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Vancouver, Wash. – September 12, 2026 -- Shoot 360, a technology-powered basketball training franchise, has secured a $7 million growth funding round led by COPA Innovation Laboratories and its investment arm, COPA Venture Capital, as part of a new strategic partnership between the two sports technology companies.

Shoot 360 operates more than 65 locations with NBA team partnerships

Founded in 2012 by Craig Moody, Shoot 360 combines immersive basketball training with performance-tracking software across more than 65 franchise locations in the U.S. and internationally, including a pipeline of new sites and partnerships with several NBA teams.

Springfield, Ill. – September 12, 2026 -- The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) has launched a partnership with nonprofit Ed3 to deliver AI literacy courses and stackable micro-credentials to K-12 educators statewide, starting September 8, 2026. The move follows the Illinois State Board of Education's July 9, 2026 release of comprehensive AI guidance for PreK-12 schools, which left districts needing a path to classroom implementation.

UIS pairs 25 years of eLearning infrastructure with Ed3's track record across 48 states

Through its Center for Academic and Professional Education (CAPE) and ION eLearning program, UIS brings more than 25 years of experience in online teaching, leadership, accessibility, and open educational resources training. Ed3, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has supported over 20,000 educator enrollments across 48 states, totaling more than 900,000 hours of professional development.

Aachen – September 12, 2026 -- Trucks navigate Berlin's roads more efficiently than passenger cars, scoring 71 points versus 55 on Geotab's new Freight Efficiency Index for European Cities, a 16-point gap that ranks among the largest recorded across the continent.

The connected-vehicle solutions provider analyzed full-year 2025 data from Geotab-connected fleets in Berlin, Amsterdam, Dublin, Rome, Paris, London and Madrid, scoring truck and car traffic flow separately on a 0-100 scale. The findings challenge the assumption that commercial trucks are the primary drag on urban traffic: in five of the seven capitals studied, trucks moved more efficiently than cars.

Windsor, Calif. – September 12, 2026 -- Stäubli will present electrical and fluid connectivity solutions for semiconductor tool manufacturers at Semicon West in San Francisco this October, as chipmakers push suppliers to cut equipment qualification times and boost tool uptime.

Connector reliability targets over 100,000 duty cycles to protect yield

Stäubli's electrical connectors are engineered to maintain contact integrity across more than 100,000 cycles, operate at temperatures up to 350°C, and support lifecycle demands exceeding 10 years. The company states its RF precision components are built to stabilize plasma processes used in fabrication, addressing a persistent risk point where minor connectivity variance can degrade yield.

Berlin – September 10, 2026 -- Morpho, a UV printing technology company, unveiled its first UV desktop printer at IFA 2026 in Hall 17-196, following a Kickstarter campaign that surpassed $10 million from more than 2,800 backers worldwide.

Morpho's UV printer applies industrial-grade color and texture to wood, glass, leather and metal

The device is G7 Master ColorSpace certified, a standard Morpho says ensures consistent color reproduction across different materials. Its industrial-grade print head layers fine ink deposits to create tactile, relief-style surfaces while operating at carriage speeds of up to 600 mm/s.

Bethesda, Md. – September 11, 2026 -- EPS Learning has secured SOC 2 Type II attestation for its EPS Connect platform following an independent audit by SC&H Attest Services, P.C., providing school and district partners formal assurance over student data protections.

Independent auditor validates security controls over a sustained period

The SOC 2 Type II review, based on the AICPA's Trust Services Criteria for security, examined the design and operating effectiveness of EPS Learning's controls over time rather than at a single point. Auditors assessed policies, procedures, risk management, incident response, disaster recovery processes, and information and communication systems tied to EPS Connect.

San Francisco – September 11, 2026 -- Arkestro has been identified as a Sample Vendor for Supplier Discovery in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Multienterprise Solutions, 2026, marking the company's continued presence in Gartner's procurement technology research.

Gartner defines Supplier Discovery as AI-driven identification of new supply sources

The Hype Cycle report categorizes Supplier Discovery as solutions that help organizations identify, assess and onboard new suppliers using extensive databases and graph technologies to match sourcing criteria against potential vendors. Gartner cites supply chain disruptions, capacity constraints, cost optimization pressure and innovation targets as the drivers pushing procurement teams to qualify alternative suppliers faster. The report also notes that Supplier Discovery is increasingly embedded within third-party risk management and source-to-pay platforms rather than standing alone as a distinct market.

Singapore – September 11, 2026 -- GeeLark has advanced its cloud phone infrastructure to let social media agencies and content teams run multiple Android environments remotely without adding physical devices, addressing a scaling problem that has grown alongside mobile-first platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

Sunnyvale, Calif. – September 11, 2026 -- Cresta, a customer experience AI platform, has signed former NFL running back and Super Bowl champion Marshawn Lynch as brand ambassador in a multi-year partnership.

Cresta commits to multi-year ad campaign featuring Marshawn Lynch

Lynch will appear in advertising, at industry events, and across additional marketing initiatives promoting Cresta's enterprise AI platform, starting with a new ad launched today that frames the company's technology as putting customer experience in "Beast Mode."

Lynch says Cresta targets the frustration of hold music and repeated calls

Lynch described his frustration with customer service delays: "My first career counted on me running through players who thought they could stop me... it feels like just more defenders in the way. Cresta's told me they're putting both out of business. So I said, sign me up, ASAP!"

Waging am See – September 11, 2026 -- German precious metals dealer pro aurum has planted its corporate logo across nearly eight hectares of farmland above the Waginger See, using roughly 16 million flowering plants and about 300,000 small-blossom sunflowers in a satellite-guided precision agriculture project developed with GEOXIP AG.

Logo spans 80,000 square meters, visible only from the air

The planted area, equivalent to roughly eleven football fields, forms a lettering reading "pro aurum" that stretches approximately 365 meters long and 50 meters high. The accompanying tagline, "Edelmetalle. Münzen. Barren." (Precious Metals. Coins. Bars.), extends around 300 meters. The full image is only legible from above.