Business
The critical tech staying safe by going underground
A wall of white granite towered above a small team of engineers gathered in a California quarry. The ancient, ultra-hard material before them was, to most things, completely impermeable.
Then the rock-melting tunnel-boring machine (TBR) roared to life.
“It’s kind of like igniting a rocket,” says Troy Helming, founder and chief executive of EarthGrid, as he describes the initially loud process of lighting up three plasma torches at the front of his company’s machine.
Those torches, set within a spinning head, soon quieten down as they produce a stream of super-heated plasma reaching 27,000C – significantly hotter than the surface of the Sun.
During the California test this January, EarthGrid’s cigar-shaped boring machine chewed through three metres of granite. “We create, basically, a tornado – a violent vortex inside the tunnel,” says Helming, as he explains how this helps the machine to suck away debris, which at times takes the form of lava.
“I actually got a little bit emotional watching it,” adds the entrepreneur. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for 10 years.”
Emerging technologies like this could make tunnel boring quicker and easier. Putting electricity or telecommunications cables, substations, data centres and other critical infrastructure underground, while good for securing such equipment, has long been a very expensive and difficult option.
Engineering firms told BBC News they are seeing rising demand for undergrounding, in part due to Russia’s war with Ukraine, which has revealed just how vulnerable above-ground facilities can be to drone attacks.
Helming says he has fielded interest from companies that want to use his tunnel boring machine for power and fibre optic cables, or pipelines that could transport water, natural gas, or ammonia, for example.
One project the company has eyed up would involve boring tunnels for an underground freight-distribution system around airports and warehouses. “To take more trucks off the road,” says Helming.
The January TBR test went well, though the machine “over-bored” slightly to the top and left of the tunnel, says Helming. His team plans to adjust the machine so that it will create a vortex that spins in alternate directions every five minutes or so, in order to correct this, and they hope the TBR could see commercial deployment as early as next year.
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Rabobank finds strong case for WA canola crushing industry
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Business
Can Gaja Alternative Asset Management IPO deliver long-term growth for high-risk investors?
Business
Incorporated in 1999, the company invests in sectors including education, energy and environment, financial services, consumer and digital technology. Its investment approach is focused on the mid-market segment, comprising deal size of ₹50-250 crore. The Limited Partners (or investors) of Gaja Capital funds are spread across 20 countries including India, the US, Europe and the Middle East. It derives income from management fee, carried interest, which refers to share of profits from successful investments, and income from sponsor commitment. Income from sponsor commitments represents gains on the company’s own capital invested in the funds. As of March 31, 2026, it has committed about ₹274 crore, or 6.4% of the total size of the Gaja Capital Funds. The carried interest accounted for nearly 48% of total income in FY26. Any weak investment performance will affect the carried interest and sponsor related income. According to Crisil, the assets under management for alternative investments in India are expected to grow at 25-27% to reach ₹41 lakh crore-44 lakh crore by March 2030.
ET BureauThe firm’s past success and a fast-growing market provide comfort while the nature of its revenue mix calls for a measured approach
Financials
Revenue increased to ₹158 crore in FY26 from ₹104 crore in FY24. Net profit grew to ₹82 crore in FY26 from ₹45 crore in FY24. Net margin rose to 52% from 43% during the period, reflecting operating leverage as cost-to-income ratio fell to 44.6% in FY26 from 52.3% in FY25. Across its three funds, MOIC has ranged from 1.7 times to 3.8 times. MOIC shows how much an investment has grown compared with the amount originally invested. The return on equity increased to 16.5% in FY26 from 14.5% in FY24.Read more: Anthropic pre-IPO credit facility set to climb past $10 billion
Valuation
As the first standalone private equity firm to list on the exchanges, Gaja Alternative Asset Management has no direct listed peers. The IPO is priced at a P/E multiple of 27.5 times, compared with P/E multiples of around 25-40 times for listed asset management companies (AMCs).
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Milky Mist Dairy Foods lists at 18% premium to issue price
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Business
Mobile payments on the rise but cash decline slows
The UK Payments Market report, released once a year, shows that debit cards – included those loaded onto phones – were the predominant way to pay last year.
They accounted for 54% of all payments in made in 2025. Some 39% of payments were contactless.
Cheques had been due to be phased out by 2018, until MPs forced a change of heart by the industry years ago.
Instead, they have withered to just 0.2% of payments made in the UK – with a total of 77 million written last year.
Cash is unlikely to go the same way, according to forecasts by UK Finance.
Notes and coins were used in 3.9 billion, or 8%, of all payments last year. This is expected to halve to 4% of all payments in the UK in 2035, or two billion transactions.
However, some people still had a strong preference for using cash.
“Rather than the UK becoming a cash-free society over the next decade, the UK will transition to an economy where cash is less important than it once was but remains widely valued and still preferred by some,” the report said.
Nearly 50 million people used a cash machines last year.
Nick Quin, from Link, which oversees the UK’s ATM network, said: “Cash withdrawals are falling across every part of the country. More people find it convenient and prefer to pay using contactless cards and digital wallets on smartphones, but millions still rely on cash day in, day out.
“People on lower incomes rely more heavily or entirely on cash to budget, which is why our job is to protect access to cash for as long as people need it.”
Business
Finfluencers Build Trust With Relatability, Rage Bait and GRWM Routines
Good morning. Financial influencers are reshaping how consumers manage their money—and how brands win their trust, Elyse Goncalves reports for The Wall Street Journal.
Less regulated and more widely accessible than the traditional financial services industry, these “finfluencers” use battle-tested growth tactics to capture attention. Stock picker Timothy James, 38, says he’s used rage-baiting lines to drive views, while U.K. creator Leo Gibson relies on radical relatability. Gibson’s financial advice video reached nearly 500,000 views by ditching institutional polish for a casual bedroom setup.
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Business
Summit bullish on modular
The home builder has spent about $17 million on the build method in recent years and doubled the capacity of its modular facility.
Business
Harbor International Small Cap Fund Q2 2026 Commentary (HAISX)
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Business
Fall travel deals shrink as shoulder-season demand rises
Melanie Fish, travel expert at Vrbo, told FOX Business that rising fall travel demand is squeezing traditional shoulder-season savings.
Travelers can still score deals this fall, but they may have to work harder to find them as the traditional shoulder season gets squeezed.
Fall travel interest on Vrbo is up 17% from a year ago, while average nightly rates after summer are now just 5% below peak summer prices across the platform’s top destinations, according to new data from the vacation rental platform.
“Shoulder season is this magic time between Labor Day and the holiday travel season when, traditionally, prices have dropped pretty dramatically and crowds have thinned out,” Vrbo Travel Expert Melanie Fish told FOX Business. “Well, summer travel demand is now bleeding over into fall.”
Some of the best savings remain in beach destinations, overseas markets and trips booked for later in the fall.
WEALTHY AMERICANS LOOK TO NEW ZEALAND AS DEMAND FOR ‘GOLDEN VISAS’ BOOMS

Travelers are pictured at Los Angeles International Airport on June 29, 2023. Some of the best savings remain in beach destinations, overseas markets and trips booked for later in the fall. (Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images)
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, tops Vrbo’s list, with vacation rental rates averaging 34% less than during summer. One property cited by the company drops from as much as $1,300 per night in August to about $600 in October.
Other beach markets also offer discounts. Orange Beach, Alabama, offers average savings of 31%, followed by Panama City Beach, Florida, at 24%, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, at 16%, and Ocean City, Maryland, at 12%, according to Vrbo.
Fish said travelers chasing lower prices should consider swapping destinations or keeping an eye out for last-minute discounts.
BUDGET AIRLINE JETSTAR TO CHARGE PASSENGERS FOR STORING BAGS IN OVERHEAD COMPARTMENTS

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, tops Vrbo’s list, with vacation rental rates averaging 34% less than during summer. (Edwin Remsberg / VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Travelers heading overseas may also have better luck. European vacation rental prices fall an average of about 8% from summer highs during the fall, with larger discounts in destinations including Corfu, Crete, Girona, the Azores and Siena.
Major tourism hubs such as London, Paris, Madrid and Rome tend to hold onto higher prices, leaving fewer shoulder-season bargains.
The squeeze is also showing up in several major U.S. cities. Vrbo said fall rates are rising in Nashville, Boston, Chicago and Miami as demand stays strong beyond summer.
SEE IT: TRUMP ADMIN UNVEILS SWEEPING $22.5B DULLES AIRPORT OVERHAUL

Travelers walk on a concourse at Chicago O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois on January 15, 2026. Beach markets still offer some of the biggest savings. (Daniel SLIM / AFP via Getty Images)
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Travelers willing to wait until after the holidays could find the biggest break.
From just after New Year’s through the period before spring break in early 2027, lodging prices are expected to run about 34% below summer peaks, with possible deals in San Diego, Los Angeles and Orlando.
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