GAINESVILLE - Gainesville video game company Trendy Entertainment has received an $18.2 million investment from a New York venture capital firm. Insight Venture Management of New York City is the equity investor, meaning the company takes an ownership stake in Trendy. The sale was revealed in a notice of securities filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Trendy CEO Augi Lye declined to comment but said the company will be making an announcement about its development activities toward the end of the year.

ORLANDO - Apple has bought Melbourne-based AuthenTec, a company that makes secure fingerprint sensors for $356 million. AuthenTec mainly provides fingerprint sensor chips, which are common across the industry. While the work that AuthenTec does is widely known in the tech industry, there is nothing concrete about what Apple is hoping to gain from buying AuthenTec or what technology it is expecting from AuthenTec to put into its own devices.

TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Technology Forum has announced a call for nominations for its 9th Annual Industry Achievement Awards to be held November 16.

The Industry Achievement Awards honor the leading organizations and individuals in the technology industry. Finalists will be selected by a distinguished panel of judges and honored in front of hundreds at a black-tie awards gala. TBTF members are strongly urged to apply, but nominations are also open to other technology companies, regardless of TBTF membership status.

Christine Ortiz, co-organizer of Startup Weekend Orlando EDU talks about the 54-hour event designed to create and launch startups with educational applications.

Orlando Startup Weekend EDU will held August 3-5 and be one of the first to be hosted in the Southeast. Teams will have the opportunity to compete for $15,000 in cash prizes, in-kind services and incubation space.

Richard Licursi, serial technology entrepreneur and co-founder of Orlando startup accelerator venVelo talks about the new seed-stage investment program.

venVelo plans to make its first investments this summer after spending the past few months reviewing business plans and interviewing potential portfolio companies. Oakstone Holdings has agreed to be the lead investor in its first fund.

GAINESVILLE – Prioria Robotics, a developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles completed a $5.5 million series C round. Athenian Venture Partners, a venture capital firm specializing in investments in information technology and healthcare companies, joined the financing round together with Advantage Capital Partners, the lead investor, and existing investor Florida Gulfshore Capital.

Prioria announced it will stay in Gainesville as part of its corporate expansion, bringing 40 new jobs and retaining an additional 31 positions offering an average wage of $67,588.