VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Tech giant Apple has cleared the App Store of all Bitcoin mobile wallet apps by pulling Blockchain from the store on Wednesday without a clear explanation for the move, but retained other non-wallet Bitcoin apps in the said store.

San Francisco, US-based firm Inzopa launched a platform that simplifies the process of home financing by connecting homebuyers with real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and lenders.

New York, US-based startup Docurated nabbed $3.75 million in its first major funding round led by Rogers Venture Partners to help companies index and search for their files on local servers and cloud storage services.

Hackers responsible for the data breach on Target stores over the holiday season gained access using log-on credentials for heating, refrigeration, and air conditioning, according to a post on Krebs on Security written by former Washington Post reporter Brian Krebs.

Oakland, California-based music streaming service Pandora is planning to push native advertising to connected vehicles in a bid to boost the company's total revenue, as announced during the company's Q4 earnings call.

Google advertising executive Susan Wojcicki is reportedly being promoted to chief position at YouTube to improve the latter's video ad revenue, according to The Information.

Secret British spy unit Joint Threat Research Intelligent Group (JTRIG) launched a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack on US-based hacktivist group Anonymous' Internet chat rooms, according to leaked NSA documents obtained by NBC News.

San Francisco, US-based mobile shopping platform secured $10.5 million in a Series B funding led by Khosla Ventures to make the process of ordering and paying for food via mobile an easier process.

New York, US-based lending platform Fundera raised $3.4 million in funding from a recent venture round to help connect small businesses to a network of certified lending alternatives to banks.

Learning Shelter, a program founded by a former homeless man who now has his own laser-cutting business, launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to raise $60,000 to teach hardware skills to homeless people in San Francisco and help them find jobs.

San Mateo, California-based Internet startup AVOS Systems is laying off 80% of its workforce because of the lack of traction, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based firm PillPack has raised $4 million in venture funding last year to launch its online pharmacy service in 31 states in the US to help patients manage their medications.

Boston, US-based app analytics and marketing platform Localytics secured $16 million in a Series C funding round led by Foundation Capital for its product development and international expansion.

USA Hockey uses Intelligym, a game-like program that helps improve mental performance and team work, to train the U17 and U18 teams for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

Austin, Texas-based incubator Capital Factory struck a partnership with venture firms Silverton Partners and Floodgate to support tech startups in Austin and trigger and investing "snowball effect."