Riverside Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm with a focus on technology and healthcare investments, announced today it has completed a majority equity investment in Eliassen Group. Eliassen Group is a leading technology staffing and clinical data management consulting firm.

Aptilo Networks, the global leader in pre-integrated solutions for control of billing, user services and access in wireless networks including Wi-Fi, WiMAX(TM) and LTE, announced today the company has signed an agreement to acquire Service Factory, a division of Birdstep Technology listed on Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker BIRD.

Truffle Capital, a major European private equity firm, today announced that its portfolio company LeadMedia has acquired MediaFactory, a leading online performance marketing company based in Sao Paulo (Brazil).

Chicago-based technology and digital media services company Centro has secured $22.5 million in equity financing from multi-stage growth equity firm FTV Capital. This financing will fuel increased investment in Centro's automated digital media buying software, Transis, as well as accelerate a significant expansion of Centro's sales force targeting mid-tier advertisers and ad agencies.

Location-based gaming start-up SCVNGR has raised $15 million in new venture financing in a round led by European venture firm Balderton Capital. Existing shareholders Google Ventures and Highland Capital Partners also participated. Balderton partner Barry Maloney will SCVNGR's board as a result of the round.

More than 70 per cent of small businesses expect today's VAT rise to have a negative impact on their business, according to a member survey by Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

Dialog Semiconductor plc, a leading provider of highly integrated innovative power management semiconductor solutions, has won the 2010 Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) Outstanding EMEA Semiconductor Company Award.

The New York Times was yesterday reporting $500m in new funding for social networking giant Facebook, reportedly including $450m from the Goldman Sachs Group and $50m from Russian tech investor Digital Sky Technologies. According to the terms of the deal, as seen by the NY Times, this funding would value Facebook at $50bn, more than established giants such as eBay and Dell.

Apple has confirmed that the Mac App Store will open for business as scheduled on Thursday 6 January. By bringing the revolutionary App Store experience to Mac OS X, the Mac App Store makes discovering, installing and updating Mac apps easier than ever. The Mac App Store will be available in 90 countries at launch and will feature paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities.