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.

After the collapse of Bitcoin exchange, the government of Japan decided not to regulate Bitcoin transactions because they do not consider it a currency, but a commodity that will be subject to sales tax.

Tokyo, Japan-based Bitcoin exchange Mt Gox set up a call center to deal with the inquiries of Bitcoin users after it lost $473 million worth of the digital currency and filed for bankruptcy protection.

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.

Makati, Philippines-based real estate investment firm Ayala Land Inc (ALI) bought out the 40% holding of Tokyo, Japan-based trading giant Mitsubishi Corp in Philippine Integrated Energy Solutions Inc (PhilEnergy) for an undisclosed amount.

Philippines-based Aboitiz Equity Ventures property unit Aboitiz Land Inc had purchased the remaining 40% of common shares from Maurbeni, Japanese trading firm, worth 360 million from LiMA Land Inc (LLI). LiMA Land is the company that owns and runs the LiMA Technology Center, the filing detailed from Philippine Stock Exchange. .

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.

Tokyo, Japan-based Internet services company Rakuten Inc opened its first European research and development (R&D) facility in Paris, France, which is called the Rakuten Institute of Technology.

Tokyo, Japan-based electronics giant Sony surpassed its sales target for the PlayStation 4 by selling 5.3 million units worldwide just three months after the latest game console went on sale.

Bitstamp and BTC-E paused Bitcoin withdrawal from their exchanges starting last week because of a potential glitch but have already resumed withdrawals while Mt Gox, the biggest Bitcoin exchange, still remains closed until now.

With Bitcoin encountering a series of problems lately, including withdrawal halting of exchanges, a $2.7 million heist, and a flaw in the Bitcoin protocol, speculations abound that the Bitcoin is coming to an end soon.

The value of digital currency Bitcoin plunged 21% to $619 from $783 after Tokyo, Japan-based exchange paused its trading because of an increase in withdrawal requests.

Tokyo, Japan-based Bitcoin exchange Mt Gox announced on its site that it temporarily halted Bitcoin withdrawals to resolve a technical problem that arose from the increased withdrawal traffic.

Tokyo, Japan-based incubator and investment firm Netprice.com Inc is planning to invest $500,000 to $4 million in three or four mobile and web startups in India this year, according to The Economic Times.

European real estate asset manager SEB Asset Management bought ten-storey office and commercial structure Primegate, which is valued at JPY 5.5 billion (around €39 million).