VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Google grants UNICEF a total of $1.5 million in its battle with Zika virus which has been declared an epidemic by WHO last month. The virus has been linked with microcephaly and neurological illness called Guillain-Barre syndrome. UNICEF and the tech giant will collaborate to map and anticipate the spread of the virus.

B.C. clean-tech companies have requested Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to allocate a $500 million venture capital (VC) fund. An alliance comprising 51 clean-tech and investment firms from B.C. province has written a letter to the Prime Minister Trudeau to extend support to clean-tech industry.

Israel is witnessing an increasing number of new venture capital (VC) firms coming up. The country registered an inflow of $665 million VC funding during the first two months of the year. Unfazed with the recent market crash, the funds inflows continue for Israel startups.

Bernie Sanders has cashed in on his small-dollar contributors and raised almost $5.1 million in a sudden, instant fundraiser on his victory night. Without a super-PAC to cushion his campaigns, he has always managed to keep pace with competition like Hilary Clinton, who's dependent on high-dollar contribution to fill her kitty. Sanders already knows exactly what he wants to do with the influx of cash.

Nearly half of the capital have been poured into Super Pacs' wallet beating the presidential and congressional races. The biggest contributors of 2016 have poured nearly $195 million in order to inspire the presidential poll.

The Onion Router (Tor) began as military intelligence research in 1995, before became a volunteer-based project in 2002. Now, the project tried to lessen dependency on U.S. government by launching a crowdfunding campaign.

The self-propelling stroller, introduced by the crowdfunder Indiegogo, is said to revolutionize the concept of a perambulator. Keeping in mind the needs of a parent, the stroller boasts of features like automatic movement controlled via sensors, built-in rocker, bottle warmer, canopies to weather different climatic conditions, to name a few. Its maker, Guillermo Morro, has also addressed all the safety concerns by assuring his audience that his highly capable team has always treated this as a top priority.

The United Nations (UN) has received funding of $250million and needs additional $500 million for education programs for over one million Syrian children. Gordon Brown, the former UK Prime Minister and UN envoy for global education, is committed to mobilize money in next month. Brown has decided to raise money from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos and other international conferences.

Former Facebook exec Sean Parker gave $500,000 to a newly formed group that aims to legalize recreational marijuana use in California.

American film maker, producer, writer and creator of Star Wars, billionaire George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson, through the George Lucas Family Foundation, are donating $10 million to George Lucas' alma mater - the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.

The newly-approved crowdfunding norms will enable start-ups to mobilize funds from mom-and-pop investors over the internet. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has okayed the new rules on crowdfunding with a majority voting of three to one. The Business Startups (JOBS) act has been enacted with bipartisan support to facilitate new startups with more flexibility in the mobilization of funds. SEC also changed the audit provisions of the crowdfunding rules.

Revlon, Inc. has recently exceeded their goal of raising $1 million on crowdfunds for women's charity organizations, mainly owing to the support of mega stars such as Halle Berry, Emma Stone, Olivia Wilde, among others.

Kickstarter, the popular online crowdfunding platform, has just banned a project for its failure to provide evidence of a working prototype. The project was for a laser-powered razor called Skarp which has raised over $4 million in crowdfunding since it was first announced.

Afghanistan does not have enough money to pay salaries this month and has asked aid donors for a bailout before the end of the year, the treasury chief told Reuters on Thursday.

An Italian white truffle, reportedly the largest in the world, will be sold at an in-house and online auction in New York on Saturday where bidding is expected to start at $50,000 and could go much higher, Sotheby's said on Thursday.