“Making money for our shareholders is not enough, it is important to be socially responsible and promote diversity and inclusion across our industry”
Wendell Brooks (above left), was a senior vice-president (SVP) at US-based chipmaker Intel and president of its corporate venturing unit, Intel Capital, and had chaired Global Corporate Venturing’s Leadership Society for two years.
In August 2020, Brooks departed from Intel after six years. Anthony Lin (above right), who has been leading mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and international investing for Intel, will lead Intel Capital on an interim basis while a search is conducted for a permanent successor.
Lin is already part of the unit’s equity investing committee.
In an email to portfolio companies, Brooks, winner of this year’s GCV Innovation Economy Leader award, said he intended to stay active in the venture capital ecosystem. He added: “While it is now time for me to take the next step in my life’s journey, you are in great hands with the [Intel Capital] team?
“Through up and down economic cycles, strategic pivots and technology shifts, Intel Capital has consistently invested and driven value for our parent company, Intel. We do this by having a relentless focus on delivering value to our portfolio companies. We are at the epicentre of an amazing community of entrepreneurs driving new technologies forward – from AI (artificial intelligence), autonomous vehicles, data centre and cloud, 5G, next-generation compute and beyond.
“I am proud of what we have accomplished together. Intel Capital invests in innovative startups that are changing the world and you all are on the front lines doing it. I love Intel, my Intel Capital team, and working with all of you. Not only have we succeeded in delivering many disruptive technologies, but we have also made the world a better place, by leading and promoting diversity and inclusion.”
Since Intel Capital was founded in 1991, it has invested in more than 1,500 companies globally, of which it has exited nearly 700 either through initial public offerings or M&A transactions.
This year, Intel Capital has invested $132m in 11 startups as of May, which will involve the fund deploying roughly $300m to $500m in total by the end of the year.
The new portfolio companies are US-based Anodot, Astera Labs, Axonne, Hypersonix, Lilt and MemVerge, China-based KFBio, ProPlus Electronics and Spectrum Materials, as well as Israel-based Xsight Labs.
During the 2018 Global Corporate Venturing and Innovation (GCVI) Summit and in an open letter to the CVC community, Brooks shared Intel Capital’s initiative to mentor the best and the brightest women and under- represented minorities as part of its intern programme.
Since Brooks’ pledge to diversity, the unit has reported spectacular progress in diversity representation, surpassing more than $300m invested in female and minorities-led businesses as of May 2020.
Before joining Intel in 2014 as president of M&A, and his promotion to SVP and president of Intel Capital in 2016, Brooks had spent 23 years as an investment banker, most recently at Allen & Co, and before that at Citigroup.
Half the time of Brooks’ investment banking career was spent in Europe. He set up Allen & Co’s London office in 2008, having previously headed Citigroup’s European telecoms, media and technology group.
