THE NEWS WRAP: Yik Yak app raises $US62 million in latest funding round

Anonymous messaging app Yik Yak, a platform which is available specifically to students on US college campuses, has raised $US62 million ($A72 million), The Wall Street Journal reports.

Sequoia Capital has led the investment round, the Atlanta-based startup’s third funding round this year, and values Yik Yak between $US300 million and $US400 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

Jim Goetz, the partner who led Sequoia’s investment in WhatsApp three years ago, will join Yik Yak’s board.

iPhone 6 release drives US App Store downloads to all-time high in October

The launch of the iPhone 6 and iOS 8 drove record download volumes for the most popular apps, according to research from marketing technology firm Fiksu, Venturebeat reports.

Download volumes were up 42% from September and 39% year-on-year. Fiksu’s App Store competitive index, which tracks the average aggregate daily download volume of the top 200 free iOS apps, hit an all-time high in the United States at 7.8 million.

ESPN plans to release its first web video subscription service

Sport broadcaster ESPN’s efforts to sell streaming video subscriptions for some sports programming, without requiring its viewers to pay for cable TV, could begin next year at the Cricket World Cup, Re/code reports.

The broadcaster plans to sell US viewers live digital access to the Cricket World Cup.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 7.84 to 17,817.90. The Australian dollar is currently trading at US86 cents.

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