Fortnite creator Epic Games raises $1.78bn August 6, 2020 Epic Games, the firm behind the popular online multiplayer game Fortnite, said today it has raised $1.78bn in its latest funding round, taking its valuation to $17.3bn. The latest funding round includes the $250m investment made by electronics giant Sony last month for a reported 1.4 per cent stake in the company. Other new investors [...]
Sir Richard Branson set for space as Virgin Galactic signs Rolls-Royce deal August 4, 2020 Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of private spaceflight firm Virgin Galactic, will be one of the first to go into space in one of his company’s rockets, it has been revealed. As long as two test flights scheduled for the autumn are successful, Branson will go into orbit early next year, Virgin Galactic said [...]
Nasa launches ninth Mars mission in hunt for signs of past life July 30, 2020 Nasa today launched its next-generation Mars rover from Florida on a $2.4bn mission to find signs of past life on the red planet. The Perseverance rover was aboard an Atlas 5 rocket, which is manufactured by the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture United Launch Alliance. Once on Mars it will also deploy a mini helicopter and test [...]
SpaceX investor pours $50m into London tech startup Complyadvantage July 28, 2020 Fintech startup Complyadvantage has closed a $50m series C round, as it seeks to disrupt the way global banks tackle financial crime. The round was led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, which has CA$207.4bn in net assets. It made the investment through its innovation arm, which invests in late-stage tech companies. Existing investors [...]
Musk’s SpaceX in talks to raise funds at $44bn valuation July 23, 2020 Rocket company SpaceX is said to be in talks to raise a new round of funding at a $44bn valuation, following a successful few months for the tech firm. SpaceX is seeking to raise approximately $1bn priced at $270 per share, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Helmed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, SpaceX [...]
Musk qualifies for $2.1bn payday after Tesla rally July 21, 2020 A prolonged bounce in Tesla’s share price means its chief executive Elon Musk has qualified for a $2.1bn payout, in his second award since May. The electric carmaker’s six-month average market capitalisation officially surpassed $150bn today, triggering the vesting of the second of 12 tranches of options granted to Musk in 2018. Musk, who is [...]
Virgin Galactic signs private space travel deal with Nasa June 22, 2020 Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic said today it has signed a deal with Nasa to develop a programme to promote private missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Shares in Virgin Galactic spiked more than 14 per cent on the news. Virgin will help identify and train new candidates to become astronauts for commercial space flight, [...]
UK Space Agency signs US deal to fuel British spaceports June 17, 2020 British and American government ministers have signed a deal to power up the UK’s spaceports programme and boost tech exports. The UK Space Agency said today the agreement will allow US companies to operate and launch rockets and satellites from British spaceports, as well as support their participation in the UK space sector supply chain. [...]
UK space race fires up in first Shetland rocket launch June 15, 2020 Scottish firm Skyrora completed the first ever rocket launch from the Shetlands over the weekend, as the UK space race continues to heat up. The 6.5 feet tall Skylark Nano rocket was launched from the Fethaland Peninsula at North Roe on the Scottish island on Saturday, utilising the area’s remote location to its advantage. The [...]
When Moon? A momentous last week June 2, 2020 When Moon? A phrase often used in the crypto space to describe when a coin price will blast off in value. This week we have seen Bitcoin finally rebreach the US$10,000 and notably my friends at Cardano saw their market cap increase 52% catapulting it back into the top 10 cryptocurrency chart by value for [...]