VENTURE CAPITAL POST

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.

Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam said his country is conducting trade missions to its neighboring country, the Philippines, where seven companies are interested in investing in the infrastructure, transport, consumer services, and logistics sectors.

Three banks have offered a bridge loan for the acquisition of Singapore's Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd. over Wing Hang Bank, reported Reuters citing sources familiar with the matter.

Singapore-based digital currency payment firm GoCoin pocketed $1.4 million in its first funding round led by former Facebook executive Owen Van Natta and e-commerce site Bitcoin Shop for its sales and tech expansion.

Singaporean organization Monozca Foundation is opening an incubator facility for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines in Filinvest Corporate City, which will be called the Cocoon SME Global Hub.

Former Apple chief John Sculley is teaming up with former HTC India head Ajay Sharma and Singaporean investment firm Inflexionpoint to launch a yet-unnamed smartphone brand in India, which will release its first units in April.

Singapore-based non-profit organization Earth Hour joined forces with Singaporean crowdfunding site Crowdonomic to raise funds for tech projects that aim to assist environmental endeavors in Southeast Asia.

Tembusu Terminals Pte has set up the first Bitcoin ATM in Singapore just days after Japan-based Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox went offline because of possible theft, Bloomberg reported.

Tokyo, Japan-based staffing firm Outsourcing Inc invested $5 million (INR30 crore) for a majority stake in Bangalore, India-based search and staffing company Alp Consulting Ltd to gain access to the Indian market.

Singapore-based business consortium DDB Group Asia Pacific acquired Bangalore, India-based digital marketing firm 22feet for an undisclosed amount in a bid to be the leader in the development of India's digital marketing solutions industry.

Tokyo,Japan-based Internet services firm Rakuten will launch a beta version of the Singapore-based streaming video platform Viki in Japan tomorrow, just five months after the Japanese bought the platform for $200 million.

Singapore-based data analytics firm Crayon Data secured INR7.3 crore in a venture round from Jungle Ventures and Spring Seeds Capital for its expansion into the US, UK, Middle East, and China.

Social entertainment website mig33 has purchased AlivenotDead. a community that enables celebrities to reach their target audience, TechCrunch reported. Financial terms of the deal were not provided.

Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group invested CNY210.5 million ($30.7 million) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based restaurant chain Secret Recipe, according to a report by Shanghai's China Business News.

Melbourne, Victoria-based diamond mining firm Merlin Diamonds raised $2 million by selling 26 million of its shares at $0.75 apiece to Singapore-based investment holding firm Blumont Group for the development of its diamond mine in the Northern Territory of Australia.