Microsoft has fleshed out its ambitious seed programme announced last year.

Internet companies Google and AOL have invested in the seed round of a company, set up only six months ago, which analyses the prices paid on the internet.

Alongside OATV in Bloom's seed round were angel networks Launch Capital, Betaworks and SV Angel and Stewart Butterfield.

Charles River Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners, which also backed A123, are providing the $10m series A round to spin-out M24.

As part of a licensing agreement, BioCritica will acquire the US development and commercialization rights to Lilly's Xigris treatment for severe sepsis and the rights to potentially acquire several critical care compounds currently in pre-clinical development at Lilly.

Josh James, former founder of software provider Omniture, which was sold to Adobe for $1.8bn in 2009, started Sacho as a business intelligence technology start-up, which has yet to launch. WPP invested $25m in Omniture in January 2009 as part of a strategic partnership and sold its shares for $61.3m in its September exit to Adobe.

German internet entrepreneur Stephan Uhrenbacher, the founder of the local review site Qype and the former head of northern European operations for the travel booking site Lastminute.com, launched 9flats in February.

News provider Light Reading Cable said Comcast Interactive Capital and Motorola Mobility Ventures were the two strategic investors, alongside venture capital firm Spark Capital Partners.

Marc Faucher, a partner at BlackBerry Partners Fund, said: "Fuse brings a unique, analytics-driven approach to the mobile gaming publishing space that optimizes both game discovery and monetization."

Andrew Williamson, a director at Physic Ventures, said: "WaterSmart brings meter data to life and empowers homeowners with the tools and the personalized data they need to reduce their water use without sacrificing their quality of life. They make it easy and fun to be water efficient."