Intel won a piece of the Swedish airwaves and announced today that it plans to develop a nationwide WiMax network. Intel paid $26 million for a 15-year license and hopes to make money by selling microchips that a WiMax network will need. Intel business developer Carl-Daniel Norenberg said the company is looking for partners to build and operate the network, but that Intel will rent out the license rather than selling it.

It was announced yesterday that Intel is an investor in a WiMax partnership that Sprint Nextel and Clearwire are building in the United States. Intel invested $1 billion in the U.S. venture. Intel has also invested money with a group that is planning to build a WiMax network in Japan.

It appears as though Intel is spreading around a little seed money to help grow WiMax technology in already developed markets. It is banking that the wireless nature and fast download speeds of WiMax will be able to crack national markets that are already near the saturation point, when it comes to mobile phones and number of national Internet connections.

Buzzd, a location-based city guide and social network for mobile phones, announced that it has completed Series A funding, led by Greycroft Partners and Monitor Ventures. The money will be used for product development and distribution. Monitor’s Fern Mandelbaum will join Buzzd’s Board of Directors, along with company Co-Founders Nihal Mehta and Deepen Shah.

“Monitor and Greycroft have successfully guided digital media start-ups from seed to success. We are excited to have partners who will roll up their sleeves and really work with entrepreneurs,” said Buzzd CEO Nihal Mehta.

”Buzzd provides a necessary utility for users, helping them locate venues, interact with friends, and read reviews on the mobile device,” said Alan Patricof, Managing Director of Greycroft Partners.

Buzzd lets you search for local events and other hotspots in your city. Buzzd will tell you which bands are playing at local bars, the location of a four-star eatery and other such information. The interface lets the user share information with others on Buzzd, so people can setup their own social networks.

Hoenitos Premium Tequila is joining the Buzzd community as an advertiser. Through this partnership, Buzzd members can buy their friends Hornitos drinks and redeem the codes delivered via SMS at hundreds of bars in association with BuyYourFriendADrink.com. What could be better than getting your friends drunk with your mobile phone?

For more information on Buzzd visit http://www.buzzd.com. Users can register for the service immediately by texting ‘join’ to 96321, or visiting http://buzzd.com/m from their web or mobile browser.

Thumbplay, a mobile entertainment company, announced today that it has raised $18 million in new capital. Thumbplay will use the seed money to expand its direct-to- consumer product offerings, in addition to further developing the tools it provides content owners, creators, publishers and brand marketers. The company plans to accelerate its strategic growth plans and to expand internationally in 2008 to meet the growing demand for mobile entertainment content around the world.

“Thumbplay’s unique off-deck model for selling a wide variety of mobile entertainment content to consumers has already proven to be very successful here in the U.S. and we’re now ready to extend the positive customer experience we already deliver to the millions of mobile consumers all around the world,” said Are Traasdahl, Thumbplay’s CEO and founder.

Thumbplay has over 80,000 pieces of mobile entertainment under license, including ringtones, wallpapers, games, videos, voice tones and text-based services.

The Series E round of investment was led by Brookside Capital Partners, the public equity affiliate of Bain Capital, and Cross Creek Capital, a private equity affiliate of Wasatch Advisors.

“The high quality of our new investors is very significant, since both typically invest in companies which offer opportunities to realize substantial long-term capital appreciation,” said Are Traasdahl. “This is a testament to Thumbplay’s ongoing success.”

During the last quarter of 2007, Thumbplay announced deals to integrate its mobile entertainment content catalog into the Web and mobile portals of AOL and MSN Mobile, as well as iLike, one of the Web’s leading social music discovery services. Earlier this year, Thumbplay signed a digital distribution agreement to add content from Sony BMG Music Entertainment’s artists to Thumbplay’s already diverse mobile entertainment content catalog.

Thumbplay

Handango, a provider of smartphone content, raised an additional $9.5 million in its Series C round of financing. The money will be used to support the company’s new distribution deals, improve the scalability of its infrastructure and expand globally. Handango also plans to enhance the consumer experience to make smartphone content easier to brows, find and purchase online, and directly from a mobile device. Participating in the Series C round are Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Advanced Technology Ventures (ATV), Centerpoint, Neo Carta, Pharos Capital Group and SSM Partners.

“Securing this round of funding further proves our leadership position in the distribution of smartphone content,” said Bill Stone, CEO, Handango. “As the demand for smartphones expands from early adopters to mainstream consumers, we are confident that Handango’s new distribution platforms and expanded content offerings will only further our dominance in this industry.”

“Handango has proven itself as the undisputed leader in the global smartphone content marketplace,” states Sandy Miller, General Partner from IVP. “This new round of funding will further enhance Handango’s plans for growth and expansion at a time when the market is ripe for infiltration.”

“With the demand for smartphones growing at a faster pace than ever, Handango is in an incredible position to continue to lead the market both within the U.S and abroad,” states former president and chief executive officer of AT&T Wireless and current Handango director, Mohan Gyani. “With the strength of Handango’s consumer-facing brand, its extensive customer base, its vast network of content partners, and its growing and evolving distribution channels, it is no surprise that this list of top-tier investors are back for another round.”

Handango

The mobile advertising company Ad Infuse announced today that it has secured $12 million in financing. New investor SoftBank capital led this new financing round, which also includes existing investors ComVentures and Storm Ventures.

The money will be used to promote and develop Ad Infuse’s mobile advertising network and platform, adInMotion. The company will also invest in its adInTouch, which allows advertisers to connect with consumers across all mobile media formats such as video games, mobile browsing and podcasts.

SoftBank Capital’s Mike Perlis will join the Ad Infuse board of directors. Mr. Perlis has served as a media industry CEO with over 20 years of experience managing a wide range of content and multi-media brands, including President and CEO of Ziff-Davis Publishing, President of TVSM, President and CEO of IDG, Publisher of GQ, and built the Rodale Active Sports Network. He also serves on the boards of several companies including Paltalk and Associated Content, and was a past board member of Zinio, Industry Brains, and Enpocket.

“The momentum Ad Infuse has built with its unique focus on enabling the full mobile advertising ecosystem is impressive” said Mike Perlis, partner at SoftBank Capital. “The company has been very effective in delivering innovative technology solutions, serving top advertising partners, and building a management team with deep media and mobile experience. We believe strongly that Ad Infuse is well-positioned to lead and build long-term success in this high-growth market.”

“This caps a banner year for Ad Infuse and launches an exciting next stage of the company’s growth,” said Brian Cowley, CEO of Ad Infuse. “We continue to see incredible demand for our consumer-centric approach to campaigns that leverage rich-media and privacy-sensitive targeting for a premium mobile advertising experience. We’re very pleased to have such top tier investors, adding one of the strongest digital media focused investors to our existing board, as we build continued success.”

Ad Infuse