Korea Takes on Taiwan in Semi Conductor Surge Investment

President Moon Jae-In of the South Korean government has announced that 510 trillion South Korean won ($452bn) will be invested in semiconductors by 2030.  1 USD is roughly 1100+ Korean won.

South Korea is currently world #2 behind Taiwan in manufacturing capacity. 

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are leading the investment. 

On the European side, as part of its Digital Compass plan, the EU declared in March its intent to increase its share of world manufacturing from 10% (2010) to 20% by 2030. 

On the US front, Intel has committed to build two new factories in Chandler, Arizona for $20bn. Hsinchu-headquartered Taiwan's TSMC is already building out manufacturing capacity in Phoenix, Arizona, as part of a $12bn build out.

A 75 Million Dollar Upvote for Cyber in the Form of Darktrace as Europe's VC Scene Hots Up

Cyber Story

UK cybersecurity startup has raised $75m in a Series D round, valuing the company at $825m (double the valuation from its capital raise in the previous year, 2016). Darktrace was founded in Cambridge and is a mere four years old. Insight Venture Partners, a new funder for Darktrace, stepped in alongside existing investors Summit Partners, KKR and cybersecurity specialist investor TenEleven Ventures (based in Boston and Silicon Valley). Darktrace has 500 staff and $200m of contracts including customers like British Land and Metro Bank.

Wider VC World and IoT Still Strong

In the wider VC world, funding in Europe hit 6.4 billion euros in 2016, the highest level since 2007. Invest Europe (formerly known as the EVCA) reports that 10% of the funding comes from US institutional investor. Furthermore the size of venture capital funds is increasing, with 13 funds raising more than 100m euros in 2016. Samsung NEXT is also coming to Europe with a promise of 150mm USD focused on AI, IoT, AR and VR. Berlin-based Felix Petersen is the MD in Europe.

ARM to be bought by Softbank (IoT Big Driver)

Cambridge, UK based Smartphone-chip-maker ARM Holdings confirmed it is to be bought by Japan's Softbank (a recognised investor in "technology paradigm shifts") for £24bn (or 31bn USD), a premium of 43% on its traded market value. ARM's customers include Samsung and Apple. However, an earlier acquisition of Sprint Telecom is weighing heavy on Softbank's finances who will take a loan from Mizuho Bank to finance the acquisition of ARM for just under one-third of the deal value. Growth in the "Internet of Things" (and the evolution from the mobile Internet) is believed to be one of the prime motivations behind the acquisition.