Consumer

Japanese seed accelerator SunBridge backs tourism startup AnyRoad, an online platform which aims to bring technology to typically offline commerce.

Kazan, a Russian city in Tatarstan, two hours drive from Moscow, is pulling out all the stops in an effort to become the go-to computer science cluster in eastern Europe.

Agbiotech company Chromatin completes first closing of $36m series E round, backed by GE and BP, to accelerate development of sorghum products for battling water scarcity and meeting increased food demands.

Japan's Ryoyo Electric Corporation joins Thomvest in series B funding for Tactus Technology, maker of dynamic surface technology that allows touchscreens to transform from being flat into a real, three-dimensional interface when needed.

Mister Spex, a Germany-based online optician which is backed by investors including multi-corporate fund Xange Capital, has appointed former Selfridges CEO Peter Williams as chairman.

China-based crowdfunding site DemoHour is reported to have secured an undisclosed amount of series A funding led by Matrix Partners China and Intel Capital.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign spin-out MC10 adds $20m series D to venture backing for wearable electronics.

Smart home device maker Nest Labs, backed by Google Ventures, is reported to be raising at least $150m, led by DST Global.