All posts tagged: 50M

New £50m theme park land based on major video game to open in the UK – world’s first | UK | News

New £50m theme park land based on major video game to open in the UK – world’s first | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

A first-of-its-kind attraction dedicated to the best-selling video game of all time is set to open at a UK theme park. Chessington World of Adventures, in the outskirts of London, will be home to the world’s maiden Minecraft theme park land. The £50 million Minecraft World will include the first-ever Minecraft rollercoaster, as well as themed shops and dining. Fans will be able to go on “interactive adventures” as part of the attraction which is expected to open in 2027. It will also include “epic block built playscapes” in a world inspired by Minecraft’s most popular biomes, mobs and items, developers say. The project is a collaboration between Merlin Entertainments — which owns Chessington and other theme parks such as Legoland and Thorpe Park — and Mojang Studios, the company behind Minecraft. Minecraft creators will work with Merlin and Mojang to help bring the experience to life. Angela Jobson, senior vice president of global brand at Merlin Entertainments said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be bringing Minecraft’s creativity, bold adventures, and ridiculous fun to life at …

Arc expands into electric commercial and defense boats with M raise

Arc expands into electric commercial and defense boats with $50M raise

Published by skeptic

Los Angeles startup Arc Boat Company wants to expand its nascent commercial business and even sell electric propulsion systems to defense contractors, in an attempt to fulfill founder Mitch Lee’s desire to “electrify everything on the water.” To do that, Arc has raised $50 million in a Series C funding round from Eclipse, a16z, Menlo Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Necessary Ventures, and Offline Ventures. The expansion into these newer markets won’t come at the expense of Arc’s consumer boat business, Lee told TechCrunch in an interview. He said sport boats are a category that generates “meaningful revenue” for Arc, and helps prove to commercial customers that the company’s technology is both capable and durable. It’s a plan that roughly approximates how Tesla got started, and one that Greg Reichow — a former VP at Tesla and a general partner at Eclipse — said can work for Arc. “The right strategy was go develop the technology, get it to work on the high end of consumer boats, then take that technology as you get some experience with …

As Epstein Brokered Rothschild Bank Deals, DEA Ran Secret Probe Into M Laundering Scheme

As Epstein Brokered Rothschild Bank Deals, DEA Ran Secret Probe Into $50M Laundering Scheme

Published by Jenni Sidey

A newly uncovered DEA document from the DOJ’s Jeffrey Epstein files release reveals that Epstein was the subject of a secret, 5-year investigation by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) on suspicions of laundering approximately $50 million through a web of illicit drug and prostitution networks – yet federal prosecutors pursuing his 2019 trafficking case had no idea.  The DEA investigation, code-named “Chain Reaction,” was launched by the DEA’s New York office on December 17, 2010, and targette4d Epstein (listed as “Target 4”) – as well as 14 other individuals whose names have been redacted. Chain Reaction focused on “illegitimate wire transfers” suspected of funding “illicit drug and/or prostitution activities” in New York City and the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned his notorious Little St. James island.  Drawing from a multi-agency dragnet – including the DEA, FBI, ICE, CBP, FinCEN, and others – the memo compiles biographical data, border crossings, criminal histories, and financial red flags. It reveals roughly $50 million in suspicious transactions from 2010 to 2015, routed through accounts in Switzerland, France, the Cayman Islands, and New York. Epstein himself was flagged in seven Unified …

Northwood Space secures a 0M Series B and a M Space Force contract

Northwood Space secures a $100M Series B and a $50M Space Force contract

Published by skeptic

Space is an increasingly crowded place thanks to the constant influx of new satellites and it’s only to get more cramped as the cost to get to orbit falls. Those dynamics have brought attention to startup Northwood Space, which has spent the last few years developing more modern and efficient ground-based communications infrastructure. The startup capitalized on that interest in two ways this week. The El Segundo, California-based company announced on Tuesday it has closed a $100 million Series B funding round, led by Washington D.C.-based firm Washington Harbour Partners (which has been on a run of space investments) and co-led by Andreessen Horowitz. Northwood has also secured a $49.8 million contract with the United States Space Force to help upgrade what’s known as the “satellite control network,” which “handles a huge variety of consequential space missions for our government” including tracking and controlling GPS satellites, founder and CEO Bridgit Mendler said on a call with reporters. The funding round and government contract are major milestones for the company, which is just a few years …

EU accelerates quantum readiness with €50m photonic chips pilot

EU accelerates quantum readiness with €50m photonic chips pilot

Published by skeptic

Photonic chips are rapidly emerging as one of Europe’s most strategic technologies in the global race toward practical quantum systems. From 2026, a major new European pilot project – Photonics for Quantum (P4Q) – will unite expertise from across the continent to turn fragile laboratory breakthroughs into robust, manufacturable quantum-ready components. Spanning 12 European countries and backed by significant public investment, P4Q is designed to tackle one of the biggest bottlenecks in quantum innovation: reliably producing photonic chips that perform consistently at scale. From lab experiments to industrial-grade photonic chips Quantum technologies depend heavily on light. Photons are used to transmit information, enable ultra-precise measurements, and form the backbone of quantum communication networks. Yet many photonic chips still struggle to move beyond experimental environments. P4Q addresses this challenge head-on by focusing on repeatability, standardisation, and manufacturability. Rather than proving that a quantum photonic device can work once, the project aims to ensure it works every time – under real-world conditions and at industrial volumes. This shift marks a critical transition from academic research to deployable …

Groundbreaking £50m centre set to overhaul clinical trials

Groundbreaking £50m centre set to overhaul clinical trials

Published by skeptic

A new initiative aims to accelerate clinical trials of new medicines for improved patient care. The creation of a brand-new centre aims to shake up approaches to the design and delivery of clinical trials by developing pioneering ways to speed up the process and drive improvements in treatment and recovery. The Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) in Clinical Trial Innovation, in partnership with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), will receive up to £50m to implement this. UK Science Minister Lord Vallance stated: “Clinical trials are vital for turning promising research into real treatments, but they often take a long time. “By investing £50m in this new centre, we’re helping to speed up the process so patients can access life-changing medicines sooner, while maintaining a rigorous process.” Improving the efficiency of clinical trials One key area of focus will be to move away from the current approach of testing a single intervention in a single disease, one at a time. Developing new, efficient ways to test multiple drugs …

Lee Enterprises Stabilizes Finances With M Investment Led by Billionaire David Hoffmann

Lee Enterprises Stabilizes Finances With $50M Investment Led by Billionaire David Hoffmann

Published by Sam Flores

Lee Enterprises announced a compromise Tuesday with billionaire investor David Hoffmann, who offered to take over the nation’s third-largest newspaper chain this year, to help stabilize the company’s finances with a $50 million investment and set Lee up for the future. Hoffmann, whose family investment firm already owns more than 40 other publications, will become Lee’s chairman as he continues to pursue his goal of becoming the country’s largest newspaper publisher. He has said in recent interviews that he believes newspapers can continue to play an important role in covering local communities and build a successful digital subscription business. Lee said that when Hoffmann takes over, CEO Kevin Mowbray will retire after 39 years with the Davenport, Iowa-based company, which owns the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Buffalo News, Omaha World-Herald and dozens of other publications in 25 states. “With improved financial stability and a clear governance framework in place, the focus can now be on disciplined execution and long-term value creation,” said Hoffmann, who declined to comment beyond the statement on the deal. He built his …