Intel Capital, the corporate venturing unit of US-listed chip firm Intel, is investing about $26m in six mobile technology start-ups, acquiring Silicon Hive and launching its Medfield semiconductor for mobile phones.
The acquisition of Silicon Hive follows the two companies’ technology collaboration for the Intel Atom semiconductor a year ago and Intel Capital leading a $7m round in October 2008 alongside venture capital (VC) firms New Venture Partners and TVM Capital. Netherlands-based conglomerate Royal Philips Electronics spun out Silicon Hive, a venture within its Philips Technology Incubator, in April 2007 but retained a minority stake after joining a consortium investing $10m alongside New Venture Partners and TVM.
Intel Capital’s six investments are:
CloudMade, a US-based location-based applications developer previously backed by VC firms Greylock and Sunstone Capital Technology Ventures, including a $12.3m series B round in July, and last month bought peer OneStepAhead;
InVisage Technologies, a US-based non-silicon-based semiconductor maker, which raised an undisclosed amount for its series C round from Intel and VC firms RockPort Capital, InterWest Partners, OnPoint Technologies and Charles River Ventures;
Borqs International, a China-based open source mobile application software provider that previously raised $17.4m in its series B round in July 2009 from VC firms Norwest Venture Partners, GSR Ventures – the Mayfield Fund China affiliate – and Keytone Ventures;
Kaltura, a US and Israel-based open source video company that raised $20m in its series C round from Intel Capital, VC firms Nexus Venture Partners, .406 Ventures and Avalon Ventures, and Silicon Valley Bank, having previously raised $14m;
SecureKey Technologies, a Canada-based verification software company; and
UK-based VisionOSS (Voss), which raised $10m in its series C round from Intel Capital and VC firms Eden Ventures and XAnge, after the two VCs and Pyrford Enterprises led its £12m B round in September 2008 (and after a $1.5m seed round in 2006).
Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital, said: "These six investments represent key growth areas of the mobile ecosystem and will contribute to bringing important features to the next generation of mobile devices."
Lisa Lambert, vice-president of Intel Capital, said: "There is significant demand to facilitate the handling of online video on three screens within customized work-flows in tightly integrated applications. Kaltura is optimally positioned to take full advantage of this opportunity with its open technology, impressive customer base, and strong developer community."
Dave Flanagan, a managing director of Intel Capital, said: "Image sensors for smart phones and handheld devices are a huge market opportunity and InVisage is well positioned to capture significant market share."
George Thangadurai, general manager of Intel’s PC Client Services Group, said: "Contactless cards and the NFC [near field communication] movement is growing rapidly around the world. SecureKey’s solutions provide a powerful user experience that can be delivered across platforms improving both the security and convenience of online transactions."
Marcos Battisti, Intel Capital’s managing director for Western Europe and Israel, said: "Service providers recognize the competitive advantage in offering the latest unified communications and IP [internet protocol] telephony services and applications to their enterprise customers. Voss’s innovative technology enables it to roll out and manage UC [unified communications] services quickly and cost-effectively."