BBVA has also disclosed its first deals by commiting to two venture capital funds and as part of a $4.05m series B round for SaveUp.

Qiwi, which is named after the Kiwi bird, will invest up to $1m in each start-up.

Ecus Agri-Food raised $11m from private investors and gained a credit line from Corfo, the Chilean economic development agency, for $19m.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), backed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), announces plans to invest $194m across semiconductor research network STARnet.

Rackley, a former partner at venture capital firm Noro Moseley, has previously sold NFront to software provider Intuit and Firethorn to chip maker Qualcomm.