Venturing & Investments
All the latest insight, news and analysis on venturing and investment activity surrounding leading telecom and infra players.
Vodafone sinks more cash into Economy of Things venture, amid ‘strategic realignment’
Vodafone–Sumitomo JV Pairpoint secures another €30m from backers, initiates strategic reset, and hunts for a new CEO as losses mount…
Investor Arcus eyes digital infra opportunities with latest €3bn fund
Arcus Infrastructure Partners targeting digital infra among several other sectors with now-closed European Infrastructure Fund 4, eyeing expansion after recent “highly successful” investment spree…
SoftBank ‘in talks’ to expand infra portfolio with DigitalBridge buy
Japanese investment group said to be in discussions to buy US-based digital infra asset manager, as both businesses are seeking to expand their portfolios to meet demand for compute in the AI space…
EC’s AI Gigafactory timetable is already slipping
The European Commission delays AI Gigafactory call from a previous end-2025 target, with the European Investment Bank agreeing to help accelerate the funding and development of the facilities…
Deutsche Glasfaser said to be winding back rollout as backers demand RoI
Germany’s EQT- and Omers-backed altnet major is said to have edged closer to a long-sought financing deal, but to have needed to significantly scale back its fibre rollout plans in order to secure the cash…
UK fibre: debt-laden Gigaclear scoops funding after ‘disappointed’ investor steps back
Deep dive: Rural specialist confirms £80m+ injection and claims uncertain future now settled. But questions remain amid rumours of potential sale and in wake of strategic backer Equitix making a sharp exit, as the UK’s National Wealth Fund again resembles policy-led Project Gigabit backstop…
Hrvatski Telekom readies airport 5G private networks scheme for take-off
Croatian telco teams up with several national organisations on 5G private network installations at airports, aiming to create operational efficiencies and deliver a more “stable and efficient” service for end-users…
AI infra: Brookfield to double down with $100bn splurge
Brookfield unveils plans to secure twelve-figure sum for investment in compute, energy, and real estate for AI infrastructure development, including through the launch of its latest fund. Move comes amidst a wave of data centre fundraises, including from DigitalBridge, InfraVia, and more, despite growing noise around asset valuations…
DT backs AI image generation specialist Black Forest Labs
DT’s corporate venturing arm T.Capital continues to expand its AI investment portfolio, highlighting it has added AI image generation tech specialist Black Forest Labs to its stable. Move comes as part of ongoing, aggressive ramp-up of AI deployments within the operator’s internal operations, driven by CEO Tim Höttges…
Greece: Energy group PPC targets top spot on fibre
State-owned utility expands ambitious and disruptive fibre expansion plan that would see it overtake incumbent telco on footprint in next two-to-three years.
Vodafone playing the satco market despite $1bn SpaceMobile bet
R&D lead Luke Ibbetson talks up billion-dollar investment in SpaceMobile, but Vodafone is playing matchmaker, not kingmaker, with ‘pragmatic’ approach to telco-satco partnerships determined by customer demand and technical requirements…
DT adds agentic AI biz Decagon to venturing portfolio
DT’s corporate venturing arm T.Capital continues to expand its AI investment portfolio by backing Decagon’s Series-C fundraise, with the operator launching a commercial pilot in parallel…
Equinix ploughs £3.9bn into UK data centre build
International data centre operator acquires work-in-progress Hertfordshire site, with plans to develop more than 250MW of IT capacity in the future. Equinix’s move is the latest multibillion-pound investment in UK data centres, with several others seen in recent years…