Empirix Partners, Covectis, Perpetual Grid and Barge Design Solutions support project planning, go-to-market strategy, power coordination and architectural and engineering design

Wilmington, Delaware--(Newsfile Corp. - September 23, 2026) - DarkHorse Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: DRK) (the "Company" or "DarkHorse") today announced strategic relationships with Empirix Partners ("Empirix"), Covectis, Perpetual Grid and Barge Design Solutions ("Barge") to support the conversion and development of its power and data center assets in the Tennessee Valley Authority ("TVA") region for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing use.

The relationships bring together project management, equipment procurement planning, go-to-market strategy, utility coordination and architectural and engineering design for the Company's Tennessee and Kentucky assets. The initial scope, which is actively underway, is defining improvements, costs, and schedules needed to prepare individual sites for AI and high-performance computing customers.

"Preparing our existing sites for AI requires detailed engineering and a clear plan for delivery," said Joel Block, Chief Executive Officer of DarkHorse. "Empirix, Covectis, Perpetual Grid and Barge bring deep expertise to the project management, go-to-market strategy, power planning and facility design capabilities needed to execute on our strategy. Our goal is to give customers a clear view of what each site can support, what needs to be built and how we plan to deliver it."

"The supply chain behind these sites has to move as fast as the sites themselves," said Zachary Peña, Chief Executive Officer of Empirix, who previously built procurement programs at NTT, Microsoft and Insight Sourcing Group. "That is the discipline we are bringing to DarkHorse, one of a small number of clients we work with on a strategic basis."

"DarkHorse is pairing high-density compute with a repeatable deployment model," said Ed Pacuku, VP, Datacenter Engineering and Delivery at Barge. "We look forward to helping turn that vision into efficient, resilient facilities."

The announcement follows the Company's September 8, 2026 strategic review, which identified the TVA region as the focus of its AI and high-performance computing development. DarkHorse's approach centers on smaller, distribution-connected sites and work with host communities and their utilities.

Conversion timing and capacity will depend on site-specific engineering, power arrangements, permits, equipment availability, customer agreements and financing.

Empirix, Covectis and Perpetual Grid

Empirix, Covectis and Perpetual Grid are working together, with the Company, on project planning, go-to-market strategy and power coordination for the Company's TVA-region sites.

Empirix, a strategic sourcing and procurement advisory focused on mission-critical infrastructure, leads owner's representation, program management and procurement planning, coordinating engineering, suppliers, equipment lead times and development schedules. Covectis, a go-to-market advisory focused on the intersection of energy infrastructure and data center demand, supports market positioning, economic modeling and site-specific research for customer engagement and capital planning. Perpetual Grid, a specialist power adviser to data center developers from site feasibility through energization, supports power planning and utility coordination, including existing service arrangements, conversion requirements and potential capacity expansions.

Barge Design Solutions

Founded in 1955, Barge is an employee-owned architecture and engineering firm with more than 650 professionals across the Southeast. Barge reports more than 7.5 gigawatts of data center master-planning experience. Its regional presence and integrated surveying, environmental and engineering services connect site conditions with facility design. Barge is providing architectural and engineering design services under a master professional services agreement. Current work includes the Basis of Design and coordinated schematic drawings for a site in the Company's TVA-region portfolio.

About DarkHorse Technologies Inc.

DarkHorse Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: DRK), formerly Sphere 3D Corp., is a digital infrastructure company focused on operating and expanding scalable power and data center assets for high-performance computing, AI workloads and digital asset infrastructure. Following its business combination with Cathedra Bitcoin and the completion of the previously announced sale of its Iowa site, the Company owns and/or operates approximately 50 MW of operating power capacity across four data center locations in Tennessee and Kentucky, and has a proposed new 50 MW data center under development in Kentucky, together with a development pipeline of approximately 100 MW of additional potential expansion opportunities. The Company combines infrastructure ownership, energy optimization expertise and capital markets access to pursue long-term value creation across next-generation compute infrastructure. For more information, visit www.darkhorse.inc.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. These include, without limitation, statements regarding the expected scope, duration and benefits of the Company's relationships with Empirix, Covectis, Perpetual Grid and Barge; project planning, procurement, supply chain, go-to-market strategy, power coordination and engineering activities; the potential conversion of the Company's sites to artificial intelligence or high-performance computing use, none of which is contracted; anticipated capacity, improvements, costs, schedules and customer arrangements; and the Company's development pipeline. Words such as "expects," "plans," "intends," "anticipates," "will" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect current expectations, rest on assumptions that may prove incorrect, and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially.

Relevant risks include changes in partner scopes, performance or continued engagement; the availability of financing and of customer agreements; utility, interconnection and regulatory requirements and approvals; site and environmental conditions; zoning and permitting; equipment availability and lead times; design and construction cost and schedule risk; and the risks described under "Risk Factors" in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, available at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise them except as required by applicable law.

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