VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Cupertino, US-based tech giant Apple is mulling on launching its own on-demand music service to compete with music streaming giant Spotify as the number of downloads goes down.

Chicago, US-based big data startup Food Genius analyzes and detects future trends in the US and shares it with restaurant chains, convenient stores, and other companies to help them determine their standing or future strategy in the food market.

Austin, Texas-based startup CitySprout is raising $2 million in its second financing round to help consumers establish a link with the local farmers who produce their food.

Winston-Salem, US-based specialty crop developer Technology Crops International (TCI) bought Hampshire, UK-based firm Premium Crops Ltd for an undisclosed amount to expand its product portfolio.

Hermosa Beach, US-based payments firm Oink found a way to let parents monitor and control their kids' in-app purchases by linking a credit card to their accounts and letting them set a purchase limit for a specified length of time.

Developers have modified the open source Bitcoin software and released a new version to resolve the transaction flaws and to prevent a Mt Gox-like incident from happening again.

Chicago, US-based digital interactive application developer elevate DIGITAL scored an additional $3 million in its Series A funding round from SFX Entertainment to expand into new markets.

Makati, Philippines-based cooling solutions provider Concepcion Group is buying a stake in elevator company Otis E&M Co Philippines as a joint venture with Hartford, US-based multinational conglomerate United Technologies Corp (UTC) for an undisclosed amount.

Redwood City, US-based video streaming service Qik will shut down on April 30 after its features have been integrated into Skype, which acquired it for $150 million three years ago.

San Jose, California-based LEGO rental startup Pley closed $6.75 million in its Series A funding round led by Allegro Venture Partners to fuel its product, workforce, and international expansion efforts.

New York, US-based brand advocacy startup Crowdtap picked up $5 million in a Series B funding round led by Foundry Group to continue inspiring its customers to create quality promotional content on blogs and social media sites.

San Francisco, US-based health tech firm Metabiota pocketed $2.38 million in a venture round to monitor emerging threats of viral diseases around the world using big data analysis.

Tysons Corner, US-based secure digital ID network ID.me scored $10 million in combined venture capital and debt funding to build its own online marketplace for its users.

After issuing a recall and full refund for the involved product, San Francisco, California-based fitness tracker maker FitBit is now facing a class-action lawsuit filed by a customer over the rash issue caused by the latest version of its Force fitness band.

Boston, US-based application programming interfaces (APIs) provider MachineShop Inc emerged from stealth mode and got $3 million as its first capital from a group of its customers to enable businesses to create their own middleware for Internet of Things.