Innovation

AST SpaceMobile: Japan JV Could Receive Up To $1 Billion In Non-Dilutive Government Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

AST SpaceMobile disclosed that a joint venture with Rakuten has been preliminarily selected by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for the J-LEO initiative, a program with an expected value of up to approximately $1 billion in non-dilutive, non-debt government capital. The potential funding adds another major government opportunity to AST SpaceMobile’s expanding commercial and national security business.

New York Times: Digital Subscription Revenue Jumps 16% To $407.9 Million As AI Litigation Costs Rise

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

The New York Times Company's digital business continued expanding during the second quarter of 2026, with digital-only subscription revenue increasing 16.4% to $407.9 million and digital advertising revenue jumping 20.7% to $114 million.

Realty Income: Industrial Assets Drive 65% Of Q2 Investment Cash Income As Portfolio Diversifies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

Realty Income's second-quarter investment mix shifted heavily toward industrial properties, with industrial assets accounting for 65% of the cash income generated by new Q2 investments compared with 34% from retail properties.

Owens Corning: Door Savings Reach $135 Million As Another $75 Million Of Cost Improvements Advance

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

Owens Corning has achieved $135 million of enterprise run-rate cost synergies from its Doors business, exceeding its commitment to deliver $125 million by mid-2026, as the building products company advances another $75 million of structural cost reductions.

Lionsgate: Filmed Entertainment Backlog Jumps 21% To $1.5 Billion As Library Revenue Approaches $1 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

Lionsgate Studios' filmed entertainment backlog increased 21% year-over-year to $1.5 billion during its fiscal first quarter of 2027, while trailing 12-month library revenue reached $987 million as the company’s existing film and television catalog becomes an increasingly important source of recurring cash flow.

Tonix Pharmaceuticals: TONMYA Refills Surge 207% As Coverage Reaches 136 Million U.S. Lives

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

Tonix Pharmaceuticals is seeing accelerating adoption of TONMYA, with refills increasing 207% quarter-over-quarter and total payer coverage expanding to approximately 136 million U.S. lives as the company scales commercialization of the fibromyalgia treatment.

MetLife: Retirement Revenue Excluding PRT Jumps 19% To $1.3 Billion As U.K. Longevity Reinsurance Expands

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

MetLife’s Retirement and Income Solutions business generated a 19% increase in adjusted premiums, fees and other revenues excluding pension risk transfers during the second quarter of 2026, driven primarily by growth in U.K. longevity reinsurance and structured settlement sales.

Trinity Hunt Partners Invests In Fisher Management Partners To Launch Value Creation Services Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

Trinity Hunt Partners has invested in Fisher Management Partners to establish a new value creation services platform focused on operational excellence, performance improvement and enterprise transformation.

Blink Charging: Charging Service Revenue Jumps 17% As Company Pulls Back From Lower-Margin Hardware Sales

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

Blink Charging's charging service revenue increased 17% during the first half of 2026 as the electric vehicle charging company deliberately reduced lower-margin hardware sales and shifted resources toward recurring charging and network revenue.

The RealReal: Average Order Value Jumps 13% To $659 As Active Buyers Top 1.1 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

The RealReal is seeing simultaneous growth in both the number of customers using its luxury resale marketplace and the amount those customers spend, with average order value increasing 13% to $659 and trailing 12-month active buyers rising 11% to 1.107 million during the second quarter of 2026.

River AI Raises $1.1 Billion To Build Open AI Stack

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

River AI has raised $1.1 billion in funding led by General Catalyst and AMP PBC to build a full-stack artificial intelligence platform focused on open models, customization and personal AI. The round also included strategic investments from NVIDIA and AMD Ventures, with additional participation from Y Combinator and Temasek.

Rocket Lab: Backlog Reaches Record $2.36 Billion As New Space Systems And Launch Contracts Top $1 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

Rocket Lab's backlog reached a company record $2.36 billion during the second quarter of 2026 as more than $1 billion of new Space Systems and launch contracts signed across Q2 and the post-quarter period expanded the company's visibility across commercial and government space programs.

AvePoint: Record Net New ARR Pushes Total ARR To $465 Million As Agentic AI Demand Accelerates

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

AvePoint delivered record net new annual recurring revenue during the second quarter of 2026 as enterprise adoption of agentic AI increases demand for governance, security, and data-management infrastructure.

Nextdoor: Weekly Active Users Reach Record 22.9 Million As Adjusted EBITDA Margin Improves 16 Points

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

Nextdoor reached an all-time high of 22.9 million Platform Weekly Active Users during the second quarter of 2026 as improving engagement and revenue growth helped drive a 16-percentage-point year-over-year improvement in Adjusted EBITDA margin.

Model ML Secures Investment From HSBC Asset Management To Scale Agentic AI Platform For Financial Services

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

Model ML has secured an investment from HSBC Asset Management to accelerate the growth of its agentic operating system for financial services. The investment was made through HSBC Asset Management’s flagship venture capital strategy.

La Rosa Holdings: Strategic Review Targets Transformational Deals, Acquisitions And Asset Divestitures

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

La Rosa Holdings has launched a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives as the real estate and PropTech company evaluates potential transformational transactions, acquisitions, partnerships and asset divestitures intended to strengthen its operating platform and enhance long-term shareholder value.

GCL’s 4Divinity Secures $9 Million From ADATA At $350 Million Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

GCL Global Holdings announced that its publishing subsidiary, 4Divinity, has received an additional $9 million strategic investment from ADATA Technology at a valuation of $350 million.

Art’s Way Modular Buildings Backlog Jumps To Over $19 Million Following Major Project Awards

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

Art's-Way Manufacturing announced that its Modular Buildings segment has secured several major projects, increasing the unit's backlog to more than $19 million.

Auddia Clears SEC S-4 Milestone For Merger To Form McCarthy Finney

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

Auddia has cleared a major regulatory milestone in its proposed merger with Thramann Holdings after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declared effective the company’s Form S-4 registration statement. The effectiveness moves the transaction into its final procedural phase.

Socket Mobile Partners With 3Eye Technologies To Expand Apple-Based Industrial Mobility Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2026

Socket Mobile has entered into a strategic partnership with 3Eye Technologies to expand the availability of its mobile data capture solutions across industrial and frontline workforce markets in North America.

OPAQUE: Interview With CEO Aaron Fulkerson About Confidential AI Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 10, 2026

OPAQUE develops Confidential AI infrastructure designed to let enterprises use sensitive data in AI workloads while enforcing policies during execution and producing verifiable evidence of what occurred. Pulse 2.0 interviewed OPAQUE CEO Aaron Fulkerson to learn more.

Oyster: Interview With CEO Hadi Moussa About Building An AI-Native Global Employment Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 10, 2026

Oyster is a global employment platform that helps companies build distributed teams across more than 180 countries without establishing local legal entities, handling compliant contracts, payroll, benefits, and ongoing compliance through a single platform. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Oyster CEO Hadi Moussa to learn more.

Translated: Interview With Co-Founder Marco Trombetti About AI-Powered Translation Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 10, 2026

Translated combines proprietary AI technology with a network of more than 400,000 professional translators to deliver translation services across more than 200 languages. Its technologies include TranslationOS, Lara, ModernMT, T-Rank, Matecat, MateSub, and MateDub. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Translated Co-Founder Marco Trombetti to learn more.

Vertical Aerospace: About $100 Million In Financing Commitments To Advance Valo Certification And Commercialization

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 10, 2026

Vertical Aerospace has announced approximately $100 million in financing commitments from existing and new investors to support certification and commercialization of its Valo electric aircraft platform. The financing is intended to strengthen the company's financial position as it progresses toward several technical and production milestones. The proposed financing consists of three components.

Quanterix: $85 Million Of Savings Realized As Revenue Outlook Falls And Breakeven Moves To 2027

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 10, 2026

Quanterix has realized approximately $85 million of cost savings following its integration efforts, but the life sciences company reduced its 2026 revenue outlook and pushed its expected cash flow breakeven into 2027 amid commercial execution challenges and broader market pressures.

Bristol Myers Squibb To Invest $2.3 Billion In New Houston Manufacturing Campus As Part Of $40 Billion U.S. Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 10, 2026

Bristol Myers Squibb plans to invest approximately $2.3 billion in a new manufacturing campus at Generation Park in Houston, Texas, expanding its U.S. production capabilities for next-generation medicines.

monday.com: AI Product ARR Doubles And Reaches 17% Of Net New ARR As $500,000+ Customers Jump 68%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 10, 2026

monday.com's artificial intelligence products are becoming a meaningful contributor to growth, with AI product annual recurring revenue doubling sequentially during Q2 2026 and representing 17% of the company's total net new ARR.

Onto Innovation Completes $720 Million Investment For 27% Stake In Rigaku Holdings

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 10, 2026

Onto Innovation has completed its previously announced acquisition of a 27% minority equity stake in Rigaku Holdings Corporation from Atom Investment, an affiliate of Carlyle, for approximately $720 million.

Discovered Materials Raises $9 Million Seed Funding To Accelerate AI-Powered Semiconductor Materials Discovery

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 10, 2026

Discovered Materials has raised $9 million in seed funding to expand its use of AI agents for discovering and accelerating the adoption of new materials used in semiconductor chips. The round was led by Lightspeed India Partners, with participation from Y Combinator and Peak XV Partners. Angel investors including Paul Graham, Gokul Rajaram and Thariq Shihipar also participated.

Point2 Technology Raises $136 Million Series B With Backing From Arm, LB Investment And Maverick Silicon

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 10, 2026

Point2 Technology has completed an extension of its Series B financing, bringing the total round to $136 million as the company accelerates commercialization of its RF-based interconnect technology for AI data centers. The latest financing was led by LB Investment, with new strategic participation from Arm and continued backing from existing investors including Maverick Silicon. Point2's investor roster also includes NVIDIA, UMC Capital, Molex and Bosch Ventures, along with other new and existing investors.