Doctor’s orders: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as your favorite Long Island innovation economy newsletter – make that the only Long Island innovation economy newsletter, thank you very much – returns from its short Independence Day hiatus.
We’re back just in time to share this emergency dispatch from Innovation Command: Due to unforeseen medical circumstances, Innovate Long Island must take another short break next week.
Forever young: It wasn’t THAT long ago … rediscover your inner child today.
Please enjoy today’s edition, your regularly scheduled Friday newsletter (July 10) and next week’s Monday Calendar Newsletter (July 13), then stand by while your humble newsletter scribe gets his oil changed and tires rotated and such. No newsletters July 15, 17 or 20 … back at you July 21 with an uninterrupted flow of awesomesauce. More reminders later.
You must be kid: Back here on July 8, with schools closed for Summer vacation, we’re jumping in with both feet on National Be a Kid Again Day, reminding us – in the words of the great George Bernard Shaw – that “we don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”
Sweet rewards: Embracing your inner child should be no problem on National Video Game Day, an annual homage to Player One and your digitized distraction(s) of choice.
Speaking of enjoyable choices, children of all ages will certainly find something to tempt their sweet tooth today: National Chocolate With Almonds Day (Almond Joy is a great start, but you can do better), National Ice Cream Sundae Day (new chocolate-almond skill unlocked!) and National Freezer Pop Day (pick a flavor, any flavor) are all enjoyed on July 8.
Pass (and fail): Also frozen in time is the first United States passport, which was issued on this date in 1796 to Francis Barrere of Philadelphia, entitling the U.S. citizen to travel abroad (which is how U.S. passports work, as almost everyone knows).
Patents pending: Most inventors, entrepreneurs and other innovators are keenly aware how U.S. intellectual property laws work – fewer know that American trademarks, copyrights and patents became a thing when Congress passed the Patent Act on July 8, 1870.
The one that started it all: The WSJ got right to business.
Making it their business: Entrepreneurs staking a claim on this date include publishers Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser, who jointly founded The Wall Street Journal on this date in 1899.
Man of steel: Also building something new and exciting was Connecticut-based inventor Alfred Gilbert, who patented his “Mysto Erector Structural Steel Builder” 113 years ago today. (It would soon come to market as the original Erector Set, for those keeping score.)
The truth is out there – or is it? And it was July 8, 1947, when the Roswell Daily Record newspaper reported that the U.S. Army had recovered a crashed flying saucer from a local cattle ranch, intensifying America’s fascination with UFOs.
Even in the current age of extraterrestrial disclosure – with reems of classified military files publicly released, secret government investigations revealed and ironclad eyewitness accounts pouring in almost monthly – what was really recovered from Foster Ranch remains a mystery.
Wealth of nation: American industrialist and philanthropist John Davison Rockefeller (1839-1937) – the founder of Standard Oil and ruthless “robber baron” remembered (romantically, if not mathematically) as history’s richest American – would be 187 years old today.
Sweet music: Puck is kind of a Mozart of the kitchen.
Also born on July 8 were American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton (1831-1888), a former Confederate Army soldier remembered best as the inventor of Coca-Cola; German military officer and Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917), who pioneered rigid dirigible airships; English epidemiologist Sir Austin Bradford Hill (1897-1991), who championed medical statistics and random clinical trials; American politician Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979), a New York State governor, U.S. Vice President and one of aforementioned John D.’s 10 grandchildren; and American journalist, columnist and author Anna Quindlen (born 1953), a New York Post and New York Times standout whose unblinking insights and sharp prose earned a Pulitzer Prize.
Arguably history’s second-most-famous “Wolfgang”: And take a bow, Wolfgang Johannes Puck! The Austrian American chef and restaurateur – a James Beard Foundation Award-winning, Michelin Star-collecting sensation whose globally recognized brand crosses seamlessly from fine dining to casual noshing to consumer products – turns 77 today.
Give the culinary king your best at editor@innovateli.com, where our delicious menu is flavored by your news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: Presberg Law P.C. is Long Island’s premier “IDA” and business law firm for businesses relocating to and expanding on Long Island. Founded in 1984, this multigenerational practice focuses on the purchase, sale, leasing and financing of commercial and industrial real estate, SBA and other loan transactions, construction projects and business sales and acquisitions.
BUT FIRST, THIS
On the road again: Two Long Island-based startups will be honored as part of New York Small Business Development Centers’ Annual Client Awards Roadshow.
The 2026 Awards Roadshow is a statewide celebration recognizing outstanding small businesses and entrepreneurs whose achievements reflect the innovation and socioeconomic impact inherent to New York SBDC’s mission. Selected from 27,000-plus small-business clients served by the New York SBDC, recipients will be honored during a rolling, months-long awards ceremony set to kick off July 30 in Onondaga County’s Town of Skaneateles, where M&P Engineering and Land Surveying owner Paul Olszewski is slated to be feted as Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year.
This year’s crop of 10 award-winners also includes owner Frank Calvo and his circa-2024 pharmacy Montauk Chemists, scheduled to be honored Sept. 15 as New York SBDC’s Rural Business of the Year, and Jawad Khalfan, who launched Garden City-based SecureTech Systems in 2020 and is set to be celebrated Sept. 16 as the 2026 Next-Gen Entrepreneur of the Year. Both Long Island businesses are supported by the Stony Brook University SBDC.
Sun rising: New York is now home to more than one-third of the nation’s community-based solar power.
Shining example: New York State is officially ahead of schedule on its solar-power ambitions.
Eight gigawatts of distributed solar energy have now been installed across New York, putting the state beyond where it expected to be at this point on the road to 10 distributed GW by 2030. “Distributed” refers to small-scale solar-power systems that generate electricity directly at or near the point of consumption, rather than at centralized power plants or other remote locations that transmit power to circulation hubs.
With more than 276,000 solar-power projects operating across New York through Albany’s signature NY-Sun program and other state-sanctioned efforts, there’s now enough solar-generated energy to power more than 1.3 million New York homes and businesses – with another 2.7 GW in development, thanks in large part to what Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office calculates as $12 billion-plus in statewide private investments. “New York is home to 35 percent of the nation’s community solar generation,” noted New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO Doreen Harris, adding that impressive percentage “secures [New York’s] position as the top community-solar market in the country.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Bot your parents’ brand-building: The Entrepreneur’s Edge returns with a special message – and a free, easy and all-around unique brand-building tool – from one of Long Island’s most innovative communications specialists.
Land of the free: Expert analyses, pointed podcasts, inquisitive Q&As, on-point op-eds, fantastic news features, a kick-ass professional-networking calendar plus three outstanding innovation-rich newsletters every week, sent directly to your inbox – and all of this actionable intel absolutely free! Please help Innovate Long Island keep it that way.
VOICES
From healthcare affordability, environmental conservation and the science of professional communication to election law, retail rejuvenation and Long Island’s long and proud socioeconomic history, nobody understands the regional, national or global innovation economies like the amazing Innovate Long Island Voices team.
Pick an insider, identify the issue challenging your personal or professional growth and get answers now!
STUFF WE’RE READING
Big idea: Innovation is America’s biggest business – thanks to one invention that started it all. CBS News shares a historical perspective.
Try, try again: As new technologies proliferate, reinvention may prove to be the greatest innovation of all. The Berkshire Edge changes things up.
Most important meal of the day: Breakfast baron General Mills embraces “experiential innovation” to meet market expectations. Food Business News fills your bowl.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Nudge, a New York City-based developer of AI infrastructure for enhanced digital-retail experiences, raised $1.1 million in Pre-Seed funding led by s16vc, Antler, Shopify, Nutanix and Postman.
+ KredosAi, a Washington State-based, AI-powered revenue-collections platform leveraging behavioral intelligence, raised $7 million in Series A funding led by BMW i Ventures, with participation from Motley Fool Ventures, Walter Ventures, Okapi Venture Capital, StartFast Ventures, SaaS Ventures and Stout Street Capital.
+ Katalyze AI, a California-based agentic operating system for pharmaceutical companies, raised $10.5 million in Seed funding led by Bonfire Ventures, Inovia Capital, Ripple Ventures, Alumni Ventures and angel investors Gokul Rajaram and Farzad Soleimani.
+ Luxonis, a Colorado-based robotics developer focused on advanced optical systems and related software, raised $14 million in Series A funding led by Denali Growth Partners, with participation from Taiwania Capital.
+ Qolab, a California-based developer of scalable superconducting quantum-computing technologies, raised $54.2 million in Series B funding led by the University of California Office of the Chief Investment Officer, with participation from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Octave Ventures and Phoenix Venture Partners.
+ Beeline Medicines, a Connecticut-based clinical-stage biotech developing precision autoimmune and inflammatory-disease therapies, raised $126.3 million in Series A extension funding led by Bain Capital, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Bristol Myers Squibb.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know – on Long Island, and soon, across New York State (just ask Presberg Law). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Goooooaaaaalllll Edition)
Do a little dance: Belgian players break into a strangely familiar dance to celebrate their latest World Cup win.
Adeus, G7: Portugal’s World Cup exit marks an end for all-timer Cristiano Ronaldo.
Birther of a nation: The eye-rolling irony behind Trump’s FIFA meddling.
Jersey Mark: A U.S. senator sparks a political firestorm by supporting Team Mexico.
Kick it into gear: Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Presberg Law, where 40-plus years of unparalleled expertise always finds the back of the net. Check them out.
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