A Russian venture capital fund, Runa Capital, has been launched by Serguei Beloussov (pictured), chairman of Parallels who also serves on the board of directors of Acronis, and Alexander Galitsky, founder of Almaz Capital Partners. The fund will offer approximately USD30m in seed financing to early-stage internet and software companies.

GE has launched a USD200m open innovation challenge that seeks breakthrough ideas to create a smarter, cleaner and more efficient electric grid, and accelerate the adoption of more efficient grid technologies. The challenge invites technologists, entrepreneurs and start-ups to share their best ideas and come together to take on one

Viola Private Equity will invest USD17m in Adsmarket, a media performance and internet advertising company valued at USD75m, and will hold 21 per cent of the company shares. Of the full investment amount, USD12m will be used to acquire shares from current shareholders and USD5m will be invested in the

Scytl, a Barcelona-based provider of internet voting technology, has closed a USD9.2m investment led by Balderton Capital, one of Europe’s largest venture capital investors, and supported by Nauta Capital, an existing investor in Scytl. The investment will enable Scytl to consolidate its position in the electronic voting market and support

LDC has completed the acquisition of Computer Recognition Systems on behalf of its portfolio firm Vysionics, a group of businesses supplying traffic management systems. Vysionics was formed by LDC in February 2010 to acquire Speed Check Services, a supplier of average speed camera systems.  In addition to providing GBP9m of

Investors have turned bearish in their outlook for the global economy and corporate earnings, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch survey of fund managers for July. The survey shows a net 12 per cent of respondents predicting the global economy will deteriorate in the coming 12 months, the first negative

Stag Capital Partners, a real estate company focused on the acquisition, ownership and management of single-tenant industrial properties throughout the US, and GI Partners, a trans-Atlantic private equity firm, have formed a joint venture to invest up to USD200m to acquire individual single-tenant net leased industrial properties throughout the US.

Global mergers and acquisitions activity totalled USD881bn in the first half of 2010, up 7.8 per cent from the first half of 2009, a report by mergermarket shows. Deal count is also up by 13.3 per cent at 5,026 announced deals. Brunswick Group and FD were the leading PR advisers,