Capital Gains: Twitter's Got (a) Talent (Agency), Microsoft Snaps Up Sunrise and More

There were a lot of funding announcements and acquisitions in technology this week. Here’s what happened:

• The online travel service Expedia said it would buy competitor Orbitz in a $1.33 billion cash deal. The deal won praise from analysts, and their stock prices both went up by double-digit percentages.
• Last Sunday, Alibaba announced it would be investing $590 million for an undisclosed stake in the quickly-growing Chinese smartphone maker Meizu. The company began in 2003 making MP3 players, and switched to producing smartphones in 2007.
• The enterprise-focused venture capital firm Emergence Capital announced it raised $335 million for its fourth fund, to be used for investments in new markets (the Wall Street Journal).
• Jet, a soon-to-be-launched Amazon competitor founded by the CEO of Diapers.com, raised $140 million in a round led by Bain Capital. Altogether, Jet has raised $220 million in funding.
• Microsoft acquired the calendar app maker Sunrise as part of its efforts to expand the services it offers on competitors’ platforms and devices. Earlier reports said the purchase price was around $100 million.
• Quixey, a startup focusing on deep-linking technology and in-app search, raised $60 million from China’s Alibaba Group, Twitter, SoftBank and others. Since its founding in 2009, Quixey has raised $90 million in funding.
• The cloud software startup AppDirect raised $50 million in a new funding round led by existing investor Mithril Capital Management (the New York Times).
• Niche, a startup that links advertisers with social media stars, was acquired by Twitter in a $30 million deal. Sources told Re/code that the terms of the deal could inflate its cost to as much as $60 million.
• The medical technology startup Invuity raised $20 million in a new round led by Wellington Management Capital. Invuity makes specialized illuminated tools that assist doctors during surgery (MedCity News).
• Team8, a group of former high-ranking Israeli military officers, raised $18 million to recruit and invest in Israeli technology startups. Investors include Alcatel-Lucent, Bessemer Venture Partners, Marker LLC and the Eric Schmidt-founded Innovation Endeavors (Haaretz).
• Reserve, an Uber imitator that lets users book and pre-pay for meals at restaurants, raised $15 million in a Series A funding round. To date, Reserve has raised $17.3 million in funding (Mashable).
• The tablet gaming company Proletariat raised $6 million in a Series A round led by Spark Capital, with participation from FirstMark Capital and Atlas Ventures.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Contributions are a key part of the future of Vox

Readers rely on Vox for clear, nuanced coverage that not only illuminates the issues, but poses solutions, too. And we rely on help from our readers: Advertising and grants cover the majority of our costs, but we count on contributions to help us close the gaps in our budget. In fact, we’re looking to reach 95,000 individual contributions before the end of the year. Will you make the next contribution right now? Our average gift is just $20 — and it goes a long way in helping us keep our work free. Vox is here to help everyone understand what’s shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. Join that mission by making a contribution today.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via