New York, US-based investment management firm Blackrock raised its stake in UK-based Internet media firm Blinkx to 13% amid allegations that the latter was using adware to boost its revenues.
Funding
US age verification startup AgeCheq picks up $1M in Series A round
Pennsylvania, US-based age verification startup AgeCheq picked up $1 million in a Series A funding round to ramp up its effort in helping app and game developers comply with federal requirements and standards.
Iowa-based education startup Higher Learning Technologies bags $1M in funding
Coralville, US-based education startup Higher Learning Technologies bagged $1 million from investors in its first funding round to dozens more to its existing mobile education apps this year.
Crowdfunding site Kickstarter bags Best Overall Startup at 2013 Crunchies
Kickstarter, a crowdfunding site, won the "Best Overall Startup" at the 2013 Crunchies, besting other tough contenders in the category which included Uber, CloudFlare, Snapchat and Twitter, TechCrunch reported.
UK-based social mobile shopping app Depop launches an Android app
Depop, a social mobile shopping startup based in the UK, has rolled out its app on Android in order to expand its footprint in the marketplace, TechCrunch reported.
Latest News
Kantox, a peer-to-peer currency exchange platform, has obtained €6.5 million from Partech Ventures and Idinvest Partners to help improve its presence in Europe and develop its technology, the website growthbusiness.co.uk reported.
iCitizen Corp, a politics-focused startup, endeavors to keep people in the loop about political issues and legislation using its mobile app, Venture Capital Dispatch reported.
Teen apparel retailer Aeropostale, which had posted losses for four straight quarters, is reportedly mulling over a capital increase from private equity investors. Should the teen apparel retailer decide to raise capital, Aeropostale may do it via a private investment in public equity (PIPE) deal.
San Francisco, US-based big data startup Splice Machine raised $15 million in a Series B funding round led by Interwest Partners for the marketing and development of its database that can make Hadoop run in real time.
PlaceIQ has raised $15 million for its Series C financing round led by Harmony Partners and participated in by new investor Iris Capital as well as its previous backers in its Series B round, TechCrunch reported.
Japanese gaming platform and web services provider DeNA invested an undisclosed amount in Between, a chat app for couples created by South Korean firm VCNC, to help the app become an open platform.
iSocket, a San Francisco, California-based direct ad sales platform, was able to secure $5 million in its recent round of financing, led by Time Warner Investments, TechCrunch reported.
New York, US-based travel management firm Rocketrip bagged $2.6 million in a Series A funding round led by Canaan Partners to accelerate its product development and to beef up its sales and customer services.
New York Times columnist and former executive editor Bill Keller will be leaving the American media firm to become the editor-in-chief of nonprofit news startup The Marshall Project on March 1.
