From the viewpoint of venture capital, the real victors of the recently-announced acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook are Sequoia Capital and Partner Jim Goetz, TechCrunch reported.
Mobile/Wireless
US music startup SoundFocus raises $1.7M to adjust music to a person's hearing abilities
San Francisco, California-based music startup SoundFocus raised $1.7 million in a funding round to develop an iPhone app that adjusts music according to the user's hearing abilities.
California health software firm picks up $50M in funding
San Luis Obispo, US-based health and wellness software firm Mindbody picked up $50 million in a funding round led by W Capital Partners to boost its web and mobile offerings for health clubs and yoga studios.
US wireless location firm TruePosition buys Skyhook Wireless
Berwyn, Pennsylvania-based wireless location solutions provider TruePosition Inc bought Boston, Massachusetts-based hybrid wireless positioning technology provider Skyhook for an undisclosed amount to boost its product portfolio.
Tencent Holdings Ltd in discussions to consolidate e-commerce business with JD.com Inc-sources
Tencent Holdings Ltd and JD.com Inc are in talks to join forces and consolidate their e-commerce operations, according to two people familiar with the matter interviewed by Bloomberg.
Latest News
Canonical, the parent firm of UK-based operating system Ubuntu, partnered with Chinese electronics firm Meizu and Spanish mobile gadget firm Bq to build the first Ubuntu Mobile phones this year.
In a bid to compete with rivals in the search-advertising sector, US-based search giant debuted Gemini, its new platform that lets advertisers combine mobile search and native advertisements.
Facebook will be buying WhatsApp in a cash and stock deal worth $16 billion. The messaging giant will also be retaining its brand and will function as an independent unit, TechCrunch reported.
Tel Aviv, Israel-based bring-your-own-device (BYOD) startup Nativeflow raised $7.5M in funding to date to allow workers to securely browse and share both personal and corporate data, according to an exclusive report by VentureBeat.
Berkeley, US-based startup MobileWorks raised $2.1 million in funding to change the way outsourcing works by generating online jobs for people who cannot enter the traditional career path.
Boston, US-based smart eyewear startup Laforge Optical launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to raise $80,000 for the testing and app development for its fashionable smart glasses called Icis.
Pennsylvania, US-based language learning app Duolingo secured $20 million in a recent funding round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to conquer the Asian market and compete with other English-teaching services.
San Francisco, US-based delivery firm Postmates nabbed $16 million in Series B funding to help improve its mobile app and one-hour package delivery service within the area.
Asian chat services KakaoTalk, LINE and WeChat threaten to overturn the mobile order of things, usurping the role of Google Inc, Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc and telecoms carriers as gatekeeper to the consumer.
