Services

The Naspers and Tencent-backed, ibiboGroup has followed its purchase of bus ticketing company redBus last year with the acquisition of another India-based bus travel service.

Nokia Growth Partners and Randstad Innovation Fund have backed Gigwalk's $10m series B round, which has increased its total funding to almost $18m.

The Randstad Innovation Fund will target online, mobile, social media and big data, and has already made its first investment.

This is promising for other groups, such as Canada and South Africa-based energy groups Cenovus and Sasol, which have decided against continuing or forming a formal corporate venturing programme, senior executives at both companies said.

The executive will be promoted to head up the unit's US digital and mobile investments, and will be replaced by Jong Sang Choi.

US-based pet sitting service Rover.com has fetched an impressive $12m in a series C round of funding led by new investor Menlo Ventures, while pet supplies retailer Petco also invested.

The free mobile communication service, which has secured funding from Qualcomm and Access Industries in the past, has raised $280m in its latest venture round.

Four years after establishing the European branch of electronics producer Samsung's corporate venturing arm, Michael Jeon will be moving to the US to oversee its mobile and digital investments.

When Google Capital decided to invest $40m in US educational assessment company Renaissance Learning in February of this year, it perhaps did not consider a chunk of that investment would be realised about a month later. At the time of the investment the business was valued at $1bn and just a month later the business saw its value hit the $1.1bn mark when it was acquired by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman.

Google Capital, one of the corporate venturing units of the eponymous internet search engine, has invested $50m in US online real estate auction site, Auction.com. The company has sold nearly $20bn in assets since 2010. With this latest investment, the company is valued at over $1.2bn.