Defence Tech
NATO Allies aim to Boost Defence Spending

NATO members have agreed to raise their annual defence spending target from the current 2% of GDP — set in 2014 — to 5% by 2035 for each member state.¹ This new target exceeds what any NATO member currently spends.² For comparison, the U.S. allocated 3.4% of its GDP to defence in 2024.³ NATO’s new 5% target includes at least 3.5% for core military capabilities such as troops, weapons, and defence technologies, with the remaining 1.5% directed toward critical security infrastructure like cybersecurity.⁴ This marks a significant financial increase, potentially making it a key inflection point in the global military expenditure trajectory. The move comes amid increasing hostilities with Russia, heightened tensions in the Middle East, and the current U.S. administration’s “America First” policy, which appears to have pushed European allies to increase defence investment and pursue greater military self-reliance.⁵

Video Games & Esports
Nintendo’s Switch 2 Sets Record Release

Nintendo’s Switch 2 sold over 3.5 million units in the first four days after its June 2025 launch.⁶ Nintendo’s seemingly successful hardware launch could bode well for the gaming industry’s value chain. Historically, hardware sales are a leading indicator of software and platform success.⁷ A substantial install base could attract developers and may encourage increased software sales.

Artificial Intelligence
AI Monetisation Taking Shape

Anthropic, a leading AI startup known for their Claude family of AI models, has achieved a staggering $4 billion annualised revenue run rate, quadrupling its run rate from just the beginning of the year.⁸ This jump perhaps underscores the rapid commercialisation of AI models as enterprises increasingly pay for access to powerful foundation models.⁹ Anthropic’s growth is being driven primarily by its Claude chatbot and partnerships with major cloud platforms, such as Amazon.¹⁰ Google has also invested in Anthropic and integrated Claude into its cloud marketplace.¹¹ Similarly, Anthropic’s rapid success exemplifies the dynamic landscape of the AI industry, where significant investments align with innovations to drive growth at rapid pace.¹²

FinTech
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Solutions Set to Factor into Credit Scores, FinTech Funding Sees Momentum

Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) is launching new credit scoring models this autumn, FICO Score 10 BNPL and FICO Score 10 T BNPL, that will incorporate BNPL loan data for the first time.¹³ This move brings greater visibility and accountability to short-term instalment loans, allowing responsible BNPL usage to help build credit histories while penalising missed payments.¹⁴ For the FinTech theme, this appears to mark a significant step toward the mainstream integration of alternative lending into the traditional credit ecosystem, potentially boosting transparency and regulatory alignment. June also saw two large and highly successful FinTech initial public offerings (IPOs), perhaps indicative of robust investor interest in this theme. Circle Internet Group, which operates a blockchain-based financial infrastructure platform best known for issuing the USDC stablecoin, marked the largest FinTech related IPO since 2021.¹⁵ Chime Financial, which offers mobile-first banking services focused on fee-free checking, savings, and early direct deposit, also made its public market debut.¹⁶

Data Centres & Digital Infrastructure
Data Centre Investments Accelerate

The breakdown includes $150 billion for domestic memory fab construction and upgrades across Idaho, New York, and Virginia, and $50 billion for R&D, chiefly aimed at High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) production, which is vital for AI powered data centres.¹⁷ Key components of the roll-out include a second leading-edge Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) fab in Boise, expansion of the Manassas, Virginia facility, plus building up to four more fabs in New York, along with advanced HBM packaging capabilities to support AI infrastructure.¹⁸ Backed by federal funding, including over $6 billion from the CHIPS Act and eligibility for the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit, this investment underscores a national strategy to reinforce resilient data centre and memory-chip supply chains.¹⁹

Lithium & Battery Technology
Battery Storage Rapidly Scaling into a Core Pillar of U.S. Grid Resilience?

Between April 2024 and April 2025, nearly 180 large-scale battery energy storage systems entered operation in the U.S.²⁰ Total battery energy storage capacity increased from 18 gigawatts (GW) to 25GW — a 41% YoY increase.²¹ Energy storage can potentially help mitigate risks of supply disruptions on power grids due to extreme heat events and shifting supply and demand dynamics. For example, the odds for Texas to have an energy emergency this summer have dropped from 15% a few months ago to less than 4% currently, due to battery capacity additions.²² As such, large-scale battery storage appears to be emerging as a critical tool to prevent blackouts in the U.S. Utilities across the country are rapidly deploying massive lithium-ion battery systems to store excess energy - often from renewables like solar and wind - and discharge it during peak hours when air conditioning use spikes.²³ Nationwide, grid-scale battery capacity is expected to reach 30 gigawatts by year-end - enough to power millions of homes for several hours.²⁴