According to separate SEC filings, Jim Breyer of Accel Partners will not run for re-election this year on either the board of Facebook, where he has been a director since 2005, or on the board of Wal-Mart, whose board he joined in 2000.

In yet another sign of the importance of marketing in an increasingly noisy startup world, Accel Partners today announced that it has hired Stephanie Ichinose, formerly Yelp‘s Senior Director of Communications, as its marketing partner. In the new role, Ichinose will be responsible for the firm’s brand and help portfolio companies with their strategic positioning and communications.

Max Niederhofer has joined European venture capital firm Sunstone Capital as a partner in its Copenhagen office. He joins Sunstone Capital from Accel Partners, where he was a Vice President in the firm’s London office, focusing on investments in internet and mobile services.

Take a break with the latest links this morning which reveal Niederhofer jumping from Accel to Sunstone; VC funding for Q1 slowest since 2003; PE filling the Asian lending gap and Google potentially facing antitrust investigations in Europe.

This morning First Read brings you Accel’s latest fundraising; an update on PE exits in Q1; zombie start-ups looking for revival and a recipe for a spectacular public crash and burn.

Accel Partners has announced the first and final close of Accel London IV, a $475 million fund focused on Europe and Israel. The fund will invest in early and growth-stage technology companies including consumer Internet, big data, cloud, SaaS and mobile.

Norwest Venture Partners is apparently preparing to open a New York office, eager to expand its presence in the Big Apple’s Internet startup scene, sources say.

YuMe, a provider of digital brand advertising software and services, has acquired Crowd Science, an audience targeting technology company. YuMe is backed by Accel Partners, BV Capital, DAG Ventures, Intel Capital, Khosla Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung Ventures, Translink Capital and WestSummit Capital.

Online learning company Lynda.com has won $103 million in new funding from venture capital firm Accel Partners and equity investor Spectrum Equity, writes Reuters. The cash infusion marks the company’s first outside funding and will allow the company to expand internationally, add new content areas, and improve its Web and video platforms, writes Reuters.

Online education company Lynda.com has raised its first round of funding, securing $103 million in growth equity from Accel Partners, Spectrum Equity and Meritech Capital Partners. As part of the funding, Andrew Braccia of Accel and Vic Parker of Spectrum, have joined the board.