Nicholas Holland, the founder of web strategy and design shop Centresource, has taken another step forward with his micropublishing platform, Populr.me. The venture recently launched its beta version and closed on a $425,000 convertible note funded by Clayton Associates. Walker Duncan has more.

On pins and needles waiting for the Microsoft holiday store to open in The Mall at Green Hills? Only eight more days, my friend. The pop-up shop will be open for business outside the lower-floor level of Nordstrom starting next Friday.

Clayton Associates’ FCA Venture Partners has placed $1.5 million with Catavolt Inc., an Atlanta-based mobile application software development company. Also in on the deal was angel investor and Clayton advisory board member George Salem, according to a statement.

Catavolt’s creation, dubbed Catavolt Extender, is a “hybrid cloud service” package that connects a client company’s enterprise data — large-scale blocks of information — to specified mobile phones in real time. To put it in the company's words: “The idea is to deliver mobile phone applications without the expensive need to develop proprietary software to process information on the client end. Catavolt's unique approach, based on its patent-pending Dual Model Architecture, enables organizations to rapidly create and deliver mobile applications to business users without the need for costly and traditionally resource-intensive software development projects.”

Mobile application software development has of late captured the interest of local investors. We reported just this week on the launching of Streamweaver, a split-screen mobile video application company initially funded by two TNInvestco participants, Mountain Group Capital’s Limestone Fund and the Tennessee Communities Venture Fund. Funding levels weren’t specified for either fund.

Milt Capps updates us on the status of Tom Stephenson, the former CEO of software developer Healthcare Management Systems. Some six months after leaving his HMS post, Stephenson has landed in the No. 2 role at David Condra's Dalcon Communication Systems.

Microsoft executives said today they will open more than 30 pop-up stores this holiday season to provide shoppers "a premium retail experience" — and one of them will be at The Mall at Green Hills. The tech giant, which recently announced plans to roll out its Surface tablet and will also release its latest operating system this fall, is building a network of permanent stores. We're guessing it's safe to say the Green Hills pop-up is an audition for one of those future locations. More details to come soon, the company says.

SEE ALSO: ZDNet's take on the news

Local tech shop Atiba has partnered with E|Spaces to put on a series of educational sessions this fall at the Belle Meade and Cool Springs E|Spaces locations. The seminars are free but limited in size.

Events are complimentary, and will occur on either the first or second Tuesday of each month, from 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m., with the venue rotating between the two E|Spaces locations in Belle Meade and Cool Springs. The inaugural event will be held on Tuesday, September 18 at 5:30 p.m., at the Belle Meade E|Spaces location, where Rob Massie, Managing Director of Atiba Network Services, speaks on “The Cloud: What is it and how can it help me?” with Jerrod Barrows, also of Atiba Network Services.