Epam Systems will lead the first $15m close of blockchain-powered regional VC vehicle Go Philly Fund, which is reportedly aiming to raise $50m in total.

BBG Ventures, which was founded by AOL and is now funded by Verizon Media, is reportedly seeking external commitments for its next fund.

Partech Africa has achieved a final close of $143m with limited partners including Orange, Edenred, JCDecaux, Bertelsmann, L’Oréal, Axian Group and Texaf.

Hair colouring supplier Madison Reed, which is backed by Comcast and JF Shea, is pursuing a multi-channel distribution strategy and has now racked up $121m in capital altogether.

Houman Haghighi has followed seven years at corporate venturing unit Qualcomm Ventures by joining Menlo Ventures as a business development partner.

The conglomerate joined fellow limited partners Temasek and Asian Development Bank to back a $50m fund raised by Ascent Capital Partners.

Meredith Finn, a former senior director at Salesforce Ventures who helped launch its Impact Fund in 2017, will leverage her expertise in enterprise software at March Capital.

Shell, BNP Paribas and PTT Group have all made commitments to the third fund to be raised by energy-focused VC firm Set Ventures, which is targeting an $85.5m close.

Shell Ventures investment principal Tyler Williams has joined Natural Gas Innovation Fund as an executive committee member.

Michael Yang, managing director at Comcast Ventures for nine years, will oversee Omers Ventures’ US-based office as a managing partner.