Texas, US-based crowdfunding company Junction Investments will begin operating on Wednesday to allow wealthy individuals to invest online in fully-funded Hollywood movies, starting with Tom Hanks' "A Hologram for the King."

Dublin, Ireland-based global communications services firm WPP Digital picked up a majority stake in London, UK-based digital consultancy firm Cognifide for an undisclosed sum in a deal that will deliver mutual benefits to both companies.

Tucson, Arizona-based destination marketing solutions provider Simpleview bought Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based customer relationship management (CRM) solutions firm Software Management Inc (SMI) for an undisclosed sum to expand its client base.

Glebe, Australia-based business-to-business (B2B) publishing firm The Intermedia Group added beer and cider consumer publication Beer & Brewer Magazine for an undisclosed sum to beef up its liquor title portfolio.

Berlin, Germany-based price comparison website PricePanda launched in Thailand after raising $3 million from Tengelmann Group, as part of its campaign to expand to South Asian countries.

London, UK-based e-commerce analtyics firm Ometria raised $1.5 million in a seed funding round from large group of angel investors to expand its workforce and develop its product.

Social media giant Facebook acquired California, US-based virtual reality headset maker Oculus VR in a deal valued at $2 billion to help the startup expand beyond non-gaming applications of its technology.

San Francisco, US-based virtual ad firm DemandBased raised $15 in a funding round led by Greenspring Associates to build the mobile ad capabilities of its B2B enterprise software platform.

In a bid to gain traction over its competitors, American software giant is rebranding its open cloud platform 'Windows Azure' to 'Microsoft Azure.' according to sources familiar with the matter cited by ZDNet.

Menlo Park, US-based venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners (LSVP) closed $950 million for its new investment fund that will back early-stage companies in the consumer and tech sectors.

American Internet and tech giant Google struck a manufacture and distribution deal with Italian optical wear maker Luxottica for the future versions of its wearable Glass.

US President Barack Obama is getting ready to propose a legislation that will halt the bulk phone data collection of the National Security Agency (NSA) and instead let the agency procure individual court authorizations for every phone number to be investigated.

Illinois, US-based software systems provider Wellspring Worldwide bagged $3.5 million in funding from undisclosed investors, according to a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Albany Molecular Research Inc bought Grafton, US-based pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturer Cedarburg Hauser Pharmaceuticals in a deal valued at $41 million that will up its 2014 revenue by $14 million.

Pennsylvania-based York Professional Baseball Club LLC added sports radio station WOYK AM 1350 from WOYK Inc for an undisclosed amount in a deal that will turn the latter in to an affiliate of the Hershey Bears Radio Network.

Philippine conglomerate GT Capital Holdings Inc purchased a 79.84% holding in the Toyota Cubai Inc dealership in a deal valued at PHP311.5 million to integrate both its wholesale and retail operations

In its first foray outside of North America for its premium video syndication platform, New York, US-based multinational mass media firm AOL Inc launched the AOL On Nework in the UK.

London, UK-based social shopping startup Nuji nabbed $2 million in a seed funding round from TAG, Seedcamp, Samos, and other angel investors to launch an iOS app this April.

The Chennai Labs (TCA) and Spark Capital backed Bangalore, India-based engineering education startup Skyfi Labs with an undisclosed amount for its expansion and product development.

Saint Helier, Jersey-based gold mining and minerals exploration Lydian International pocketed C$4.7 million in a private share sale to its shareholders International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD) to fund its operations in Armenia.

Bulgaria-based courier firm Speedy will acquire the delivery businesses of France-based firm GeoPost in Romania from LA Poste's GeoPost Group and Yurtichi Cargo Servizi AS for €15.3 million.

Texas, US-based PC giant Dell added Tulsa, Oklahoma-based analytics and data visualization software firm StatSoft for an undisclosed sum to beef up its software portfolio.

Texas, US-based PC giant Dell added Tulsa, Oklahoma-based analytics and data visualization software firm StatSoft for an undisclosed sum to beef up its software portfolio.

A new tax law in the UK that will take effect at the beginning of 2015 seeks to close a loophole that exempts online music, apps, and downloads from a 20% value added tax.

Pune, India-based software services firm Persistent Systems used its venture capital fund to invest an undisclosed amount in California, US-based hand hygiene solutions startup Hyginex for its international expansion.

Boston, US-based enterprise data management startup Actifio scored $100 million in its Series B funding led by Tiger Global Management for its expansion with its valuation now reaching $1.1 billion.

London, UK-based education startup Feynlabs is branching out to Miami, US to teach kids grown-up technology for programming and computer science using an accelerated learning approach.

San Jose, Costa Rica-based healthy food startup Natural Sins sells baked snacks made of real fruits and vegetables in a bid to help fight obesity.

Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!), an entrepreneurship program for middle and high school students, awarded seed money to five startups in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama area after the student founders presented their business plans.

Philadelphia, US-based matchmaking startup Mixter helps make blind dates for undergraduate and graduate students easier and more comfortable by turning it into a social gathering for two groups.