Julia Lopez, Minister of State for Media, Data, and Digital Infrastructure, has suggested that the UK government is ‘genuinely open-minded’ about the future of the BBC funding model. Appearing before the Communications and Digital Committee of the House of Lords – the UK’s upper legislative chamber – as part of its inquiry into funding the […]
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is launching a new funding round and aiming for around $1.72 billion (€1.5bn) in fresh cash at $70 per share. It would take SpaceX’s valuation to about $127 billion. SpaceX is still a private company and despite numerous rumours of a potential IPO has – to date – steered clear of a […]
LucidLink, an SaaS solution connecting creative teams around the world, has announced it has raised $20 million (€18.9m) in funding from investors in its Series B funding round. The new capital infusion was led by Headline’s Global Growth strategy in collaboration with existing investors Baseline Ventures and Bright Cap Ventures – and new investor, Top […]
India’s Viacom18 operation is to get a major expansionist suite of investments from James Murdoch and Uday Shankar. Other cash is coming from Reliance and Paramount Global (the former ViacomCBS). The plan is to expand and launch Viacom18 as a TV and digital streaming platform. Viacom18 is home to the Colors TV channels and Voot […]
tvScientific, the advertising platform built for the connected TV (CTV), has raised $20 million (€18.3m) in Series A funding to expand on its mission to make TV advertising a massive growth driver for brands and apps of all sizes. The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from strategic partners NBCUniversal and Hearst […]
No regular reader will doubt that I’ve never exactly over-indulged on the Netflix Cool-Aid, so the latest news isn’t a big surprise. Price rises in a cost-of-living crisis and plateaued content offerings (both quality and quantity), matched with inflation in production, were never going to be a good mix. Add in vociferous competition and the […]
Sky has announced a new goal to tackle digital inequality and provide support to a quarter of a million digitally excluded people through a new £10 million (€11.9m) fund. The new programme – Sky Up – aims to support people to succeed in a digital age, ensuring that those who are most at risk of […]
SevenVentures, the investment arm of ProSiebenSat.1 and part of the Group’s Commerce & Ventures segment, has acquired shares in Grover, the consumer-tech subscription platform, via a media-for-equity investment. As part of the Series C financing round of the successful Berlin-based start-up, which thus reaches a valuation in the billions, SevenVentures invests and further expands its […]
The UK government is pressing ahead with privatising Channel 4, though it is by no means guaranteed success as opposition is widespread, not least on its own benches. The case for, as put forward by the DCMS, is that the broadcaster needs to be private to compete better with Netflix, Prime etc. For example, a […]
UK’s Channel 4 has invested in medical cannabis company Cannaray through its VC unit, which invests via ad inventory. C4 was the lead investor in a funding round that raised £10m (€12m) for the UK-based cannabis group. Vinay Solanki, head of Channel 4 Ventures, said he wanted to back “bold and disruptive categories”, adding that […]