VENTURE CAPITAL POST

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.

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.

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.

London, UK-based idea management startup Wazoku landed £750,000 in a venture funding led by Campbridge Angels and New Model Venture Capital to fund its product development and growth efforts.

New York, US-based media asset management firm Dalet Digital Media Systems inked a deal to acquire Basingstoke, UK-based video transcoding firm AmberFin for an undisclosed amount.

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.

London, UK-based language learning startup Fluentify took home $410,000 in angel investment in a round led by former Barclays exec Stefano Marsaglia to beef up its workforce and service in Southern Europe.

Bizzby, a London, UK-based on-demand services marketplace for cleaners, plumbers, electricians, and other tradespeople, raised $10 million in funding from an undisclosed US-based hedge fund.

London, UK-based content marketplace ScreenHits pocketed $1.2 million in an angel round from Rory Fleming, Lord Reay, Flemming Lund, and other high net worth individuals to build its product and audience.

Indonesia-born and New York, US-based fashion startup Project Shoe lets women personally customize their shoes using its e-commerce platform and have the order shipped anywhere for free.

Glendale, US-based real-money gambling platform Gamblit Gaming took home $12 million in a venture round from private equity firm American Capital to fuel its platform development and future launches.

After helping 3 million people in the Philippines and Paraguay get access to the Internet, social media giant Facebook launched the Connectivity Lab to build drones and lasers that will help more people get affordable Internet access.

London-based real estate startup Plentific was launched to simplify the long and complicated process of buying a home in the UK by providing a one-stop shop for all the transactions needed to complete a deal.

London, UK-based user-generated news startup Oximity bagged an undisclosed amount of seed money from angel investors Ronnie Screwvala and K Ganesh to provide direct sources of global news in 180 languages.

London, UK-based commercial property marketplace Spacious helps startups find suitable office spaces in the area by providing them with a comprehensive list of available rental properties and an online contract.