Intel Capital, the corporate venturing arm of semiconductor technology manufacturer Intel, has led a $10m series B round for US-based data-over-audio technology developer Lisnr.
R/GA Ventures, the investment vehicle for advertising firm R/GA, also took part, as did venture capital firms Mercury Fund and Jump Capital, while Intel provided its share of the capital through its $125m Diversity Fund.
Lisnr is working on ultrasonic technology that will transmit data using soundwaves, a technique it expects will be more energy efficient and which will bring faster synchronisation for internet-of-things devices.
The capital will support executive appointments including Eric Allen, formerly of music tagging developer Sony Gracenote, and Mick Suh, formerly of consumer brands vendor Procter & Gamble, as Lisnr’s president and chief revenue officer respectively.
Additional cash will go to strengthening the company’s targeted marketing activities. It has now raised $14.4m in total, $3.5m coming from a July 2014 series A round led by Progress Ventures that included Mercury Fund, Jump Capital, CincyTech and Serra Ventures.
CincyTech had also contributed to Lisnr’s $850,000 seed round in 2013 alongside assorted angel investors.