secretly obtained vast amounts of shares of otherwise low-value public companies they secretly controlled. Dhillon testified in 2023 how he raised money for another of his companies OncoSec Biomedical from B.C. residents Paul Sexton, Mike Veldhuis — who face criminal fraud charges — as well as another former prominent Vancouver stock promoter David Sidoo. Sidoo is allegedly part of a separate control group led by former B.C. resident Ronald Bauer, who pleaded guilty last month to what the U.S. Attorney’s Office called a “sprawling ‘pump-and-dump’ scheme involving the shares of numerous U.S.-based issuers that preyed on ordinary, retail investors.” The SEC charged Sidoo with civil fraud offences in April 2022, nearly two years after he was sentenced to jail for criminal wire fraud for his participation in the U.S. college admissions and bribery scandal. Sidoo’s own case involves other companies not associated with Dhillon. The SEC complaint alleges Sidoo conducted a “pump and dump” through B.C. company American Helium, which sold shares in U.S. markets. The allegations against Sidoo remain unproven as his trial is adjourned for the U.S. Attorney’s Office to clear up criminal cases of alleged co-conspirators (one of them being Bauer). Sidoo continues to reside in a home valued at about $35 million on Belmont Avenue in Vancouver’s West Point Grey neighbourhood near UBC; he has not been pursued by Canadian authorities. Eight B.C. residents owe over US$110 million in monetary orders stemming from the SEC fraud complaint, albeit some are currently appealing the amounts and Sharp never responded to the SEC claiming he was not properly served. The residents are also contesting efforts by the SEC to seize B.C. assets under civil forfeiture claims . Sharp has since been banned by the B.C. Securities Commission and owes the SEC US$52.9 million. As for Dhillon, in September 2023 he was ordered to pay back US$9.1 million , representing the net profits gained as a result of his fraud through OncoSec. He is also to pay US$1.3 million in interest. Of the US$10.4 million, US$1.5 million will be offset from his criminal sentence. Dhillon is also permanently banned from participating in penny stock trading (defined as any equity or security below a price of $5) and related business activity with public companies and stockbrokers in the U.S., although he is still free to conduct business in Canada. Organized crime links to Dhillon’s Canadian company Dhillon also directed Vancouver-based medical marijuana company Emerald Health Therapeutics in the Lower Mainland before running afoul with the SEC in 2021. The company operated out of Richmond, where Dhillon leased land to it, according to company filings. Therapeutics was controlled by Emerald Health Sciences, whose shareholders include companies alleged to be controlled by Sharp, Sexton, Taylor and Delta resident Jackson Friesen (also facing criminal charges). One of Therapeutics’ co-founders is Dhillon’s nephew Yadvinder Singh Kallu, a U.S.- convicted drug trafficker who was sentenced to nine years in a New York federal prison in 1999 after being caught running drugs and cash in Los Angeles for a transnational organized crime network. Kallu was able to obtain Health Canada medical marijuana growing licences for Therapeutics along with his brother Kris Kallu, on their parents’ property in Richmond. Meanwhile, Dhillon touted the company’s controversial proposal to build cannabis greenhouses on his Richmond farm property. Therapeutics has since been absorbed by Skye Bioscience Inc., a company now being investigated by California law firms, including Schall Law Firm , for alleged securities fraud after being sued by a whistle-blowing employee. Two years prior to the Skye takeover, the Kallu property associated with Therapeutics was raided by Delta police in October 2020 under “Operation Big Smoke” and is now subject to a civil forfeiture claim by the provincial government after police asserted an illegal marijuana grow-op was taking place under the guise of a medical marijuana company. Police have linked the grow-op to organized crime, including the Hells Angels. Notably, one Hells Angel member has been alleged to have operated a control group with Sharp; Courtney Vasseur now faces extradition to face criminal securities fraud charges . Evidence tendered by the SEC purports to show text messages from Sharp to an associate cautioning the associate to the risk of leaving evidence of money laundering for the Hells Angels: "On aug 12 u wrote a draft for grand yachts against cash. Cld u pls explain to me how this is legitimate payment? My concern is money laundering: hells angels gives us cash, we give them a draft to buy a boat. Later, boat is seized, polic investigate, find out charterhouse paid for it; visit us and ask why. What will u say?" Dhillon’s family feud continues in B.C. courts With respect to Dhillon’s family, it is his nephew Kris Kallu who is suing Dhillon and Emerald Health Sciences, claiming the firm was a “sham” to serve as a “conduit for undisclosed payments” for chosen shareholders. Kris Kallu claims he was Therapeutics' co-founder and cultivator, using his blueberry farming skills, however a falling out took place in 2018 over share compensation. It was the September 2021 indictments against Dhillon and Sharp that also led Kris Kallu to use a 2019 Emerald securities registry to email shareholders about the proceedings. As a result, Emerald filed for an injunction against Kallu, claiming he violated privacy provisions, but was unsuccessful . [email protected] See a typo/mistake? 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SigmaTron International, Inc. Reports Financial Results For the Second Quarter of Fiscal 2025
How to Watch Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Games – Saturday, November 23After Trump's win, Black women are rethinking their role as America's reliable political organizersType: color ink tank printer Functions: Print, scan, copy, mobile fax (send only) Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi Data storage slots: none Print speed: 15ppm (mono) Max paper size: Letter/A4 Max print quality: 4,800 x 1,200 dpi Memory: 128MB Apple AirPrint: yes Consumables included: 5 x 80ml ink bottles (8,000 color or 6,000 black pages) Dimensions/Weight: 723 x 435 x 285 mm (WxDxH)/71.4lb/32.4kg The HP Smart Tank 7001 (or 7005 in the UK and Europe) is a refillable inkjet aimed at the home or the office. It’s a neat desktop design with enough room for 250 sheets of Letter paper in its protruding tray and a Letter-sized scanner bed on top. Self-healing dual-band wi-fi and Bluetooth are built in and it can auto-duplex, but there’s no multipurpose input tray and no touchscreen. If that seems mean for a printer costing around US$260 (£230), remember that this is a supertank, so you’ll save money on ink in the long term and there’s a generous amount of ink in the box. But Smart Tank makes up a relatively small part of HP’s printer line-up so let’s see how it compares to the best ink tank printers , from MegaTanks to EcoTanks, currently crowding the market. HP Smart Tank 7001: Design and build The HP Smart Tank 7001 (let's stick with the US name now) looks pretty sharp with its crisp lines, light basalt livery and seamlessly integrated ink tanks. It’s only a pity the paper tray sticks out at the front like that, because it makes the footprint larger than that of its two nearest rivals, the Canon PIXMA G3270 and Epson EcoTank ET-2850 . But being larger, does enable it to hold more paper. With room for 250 sheets of Letter, or A4 paper instead of the 100-sheet capacity of its peers, it could serve an office more efficiently. The four ink reservoirs are about the same size as those of the Canon and Epson, holding 70ml of each colored ink and 135ml of black. That’s enough to keep you printing for two years, according to HP in the US. In the UK, HP says three years because there’s one extra bottle in the box, so I’ll take both claims with a very large pinch of salt. Clear plastic windows into these tanks make it easy to check your levels at a glance, which is important because running out of ink can allow problematic air bubbles into the system. The tiny two-line display is not backlit, so it’s harder to see, as are the small black buttons of the up-facing control panel. HP Smart Tank 7001 at HP US for $399.99 The plastic casing and the various plastic flaps all feel rather flimsy, especially the scanner cover. The glass scanner platen is also Letter-sized, offering a more satisfactory way to scan documents than a phone camera. There’s a connection at the back for a USB data cable, but no front USB Host port and no Ethernet port. Lift up the scanner and you’ll see the lids of the four ink tanks and the two moving printheads. Unlike Epson and Canon’s printers, these print heads are replaceable, which could be an advantage. HP Smart Tank 7001: Features & specifications Compared to the best all-in-one printers at this price point, the features list might look a little thin, but remember that this is a supertank so you’re benefiting from the low running cost and plentiful inbox ink. There’s no touchscreen, for example, no USB Host port, no ADF (automatic document feed), no NFC and no multipurpose input. It’s a similar story with Epson and Canon’s entry-level ink tanks. It does come with dual-band wi-fi with Apple AirPrint compatibility and a scanner. It does not possess an inbuilt fax modem, but it can receive and print a fax by using the HP Smart app to harness your smartphone. If you want to send a fax, you’ll need to step up to the $400 HP Smart Tank 7602, which also sports an ADF. One thing the HP Smart Tank 7001 does offer over and above the competition is Bluetooth, which I found to be a real advantage during the initial setup procedure. HP Smart Tank 7001: Setup and operation The setup process for the HP Smart Tank 7001 is similar to any new inkjet, except for two extra steps. You have to pour your ink from bottles into the tanks and attach the two printheads. The easiest way to get started is to download HP’s companion app called HP Smart and use that to get your printer onto your local wi-fi network. Making a wi-fi connection with a new printer always feels like it’s in the hands of the gods, but Bluetooth connecting is more reliable. Letting your smartphone then share your wi-fi details saves you from having to type in the password, something that would take ages using the printer’s primitive non-touchscreen display. Pouring ink into the tanks is not too fiddly, but neither is it completely fool-proof, as it is with Canon and Epson’s systems. I’ve read user reviews where new owners have spilled ink and even poured it into the wrong tank, so be careful! I found that pouring in three quarters of each bottle was not enough to satisfy the HP’s sensors. Unlike Canon and Epson, you need to fill to the brim to proceed with setup. The only disadvantage of a ink tank printer is that transporting them when the tanks are full is a potential hazard. In operation, the HP Smart Tank 7001 is fine, although there’s no denying that it would be easier with a touchscreen interface. The two-line display is not easy to see. HP are probably assuming that we’ll all be using the app on our smartphones and laptops to control the printer and to be fair, that is the best way to do it. HP Smart works equally well on iOS, Android, Windows, Mac and Chrome. The only problems I encountered were paper jams, or to be precise, the printer’s failure to turn pages in order to print the other side when auto duplexing. This happened any time the paper in the tray was less than perfectly flat. HP Smart Tank 7001: Performance The HP Smart Tank 7001 performed some tasks well, and others poorly. Consecutive pages of text appear at a rapid and reliable rate of 15 per minute in simplex mode and the characters look black and bold with no overrun. At point size four, everything is still legible and whenever I try to smudge the print with my thumb as the pages emerge, the pigment ink is already set and smudge resistant. The same is true in draft mode. The print is just slightly paler and less sharp, but still acceptable. The problem comes when auto duplexing as any slight crease in the paper prevents the printer from turning the page successfully. After printing one side, the paper is thrust out and drawn back in ready to turn, except that it cannot seem to align the paper in order to pull it all the way in. You can play tug of war with the stricken page until it’s aligned correctly, but most of the time the printer gives up and flashes an error message instead. From trawling user reviews, I can see I’m not the only one to experience this problem. In simplex mode, the HP printed successfully on a range of paper stock, from 4” x 6” glossy photo paper to card up to 200g/m2 in weight. That’s not actually very thick and the fact that its rivals can handle 300g/m2 card suggests that the HP just isn’t very good at handling paper. Printing in color shows how vibrant HP’s ink is. Color documents really catch the eye with their bright reds and blues. With photos on photo paper, the colors look a little too bright making them feel unrealistic. So, while photos are initially quite pleasing for their strong detail and bold colors, they don’t stack up against photos from a dedicated photo printer. The scanner worked flawlessly despite the disconcerting way its light flashes the whole time the scanner lid is open. You can hit the copy button on the machine or scan using the HP Smart app where you have the option of choosing the number of copies and to reduce or enlarge them. The scan resolution is 1,200dpi and the duplicates look almost as sharp and only slightly paler than the original. HP Smart Tank 7001: Consumables HP’s bottled ink is around 80 percent cheaper than its cartridge ink, but it’s essentially the same stuff. In this case, the three colors, cyan, magenta and yellow are dye-based while black is a pigment. That’s quite common with office inkjets where a pigment black, which is more resistant to smudging and fading, works best for black and white text handouts, while dyes are better suited to color images. There are five or six ink bottles in the box depending on where you purchased the printer. The 135-ml bottle of black ink (HP 32XL) yields 6,000 monochrome pages, while the three 70ml bottles of C/M/Y should yield 8,000 color pages. That’s an order of magnitude more than the ink in one of HP’s inkjet cartridges. HP Smart Tank 7001: Maintenance Just like any of the best inkjet printers , ink tank printers don’t like being left unused for long periods because the liquid ink dries on the printhead, clogging the nozzles. To clean it you can usually just run a printhead cleaning cycle or two, and because bottled ink is relatively cheap, that’s less of a problem for supertanks. This printer is somewhat unusual in having two replaceable printheads, one black and one tricolor. Assuming this doesn’t mean they are prone to failing, it suggests that the printer’s operational life can be extended by simply buying new print heads, which are reasonably priced. HP Smart Tank 7001: Final verdict Supertank printers often appear overpriced because we’re used to cartridge-based inkjets being subsidized by the inflated cost of their cartridges, but that razor-and-blades business model does not apply here. Comparing the HP Smart Tank 7001/7005 with other supertanks suggests that it’s pretty fair value. There’s no touchscreen display, no NFC, no ADF and only one input, but it does have other features. There’s a decent Letter-sized scanner and strong wireless connectivity with dual-band wi-fi and Bluetooth. The 250-sheet paper capacity beats its nearest supertank rivals and there’s a useful amount of bottled ink in the box. It prints both monochrome and color documents well and fairly quickly too, but it’s not great with photographs, which look a bit garish. And it’s not great at handling paper stock. The 200g/m2 card limitation is very light and the trouble it had during the test in turning over imperfect sheets of paper while duplexing is a concern. There’s no doubt HP’s bottled ink printer offers better value than a comparable cartridge-bound HP, but it faces strong competition from other supertanks by Canon and Epson. Canon’s equivalent offers better photo quality, while Epson beats HP on overall performance. However, with its higher paper capacity and faster print speed, the HP Smart Tank 7001/7005 is better qualified for an office job. Find a unit for the home and office in our round-up of the best home printers around. ^ Back to topBlackhawks fire coach Luke Richardson in his 3rd season after league-worst start
FBI director says he intends to resign at end of Joe Biden’s termNoneJD Martin Expands Representation of Dialight into North and South Carolina
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 20, 2024-- Mitel, a global leader in business communications, enters 2025 ideally positioned to capitalize on growing market demand for flexible and secure hybrid cloud deployment models, especially in enterprise business communications. With a global customer base of more than 70 million users following its acquisition of Unify, the company has celebrated several significant milestones over the past year. This includes the rollout of a combined portfolio strategy and the launch of Mitel’s Common Communications Framework, which together provide a blueprint for organizations who need to maintain a consistent communications experience regardless of the deployment model while taking advantage of vertically integrated and multimodal unified communications (UC) solutions. The framework aligns with new research that shows 91% of enterprises prioritize a hybrid approach to meet their evolving business objectives and positions Mitel as a top contender to dominate the largest segment of the business communications market for years ahead.* This year, Mitel also announced a series of strategic partnerships that bolstered its AI Ecosystem. In September, the company announced it would work with Zoom to deliver an AI-first hybrid communications and collaboration solution. Plans were also announced to fully integrate new AI-powered capabilities into Mitel’s contact center solutions, including Mitel CX, a new AI-powered customer experience platform to be released in early 2025. These powerful, purpose-built innovations enhance situational awareness through advanced analytics and productivity built around leading GenAI tools, ultimately improving customer experience. “Together with our partners and employees, Mitel has accomplished an incredible amount this year,” said Mitel president and CEO Tarun Loomba. “As we prepare for 2025, I am excited by the significant opportunities before us, particularly the surge in demand for hybrid communications solutions. We are playing from a position of strength with a portfolio designed to provide the flexibility and choice required to support workers on the frontline and into the office, meeting the demands of enterprise organizations globally. Our partnership with Zoom and the launch of Mitel CX also demonstrates our capability to deliver innovative solutions that drive value for our customers and partners while further propelling us toward our goal to be the global leader in UC.” "As outlined in the 2025 Aragon Research GlobeTM for Intelligent Unified Communications & Collaboration and the Aragon Research GlobeTM for the Intelligent Contact Center, Mitel has shown it can deliver reliable voice, communications, collaboration, and contact center platforms particularly in high consequence industries,” said Jim Lundy, Aragon Research, CEO & Lead Analyst. “Through its ongoing commitment to innovation and the integration of flexible, hybrid solutions, Mitel aims to empower organizations to improve both internal collaboration and customer engagement.” “Hybrid UC serves as Mitel’s strategic differentiation and is the backbone of its global go-to-market strategy,” said Dave Michels, Founder and Principal Analyst at TalkingPointz. “By combining a deep understanding of modern businesses' diverse needs with a commitment to flexible solutions, Mitel positions itself as a provider of comprehensive, tailored offerings that meet the evolving demands of today’s dynamic business landscape. Mitel 2024 Business Highlights Mitel 2024 Awards & Recognition * According to a June 2024 global survey of 1,954 organizations conducted by Mitel and Techaisle About Mitel A global market leader in business communications powering more than two billion business connections, Mitel helps businesses and service providers connect, collaborate, and provide innovative services to their customers. Our innovation and communications experts serve business users in more than 100 countries. For more information, go to www.mitel.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X @Mitel . Mitel is the registered trademark of Mitel Networks Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241220520521/en/ CONTACT: Mitel Public Relations Email:pr@mitel.com KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MARKETING ADVERTISING DIGITAL MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOURCE: Mitel Networks Inc Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/20/2024 03:25 PM/DISC: 12/20/2024 03:25 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241220520521/enADELAIDE, Australia , Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Fleet Space Technologies (Fleet Space), Australia's leading space exploration company, today announced the closing of a A$150M Series D funding round, led by Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG), the late-stage venture and growth investment arm of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, and joined by existing investors Blackbird Ventures, Hostplus, Horizons Ventures, Artesian Venture Partners, and Alumni Ventures. The new investment will be used to expand the capabilities of Fleet Space's global end-to-end exploration platform, ExoSphere, to accelerate the discovery of critical minerals needed for Earth's clean energy future. "The ability to meet the rapidly increasing demand for critical minerals presents a significant challenge to achieving global net-zero targets," said Rick Prostko , Senior Managing Director, Teachers' Venture Growth. "Current mineral exploration methods are inadequate for efficient discovery and production. Fleet Space addresses this with advanced 3D subsurface imaging and AI analysis tools, which have the potential to sustainably transform the industry. We are proud to support the multidisciplinary team at Fleet Space in their efforts to accelerate the global energy transition." "We're proud to continue our investment in Fleet Space, building on many years of history," added Niki Scevak, Partner at Blackbird. "Quite simply, the discovery of critical minerals must exponentially increase if we are to electrify our society by 2050 and breakthroughs, like ExoSphere, are needed to make it happen." Real-Time Exploration Powered by Space & AI Founded by former propulsion engineer at the European Space Agency, Flavia Tata Nardini , and aerospace entrepreneur, Matt Pearson , Fleet Space was created to harness the capabilities of space exploration technologies for a new wave of solutions that can accelerate decarbonisation and the global energy transition. By integrating Fleet Space's satellites in LEO, smart seismic sensors, and AI into an end-to-end solution, Fleet Space's ExoSphere technology streamlines the acquisition, processing, and integration of exploration datasets, providing the global mining industry with high-quality targeting insights faster than ever before while minimising environmental impact. "There are two versions of the future. One where we bend the latest advances in space, AI, and big data towards building a clean energy future and another where we risk net-zero targets falling out of reach as the rate of new discoveries of energy transition minerals continues to decline," added Flavia Tata Nardini , CEO & Co-Founder of Fleet Space. "With ExoSphere, we have combined these technologies into an end-to-end platform that seamlessly integrates with and compliments modern mining operations - making the frontier of exploration technology accessible to the global mining industry within a single workflow. This is a fundamental step to unlock humanity's potential for making extraordinary discoveries with less environmental impact." Exponential Growth Today's announcement caps a period of exponential growth for Fleet Space. In the past year, Fleet Space has: Technology Roadmap for Explorers of New Worlds While advancing the capabilities of data-driven exploration on Earth with ExoSphere, Fleet Space has also laid the technology foundation to rapidly accelerate the exploration of new worlds. The smart seismic sensors used as part of Fleet Space's terrestrial ExoSphere system represent the technological precursor for its lunar variant - SPIDER - which will be deployed on the Moon in 2026 to enhance humanity's understanding of the lunar subsurface. Collaborating with MIT Media Lab's Space Exploration Initiative , Fleet Space is also helping to advance off-world research needed for the planning of future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Additionally, Fleet Space unveiled a cost-effective, resilient full duplex SATCOM system using microsatellites and reprogrammed Centauri-4 to become the world's smallest voice-enabled satellite . "The convergence of innovation in space, AI, and 3D subsurface imaging represents a foundational pillar of the core technology set that will enable humanity to build permanent research stations on the Moon, Mars, and beyond," said Matt Pearson , Chief Exploration Officer at Fleet Space. "The flywheel we've created by continuously enhancing the subsurface understanding of Earth through the global deployment of ExoSphere simultaneously drives advances in the technology needed to build highly scalable, data-driven exploration systems for new worlds. A bold new chapter in the history of space exploration is about to begin and we are positioned to play a significant role as humanity boldly ventures deeper into our solar system." About Fleet Space Technologies Fleet Space Technologies , Australia's leading space exploration company, is revolutionizing critical mineral discovery with its end-to-end mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, which combines satellite connectivity, 3D multiphysics, and AI to image mineral systems in real-time. Over 40 leading exploration companies like Rio Tinto, Barrick Gold , and Core Lithium have used ExoSphere's real-time 3D subsurface imaging on projects across five continents. Due to global demand for ExoSphere, Fleet Space's international footprint has expanded to the US, Canada , Chile , and Luxembourg with over 130+ employees, representing 37 nationalities, worldwide. In 2024, Fleet Space was recognised as the winner of the Innovation category at the Mining Technology Excellence Awards and received the Climate Impact Technology Award by the Banksia Foundation. To learn more about ExoSphere, please reach out to the Fleet Space team here . About Teachers' Venture Growth Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG) focuses on late-stage venture and growth equity investments in cutting-edge technology companies worldwide. We partner with founders with bold missions, looking to expand their product offering, scale geographically, and become the leaders in their markets. We bring long-term thinking and active investing to help build better businesses and a better world. We think globally and act locally through our direct presence across Asia , North America and Europe . TVG is part of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers'), a global investor with net assets of CAD 255.8 billion as at June 30, 2024 . We invest in more than 50 countries in a broad array of assets including public and private equities, fixed income, credit, commodities, natural resources, infrastructure, real estate and venture growth to deliver retirement income for 340,000 working members and pensioners. Our more than 450 investment professionals operate in key financial centres around the world and bring deep expertise in a broad range of sectors and industries. We are a fully funded defined benefit pension plan and have earned an annual total-fund net return of 9.3% since the plan's founding in 1990. At Ontario Teachers', we don't just invest to make a return, we invest to shape a better future for the teachers we serve, the businesses we back, and the world we live in. For more information, visit otpp.com/teachersventuregrowth and follow us on LinkedIn . Fleet Space Co-Founders, Flavia Tata Nardini (CEO) & Matt Pearson (CXO) Photo - https://mma.prnasia.com/media2/2578405/Fleet_Space_Series_D_Funding.jpg?p=medium600 Photo - https://mma.prnasia.com/media2/2578406/Fleet_Space_Co_Founders.jpg?p=medium600
Billionaire Elon Musk called Canada’s prime minister an “insufferable tool” on his social media platform today. Musk’s comments were in response to Justin Trudeau likening Kamala Harris’s defeat in the U.S. presidential election to an attack on women’s rights and progress. This afternoon, Trudeau met with provincial and territorial premiers to discuss Canada’s approach to negotiations with the U.S. Canada is facing a threat of a 25 per cent tariff hike from incoming president Donald Trump, who defeated Harris in the November election. Earlier this week, Trump taunted Trudeau on social media, referring to the prime minister as the governor of what he called the “Great State of Canada.” The post was an apparent reference to a joke Trump cracked at his dinner with Trudeau at his Mar-a-Lago estate nearly two weeks ago, where the president-elect teased that Canada could join the U.S. as its 51st state. Speaking on Tuesday night at an event hosted by the Equal Voice Foundation — an organization dedicated to improving gender representation in Canadian politics — Trudeau said there are regressive forces fighting against women’s progress. “It shouldn’t be that way. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. We were supposed to be on a steady, if difficult sometimes, march towards progress,” Trudeau said, adding he is a proud feminist and will always be an ally. “And yet, just a few weeks ago, the United States voted for a second time to not elect its first woman president. Everywhere, women’s rights and women’s progress is under attack. Overtly, and subtly.” In a post on X on Wednesday, Musk responded to a clip of Trudeau’s remarks, saying, “He’s such an insufferable tool. Won’t be in power for much longer.”Getting TAFE right would be a boon for the country