US-based electronics giant Apple Inc acquired British automatic speech recognition startup Novauris Technologies for an undisclosed amount more than a year ago to gain traction over Google Now and Microsoft Cortana.
Europe
UK innovation hub TrueStart raises $5M for European retail and consumer startups
London, UK-based innovation hub TrueStart raised $5 million in a seed funding round to invest in 20 retail and consumer startups in Europe every year and provide them with legal and recruitment support.
Irish hotel booking startup Hot Hotels bags $1M for international expansion
Ireland-based same-day hotel booking startup Hot Hotels bagged $1 million (€730,000) in funding from private investors and accelerator funds to fuel its expansion into Europe and South America.
Spanish online voting firm Scytl pockets $40M from Vulcan Capital
Barcelona, Spain-based online voting firm Scytl pocketed a $40 million investment from Palo Alto, US-based growth equity fund Vulcan Capital for its research and development as well as strategic acquisitions.
UK idea management startup Wazoku lands £750K for product development
London, UK-based idea management startup Wazoku landed £750,000 in a venture funding led by Campbridge Angels and New Model Venture Capital to fund its product development and growth efforts.
Latest News
Germany's E.ON hired Citi to advise a sale of its assets in Spain, said sources familiar with the matter who told Reuters.
German airline company Lufthansa has been looking at interested parties to acquire a part of its IT business, according to a report from Reuters.
Banco Mare Nostrum has intended to sell its shares before the deadline of the state funded bailout aid it received before the 2017 deadline.
Finance Minister George Osborne made it clear that the government did not interfere with the sale of Lloyds branches to Co-op Bank, reported Reuters.
Redefine International announced on Monday its acquisition of a 40% stake BNRI Earls Court in a deal valued GBP6.3 million, reported Ventures Africa.
Hungary's OTP Bank is close to acquiring MKB from BayernLB said sources familiar with the matter, reported Reuters.
Munich, Germany-based smart headphones The Dash broke its $260,000 crowdfunding goal on the Kickstarter platform by reaching a total of more than $3 million for the whole campaign.
Moscow, Russia-based mobile payments startup 2can landed $5 million in a Series B funding round led by InVenture Partners to integrate its service with banks in the country.
London, UK-based language learning startup Fluentify took home $410,000 in angel investment in a round led by former Barclays exec Stefano Marsaglia to beef up its workforce and service in Southern Europe.
