Venturing & Investments
All the latest insight, news and analysis on venturing and investment activity involving BT, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and Vodafone.
Startup health “intimately linked” to telco relationships
Changes to competition, funding, and processes required to support startup ecosystem, TEG finds.
Sees.ai flies high with Boeing backing
Vodafone partner picks up $100,000 funding from the aerospace giant.
Telefónica leads partners in wearable health‑tech venture
Telefónica and allies Atresmedia, Prosegur, and K Fund invest in remote assistance startup Durcal.
Elsewhere in Deutsche Telekom Group: Staex secures €1.65m in funding
Decentralised IoT spinout Staex resurfaces; DT to debut design-orientated smart home device collection in Milan.
Deutsche Telekom Innovation & Venturing: Qualcomm to acquire Cellwize?
MobiledgeX offloaded, with Cellwize interest to follow; tooz technologies sets vision for the future of glasses; Open Dutch Fiber set to pass 400,000 homes with network.
Telekom Innovation Pool invests in IoT specialist Kinexon
Kinexon raises $130 million in largest financial round to date. Business provides solutions for major sporting organisations such as the NFL, FIFA, and the NBA, as well as strong presence in production and logistics industries.
Wayra invests in ‘Spanish Google Drive’
Cloud storage provider Internxt receives cash injection in new funding round. Security-focused business hopes to grow “even faster” with newfound support.
Staex: DT spinoff aims to patch up fragmented IoT
Telekom Innovation Labs project on ‘new-generation’ IoT orchestration re‑surfaces. New business Staex offers a fresh, decentralised take on running smart-utility and smart-city projects. First external funding secured. Startup sits outside of the DT perimeter but maintains ties with Detecon and T‑Mobile.
Telefónica takes stake in deep‑tech investment fund
Leadwind, launched between Telefónica and K Fund last year, raises €140m in first closing. Telefónica named largest private backer, with Spanish government’s innovation fund among public support.
Vivo refocuses M&A strategy with CVC launch
Vivo Ventures expected to become one of the largest CVCs in Brazil. Plans to invest BRL 320m across a number of startups over the next five years.
DT committed to high‑flying partner despite write‑down
HAPS specialist Stratospheric Platforms remains loss making, but DT stays on board. Pilot in Saudi Arabia beamed a 5G signal from a mast 45,000ft in the air.
Telefónica Innovation & Venturing Roundup: Open Future & Wayra on the lookout
Open Future and Wayra launch fresh startup calls; smart port developments in Valencia; co‑investments promised in Spanish sports‑tech.
UK’s rebranded BII embarks on new impact investing
British International Investment (BII) embraces broader digital strategy.