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Nokia acquires Withings for €170m, UK Government explores using blockchain & more in your Week in Tech

Investments

Biobeats has raised $2.8m. Biobeats is a machine learning platform that delivers insights about the real-time wellbeing of employees in corporate settings.

Smart content platform StoryStream has closed a £1.8m Series A funding round led by MMC Ventures.

LaunchPad Recruits has raised £2m in Series A. The startup provides video interviewing and screening technology to employers.

Finally, Edinburgh University technology spin-out Sofant Technologies Limited has landed £1.5m in funding. The investment will be used to bring to market Sofant’s patented technology which seeks to double mobile battery life.

UK Government explores blockchain

The UK government is exploring ways in which it can use blockchain technology to distribute taxpayer money “fairly and securely”, according to Matthew Hancock, minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General.

He made the announcement at a blockchain networking event in London this week.

The news comes after the government committed £10m to the Alan Turing Institute to investigate digital currencies, such as bitcoin, and distributed ledger technology in October last year.

International investments

There were some notable international investments this week with Nokia acquiring the French company Withings for €170m.

They’re hoping to build out the health technology side of the business. The consumer tech acquisition will not only focus on healthcare gadgets but also the Internet of Things and cloud based technology.

Medium, the online publishing platform led by Twitter co-founder Ev Williams, announced that it has raised $50m in Series C funding from Spark capital. Less than a year ago Medium raised a $57m Series B round.

Download of the Week

Our Download of the Week is Health 24, Health 24 lets you find local health services and emergency services.

It also has a handy A-Z of health issues and can be used at home or abroad.

And Finally

The Top Gear lads, Hammond, Clarkson and May are going to venture into tech by creating DriveTribe, an online content platform for motoring enthusiasts.

The platform is expected to go live in Autumn this year. 

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