Premise raises $50 million

Premise, a start-up that gathers global economic data, raised $50 million in a funding round led by Valor Equity Partners. The San Francisco-based company, whose board includes former US Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers, works with organisations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank to gather economic information in the developing world. It expects to end 2015 with annual recurring revenue of over $10 million, Bloomberg News said.

Hoffman invests in Segovia
LinkedIn Corp co-founder Reid Hoffman is leading a $13-million initial funding round for New York-based Segovia Technology Co, an enterprise software start-up that aims to be the Salesforce.com Inc for governments and institutions running anti-poverty programmes. Hoffman is joined in the funding round by Abraaj Capital chief executive Arif Naqvi, Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Foundation and the Omidyar Network Fund Inc, Bloomberg News said.

Kraft, Lasry to back Skillz

The owners of the New England Patriots and the Milwaukee Bucks are joining forces to invest in Skillz, a start-up that builds technology for mobile video gaming competitions known as eSports. Along with David Bonderman's Wildcat Capital Management, Patriots owner Kraft Group and Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry are investing $15 million in Skillz. More than 500 live games use Skillz technology, a Bloomberg News report said.

WearYouWant raises funds
Thai fashion marketplace WearYouWant has raised an undisclosed amount in a series-B funding round led by Japanese company Start Today. Existing investors OPT SEA and Digital Media Partners also joined this round. The deal gives Start Today access to the Thai fashion e-commerce space, where WearYouWant has had a pretty successful run since its 2011 launch. WearYouWant raised $1.5 million from Digital Media Partners and OPT SEA in August 2014, according to a Tech in Asia report.

Bitcoin firm gets licence
Circle Internet Financial, a Boston-based bitcoin start-up backed by Goldman Sachs Group, has received New York's first BitLicense, allowing it to offer digital currency services in the state. The firm, founded in 2013, released a new version of its mobile payment service recently. The BitLicense from the New York department of financial services is based on US state guidelines for firms that operate in virtual currencies such as bitcoin, Reuters said.
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