Alabama, US-based banking firm Bay Bank has been bought by Hattiesburg-based firm The First Bancshares Inc in a merger deal worth $6.6 million in combined cash and stock.

New York, US-based startup school General Assembly scored $25 million in a recent funding round to expand its tech and entrepreneurship course offering and to build new campuses.

Sean Parker, the first president of Facebok, broke off from California, US-based venture capital firm Founders Fund as a partner to devote more his time to his new projects.

Austin, Texas-based solar microinverter provider SolarBridge Technologies closed $42 million in a funding round led by Constellation Technology Ventures to drive its expansion efforts across North America and Australia.

San Francisco, US-based startup SeeSpace launched a $100,000 crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter for InAIR, its new product that combines Internet and second screen functions.

Oregon, US-based electric motorcycle manufacturer Brammo Inc landed $9.5 million in an on-going Series D funding round from Terracap Ventures and Aviva Investors amid efforts to cut cost and increase profitability.

New York, US-based matchmaking startup The Dating Ring has launched a $10,000 crowdfunding campaign on Crowdtilt to fly single women to San Francisco and single men to New York for a cross-country date.

River Grove, Illinois-based educational firm Follett Corp invested an undisclosed amount in Santa Clara, California-based software startup ShowEvidence through its venture fund Follett Knowledge Fund.

Dublin, Ireland-based social media analytics startup Eagle Alpha bagged $1.5 million (€1.1 million) in angel funding from former investment banker Emmett Kilduff to develop its product offering and beef up its salesforce.

Sydney, Australia-based music streaming firm Spotify snapped up Somerville, US-based music discovery engine The Echo Nest for an undisclosed amount to create an improved music discovery service for its clients.