China-based software producer Qihoo 360 Technology has launched a corporate venturing unit in Silicon Valley in order to make investments on its behalf, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
Qihoo’s fund has not been allocated a specific size, but will invest in startups its parent company, which specialises in security software, deems strategically significant.
“We find a company we like, we try to partner and become strategic investors,” Mike Liao, Qihoo 360’s director of strategic initiatives, told WSJ.
“We think about security in the larger sense. Where are your kids? Is the garage door open? We think about where the internet is going to be a few years from now.”
The fund has invested in five companies since it began operations nine months ago, but the only one to be publicised thus far is EyeVerify, a developer of biometric verification technology for mobile devices, which raised $6m late last week in a round that also included electronics manufacturer Samsung.
Although Liao did not provide details, he confirmed that Qihoo 360 is also looking to form partnerships with large US-based corporates and has had discussions with Intel, Microsoft, Google and Apple among others.