The company is leading the race to develop an all-electric vertical take-off and landing (EVTOL) aircraft
09:00, 12 Aug 2026Updated 09:23, 12 Aug 2026
Vertical Aerospace’s UK VX4 aircraft(Image: Vertical Aerospace)
A Bristol-based company working to develop a ‘flying taxi’ has secured a fresh $100m cash injection. Vertical Aerospace said it would use the finance package to carry out a design review, open a new energy centre for battery production and retrofit the firm’s third prototype for hybrid-electric flight testing in the first half of 2027.
The New York-listed company is also planning to fund a production facility in the UK in future.
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The finance package included $40m from US-based Mudrick Capital Management and a $25m issuance from Yorkville Advisors – two major current stakeholders – as well as a $35m equity investment from new and existing investors.
It is understood the deal is being managed by bankers at Jefferies.
Stuart Simpson, chief executive of Vertical Aerospace, said: “We are focused on converting operational progress and partner engagement into continued advancement of our certification and commercialisation strategy.
“The support, reflected in these financings via new investors alongside further commitments from existing investors, demonstrates strong confidence in Vertical’s market position and progress, providing near-term flexibility to execute the next phase of our plan.”
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Vertical Aerospace was set up by Ovo Energy founder Stephen Fitzpatrick a decade ago and is based on Chapel St in Bristol. The business floated on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021 and is leading the race to develop an all-electric vertical take-off and landing (EVTOL) aircraft.
The latest injection of capital follows a period of operational and commercial momentum for the company which earlier this year became only the second firm of its kind to complete a piloted transition flight in a full-scale tiltrotor eVTOL.
In July, Vertical also carried out a number of demonstrations at Farnborough Air Show, including the first public piloted eVTOL flight, showcasing how its aircraft will operate in real-world environments.
Last year, the company said its aircraft could be ready for commercial use by 2028 if it secured financing. Vertical is planning to build a factory at Cotswold Airport, near Kemble in Gloucestershire, next to its existing flight test centre.
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The business is already in advanced discussions with the UK government about a grant worth up to £10m to support the development of production facilities in Britain. It said this week it had also received “confirmed interest” from the Ministry of Defence in its hybrid-electric and autonomous capabilities.
The moon’s shadow is sweeping across the Arctic and parts of Europe today, bringing a total solar eclipse to Greenland, Iceland and Spain, and for anyone outside the narrow path of totality, several major space agencies and observatories are streaming the event live and free online.
Today’s eclipse, occurring Wednesday, August 12, marks the first total solar eclipse visible from mainland Europe since 1999 and the first visible from the Iberian Peninsula since 1912. The path of totality crosses a remote stretch of northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, a small corner of northeastern Portugal, and Spain, before ending near the Balearic Islands as the moon’s shadow meets sunset over the Mediterranean. A much broader partial eclipse will be visible across the northern United States, most of Canada, much of Europe and northwestern Africa.
Solar Eclipse IBTimes US
NASA will host its flagship English-language broadcast beginning at 1:15 p.m. Eastern time, or 1715 GMT. The program will include live telescope views from multiple points along the path of totality, expert commentary and interviews with solar scientists, and footage from a NASA-funded WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft chasing the moon’s shadow to study the sun’s corona. NASA’s broadcast will be available across a wide range of platforms, including NASA+, the agency’s website, NASA TV, Amazon Prime, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch and X. NASA’s 2024 total eclipse broadcast reportedly drew more than 15 million concurrent viewers, and this year’s stream is expected to match or exceed that audience.
Several European institutions are also streaming their own coverage, with most broadcasts beginning between 17:00 and 17:30 GMT, or roughly 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias will begin its program at 17:00 GMT from Cerro del Otero in Palencia, Spain, connecting live with telescopes recording both the eclipse and the sun’s corona. London’s Royal Observatory Greenwich will begin its own presented stream at roughly 17:10 to 17:15 GMT, using a modern telescope to capture the partial eclipse as seen from the British capital, where NASA has listed maximum coverage at 91% of the sun’s disk.
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The European Space Agency will launch its livestream at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, or 1730 GMT, featuring expert commentary alongside a dedicated telescope feed from the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre near Teruel, Spain, directly in the path of totality. ESA has scheduled totality at that location for 18:31 GMT, lasting approximately 1 minute and 21 seconds. San Francisco’s Exploratorium museum is also expected to begin its coverage around the same time.
Additional livestream options include the Virtual Telescope Project, which begins its broadcast at 1:20 p.m. Eastern time, or 1720 GMT, offering real-time views from robotic telescopes in Manciano, Italy, where a partial eclipse will be visible, alongside views from within the path of totality in Spain. The organization Time and Date has also scheduled its own YouTube broadcast and maintains a dedicated eclipse app that automatically detects a user’s location and displays local eclipse timing, circumstances and cloud cover forecasts, even for viewers well outside the path of totality.
For viewers hoping to watch from a mobile device, streaming guides recommend connecting to Wi-Fi ahead of time and searching “2026 total solar eclipse” on YouTube, where multiple live broadcasts from different organizations are expected to appear simultaneously in search results. NASA’s own streaming app additionally supports background audio, allowing users to listen to expert commentary while multitasking, and is available across most major app stores and streaming devices, including Roku, Apple TV and Fire TV.
The eclipse has also inspired unusual travel experiences. Spanish carrier Iberia is operating a special Airbus A321XLR flight, numbered IB1473 in reference to astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus’ birth year, departing Madrid-Barajas Airport in the evening on a route designed to maximize visibility of totality from the air. The flight will carry researchers studying the sun’s corona as part of the Shelios research program, and the aircraft is equipped with Starlink satellite connectivity, allowing Iberia to livestream the eclipse from the air via its own social media channels. Brussels Airlines is separately running a charter flight from Brussels Airport toward France, organized in partnership with the Urania Public Observatory, the University of Antwerp and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Skywatchers hoping to extend their celestial viewing beyond the eclipse won’t have to wait long for the next event. The Perseid meteor shower is set to peak overnight between August 12 and 13, offering observers across the Northern Hemisphere a chance to see roughly 50 meteors per hour under clear, dark skies.
For anyone planning to view the eclipse directly rather than through a livestream, safety officials continue to emphasize that certified ISO 12312-2 solar filters or eclipse glasses are required for any direct viewing outside the brief period of totality, since ordinary sunglasses and homemade filters do not provide adequate protection.
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Those outside the path of totality or hoping to avoid cloud cover can follow along through any of the confirmed livestreams, with NASA’s broadcast expected to serve as the most comprehensive single source for viewers across the United States and beyond.
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U.S. inflation data due today could drive market movements in the short term, but it could have minimal influence on the Federal Reserve’s rate decision in September, analysts at Metzler Capital Markets said in a note.
After June core inflation data came in weaker-than-expected, markets are keen to see if this trend continued in July or if the June reading “was merely an anomaly,” the analysts said.
The Fed could wait for additional upcoming data releases, including producer price index data, personal consumption expenditures data, and developments in the Middle East to guide its rate decision, they said.
7 Brew’s launch of its first mobile app this week places the rapidly growing drive-through beverage chain squarely within a strategy pioneered and refined by Starbucks, the coffee giant whose app has become a central pillar of its business, driving billions of dollars in sales through personalized ordering, loyalty rewards and customer data collection.
7 Brew’s app, which became available Wednesday, gives customers order-ahead functionality, full menu customization, and access to the chain’s previously unpublished “secret menu” of more than 20,000 possible drink combinations. Those features closely mirror the tools Starbucks has used for years to drive engagement, tools that have become a case study across the restaurant and beverage industry for how a well-executed app can reshape customer behavior.
Starbucks Chief Executive Brian Niccol has spoken extensively about the central role the company’s app and loyalty program play in its broader turnaround strategy. Speaking during the company’s third-quarter earnings call, Niccol outlined ambitious goals for rebuilding the brand’s customer service reputation, saying the company is “reclaiming it, one customer, one cup, one coffee house at a time,” as it works toward what he described as becoming “the world’s greatest customer service company.”
Central to that effort is Starbucks Rewards, the company’s loyalty program, which Niccol said is helping reinforce daily customer habits. “Starbucks Rewards is reinforcing the daily ritual and building more connection with customers,” Niccol said, noting that the program had grown to 35.8 million 90-day active members in the U.S. just four months after the company relaunched it, with members already advancing through the program’s tiered structure from its Green level up to Gold and Reserve status.
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Niccol also pointed to specific app-driven promotions as evidence of the loyalty program’s effectiveness. He cited “Free Mod Monday,” a promotion allowing members to try a free drink modification, saying that one in three members who tried a new modification through the offer reordered it in the weeks that followed, illustrating how targeted, app-based promotions can convert a single interaction into a lasting change in customer behavior.
Industry analysts say the underlying mechanics of a strong beverage app extend well beyond simple convenience. Thad Peterson, a senior analyst who has studied restaurant technology trends, said mobile ordering functions as a kind of expanded capacity for a physical location. “It is a virtual extension of the line in the store, so more customers have access to the store so more sales can be made,” Peterson said, adding that apps also save customers time and effort by fitting seamlessly into daily routines, particularly for a habitual, everyday purchase like coffee.
Beyond convenience, apps also serve a critical data-gathering function for beverage companies. Domick Miserandino, chief executive of RTM Nexus, said the core value of an app for companies like 7 Brew lies as much in the information it generates as in the ordering experience itself. “Data and speed. The point of the app is to get all that customer data,” Miserandino said, adding that for a chain with a menu as complex as 7 Brew’s, an app also meaningfully speeds up service by allowing customization to happen before a customer ever reaches the pickup window, cutting down wait times at the stand itself.
That efficiency argument carries particular weight for 7 Brew, given the sheer scale of its menu. With more than 20,000 possible drink combinations, and no walk-up counter where customers can browse a physical menu board, the chain has historically relied on customers either knowing exactly what they wanted before reaching the drive-through speaker, or missing out on off-menu options simply because there was no practical way to browse the full range of choices in the moment.
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7 Brew Chief Marketing Officer Nick Chavez framed the company’s own app in terms that echo Starbucks’ broader engagement strategy, describing the goal as making digital ordering “as personal and fun as the experience” customers already associate with the brand’s in-person stands. Like Starbucks, 7 Brew has paired its app launch with updates to its loyalty program, allowing members to bank points not just toward drinks but also toward exclusive merchandise, a structure aimed at keeping customers engaged with the brand between visits.
Whether 7 Brew’s app can replicate the scale of Starbucks’ loyalty ecosystem remains an open question, given the significant difference in the two chains’ size and maturity. Starbucks has spent years refining its app and rewards infrastructure across tens of thousands of locations worldwide, while 7 Brew, founded in 2017, is still in the midst of its rapid national expansion. Even so, industry observers say the fundamental strategy, using an app to combine convenience, customization and data collection into a single tool for building customer habit and loyalty, remains a proven playbook regardless of a chain’s size, one that 7 Brew is now positioned to apply as it continues its rapid growth across the beverage industry.
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Most Business News publications cover national or global markets. Business News is focused entirely on Western Australia, which means the journalism, the data and the intelligence are all built around WA companies, people and projects — not adapted from a national feed. Data & Insights, included with every subscription, combines more than 30 years of WA-specific editorial research with live business data. There’s no comparable product for the WA market.
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The Morning Digest Email provides a comprehensive wrap of the major headlines, relevant to WA business, and includes with a snapshot of the overnight news covering oil, gold and ASX-listed companies.
The Afternoon Wrap Email focuses on the news covered by our team of journalists during the course of the working day, including exclusive stories and analysis, all of which relates to WA business and the local economy.
The BN Weekender Email contains a wrap of the Business News from the week that was, highlighting the top stories in each area of WA business. Sign up for free.
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Yes. Corporate subscriptions are available for teams and organisations, with discounted rates as user numbers increase. Pricing starts from $1,625 + GST per user. Get in touch
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Business News subscriptions are used by executives, investors, consultants and professionals who need to stay informed and make better decisions about the WA market. When you subscribe you’ll get
Unlimited access to WA’s most trusted business journalism
Data & Insights — detailed profiles of WA companies, people, projects and deals
MyBN — a personalised feed based on the companies, people and sectors you follow
Special publications and industry reports
Daily and weekly email newsletters
Data & Insights is a research tool built specifically for the WA market. It draws on more than 30 years of Business News reporting, updated regularly to reflect what’s happening now. Use it to:
Look up detailed profiles of WA companies, including financials, directors and ownership
Find decision-makers and track their career movements
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Monitor deals, appointments and market activity
Access industry rankings and league tables
Data & Insights is updated daily by our dedicated research team, which uses the latest announcements, ASX filings and editorial coverage to keep our person, company, list and project records up to date.
Business News welcome all opportunities to make our dataset accurate, complete and current, so if you have an update request, please email the team at general@businessnews.com.au, and we’d be happy to assist.
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Only subscribers have full access to all content on the Business News website.
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If staying informed about the WA economy is part of your job, and/or you’re looking for networking opportunities in WA, Business News is built for you.
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Executives and directors tracking competitors, clients and market movements
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Most Business News publications cover national or global markets. Business News is focused entirely on Western Australia, which means the journalism, the data and the intelligence are all built around WA companies, people and projects — not adapted from a national feed. Data & Insights, included with every subscription, combines more than 30 years of WA-specific editorial research with live business data. There’s no comparable product for the WA market.
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The Morning Digest Email provides a comprehensive wrap of the major headlines, relevant to WA business, and includes with a snapshot of the overnight news covering oil, gold and ASX-listed companies.
The Afternoon Wrap Email focuses on the news covered by our team of journalists during the course of the working day, including exclusive stories and analysis, all of which relates to WA business and the local economy.
The BN Weekender Email contains a wrap of the Business News from the week that was, highlighting the top stories in each area of WA business. Sign up for free.
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