VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Washington, US-based software giant Microsoft acquired Wellington, New Zealand-based cloud computing firm GreenButton for an undisclosed amount to incorporate it into the Azure public cloud platform to give companies remote access to software.

Mountain View, US-based search giant Google will shell out $207.7 million (€150 million) to expand its data center in Dublin Ireland to beef up its revenue generation through its cloud services.

CEO and co-founder Pat Kinsel of Spindle has become a partner at venture capital firm Polaris after he successfully sold Spindle to social microblogging site Twitter, gaining him the title of "entrepreneur in residence."

Microsoft said through its newly appointed head Kabelo Makwane that it has reinstated its development commitment in the Africa through a 20-year business plan that would boost economic growth and development in the African region.

Microsoft's deal to acquire Nokia valued $7.2 billion have been set to close on Friday which is also in time for the company's target saying that the deal was expected to close during the first quarter of 2014.

Microsoft has innovated an Indian hotline for startups to give advice, available during business hours from Monday to Friday, reported Venture Beat.

Apple Inc. refused to join Intellectual Ventures on a patent trolling operations, reported Gigaon.

Microsoft Ventures in India established the world's first startup hotline in Bangalore to give startups access to real-time professional advice regarding the accounting, taxation, legal, and technical aspects of a business via toll-free number.

UK-based growth capital fund Station 12 is raising $250 million (£150 million) for its new fund that will invest in the growth rounds of media tech startups in Europe.

According to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index, the selloff of technology shares caused the wealthiest men in Silicon Valley to lose USD11.5 billion.

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.

Antoine Leblond, a longtime executive for Windows and Office, is leaving Washington, US-based software giant Microsoft on Monday to explore his opportunities outside of the firm.

Microsoft has big ambitions for Bing, including making a part of its entity engine available for third party sites allowing them to showcase the important features on the search engine, TechCrunch reported.

After releasing the Office for iPad, software giant Microsoft made Office Mobile for iPhone and Office Mobile for Android free for home use to, but businesses still have to subscribe to use the Office 365.

Less than 12 hours after Microsoft launched its Office for iPad, the apps ranked in the top three of the world's most popular free apps on the Apple App Store, VentureBeat reported.