Vodafone Ventures is among the investors backing locally-based advertising service LocalResponse in its latest round of financing, worth $5m.

The Business Growth Fund has made its first investment, funding the UK rewards and benefits company Benefex.

Gail Ennis, chief executive of Karmasphere, said: "Shun Aramaki, who led the investment in Karmasphere, brings with him a wealth of big data market expertise."

The online advertising service has closed a series A round, financed by the corporate-backed fund.

NuScriptRX has raised $8m of funding from a range of venture capital firms, several of which operate under the local TNInvestco program.

Brian O'Kelley, founder and chief executive of AppNexus, told newswire Bloomberg: "The financials, the revenue, the profit and the growth are all strong enough that we could be going public as soon as late next year."

Business Insider had previously raised $7m, according to news provider TechCrunch.

Adaptivity has followed up its $10m series A round with further funding from backers including corporate venturing unit Intel Capital.