Tech & Software · Week of Oct 26, 2026
Open-source OCR and field inspection tools: the week in tech
Open-source OCR models, field inspection hardware and material-tracing tech led a mixed week, alongside investment results and market forecasts.
There was no single thread running through this week's Tech & Software releases. The most substantive product news came from ModelBest and OpenBMB, which open-sourced the MiniCPM-OCR series for document parsing and OCR quality checks, and from SCANOLOGY, which introduced AirGO Pad, a tablet platform for on-site 3D scanning, inspection and reporting. SMX pointed to a TechCrunch profile of its molecular marking technology and Digital Material Passport Platform, which links physical materials to digital records.
On the financial side, Investcorp reported US$11.1 billion in aggregate activity for the first nine months of 2026, and TROOPS signed a term sheet with Young Platform on digital asset exchange infrastructure. Wissen Research and MarketsandMarkets issued market forecasts for graphene and ESG reporting software, and GoDaddy released a ranking of entrepreneurial college towns.
Bahrain EDB
Investcorp Announces Aggregate Financial Activity for 2026 at Gateway Gulf Investment Forum
Investcorp says it recorded US$11.1 billion in aggregate activity in the first nine months of 2026: US$4.8 billion raised, US$3.7 billion deployed and US$2.6 billion in exits, with assets under management of US$65.2 billion as of September 2026. On the technology side, the company says its Investcorp Wealth digital platform has enabled more than US$620 million in client capital raising since its 2024 launch, and it launched an AI Investment Framework.
ModelBest
ModelBest and OpenBMB Open-Source MiniCPM-OCR Series, Delivering High-Performance Document Parsing and AI-Powered Quality Control
ModelBest and OpenBMB released MiniCPM-OCR 1.0 (1.3B), a document parsing model, and MiniCPM-OCR Jev (2B), an OCR quality-assessment model, as open source on GitHub, Hugging Face and ModelScope. The companies say Jev assigns confidence scores to text, LaTeX formulas and tables and can be added to existing OCR workflows without replacing the OCR engine; both models support vLLM, SGLang, llama.cpp and Ollama, with Day-0 support for AMD, Arm, Houmo AI, Intel and NVIDIA hardware.
SCANOLOGY
SCANOLOGY Introduces AirGO Pad for On-Site 3D Scanning, Inspection and Reporting
SCANOLOGY announced AirGO Pad, a tablet-based platform that works with compatible SCANOLOGY wireless 3D scanners to handle scanning, measurement, inspection and report generation on-site without a separate laptop. The release does not state pricing or an availability date; it says the device supports standard CAD/3D formats and wireless PC synchronization.
TROOPS
TROOPS, Inc. (NASDAQ: TROO) Announces Strategic Term Sheet with Young Platform to Accelerate Development of Digital Asset Exchange Infrastructure
TROOPS, Inc. (NASDAQ: TROO) says it has entered into a term sheet with Young Platform S.p.A., a European digital asset technology provider. The company says the arrangement is designed to accelerate development of digital asset exchange infrastructure.
SMX (Security Matters)
SMX Featured in TechCrunch Profile; Article Highlights Company's Technology
SMX says TechCrunch has published a profile, titled "SMX is giving physical materials a digital identity," covering its molecular marking technology and Digital Material Passport Platform (DMPP). According to the release, the article examines how invisible molecular markers link materials such as plastics, metals and textiles to digital records of provenance, composition and lifecycle history.
Wissen Research LLC
Graphene Market Set to Reach US$ 3.94 Billion by 2031 as Demand for Next-Generation Materials Accelerates
Wissen Research says the global graphene market is valued at USD 970 million in 2026 and projects it will reach USD 3.94 billion by 2031. The study puts the growth rate at a CAGR of 32.4% over 2026–2031.
MarketsandMarkets
ESG Reporting Software Market worth $4.48 billion by 2031 - Report by MarketsandMarkets™
MarketsandMarkets says the global ESG Reporting Software Market will reach USD 1.83 billion in 2026 and USD 4.48 billion by 2031. The firm puts the growth rate at a CAGR of 19.6%.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy Reveals America's Most Entrepreneurial College Towns
GoDaddy released an inaugural ranking of America's Most Entrepreneurial College Towns. The company says 80% of the towns on the list lie beyond traditional startup hubs.
This roundup is written with AI assistance from the press releases listed above, using only what they state. The releases are the companies' own announcements, not Nile Web Host reporting.