(Reuters) – Google has acquired news-summary app maker Wavii for about $30 million in cash, just weeks after Yahoo paid a similar amount to buy Wavii competitor Summly.

Tripbirds, a Stockholm-based startup that started life as a travel site, one that seized on data from Facebook, Instagram and other social networks, has been relaunched as a “social hotel-booking site” that combines “traditional” hotels with recommendations from users’ social networks. The company raised $740,000 in seed funding last year from Index Ventures, Passion Capital, [...]

When Facebook goes public as expected this spring, a casual observer might assume that Facebook alums will begin investing in startups. That person would be wrong, says one former insider with deep ties to the company.

Entrepreneur Rick Marini has a lot to be thankful for, including smart, connected friends who’ve supported him in the launch of two of his businesses. The most recent of these is BranchOut, which leverages Facebook to help people find business connections and that has an enviable list of backers and advisors. Marini may soon need them more than [...]