VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Belfast, Ireland-based home-brewing firm Cargo bagged £82,000 in funding from Invest North Ireland (NI) for the development and marketing of its smartphone-controlled beer-making robot Brewbot.

San Francisco, US-based transportation network firm Uber will launch an on-demand courier service in Manhattan, New York tomorrow, according to an exclusive report by VentureBeat.

Social media giant Twitter snapped up Cover, a startup that offers a lock screen and app drawer for Android devices, for an undisclosed amount, to boost its popularity among Android users.

London, UK-based visual customer analytics firm Trak.io emerged from private beta and raised $150,000 in seed funding from Kima Ventures last August to track the behavior of startups' customers.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based taxi app GrabTaxi closed its Series A round with more than $1 million from Singaporean state-owned investment firm Vertex Ventures to conquer Southeast Asia.

US-based video-sharing giant YouTube representative Gonenc Gurkaynak filed a legal complaint to the Turkish Consitutional Court against the ban that prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued against the service.

Bangkok, Thailand-based digital publication platform Ookbee landed $7 million in a Series B funding led by Japanese outsourcing firm Transcosmos to fuel its Southeast Asian expansion.

Northwestern University (NU) trustees Michael Ferro Jr and Pat Ryan Jr each donated $2 million to build an incubator space called the Garage near the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion where student entrepreneurs can develop projects, classes, and businesses.

Cupertino, US-based smartphone giant Apple launched its iPhone trade-in program in Germany to allow its customers to purchase a new iPhone at a discounted price when they trade in a qualifying old device.

Boston, Massachusetts-based mobile healthcare management platform Wellframe nabbed $1.5 million in a seed funding round from several high net worth individuals to provide patients with an app that will serve as their personal digital nurse.

Former Zenith executive Andrew Cope bought a significant stake in Huddersfield, UK-based fleet management firm FMG for an undisclosed amount and will become part of the company's board.

Oneonta, US-based large format ultracapacitor manufacturer Ioxus secured $21 million in its Series C funding round to help address climate change by integrating its products into hybrid buses in China.

Davis, California-based agricultural biotech firm BioConsortia Inc took hoe $15 million in a Series B funding led by Khosla Ventures and Otter Capital to accelerate the commercialization of its crops.

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.

Ridgeville, US-based biotech forestry firm ArborGen purchased Southland, New Zealand-based seedling grower Edendale Nursery for an undisclosed amount to tap the markets in the North and South Islands of New Zealand.