Intel Capital Invests $77 million in Innovative Companies, including Women-led Layar
At the 11th Annual CEO Summit, Intel Capital announced 18 new investments, spanning 11 countries and totaling approximately $77 million. One of the companies receiving investment is Layar (Series-B of 10 million $), the award-winning company co-founded by Claire Boonstra, one of 50 high-flying executives in Mobile Content and one the 49 notable Female Internet Heroes of 2009.
Intel Capital CEO Summit is Intel Capital’s gathering of portfolio company CEOs, corporate technology decision makers from Global 1000 companies and thought leaders from around the world.
The new Intel Capital investments span 11 countries including Brazil, China, Germany, India, Israel, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine and the United States.
“Innovation continues to thrive all over the world,” said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president. “Despite the economic environment, these 18 investments help advance next generation computing technologies aligning with Intel’s vision that more and more devices will compute and connect to the Internet, called the ‘compute continuum.’ The innovative technology developed by these companies supports the compute continuum from advancements in PCs and server trends, such as cloud computing, to building out the ecosystem around smart TVs and smartphones.”
2010 has also been an excellent year for Intel Capital portfolio companies. To date, 28 Intel Capital portfolio companies have exited in 2010 either through an IPO or acquisition. These exits clearly demonstrate Intel Capital’s dedication to support portfolio company business development efforts through events such as Intel Capital Technology Days (ITDs) and the Intel Capital CEO Summit, and are a key indication of the critical role technology innovation has played in driving the global economic recovery.
Details on the new investments follow:
Adaptivity (Charlotte, N.C.) helps companies address the complexities associated with IT design and implementation. Adaptivity’s Blueprint 4IT Lifecycle Suite™ enables intelligent IT design decisions to be incorporated into repeatable actions across the technology build and deployment lifecycle. Whether seeking to rationalize IT portfolios or design enterprise cloud programs, companies use Adaptivity’s tailored blueprints to optimize legacy infrastructure operations and accelerate the delivery of new IT services. The funding will be used to accelerate product development and build out sales and marketing infrastructure. Althea Systems’ (Bangalore, India) cloud-based video discovery platform makes it easier to find and share online videos across various devices. Althea launched a PC version of Shufflr, a social video browser, with a rich, immersive video experience in July. Shufflr's video discovery platform on the cloud aggregates video from several sources and combines machine aided and social discovery engines to help users find video they like. Shufflr will soon be available on smartphones, tablets and TVs, providing continuity of video experience from one device to another. The investment from Intel Capital will help the company expand its development team and marketing efforts.
Anobit (Herzeliya Pituach, Israel) is a provider of solutions to the growing NAND flash memory market segment. Its patented MSP™ (Memory Signal Processing) technology significantly improves the endurance and thus the cost structure of NAND-based products and systems. Anobit’s products, ranging from flash controllers to enterprise-class solid state drives, are designed for leading NAND flash manufacturers, consumer electronics vendors and storage solution providers. The company will use the funding to expand its core business operations to meet surging demand for its technology and products.
boo-box (São Paulo, Brazil) is one of the first technology-based ad systems in Brazil to address advertising on social media. Its innovative platform allows creative freedom for agencies, intelligent targeting for advertisers and increased control for publishers. boo-box services range from ad serving to affiliate marketing, addressing all types of advertising needs in social media. The investment from Intel Capital will be used to accelerate development of targeting and optimization tools, and to strengthen business operations.
De Novo (Kiev, Ukraine) is the first enterprise-class data center provider offering high quality IT services to leading enterprises in the Ukraine. De Novo experts have significant experience in project realization focused on IT systems research, design, implementation and maintenance at the corporate level. Intel Capital’s investment will be used to expand outsourcing services, such as Software as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service, based in the De Novo Data Center.
IPTEGO (Berlin) is a provider of Next Generation Network optimization software. IPTEGO's PALLADION software suite analyzes Next Generation Networks from any vendor to provide real-time network intelligence, troubleshooting, customer experience monitoring and seamless integration of third-party products. Utilizing PALLADION allows operators to securely and quickly migrate to IP-based networks such as IMS, reduce operational costs, generate additional revenue and minimize churn. Intel Capital's investment will allow the company to speed up penetration of global markets and ensure rapid growth.
Layar (Amsterdam, Netherlands) is the largest augmented reality platform in mobile used to bring impactful experiences into people's everyday lives. Layar works with thousands of developers creating nearly 1,500 layers for users to see the world with new information and meaningful digital content. The Layar platform is available on Android*, iPhone* and Bada* devices and also comes globally pre-installed on tens of millions of phones promoted by leading handset manufacturers and carriers. Layar will use the funding to further develop its platform and drive the development of meaningful augmented reality content.
Lilliputian Systems, Inc. (Wilmington, Mass.) is developing a Personal Power™ solution for consumer electronics devices that targets the portable power market segment. The company delivers a small form-factor battery charging solution that provides extended run-time for today’s CE devices. Lilliputian’s patented Silicon Power Cell™ technology is based on highly efficient solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) wafer fabrication methods, and is fueled by recyclable high-energy butane cartridges. Intel Capital’s equity stake provides resources for volume manufacturing.
Ortiva Wireless (La Jolla, Calif.) offers advanced commercial solutions for proactive management of mobile video, allowing service providers to dramatically improve control, quality and efficiency of rich media content delivery. Ortiva's iVOG™ (internet Video Optimization Gateway) for open internet media and mVOG™ (mobile Video Optimization Gateway) for portal services extend service reach, increase network efficiency, and improve video coverage density for mobile operators while dynamically shaping the content to give subscribers the smoothest video and clearest audio experience possible – regardless of fluctuating and hostile wireless network conditions. The new funding will be used to expand sales, marketing and engineering resources.
Rock Flow Dynamics (Moscow) offers high performance modeling software to simulate fluid and gas filtration dynamics of hydrocarbon underground reservoirs. The company’s fully integrated dynamics modeling solution, tNavigator, was designed from the ground up for the latest generation of multicore processors and can be seamlessly used for reservoir simulations on laptops, multiprocessor servers and clusters. The Intel Capital investment will be used to establish a Houston office and expand sales and marketing globally.
Select-TV (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) is a provider of end-to-end systems and content solutions for IPTV deployment. Widely deployed in luxury hotels and resorts in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, Select TV’s set-top box utilizes the power of the Intel® Atom™ processor to provide easy navigation to Web content and highly interactive entertainment and online education applications. The company has also recently embarked on trials in Southeast Asia with telecom operators who are deploying IPTV to consumer homes. Intel Capital’s investment will be used to accelerate the development of IPTV solutions and to expand the company’s presence in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Europe.
SilkRoad technology, Inc. (Chicago) provides software-as-a-service (SaaS) integrated talent management solution. Through SilkRoad's Life Suite™, companies are able to hire better employees, identify high and low performers, drive a pay-for-performance culture and improve employee tenure. The SilkRoad Life Suite™ solution set includes: OpenHire™, for recruiting management; RedCarpet™ for employee onboarding and life events; WingSpan™ for flexible employee performance management; GreenLight™ for learning management; Eprise™ for employee intranets and content management; and HeartBeat™ for core HR. Plans for Intel Capital's investment include a significant expansion of SilkRoad's worldwide direct sales and marketing efforts, strategic acquisitions and continued product development.
Taifatech (Jhubei City, Taiwan) is a fabless semiconductor company specializing in system-on-a chip (SoCs) and system design solutions that provide management and connectivity through LAN or WLAN. To address the growing digital video delivery market segment, Taifatech has developed solutions that provide wireless connectivity for such systems. Taifatech’s Taiwan-based team utilizes its strong networking and video ASIC design expertise, coupled with a team of software developers and local Taiwan-based OEMs, to provide the cost effective solutions. Intel Capital’s investment will be used to expand Taifatech’s development efforts of Intel® architecture-based wireless connectivity solutions.
Videon Central, Inc. (State College, Penn.) is an independent software vendor (ISV) that specializes in applying core IP and integration services for the growing consumer electronics market segment of internet connected digital video products. Videon is the leading ISV of Blu-ray disc™ middleware and video streaming technology for embedded devices and a charter member of the Intel® Consumer Electronics Network (Intel® CEN). Videon offers OEM and content development companies a unique set of capabilities to facilitate their digital media product applications. Intel Capital’s investment will be used to build Videon’s market position by expanding our IP portfolio to take advantage of the growing smart TV segment.
Verismo Networks’ (Mountain View, Calif. and Bangalore) open Internet TV platform brings seamless convergence of IPTV linear channels, Internet video, social networking and personal media playback directly to the TV. The Verismo end-to-end solution enables OEMs in service providers and IP MSO segments to expand their reach globally and cost effectively while giving subscribers an un-paralleled viewing experience. Verismo will use the investment to accelerate its growth and expand its sales and marketing operations.
WinChannel (Beijing) is a developer of information and sales management software for the consumer industry. Winchannel’s software platform manages and analyzes channel information such as replenishment orders, sales transactions, inventory and promotional activities in near real time, helping brand owning companies to monitor and understand market mechanisms and market responses to promotion, making sales operations more efficient. The investment from Intel Capital will be used in R&D and as working capital.
YuMe (Redwood City, Calif.) is a video advertising technology company that delivers video ads across all connected device channels — online, mobile, and CE/TV. Its ACE™ technology platform powers both its premium ad network and its enterprise solutions: ACE for Publishers and ACE for Advertisers. ACE for Publishers, a complete set of cloud-based ad operations tools, enables publishers to simplify video ad management functions to drive higher revenue, streamlined processes, and lower operating costs. ACE for Advertisers, an end-to-end, buy-side video campaign management system provides an enterprise-class solution and professional services package that mitigates the complexity of video ad campaign management. Meanwhile, YuMe’s premium video ad network helps advertisers reach their target audience at scale whenever and wherever they’re watching video. The investment will be used to further video advertising technology monetization solutions.
Yummly.com (Palo Alto, Calif.) is pioneering semantic search and recommendations for food. Its robust platform empowers people to search for and discover recipes based on their personal tastes and preferences, and offers a comprehensive database of more than 500,000 recipes aggregated from leading cooking sites and cookbooks. Yummly plans to apply funding from Intel Capital’s investment to expand its engineering team and further develop its platform’s functionality and features.
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