Networking equipment producer Cisco revealed yesterday that it intends to acquire US-based mobile location services provider July Systems for an undisclosed sum, which would enable semiconductor maker Intel to exit.
July Systems has built a scalable cloud software platform known as Proximity MX that connects to a client’s existing wifi and digital systems to track people who enter a building in a bid to better understand the patterns of where they go and what they do.
The company’s staff will join Cisco’s Enterprise Networking Group once the deal closes, and its technology will support an indoor location services product offered by Cisco to clients in sectors such as healthcare, logistics, hospitality and retail.
July has raised approximately $56m in funding according to press releases and regulatory filings, including $8m in a 2002 round featuring Acer Technology Ventures, a subsidiary of electronics producer Acer, NeoCarta Ventures, WestBridge Capital Partners and JumpStartUp Venture Fund.
Motorola Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of communications equipment maker Motorola, subsequently joined NeoCarta, WestBridge, JumpStartUp, CRV and Silicon Valley Bancshares for a $10m round in 2005.
Intel unit Intel Capital, led July’s $7m series C round in 2010, investing alongside Sequoia Capital and Footprint Ventures, and returned to participate in a $15m round led by Updata Partners and backed by WestBridge Capital two years later.