THE NEWS WRAP: Anonymous messaging app Yik Yak raises $75 million in funding

Yik Yak, an anonymous messaging platform targeting US college students, is closing in on $75 million ($A85.4m) in new financing, TechCrunch reports.

Its app allows users to post anonymous messages from or within 1.5 miles of US college campuses. Yik Yak won’t say how many people are using its network, but the app has been downloaded between one and five million times on Android devices, and is ranked within the top 10 most downloaded social media apps in the US. It has raised $1.5 million in April and a further $10 million in June.

Founders Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington have ambitions to turn the platform into a hyper-local news source.

Unshackled helping entrepreneurs get visas in the US

Without work visas, entrepreneurs can’t get far in the US. A new San Francisco-based angel fund called Unshackled has raised $US4.5 million to try to change that.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Unshackled will hire entrepreneurs as employees, providing them with paycheques, work visas and health benefits while they try to build their startups to the point where they can raise another round.

While the fund won’t focus exclusively on immigrants, it’s geared towards serving immigrant founders because the founders believe it’s a promising pool of talent that’s underserved.

Craftsy raises $50 million

US-based startup Craftsy, a platform for people who want to dive deeper into arts and crafts via online courses, has raised $50 million, the New York Times reports.

The company says it had $12 million in revenue in 2012, double that in 2013, and expects to double that again by the end of 2014.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 18.05 to 17,634.74. The Australian dollar is currently trading at US88 cents.

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