Virgin Orbit, the Sir Richard Branson-backed rocket launching business, is suspending operations and payments to staff as it seeks fresh funding. Virgin Orbit has ‘furloughed’ all staff according to business news channel CNBC, and the situation confirmed by senior staff. Shares in Virgin Orbit crashed 33 per cent on March 15th and closed at just […]
The Silicon Valley Bank failed on March 10th, leaving Roku, production platform Vimeo and RocketLab at risk until the Federal Government clarifies its position. Roku had some $487 million (€454m) in cash deposited at the bank, the USA’s 16th largest. RocketLab had $38 million in its SVB account, although in a statement it said this […]
Following the announcement on October 17th 2022, Vodafone Group has confirmed the completion of the sale of 50 per cent of its German FTTH company to Altice. The creation of the JV, called FibreCo, received European Commission approval in February 2023. FibreCo will deploy fibre-to-the-home to up to 7 million homes in Germany over a […]
The South Korean government is creating a fund to support private space start-ups. According to the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT, the government will create a 50 billion won fund (€36.1bn) by 2027 to invest in the private space sector. The Korea Venture Investment Corp will operate and supervise the project. The Ministry […]
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) will become one of the first drama schools in the UK to offer students virtual production technology training in a new state-of-the-art studio after receiving almost £2 million in funding from the Department of Education. Founded in 1861, LAMDA is the oldest drama school in the […]
RTL Deutschland has set up a new unit, RTL Ventures, to invest in consumer tech companies. The idea is to build up a portfolio of innovative European firms that aspire to become category market leaders in the long term and for which the DACH market (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) offers relevant growth potential. The investment […]
Videocites, creator of the next-generation analytics solution that reveals the social footprint created by fans and partners on social media, has announced the initial closing of a Series B round led by Velocity Capital Management with additional investments by Series A investor Infront Sports & Media AG, and NBA Equity. Videocites is providing the NBA […]
ITV is adding architectural tech company Resi to its Media for Equity portfolio in its first investment of 2023. As part of ITV Adventures Invest, its Media for Equity investment fund, ITV has agreed to invest up to £3 million of advertising inventory across ITV’s channels and ITVX in return for a minority equity stake […]
Amazon and Superplastic have announced a multifaceted collaboration that spans investment and a first-look deal with Amazon Studios, which is currently in development on a series featuring Superplastic’s synthetic celebrities. The Alexa Fund, Amazon’s venture capital arm that focuses on new media, smart consumer electronics, ambient intelligence, and other areas of digital technology, leads Superplastic’s […]
An economic impact assessment of film and television production incentives has found that the Australian government’s production offset programmes deliver a high level of return on investment. The report also finds that offset programmes underpin Australia’s global standing as a leading production hub among countries where governments have recognised the sector’s economic and cultural benefits. […]