China-based cybersecurity technology producer Trend Micro launched a corporate venture capital fund yesterday, investing an initial $100m.
Trend Micro provides cybersecurity software for data centres, cloud environments, IT networks and endpoints, and all its products share cyber threat intelligence with each other to form what the company claims is the world’s most advanced global threat intelligence.
The unit will target startups developing technology centred on what Trend Micro referred to as “hyper growth markets,” and it identified the internet of things (IoT) as a priority.
Eva Chen, founder and chief executive of Trend Micro said in a statement that the company grew by embracing the growth of the personal computer marketplace and then the cloud, and that it expects IoT to represent a third disruptive “mega wave”.
Portfolio companies will get access not only to funding but also Trend Micro’s worldwide cyber threat intelligence resources, its strategic alliances and a network of more than 28,000 partners.
Trend Micro intends to use the fund to get an early view of opportunities and disruptive business models in the cybersecurity and IoT ecosystem as well as gaps in the market and skill sets, and to modify its long-term strategic planning accordingly.