Krypton valued at $400 mn

Shishir Mehrotra, a former top executive at YouTube, has raised two rounds of funding for Krypton, a secret mobile competitor to Microsoft’s Office software.

Khosla Ventures-led Krypton’s second funding round, valuing the company at $400 million, according to the people who asked not to be identified. Krypton has raised at least $25 million. Greylock Partners and General Catalyst Partners have invested in Krypton, Bloomberg News said.

Google picks stake in Mobvoi

Google will take a minority stake in Beijing-based artificial intelligence firm Mobvoi as part of a $75-million fund-raising round as the US search giant tries to rebuild its presence in China. The Google-led Series-C fund-raising values Mobvoi at $300 million, with the start-up maintaining a controlling stake. Mobvoi works on artificial intelligence, voice-controlled software, Reuters said.

ING partners Kabbage

ING Groep NV is pegging some of its future growth in Europe on a start-up that has been lending for four years. The Dutch bank said it was partnering with Kabbage, an Atlanta-based firm that arranges loans online in minutes, to extend credit in Spain. The firms said they planned to eventually expand the programme to other countries on the continent. Kabbage provides more than $1 billion in credit annually to small businesses and consumers through its online platform, Bloomberg News said.

HRBoss raises $2 million

Singapore-based workforce planning analytics software start-up HRBoss has raised an investment round worth $2 million. The round was led by Pacific and Orient Berhad, a Malaysia-based investment holdings and management services company. Launched in 2011, HRBoss  uses big data and cloud computing to power its recruiting  for businesses, according to Tech in Asia.

Jeff Holman joins start-up

Jeff Holman, the former chief risk officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co’s hedge-fund business, Highbridge Capital Management, is heading to artificial-intelligence start-up Sentient Technologies. Holman would become San Francisco-based Sentient’s chief investment officer, overseeing its trading and investment arm, Bloomberg News said.

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