Voices

The Value of a Board at the Seed Stage

Thinking about boards makes entrepreneurs imagine spending hours drafting lengthy board presentations and potentially losing control of their startups.

Nokia Taps Option for Nearly $2 Billion in Bond Financing From Microsoft

Send that money over to Espoo, pronto.
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News Byte

Altair Semiconductor Raises $25 Million

LTE chipset developer Altair Semiconductor announced Monday it raised a $25 million round of financing from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, BRM, Giza Venture Capital, JVP and Pacific Technology, bringing the total amount of funds raised to just over $100 million. The Israel-based company will use the capital to further expand their position in the LTE chipset market. Altair’s products are found inside of USB dongles, tablets, Ultrabooks, Internet hotspots and routers.

Carl Icahn May Walk Away From Dell Proxy Fight He Started

After a brazen entrance, a quiet exit?

Voices

Dish Secures $9 Billion in Committed Financing for Sprint Bid

Dish Network Corp. took one step closer to arranging $9 billion in committed financing for its $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

Voices

Sharp Faces Dwindling Financing Options

Japan’s Sharp Corp. is trying to find new sources of capital ahead of key looming financing deadlines. But the electronics maker’s options have shrunk, as management has told potential funders it doesn’t want to relinquish control of key decisions, while rebuffing demands from creditors that it shed core assets.

News Byte

Social Sports Startup Bluefields Scores $1 Million

Bluefields, the social network that links sports players together for easier communication between teams and leagues, announced Friday it had raised a $1 million seed round. Contributors include Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s VegasTechFund, Facebook Europe executive Christian Hernandez, Elliot Loh (formerly of Yammer), and a number of other angels and seed fund contributors. The startup also exited its private beta on Friday, opening itself up to more potential users.