Innovation

Jersey Mike’s Launches IPO For Up To $1.25 Billion At $21 To $25 Per Share

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Jersey Mike’s Subs has launched the roadshow for its proposed initial public offering of Class A common stock. The fast-casual restaurant chain plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “JMKE.”

IndiGo Selects Honeywell Aerospace Systems For 810 Airbus A320neo Family Aircraft

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

IndiGo has selected Honeywell Aerospace to provide avionics, auxiliary power units and long-term support for 810 new Airbus A320neo family aircraft. Honeywell described the agreement as the largest new-aircraft selectable equipment and services contract in its commercial aviation history.

Hut 8 Secures Second $9.8 Billion AI Data Center Lease, Bringing Beacon Point Contract Value To $19.6 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Hut 8 has signed a second 15-year lease valued at $9.8 billion for 352 megawatts of information technology capacity at its Beacon Point AI data center campus in Nueces County, Texas. The agreement fully commercializes the one-gigawatt campus and increases its total base-term contract value to $19.6 billion.

Kraken Robotics Announces $35 Million In New Orders, Bringing 2026 Product Orders To $327 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Kraken Robotics has secured $35 million in new product orders from customers across maritime defense, offshore energy and ocean science. The orders cover navigation and positioning systems, multi-aperture sonar, monitoring equipment and Kraken’s synthetic aperture sonar technology.

SpaceX Targets July 23 Launch For Starship’s Thirteenth Flight Test With Starlink V3 Satellites

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

SpaceX is preparing to launch Starship’s thirteenth flight test as early as July 23, 2026. The 90-minute launch window is scheduled to open at 5:45 p.m. Central Time, although the timing could change because of weather, technical conditions or other factors affecting developmental testing.

Mubadala Capital Signs Tender Offer Agreement To Acquire Pierre & Vacances At €1.90 Per Share

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Mubadala Capital has signed an agreement setting the terms of its proposed acquisition of Pierre & Vacances through an all-cash voluntary tender offer. The transaction would be completed through MC Pomona Bidco, a special-purpose vehicle controlled by Mubadala Capital.

Impinj: Interview With SVP Of Marketing And Market Development Suresh Palliparambil About The RFID Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Impinj manufactures RAIN RFID tag chips, readers, and software that wirelessly connect everyday physical items such as retail apparel, medical supplies, and luggage—to the internet, allowing businesses to track, locate, and authenticate their inventory in real-time. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Impinj SVP of Marketing and Market Development Suresh Palliparambil to learn more.

CuspAI Raises $450 Million Series B At $2.6 Billion Valuation To Discover New Materials

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

CuspAI has raised $450 million in Series B funding to expand its artificial intelligence platform for discovering new materials. The financing values the British startup at approximately $2.6 billion. Kleiner Perkins and New Enterprise Associates co-led the round, with significant participation from Jeff Bezos’ investment firm, Bezos Expeditions. Other investors included Glade Brook Capital Partners, Lux Capital, AMD Ventures, Tru Arrow Partners, StepStone, the U.K.’s Sovereign AI Venture Fund, Invest-NL and John Doerr.

Samsung Biologics To Acquire PolyPeptide For CHF 1.46 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Samsung Biologics has launched an all-cash public tender offer to acquire PolyPeptide Group for approximately CHF 1.46 billion. The proposed transaction would expand Samsung Biologics into peptide-based active pharmaceutical ingredients and strengthen its manufacturing presence across the United States, Europe, and India.

Lakestar Closes $300 Million Resilience I Fund For European Defence And Dual-Use Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Lakestar has closed its first dedicated resilience fund with $300 million in commitments to invest in defense and dual-use technology companies across Europe and NATO-allied markets. The oversubscribed fund attracted demand exceeding its original target.

Walker & Dunlop Arranges $228.9 Million Refinancing For Manhattan’s Textile Building

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Walker & Dunlop has arranged $228.9 million in financing for 295 Fifth Avenue, a newly redeveloped Class A office property in Manhattan’s Midtown South submarket. The more than 100-year-old landmark is commonly known as the Textile Building.

Brookfield And CPP Investments To Acquire LXP Industrial Trust For $5.2 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Brookfield Asset Management and CPP Investments have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire LXP Industrial Trust in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $5.2 billion. The valuation includes LXP’s net debt and preferred equity.

Omio Group To Acquire Rail Europe To Expand Global Rail Distribution Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Omio Group has agreed to acquire Rail Europe, a global rail booking and distribution platform. The proposed transaction would expand Omio’s presence across consumer travel booking, business-to-business distribution and multimodal ground transportation.

Z.ai Reportedly Reaches $1 Billion Annualized Revenue Run Rate

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Chinese artificial intelligence company Z.ai is on track to become the country’s first independent AI developer to reach $1 billion in annualized revenue, according to Bloomberg. The company reportedly achieved its full-year sales target by July, with that month’s revenue pace translating to approximately $1 billion over 12 months.

Netflix Says GenAI Was Used In Roughly 300 Titles In 2026

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Netflix said generative AI workflows have been used across approximately 300 of its films and series during 2026. Most of the activity has occurred in post-production, although the technology is also being applied from initial concept development through final delivery.

Canva Co-Founders Launch Goals Platform With Pilots In Australia And The U.S.

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Canva co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins has announced the launch of the Goals Platform, an initiative designed to gather public input about the future people want to create. The platform begins with pilot programs in Wollongong, Australia, and across the United States.

Bank Of America Names Senior Executives To Accelerate AI Adoption Across Global Markets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Bank of America has appointed several senior executives to expand the adoption of artificial intelligence, digital assets and data-driven tools across its global markets business, according to Reuters. The leadership changes are intended to support technology modernization and greater automation throughout the division.

Bourn: Interview With Co-Founder & Chief Growth Officer Roger Vincent About The Embedded Fintech Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Bourn is an embedded fintech and software company that modernizes SME business lending by providing intelligent, flexible working capital solutions. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Bourn co-founder and Chief Growth Officer Roger Vincent to learn more.

Flowgear: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Daniel Chilcott About Integration, AI, And Builder MCP

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

Flowgear is a globally recognized Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) trusted by businesses of all sizes to streamline data and app-to-app interactions, without the complexity of traditional tools. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Flowgear co-founder and CEO Daniel Chilcott to learn more.

HALO X-Ray Technologies Raises Multimillion-Dollar Funding To Advance Security Screening Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 20, 2026

HALO X-ray Technologies has completed a multimillion-dollar funding round led by Agilent Technologies. Existing investors UK Innovation Science Seed Fund and the Midlands Engine Investment Fund also participated.

Signal Ring Launches $399 Cuffless Blood Pressure Wearable

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 19, 2026

Signal Ring has launched a wearable designed to track blood pressure from the finger without using a traditional inflatable cuff. The titanium smart ring is now available for preorder for $399, with initial shipments expected to begin in October 2026.

Kalshi Reportedly Launches Prediction Markets For Clinical Trials And FDA Decisions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 19, 2026

Kalshi has launched prediction markets allowing traders to take positions on the outcomes of late-stage clinical trials and decisions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The pilot program was developed with AppliedXL, a public intelligence company that monitors pharmaceutical data and analyzes clinical trial outcomes.

FourthSquare Names Josh Ezring President And Chief Revenue Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 19, 2026

FourthSquare has appointed Josh Ezring as president and chief revenue officer to lead the company’s revenue strategy and support its next phase of growth. Ezring will help expand FourthSquare’s artificial intelligence, cloud and managed services offerings as the company works with organizations on enterprise digital transformation initiatives.

SpryPoint Names Kevin Gallagher Vice President Of Payments To Lead SpryWallet

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 19, 2026

SpryPoint has appointed payments industry veteran Kevin Gallagher as vice president of payments. Gallagher will lead the strategy, growth and operational execution of SpryWallet, SpryPoint’s embedded payments platform for utility companies.

Capital One Launches Open-Source VulnHunter Agentic AI Code Security Tool

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 19, 2026

Capital One has released VulnHunter, an open-source agentic AI security tool designed to identify exploitable software vulnerabilities and recommend targeted code fixes. Developed internally by Capital One, VulnHunter analyzes source code from an attacker’s perspective rather than operating as a conventional passive vulnerability scanner.

Industrial Development Funding And Oaktree Invest $1.7 Billion In Bloom Energy Fuel Cells For Nebius AI Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 19, 2026

Industrial Development Funding and Oaktree have announced a $1.7 billion project investment supporting the deployment of Bloom Energy fuel cells for Nebius’ artificial intelligence cloud infrastructure.

United Petfood Acquires 50% Stake In SmartPetPro To Expand Premium Pet Food Business In Germany

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 19, 2026

United Petfood has acquired a 50% stake in SmartPetPro, a German producer of premium wet pet food. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

T. Rowe Price Launches First Actively Managed Multi-Token Spot Crypto ETP

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 19, 2026

T. Rowe Price has launched the T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF, an actively managed exchange-traded product designed to provide diversified exposure to several leading digital assets. The product began trading on NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol TKNZ.

E*TRADE Launches Crypto Spot Trading For Bitcoin, Ethereum And Solana

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 19, 2026

E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley has launched spot cryptocurrency trading, allowing eligible clients to buy, sell and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana through its investment platform.

Associated Wholesale Grocers Names Kelly Kauffman Chief Financial Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 19, 2026

Associated Wholesale Grocers has appointed Kelly Kauffman as chief financial officer, adding an executive with extensive experience across retail, financial services and consumer goods. Kauffman brings expertise in financial planning and analysis, operational finance, corporate transformation and large-scale financial systems implementation. He most recently served as senior vice president of financial planning and analysis at BJ’s Wholesale Club.