NAB has promoted three women into senior technology roles. Dayle Stevens, Lisa Palma and Nicole Devine have been promoted to general manager positions within NAB’s Technology and NextGen teams. Lisa Gray, group executive, enterprise services and transformation, said the appointments would help to break down the misconception that technology was a male-only world. There are 550 women in permanent technology roles at the bank, about a quarter of its 2000 IT workforce.

Telstra Ventures has made an undisclosed investment into Los Angeles-based mobile identity and authentication company TeleSign. The company provides 2-step verification for websites and apps, including for Evernote, oDesk and a number of undisclosed top 10 US websites. It also sells a product called PhoneID Score that allows telcos to determine if they will issue, monitor or block the registration of new accounts. Telstra would not elaborate on its plans to adopt the firm's technologies. TeleSign raised $US40 million from US venture capital funds in April. It claims to protect billions of customers worldwide.

A $US30 million ($31 million) venture capital fund is looking for four bitcoin-related start-ups to back. The fund, which is being set up by Future Capital, will hold an official pitch at the Inside Bitcoin Conference and Expo in Melbourne on July 9. Judges will include Australian venture capitalist and fund chairman Domenic Carosa, Niki Scevak from Blackbird Ventures, and Rui Rodrigues from Tank Stream Ventures. Blackbird ventures is already a backer of CoinJar, an Australian bitcoin exchange and wallet service.

Cloud in a box

Telco wholesaler Inabox Group has announced the acquisition of Brisbane-based cloud services and voiceover-IP provider Neural Networks Data Services. The $350,000 deal will give Inabox 100 wholesale customers as well as a proprietary portal and back-office services. The company already operates the Telcoinabox and iVox brands. The deal is expected to be finalised by the end of July.

Deals in court

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has initiated action in the Federal Court against Yahoo!7 deals website Spreets, alleging misleading and deceptive conduct, including not guaranteeing consumers' rights to refunds. The charges date to 2011 and 2012, when the ACCC says Spreets misrepresented the price of certain deals as well as consumers' ability to redeem vouchers. The company has since gone from procuring its own deals to aggregating coupons and discounts from other group-buying sites. (MS)