Product Launch

Venus Aerospace Opens New Propulsion Test Stand at Houston Spaceport

Houston – September 16, 2026 -- Venus Aerospace has officially opened a new propulsion test stand at the Houston Spaceport, expanding its capacity to test rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) technology at higher thrust levels and for longer durations.

Texas Space Commission funding backs new test infrastructure

The facility was funded through the Texas Space Commission's Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund, a state program supporting aerospace and space economy growth. Venus Aerospace completed the stand on time and on budget.

Funraise Launches Integrated Events Suite to End Nonprofit Data Silos

Costa Mesa, Calif. – September 16, 2026 -- Funraise has launched Funraise Events, an integrated fundraising events suite that connects ticketing, auctions, and guest check-in directly to a nonprofit's donor management system, eliminating the manual data re-entry that has long plagued post-event reconciliation.

Funraise builds a single workflow to replace disconnected point solutions

The platform unifies ticketing and registration, table management, live auctions, paddle raises, and real-time reporting into one system tied to a nonprofit's existing donor CRM, campaign sites, and email/SMS communications. Every ticket sale, sponsorship, meal choice, pledge, and paddle raise flows automatically into the same donor record used across an organization's other fundraising tools, removing the need to export and re-import data into separate software.

SIQA Launches AI Music Verification Registry, Sets LA Awards Show

Los Angeles – September 16, 2026 -- The Sonic Intelligence Academy Inc. (SIQA) has launched the SIQA Verified Registry, a system that lets artists verify the provenance of AI-generated tracks before release rather than face flagging after distribution.

Registry classifies tracks under three categories to fight platform confusion

The SIQA Verified Registry sorts music under the SIQA Classification Framework into three tiers: Fully AI-Generated, AI-Assisted, or Human + AI Hybrid, the latter covering techniques such as vocal cloning. The system moves beyond the generic 'AI-Generated' label now used across streaming platforms including Spotify and Deezer, where AI-made tracks have proliferated faster than the industry can track, according to reporting from Billboard and Music Business Worldwide. SIQA's stated approach is 'Verified, Not Flagged,' positioning verification as a credential artists can carry rather than a dispute they must fight.

Chicago Faucets Joins BACnet International, Launches CF Connect PLUS

Des Plaines, Ill. – September 16, 2026 -- Chicago Faucets has joined BACnet International and launched CF Connect PLUS, a system that links electronic faucets directly to building automation systems (BAS) via native BACnet/IP integration.

CF Connect PLUS captures water temperature at the point of use, not just at centralized equipment

Unlike traditional BAS inputs that monitor centralized plumbing equipment, CF Connect PLUS uses retrofit temperature sensors installed at faucet angle stops to measure water temperature directly where it reaches occupants. That data is relayed to a CF Connect PLUS Gateway, which communicates with the BAS using the BACnet/IP protocol.

Mews Launches Unified POS System for US, Canada Hotels

New York – September 16, 2026 -- Mews has launched Mews POS in the United States and Canada, allowing hotels to run property management, food and beverage operations and payments on a single system. The platform, already live in more than 20 countries across Europe and APAC since its 2024 introduction, connects every order, charge and guest interaction automatically across a property.

Standalone POS systems cost hotels two hours of daily reconciliation work per property

Most point-of-sale systems on the market were built for standalone, full-service restaurants, forcing hotels to pay for complexity they do not need. Staff typically spend two hours a day manually reconciling POS, property management and accounting systems, according to Mews. Revenue losses stem from manual posting errors, missed checkouts and gaps between disconnected software APIs.

Moab Tourism Office Launches 'Should've Stayed Longer' Rebrand

Moab, Utah – September 16, 2026 -- Moab Office of Tourism has unveiled a new destination brand and advertising campaign, "Should've Stayed Longer," built on visitor research showing more than 90% of travelers either planned to return or wished they had allotted more time in the area.

Research drives repositioning away from single-stop bucket-list marketing

The campaign, developed with creative studio Camp4 Collective and travel agency TOURIST, reframes Moab as a multi-day destination rather than a quick stop en route to Arches National Park. Michael Soleta, director of the Moab Office of Tourism, said the rebrand followed a year-long collaboration among the tourism office, its board, elected officials and community and agency partners.

XKL Launches 1RU MediaLight Optical Systems With Zero License Fees

Redmond, Wash. – September 16, 2026 -- XKL LLC has begun global shipments of its MediaLight Xponder and Muxponder systems, a 1RU optical transport platform offering 100G and 400G capacity with zero recurring software licensing fees, the company announced. The systems started shipping to customers in August 2026, targeting enterprise, cloud, and regional service provider networks facing hardware lead times of 20 to 60-plus weeks industry-wide.

Compact chassis packs 24 license-free transceiver ports into a single rack unit

The MediaLight platform consolidates high-density optical transport into a 1RU form factor, eliminating multi-linecard chassis complexity. Each unit supports 24 license-free QSFP-DD/QSFP28 transceiver ports with soft-configurable 100G and 400G transport, reducing rack space and power consumption compared to legacy multi-card systems.

Agilix's BusyBee AI Hits 6 Million K-12 Grading Tasks on AWS

Orem, Utah – September 16, 2026 -- Agilix Labs said its BusyBee AI assistant has now graded 6 million K-12 student submissions, returning roughly 150,000 hours of grading time to teachers, with monthly volume already running near 1 million submissions and a seventh million expected within weeks.

Written feedback rates nearly triple when BusyBee assists grading

Across more than 2.5 million submissions processed on the Buzz platform over the past two weeks, only 29% of assignments graded without BusyBee received a written comment from teachers. Of those graded with BusyBee's assistance, 84% received one. Agilix framed the gap as evidence that teachers already want to give feedback on every submission but lack the time to do so manually.

Fenix24 Named Gartner Cool Vendor for Argos99 Recovery Platform

Chattanooga, Tenn. – September 16, 2026 -- Fenix24 has been named a Cool Vendor in the Gartner Coolest Vendor Innovations in Cyber Resilience report for its Argos99 Cyber Resilience and Recovery Intelligence Platform.

Gartner projects 30% of large enterprises will deploy dedicated cyber resilience platforms by 2029

Gartner's report, authored by Arthur Sivanathan, Wayne Hankins and Niyati Daftary and published September 7, 2026, forecasts that by 2029, 30% of large enterprises will deploy dedicated cyber resilience platforms that continuously validate recovery readiness and orchestrate business-led incident response.

CiCLO Tech Expands Into Home Textiles via ADVANSA, HeiQ Deals

NEW YORK – September 16, 2026 -- Intrinsic Advanced Materials is widening commercial deployment of its CiCLO® fiber technology into home and hospitality textiles through new collaborations with ADVANSA and HeiQ Materials AG, ahead of a joint activation with Lonely Whale during NYC Climate Week on Sept. 21-22.

ADVANSA integrates CiCLO into its premium Suprelle fiberfill line

ADVANSA is launching Suprelle® fiberfill made with CiCLO fibers for bedding, home and hospitality applications, embedding the microplastic-persistence-reduction technology into an established fiberfill portfolio built around comfort attributes such as cooling, down-like feel, loft retention and moisture management. Jean-Christophe Rouyer, head of global business development at ADVANSA, said the addition lets customers differentiate Suprelle products without altering core fiberfill performance.