Andrew Kassoy: Rewriting Capitalism with Heart

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By the time Andrew Kassoy co-founded B Lab in 2006, he had spent nearly two decades navigating the corridors of power in private equity.

He knew how the system worked—and more importantly, where it failed. That rare blend of insider expertise and outsider empathy positioned Andrew as one of the most influential architects of the sustainable business movement. His work didn’t just challenge capitalism. It redesigned it.

On June 22, 2025, Andrew passed away after a two-year battle with cancer. Yet the movement he helped build—a global framework for stakeholder capitalism—is stronger than ever, powered by the scaffolding of ideas and institutions he put in place. His vision continues to shape thousands of companies across six continents.

From Investor to Institutional Changemaker

Andrew’s pivot from finance to social innovation wasn’t born of impulse. It was a methodical reimagination. Together with friends Jay Coen Gilbert and Bart Houlahan, he launched B Lab, a nonprofit that would go on to formalize a new kind of enterprise: the Certified B Corporation.

The idea was bold—businesses governed not solely by shareholder interests, but by accountability to workers, customers, communities, and the environment. Under Kassoy’s leadership, B Lab grew into a global movement:

Nearly 10,000 certified companies now wear the B Corp badge, including household names like Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, and Danone.
Benefit Corporation legislation, backed and shaped by B Lab, has been adopted in over 40 U.S. states and more than 10 countries.
The B Impact Assessment—used by over 196,000 businesses—helps companies quantify purpose alongside profit.

His legacy is measured not in metrics alone, but in the moral recalibration he sparked.

Structural Reform as Social Justice

Andrew understood that real change needed more than good intentions—it required new laws, metrics, and institutions. He wasn’t content with surface-level corporate social responsibility. He fought for deep governance reform, shifting fiduciary norms and legal obligations toward stakeholders.

His work helped redefine:

Fiduciary Duty: Board members could now legally consider stakeholder impacts as part of their decision-making.
Corporate Purpose: Companies embraced long-term value creation rooted in equity and regeneration.
Public Trust: Transparency became the standard—not just in performance, but in accountability.

By rooting stakeholder capitalism in enforceable structures, Andrew gave it teeth. He transformed ideals into operating systems.

A Vision Grounded in Care

“Care must be the operating system of business,” Andrew declared in his final message with B Lab co-founders. It was more than a phrase—it was his manifesto.

He believed that capitalism’s true potential could only be realized when companies placed people and planet on equal footing with profit. For Andrew, stakeholder capitalism wasn’t about compromise—it was about correction. It was business in service of human flourishing.

He didn’t seek to abolish capitalism. He sought to elevate it—to make it accountable, inclusive, and regenerative.

Late-Stage Leadership and Enduring Impact

Even in his final chapter, Andrew remained focused on infrastructure and legacy:

He joined the advisory board of AIC Group Holdings, a B Corp-aligned holding company launched by Arowana in Singapore. His insights shaped their permanent capital structure, designed to preserve purpose through succession.
He became Chairman Emeritus of Nine Dean, a firm structured around stakeholder governance and inclusive growth.
He mentored founders, advised policymakers, and continued to catalyze what he called a “community of care”—where business is a conduit for healing rather than extraction.

His final days were marked not by retreat, but by resolve.

The Soul of a Movement

Andrew Kassoy didn’t just build a certification. He built a culture.

His ideas ripple across:

University curricula on sustainable enterprise.
Public policy debates on corporate law and fiduciary responsibility.
Investor mandates for ESG alignment.
Grassroots entrepreneurship in underserved markets.

Every B Corp, every CEO who chooses purpose, every investor who demands accountability owes something to Kassoy’s blueprint.

His impact isn’t just economic—it’s emotional. He invited business to care. And in doing so, he changed its course.

Carrying the Torch Forward

As stakeholder capitalism enters a new chapter, the foundations laid by Andrew Kassoy offer both guidance and grit. His work reminds us that transformation requires not just vision, but infrastructure—metrics, legal frameworks, and moral courage.

And most of all, care.

Andrew gave the business world a gift: the audacity to lead with heart.

For more news and insights, stay tuned to the Arowana website.

Funding the Future: How DeFi Is Unlocking a New Era for Impact Investing

Aligning capital with conscience has always been fraught with friction: slow fund flows, opaque reporting, limited access, and costly intermediaries. But for impact investing companies—those seeking social and environmental returns alongside profit—the emergence of Decentralised Finance (DeFi) is flipping the script.

Instead of relying on banks, brokers, and bureaucratic middlemen, DeFi uses blockchain-based smart contracts to power borderless, automated financial services. It’s fast. It’s transparent. And for those of us working to scale meaningful change, it’s becoming indispensable.

What Is DeFi, Really?

DeFi is more than crypto hype. It’s a new financial infrastructure—peer-to-peer, programmable, and radically inclusive. Built on public blockchains like XRP Ledger, it replaces traditional gatekeepers with software that enforces rules and executes transactions 24/7.

With DeFi, anyone with internet access can:

Invest in tokenised assets
Participate in lending and borrowing markets
Transfer funds across borders instantly
Monitor financial activity in real time via transparent, immutable ledgers

Smart contracts—self-executing code—automate the process, slashing costs and opening doors for innovation. For impact investors, this means more capital deployed with less delay—and more accountability along the way.

Why Impact Investors Are Paying Attention

At its core, impact investing is about funding good ideas that generate good outcomes—clean energy, affordable housing, access to education, and climate resilience. But until now, tracking those outcomes and moving money efficiently has been a challenge.

DeFi solves that. Here’s how:

Radical Transparency

Every transaction is recorded and visible—ensuring funds reach their intended purpose and results can be independently verified. Greenwashing? Not on our watch.

Streamlined Efficiency

No wire transfers. No paperwork delays. Smart contracts release funds automatically when impact milestones are reached. That means more time building and less time waiting.

Access and Inclusion

Global by design, DeFi allows investors anywhere—from billion-dollar foundations to retail contributors—to participate in fractional ownership of impact assets. The barriers are falling.

Smarter Impact Models

We’re now experimenting with tokenised impact—turning verified outcomes like solar energy output or reforested hectares into digital tokens. These tokens can be tracked, traded, and linked to performance-based funding.

Enhanced Liquidity

Traditional impact investments are often illiquid, tying up capital for years. With DeFi, tokenised assets can be sold or reallocated in secondary markets—giving investors flexibility without compromising purpose.

How It’s Already Happening

Across sectors and continents, these models are already transforming the game:

Decentralised Impact Funds automate capital flow to social enterprises, housing cooperatives, and clean infrastructure—enabling real-time reporting and milestone-triggered payments.
Tokenized Renewable Energy Projects in Latin America and Southeast Asia allow micro-investors to own slices of solar farms and trade their positions.
DeFi-Powered Microfinance Platforms deliver instant loans to underserved entrepreneurs in Africa and Asia—reducing overhead and boosting participation.
Impact DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organisations) empower communities to vote on funding allocations for local development, education, and climate response—with all decisions transparently recorded on-chain.

Infrastructure Meets Intention

What excites us most isn’t just the tech—it’s the alignment of DeFi’s architecture with impact investing’s values. The open-source, data-rich nature of blockchain creates fertile ground for integrity, scale, and equity.

Rewriting Capitalism

We’re now exploring deeper integration with DeFi platforms to create high-velocity impact capital ecosystems. We’re experimenting with conditional grants, verifiable on-chain KPIs, and token-based impact portfolios.

Because this is more than a financial upgrade—it’s an ethical evolution. DeFi gives us tools to rethink not just where our money goes, but what it does—and who it empowers along the way.

Business-as-usual? That’s not our lane. We’re building for regeneration, resilience, and radical transparency. And in DeFi, we’ve found a powerful co-architect.

For more news and insights, stay tuned to the Arowana website.

Funding the Future: How XRP Is Powering a New Era of Impact Investing

The movement toward transparent, efficient, and scalable capital for social good has found an unlikely ally in a digital asset once known primarily for cross-border remittances: XRP.

Built on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), XRP is rapidly gaining traction as a tool for impact investing, used by nonprofits, fintech startups, and blockchain innovators to fund projects that address critical social and environmental challenges.

From classroom grants and carbon credit tokenisation to developer ecosystems for ESG, XRP is quietly shaping the future of regenerative finance.

What Sets XRP Apart?

The appeal of XRP lies in its underlying architecture:

Near-instant transactions: Funds settle in seconds, not days

Ultra-low fees: Minimal cost per transaction maximises capital deployment

Immutable ledger: Public, auditable record of all activity

Built-in decentralisation: Enables secure access and borderless participation

These properties make XRP ideal for mission-critical funding environments, particularly in emerging markets or disaster zones where speed and accountability are paramount.

Direct Giving and Crypto Philanthropy

Charitable organisations have begun accepting XRP for donations, thanks to its seamless transfer mechanics and global reach:

Ripple Labs, a major contributor to XRP’s ecosystem, donated $29 million in XRP to DonorsChoose.org, funding every classroom project on the platform at the time.

Ripple for Good: Investing in the Infrastructure of Impact

Ripple’s Ripple for Good initiative demonstrates how strategic philanthropy and blockchain tools can converge:

Over $25 million committed to causes including STEM education, financial inclusion, and academic blockchain research.

Funding directed toward university partnerships, financial access pilots, and social enterprises—all partially powered by XRP grants.

Developer Grants for Global ESG Innovation

In a bid to support open-source projects focused on sustainability and inclusion, XRP community funds have seeded dozens of blockchain-based startups:

The XRPL Grants Program, backed by up to 1 billion XRP, has funded more than 50 projects tackling issues like climate finance, DeFi for underserved populations, and tokenised ESG tracking.

Impact-driven ventures include green NFTs, on-chain carbon accounting, and financial tools for unbanked communities.

These grants help accelerate the development of decentralised tools for meaningful social outcomes.

XRP Ledger for Tokenised Impact Assets

One of the most promising use cases is the tokenisation of real-world outcomes:

Carbon credits, microloans, and educational credentials can be represented as digital assets on the XRPL.

Smart contracts automate fund disbursement based on verified milestones—ensuring capital is released only when impact goals are achieved.

This structure creates transparent, performance-based funding systems that enhance donor confidence and project integrity.

Financial Inclusion and Cross-Border Efficiency

For projects operating across borders—especially in underserved regions—XRP offers:

Low-cost cross-border payments that deliver capital quickly and with minimal slippage

Blockchain-enabled financial access for those without formal banking, through mobile wallets and decentralised tools

Resilience in disaster zones, humanitarian crises, or volatile markets where traditional finance falters

The Bigger Picture: XRP as a Force for Good

The convergence of XRP’s technical infrastructure with a growing ecosystem of socially driven developers and funders signals a new chapter in digital finance. Impact investing, once constrained by traditional systems and limited visibility, can now tap into blockchain's transparency, speed, and automation to scale faster and more credibly.

From microfinance in remote villages to carbon offset verification across borders, XRP is proving that digital assets can do more than transact—they can transform.

VivoPower recently announced its XRP treasury strategy that reflects the company's measured approach to integrating digital assets into its broader sustainability efforts.

By allocating $121 million to XRP, VivoPower seeks to participate in the evolving XRP Ledger ecosystem while exploring its potential as a tool for funding impact-focused initiatives. This aligns with a growing interest in using blockchain-based assets to support projects that balance financial viability with long-term social and environmental value.

For more news and insights, stay tuned to the Arowana website.

Sustainability by Design: How Businesses are Turning Plastic-Free July into a Year-Round Movement

What began as a modest council-led initiative in Western Australia has evolved into a global movement with serious economic and reputational consequences. Plastic Free July, first launched in 2011 by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz and a handful of colleagues at the Western Metropolitan Regional Council, now mobilises over 190 countries and tens of millions of participants each year. For businesses, what was once seen as a well-meaning eco-challenge has matured into a proving ground for operational reform, consumer alignment, and long-term brand resilience.

At its heart, the campaign seeks to reduce the world’s dependence on single-use plastics — a goal that, on the face of it, may appear modest. But behind the substitution of coffee cups and cutlery lies a deeper proposition: that modern enterprise must be redesigned with sustainability as a core operating principle, not an afterthought.

The real impact of Plastic Free July lies in how it invites companies to confront a simple but uncomfortable question: how deeply embedded is plastic in our business model?

The campaign offers a blueprint for change — one that spans supply chains, procurement, workplace culture, and customer engagement. Unlike fleeting CSR campaigns of yesteryear, the momentum generated in July is often sustained long beyond the calendar turn.

The appeal of Plastic Free July is in part its clarity: reduce plastic use, and reduce it visibly. The objectives are tangible. Cut down emissions from plastic production and disposal. Shield marine ecosystems from the byproducts of convenience. Reassure consumers increasingly wary of greenwashing. And align with a regulatory environment that is steadily tightening its grip on wasteful packaging.

Turning commitment into action

For businesses, meaningful engagement starts with a candid appraisal of current practices. Waste audits, the unglamorous starting point of most success stories, help identify hotspots of plastic dependence, whether in logistics, foodservice, retail, or back-office operations.

From there, the interventions vary in ambition and scale. Some firms replace disposable items with compostable alternatives. Others go further, restructuring procurement policies, switching suppliers, or introducing refill systems. Financial incentives, competitions, and branded giveaways help nudge employee habits, while messaging across internal and external platforms reinforces the narrative.

In this regard, Plastic Free July operates as a cultural intervention. It creates an internal moment, a licence even, for teams to question the status quo, trial new approaches, and reframe what’s considered “normal”.

Quantifying the shift

The data from 2024 is compelling. Plastic Free July attracted 174 million participants worldwide, including thousands of businesses. An estimated 12 million tonnes of waste were avoided – of which 1.7 million tonnes were plastic. Businesses alone are thought to have cut around 390 million kilograms of plastic use during the campaign.

But the effects aren’t solely material. Organisations reported secondary benefits: greater employee engagement, deeper supplier partnerships, and more coherent sustainability messaging. And these benefits often cascade: a more engaged team tends to innovate more readily; better supplier dialogue can unlock further efficiencies and product differentiation.

Importantly, early adopters position themselves ahead of looming regulation. With jurisdictions from the EU to Southeast Asia introducing bans and penalties on single-use plastics, Plastic Free July offers a form of soft compliance – a way of getting the house in order before the auditors come knocking.

Innovation by necessity

Necessity, as the old adage goes, is the mother of invention. And Plastic Free July has become a kind of annual showcase for what’s possible when design, science, and intent collide.

Notpla, a British startup, has developed seaweed-based food packaging that’s both biodegradable and compostable. Their takeaway containers are now used by stadiums and food chains alike.
Ecovative in the US makes mushroom-root packaging for electronics, a compostable replacement for expanded polystyrene.
Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle, derived from corn and sugarcane, represents the beverage giant’s first serious step away from oil-based PET bottles.
Tesco, in collaboration with Loop, is trialling reusable packaging systems in-store, allowing consumers to return used containers for sanitisation and reuse.
Carlsberg’s move to glue-based can packaging has reportedly reduced plastic use by 76% for that product line alone.

These examples are not marginal curiosities. They are early glimpses of how materials science and systems redesign might rewrite packaging norms in the coming decade.

From symbolic gestures to systemic change

One of the most persistent criticisms levelled at corporate sustainability campaigns is their ephemerality. A new product launch, a green-washed social media post, a press release touting reduced emissions – and then business as usual.

Plastic Free July, by contrast, has a surprisingly robust track record when it comes to lasting change. Research indicates that 87% of participants make at least one enduring shift in behaviour post-campaign. In business settings, that has translated into:

The permanent removal of single-use plastics from offices, retail outlets, and supply chains.
The adoption of green procurement policies, demanding lower-waste options from third-party vendors.
A normalisation of refill culture — from water stations in meeting rooms to bulk-buying cleaning products.
Employee-driven innovation, with staff initiating sustainability hacks that later become institutionalised.

Take El Nido Resorts in the Philippines. Their post-campaign commitment to eliminating single-use plastics wasn’t limited to hospitality areas. It extended across housekeeping, transport, and supplier relations. Elsewhere, manufacturing firms have phased out plastic-based protective shipping materials in favour of biodegradable corn-starch foam.

For large organisations, these changes offer both reputational dividends and operational efficiencies. For smaller firms, they can open up new customer segments and supplier relationships.

A soft power play

With the growth of stakeholder capitalism, in which performance is judged as much by ESG ratings as by EBITDA margins, campaigns like Plastic Free July hold a peculiar power. They offer a shared cultural reference point – a window during which companies can test interventions, align teams, and communicate commitments.

But there’s also a degree of soft pressure at play. A visible absence from the campaign, especially among brands in retail, hospitality, or consumer goods, can raise eyebrows. Conversely, proactive participation is increasingly seen as a marker of foresight and integrity.

Beyond July: A lasting imprint

Ultimately, the plastic crisis is not going to be solved in a single month. Nor by a single campaign. But movements like Plastic Free July are helping to shift the cultural substrate on which business operates. They challenge the long-held notion that convenience must trump conscience, or that sustainability is always more expensive.

For many firms, July is a line in the sand. What follows – the audits, trials, new supplier relations, consumer communication strategies – is not merely follow-through. It is the new baseline.

The message is not simply to do less harm. It is to design better. And in doing so, to claim a place in a more circular, less wasteful economic future.

As with many transformations, the journey begins with small steps. But in a marketplace increasingly shaped by planetary limits and consumer expectations, the companies that walk the talk may find themselves not just compliant but competitive.

For more news and insights, stay tuned to the Arowana website.

VivoPower Announces Key Leadership Recruits

Suneet Wadhwa, ex Ripple Head of Investments, joins Board of Advisors

David Mansfield, ex VinFast CFO, has joined as group CFO

Keith Loose, ex Block.one blockchain and tech infrastructure leader, has joined as group CTO

VivoPower is pleased to announce key executive leadership appointments, namely David Mansfield as Chief Financial Officer and Keith Loose as Chief Technology Officer. In addition, Suneet Wadhwa, former Head of Investments at Ripple, has joined the Board of Advisors.

David Mansfield brings over 25 years of senior financial leadership experience across global capital markets, financial technology, and sustainable enterprises. He most recently served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of VinFast, a global electric vehicle manufacturer where he was a key member of the executive team that led it to a successful US$23 billion initial public offering (IPO) on NASDAQ. Prior to then, Mr. Mansfield held senior roles including as managing director at J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs, leading complex capital markets, trading, and structuring functions. He also brings entrepreneurial experience from founding and advising fintech ventures across Asia. Mr. Mansfield will lead VivoPower’s financial strategy, capital allocation, statutory reporting and investor engagement functions.

Keith Loose joins as Chief Technology Officer with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of enterprise technology, blockchain, and infrastructure architecture. He has held senior technology leadership positions at companies including Block Inc (CashApp Financial Platforms), Block.one, OSL Group, CLSA, and J.P. Morgan, with a strong focus on security, performance engineering, and financial platform development. At VivoPower, Mr. Loose will oversee the Company’s digital transformation, cybersecurity, and the buildout of its digital asset treasury infrastructure.

Suneet Wadhwa is a serial tech entrepreneur and executive with a distinguished 30-year career in Silicon Valley. He brings specific experience in the digital asset and decentralized finance industry and his role at VivoPower will be to build out the company’s DeFi strategy to generate yield on its XRP treasury and to spearhead DeFi investments in the XRPL ecosystem. At Ripple, Mr. Wadhwa led a US$500 million institutional investment portfolio, delivering a 4.2x MOIC and 77% IRR across 38 global investments. His track record includes successful exits such as BRD (acquired by Coinbase) and strategic positions in Forte, Flare, Kava, BitPay, and Mintable. His expertise will directly support VivoPower’s XRP treasury strategy and real-world integration across the XRP Ledger (XRPL). Prior to his role at Ripple, Mr. Wadhwa co-founded Snapfish, which was acquired by HP for US$300 million and was an early employee at Home Network where he was integral to the company’s growth through to their US$35 billion IPO.

Kevin Chin, Executive Chairman and CEO of VivoPower, said: “We are delighted to welcome David, Keith and Suneet to the VivoPower team. Each of them is highly experienced and credentialed in their respective fields, bringing exceptional track records in capital markets, digital asset, decentralized finance and blockchain technology to VivoPower. We have already been working closely with each of them as we execute on a number of significant strategic initiatives across VivoPower.”

To read the full press release, and to keep up with all of VivoPower’s releases, visit the company's Press Releases page.

Contact

Shareholder Enquiries

[email protected]

VivoPower and Flare Launch Definitive Strategic Partnership to Deploy US$100 Million in XRP for Institutional Yield

Marks first major execution of VivoPower's new corporate strategy and significant validation of the XRP ecosystem's utility for institutional treasury management

VivoPower is building a virtuous cycle—generating yield and using it to systematically increase its core XRP position, creating a perpetually compounding engine for shareholder value

VivoPower’s strategic transformation to an XRP-centric treasury is supported by a consortium of global shareholders, including His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Talal Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, reflecting a deep conviction in the long-term institutional role of the XRP asset

Flare Network is a $1.9bn coin market cap enterprise backed by Ripple Labs

VivoPower, a publicly traded company focused on an XRP-centric treasury strategy, today announced the launch of a definitive partnership with Flare to generate yield on its digital assets. The agreement initiates the deployment of VivoPower’s XRP holdings through a scalable framework, beginning with a benchmarked initial phase of US$100 million. This marks the first major execution of VivoPower's new corporate strategy and a significant validation of the XRP ecosystem's utility for institutional treasury management.

This definitive agreement marks a pivotal moment for institutional adoption within the rapidly expanding Flare ecosystem. The network has already demonstrated significant traction in the retail sector through partners like Uphold, a global digital asset platform serving over 10 million users with approximately US$7 billion in assets under reserve. VivoPower’s commitment now represents the crucial institutional validation of the ecosystem, establishing the first major treasury management use case on the network.

This partnership delivers the first institutional-scale validation of Flare’s FAssets system, establishing it as the essential programmable utility layer for the XRP ecosystem. The strategy is designed to be regenerative: VivoPower will generate yield via protocols on Flare, such as Firelight, and reinvest that income directly back into its core XRP holdings, creating a perpetually compounding and capital-efficient treasury.

Kevin Chin, Executive Chairman and CEO of VivoPower, said: “It’s no longer enough to simply hold XRP; the duty to our shareholders is to make it productive. This landmark partnership with Flare does precisely that—it puts our treasury to work. We are building a virtuous cycle: generating yield and using it to systematically increase our core XRP position, creating a perpetually compounding engine for shareholder value. Adopting Ripple’s RLUSD is a cornerstone of this strategy, providing the stability and compliance this next-generation treasury demands."

Hugo Philion, Co-Founder of Flare, said: “While the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is the proven standard for settlement, a new layer of utility is required to unlock the full potential of digital assets. We engineered Flare as the blockchain for data to be that layer, with enshrined protocols to securely access information from other chains and the real world.

“Our FAssets system is a direct application of that core technology. It is more than just a bridge; it’s a gateway that allows institutions to bring assets like XRP into programmable DeFi environments to generate yield, all while retaining their fundamental security. What VivoPower is pioneering today is an open invitation for all institutions to build on this new utility layer.”

XRPFi: The Standard for Institutional-Grade Digital Finance

This partnership pioneers the XRPFi standard—a necessary evolution of DeFi engineered specifically for the demands of institutional treasury management. This model is defined by its focus on three core principles: sustainably generated yield, unwavering regulatory clarity, and asset-backed security.

Such a standard can only be built upon the unique strengths of the XRP asset and the proven history of its underlying ledger. For over a decade, the XRPL, launched by Ripple in 2012, has been tested and trusted as the backbone for enterprise-grade finance, making it the only logical foundation for the next generation of tokenized, real-world assets.

VivoPower’s selection of XRP as its core reserve asset was a strategic decision, predicated on its unique standing in the market. Among digital assets, XRP offers a level of regulatory clarity and proven efficiency that is essential for a public company’s treasury. This established track record, combined with its architecture’s suitability for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), makes it the clear choice for a forward-looking financial strategy. To cement this ecosystem-first approach, VivoPower will hold Ripple’s forthcoming RLUSD stablecoin as its primary cash-equivalent reserve, ensuring stability and compliance across its entire digital treasury.

Flare: The Institutional-Grade Bridge for XRP Utility

VivoPower’s selection of Flare was the result of a rigorous evaluation of its technology, which serves as a secure, institutional-grade bridge for XRP to the DeFi ecosystem. Central to this is Flare’s FAssets system, a non-custodial protocol that enables XRP to be used in smart contract applications while preserving its native security model.

Flare’s broader ecosystem demonstrates significant readiness for institutional activity. Protocols essential to this strategy, such as the yield-generating Firelight protocol, are in place. The network’s ability to attract substantial liquidity has been recently demonstrated by the launch of the USDT0 stablecoin, which drove over US$90 million in new Total Value Locked (TVL). This robust infrastructure validates Flare’s role not as a replacement for the XRPL but as a complementary, programmable utility layer built to extend XRP’s reach into compliant, yield-generating finance.

Backed by Global Financial Leaders and XRP Ecosystem Veterans

VivoPower’s strategic transformation to an XRP-centric treasury is supported by a consortium of global shareholders, including His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Talal Al Saud of Saudi Arabia. This backing reflects a deep conviction in the long-term institutional role of the XRP asset.

Operationally, the strategy is guided by former senior leadership from Ripple in Asia, providing unparalleled ecosystem expertise. VivoPower will scale its engagement with Flare through targeted institutional partnerships and ecosystem activation programs.

This convergence of visionary strategy, significant financial backing, and deep industry expertise marks a new phase of maturity for the XRP ecosystem—one defined by product-market fit, compliant yield, and sustainable infrastructure.

To read the full press release, and to keep up with all of VivoPower’s releases, visit the company's Press Releases page.

About Flare

Flare is a next-generation Layer 1 blockchain designed to connect decentralized systems with real-world utility through secure, data-rich interoperability. With enshrined data protocols, trust-minimized interoperability, and support for complex computation, Flare is the only EVM-compatible Layer 1 optimized for chain-agnostic applications. Its innovative FAssets system brings non-smart contract assets like XRP into DeFi, enabling institutional-grade staking and yield generation. Following strong adoption on its Songbird canary network and with mainnet launch approaching, Flare is positioned as the foundational utility layer for institutional blockchain adoption worldwide.

Contact

Head of Marketing, Ami Tsang

[email protected]

VivoPower Sets Record Date for Special Dividend Distributions Relating to Tembo Transactions

Shareholders as at the ex-dividend date of 12 June 2025 will be eligible to receive any potential special dividend distributions relating to Tembo transactions

Corresponding record date will be 13 June 2025

VivoPower today announced that it has set an ex-dividend date of 12 June 2025 pertaining to any potential future dividend distributions regarding transactions involving Tembo e LV B.V. (Tembo).

Shareholders who hold VivoPower shares as of the close of business on 12 June 2025 will be entitled to receive any potential future special dividend distributions relating to Tembo. Shareholders purchasing VivoPower shares on or after the ex-dividend date will not be eligible for the distribution.

Any potential future special dividend distributions relating to the Caret business unit will be advised separately.

Further details regarding potential special dividend distributions, including the amount and ratio will be provided when appropriate. There is no guarantee that any special dividend distributions will be made.

To read the full press release, and to keep up with all of VivoPower’s releases, visit the company's Press Releases page.

Contact

Shareholder Enquiries

[email protected]

Ethical Innovation at Speed: The Agentic AI Revolution and Its Corporate Reckoning

As artificial intelligence moves from predictive analytics to autonomous execution, a new class of systems is entering the business mainstream: agentic AI. These intelligent agents, capable of reasoning, planning, acting, learning, and improving with minimal human oversight, are reshaping industries at a breathtaking pace.

With this speed, however, comes a thorny question: can innovation remain ethical when decision-making becomes machine-led?

Agentic AI can become both an accelerator of industrial innovation and a test case for corporate responsibility in an era of autonomous systems.

From automation to autonomy

Agentic AI automates tasks – and thinks ahead. These agents combine machine learning, data analysis, and action through APIs to execute multi-step, non-trivial tasks previously reserved for human hands and minds. In doing so, they offer what businesses have long sought but rarely achieved: speed, scalability, and smarts, all rolled into one.

While early AI tools served as assistants, agentic AI systems behave more like delegated employees – tasked with solving problems, coordinating with other agents, and learning continuously. As a result, they’re already gaining traction in finance, logistics, insurance, healthcare, marketing, and cybersecurity.

The innovation multiplier

The potential of agentic AI to accelerate innovation lies not only in its intelligence but in its autonomy. Organisations are already observing compressed development cycles, faster go-to-market times, and increased organisational agility.

Among the key drivers of this acceleration:

Real-time decision-making: Where legacy systems required human review and hours of back-and-forth, agentic AI operates in seconds, turning data into action without pause.
Continuous experimentation: These agents can simultaneously run tests, optimise campaigns, and tailor customer experiences across markets, learning and adapting as they go.
New business model creation: With agentic AI handling routine tasks, companies can reimagine service delivery, product design, and customer engagement, in effect, opening doors to hyper-personalised offerings and predictive solutions.
Creative amplification: As the machines take on the mundane, humans are freed to focus on creative problem-solving, strategy, and customer relationships – the areas where innovation often begins.

By redesigning workflows and reducing bottlenecks, agentic AI delivers not just efficiency but the conditions under which innovation can flourish.

Agentic AI by the numbers

According to Gartner, just under 1% of enterprise software incorporated agentic AI in 2024. By 2028, that number is forecast to surge to 33%. That’s a three-year leap from novelty to norm.

The financial implications are equally striking. Industry studies suggest agentic AI could automate up to 70% of office tasks by 2030, reduce operational costs such as transport by 30%, and dramatically increase enterprise adaptability in volatile markets.

Early adopters are already reaping the rewards. In logistics, autonomous agents track shipments and reroute them in real time. In finance, AI systems handle routine audits and flag anomalies before humans intervene. In drug discovery, agentic AI is helping collapse research timelines from years to months.

Ethical fault lines

Yet behind this rapid progress lie deeper concerns. As AI’s autonomy increases, so do the risks. Not just to jobs or industries, but to accountability, fairness, and the very fabric of decision-making.

1. Responsibility gaps

When an autonomous agent makes a mistake, such as a biased lending decision or a flawed medical recommendation, for example, who takes the fall? The developer? The deploying firm? The data provider? The opacity of many AI systems, especially large language models, makes such attribution murky at best. In legal terms, the “black box” is becoming a regulatory blind spot.

2. Bias and fairness

AI trained on flawed datasets will replicate, even amplify, social and institutional biases. From insurance to criminal justice, the consequences of AI-driven discrimination can be both widespread and insidious. With agentic AI making decisions without human checks, the potential for embedded bias becomes a critical risk vector.

3. Erosion of human oversight

The promise of autonomous action can lull organisations into sidelining human judgment. In fields like healthcare, transport, and defence, the stakes of ceding too much control are uncomfortably high. The mantra of “humans in the loop” must evolve into meaningful oversight mechanisms – not fig leaves.

4. Transparency and explainability

Agentic AI thrives on speed and scale. But at what cost to traceability? As decision-making processes become more complex and distributed across agents, understanding why a decision was made, let alone challenging it, becomes harder. In some contexts, this undermines trust, legal compliance, and even human dignity.

5. Environmental cost

Behind the slick interfaces and automated workflows lies another uncomfortable truth: the computing power behind agentic AI is considerable. Energy-hungry data centres and model training pipelines carry an environmental footprint that runs counter to many corporate ESG goals.

Augment, not replace

One recurring theme in AI discourse is the question of human displacement. Will agentic AI eliminate jobs?

The short answer: some. Roles built around repetitive, low-complexity tasks such as data entry, claims processing, or routine customer service are at highest risk. But the longer view suggests a shift, not a purge. Humans remain indispensable for judgment, context, empathy, and creativity. These are the very qualities agentic AI lacks.

The imperative, therefore, is not resistance, but reskilling. Ethical innovation means investing in human potential as much as technological capability.

Governance and guardrails

Navigating the age of autonomous AI will require more than product roadmaps and IT budgets. It demands new frameworks for responsibility and governance.

That includes:

Mandating explainability for AI systems, especially in regulated sectors.
Embedding human oversight in high-stakes decision loops.
Clarifying legal liability, ensuring someone, not something, is held to account.
Establishing ethical procurement standards for AI tools and agents.
Auditing datasets for bias and ensuring inclusive design in AI systems.

These are risk mitigations AND competitive advantages. As customers, regulators, and investors grow more attuned to ethical AI, companies that lead with transparency and responsibility will win trust in a volatile digital landscape.

The shape of things to come

By 2030, agentic AI is expected to underpin core operations in everything from finance and pharmaceuticals to logistics and legal services. It will reduce decision cycles to seconds, reframe how firms design services, and potentially reorder global labour markets.

But the agentic future is not a fait accompli. It is a choice: about how power, responsibility, and innovation are distributed in the corporate world.

For businesses navigating this frontier, the question is not just how fast they can deploy agentic AI, but how wisely. Because in the rush to move faster, the real opportunity lies in moving better.

As innovation accelerates, ethics must keep pace. Otherwise, businesses risk building a future no one will want to live in or work in.

For more news and insights, stay tuned to the Arowana website.

VivoPower Advances US$200 Million Tembo Transaction Following Completion of Second Phase of Due Diligence by Energi Holdings

Energi Holdings proposes to acquire 51% of Tembo based on a total enterprise value of US$200 million

Parties now agree to work towards negotiating binding transaction documents with a view to early closing

Board concurrently evaluating special dividends and/or capital return to shareholders

VivoPower today announced that Energi Holdings Limited (Energi) has advised the Company of the completion of the second phase of due diligence in connection with the previously disclosed Tembo proportional acquisition at a total enterprise value of US$200 million.

Energi, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, is a global energy solutions company with US$1 billion in annual revenues and operations spanning the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Europe, and Southeast Asia (Energi).

Consequently, both parties now agree to work towards negotiating a final transaction structure and binding transaction documents with a view to an early closing. In addition, the parties have agreed that completion of the Tembo merger with Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1 Ltd (CCTSF) with the intention to complete a separate public listing of Tembo is in the best interests of both parties.

In accordance with previous announcements, the VivoPower board will concurrently evaluate the optimal use of investment proceeds, which may include the return of capital or the payment of a special dividend to shareholders.

Disclaimer

There can be no assurance that these discussions will lead to a definitive agreement or that any potential transaction will be consummated. The Company reserves the right to terminate discussions at any time and for any reason, without liability. Consequently, there is no assurance that any return of capital or special dividends will be forthcoming. Furthermore, the record date is subject to change.

To read the full press release, and to keep up with all of VivoPower’s releases, visit the company's Press Releases page.

Contact

Shareholder Enquiries

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BitGo Enters Strategic Partnership with VivoPower to Facilitate its Initial US$100 Million XRP Acquisition for Treasury Strategy

VivoPower to leverage BitGo’s best-in-class OTC trading desk and custody platform to build digital asset treasury strategy

BitGo, the leading infrastructure provider of digital asset solutions, and VivoPower, a publicly traded company that recently announced transition to an XRP focused treasury and decentralized finance solutions company, today announced a strategic partnership. VivoPower, having successfully raised US$121 million, will leverage BitGo as an exclusive over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk to acquire XRP for its initial US$100 million acquisition of XRP tokens.

VivoPower will exclusively leverage BitGo for both the trading of its XRP holdings through BitGo’s 24/7/365 OTC trading desk and holding of its assets through BitGo’s best-in-class custody platform. As a result, VivoPower is expected to benefit from BitGo’s liquidity, robust execution capabilities, and secure cold storage infrastructure.

Kevin Chin, Executive Chairman and CEO of VivoPower, said: “VivoPower is committed to driving value for our shareholders by building out a leading digital asset treasury strategy—a mission we plan to accomplish through partnerships with best-in-class digital asset leaders like BitGo. BitGo’s track record, combined with its institutional-grade, secure-by-design custodial and trading infrastructure, makes them the clear choice to execute and safeguard our treasury allocation.”

Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo, said: “VivoPower’s commitment to digital assets is a testament to the institutional momentum building around our ecosystem. We are proud to provide the comprehensive platform that companies like VivoPower need to enter the digital asset space with confidence—from seamless execution to industry-leading custody.”

The partnership underscores BitGo’s growing position not only as a trusted custodian, but also as a premier trading partner for institutions executing large block trades. BitGo’s OTC desk enables efficient access to deep, global liquidity pools and discreet execution of high-volume trades, all within a secure and compliant environment.

VivoPower has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for a public offering of its ordinary shares. Before you invest in the public offering, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents VivoPower has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the issuer and the public offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC Web site at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, VivoPower or Chardan, the placement agent for the public offering, will arrange to send you the prospectus if you request it by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].

To read the full press release, and to keep up with all of VivoPower’s releases, visit the company's Press Releases page.

About BitGo

BitGo is the leading infrastructure provider of digital asset solutions, delivering custody, wallets, staking, trading, financing, and settlement services from regulated cold storage. Since our founding in 2013, we have focused on enabling our clients to securely navigate the digital asset space. With a large global presence through multiple regulated entities, BitGo serves thousands of institutions, including many of the industry’s top brands, exchanges, and platforms, as well as millions of retail investors worldwide. As the operational backbone of the digital economy, BitGo handles a significant portion of Bitcoin network transactions and is the largest independent digital asset custodian, and staking provider, in the world. For more information, visit www.bitgo.com.

Media Contact

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VivoPower International PLC

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