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Intel launches $100M car technology fund

by Olaf de Senerpont Domis | Published February 29, 2012 at 1:15 PM

Intel Corp. Wednesday, Feb. 29, is expected to unveil its latest corporate venture fund, a $100 million vehicle aimed at investing in companies that develop technologies for connectivity, safety and entertainment technologies in automobiles.

The new investment fund, dubbed the Intel Capital Connected Car Fund, will aim to boost an ecosystem of companies, most of them privately held, that are developing hardware, software and services companies that integrate advanced in-vehicle technologies.

"Technology has become an integral component of everyday life, with consumers demanding uninterrupted access to the Internet," said Intel Capital president Arvind Sodhani in a conference call Tuesday previewing the news. "Automobiles must be able to provide the same consistent and engaging computing experiences, but of course in a safe manner."

As with most of Intel Capital's investment funds, the latest one aims to support companies that will help create demand for Intel's technology. For example, Intel last summer announced a $300 million ultrabook fund, which aims to back technologies used in a new breed of thin, light, always-on laptops powered by Intel chips.

The Connected Car Fund is part of Intel's push to integrate its own technology into cars, as this promises to be a high-growth market. Citing Gartner Inc. data, Intel Capital said that by 2014 cars will be among the top-three fastest-growing areas for connected devices and Internet content.

The world's largest chipmaker has already announced several pacts with major carmakers along these lines. In November, Intel and Toyota Motor Corp. announced a pact under which the companies would jointly research new ways to enable mobile-device connectivity in cars. In-vehicle infotainment technology developer Harman/Becker Automotive Systems Inc. uses Intel's chips in its systems used by BMW and Mercedes automobiles.

Areas of investment to be targeted by the fund include new infotainment, driver assistance and mobile connectivity systems. Some of the technologies include speech and gesture recognition and eye tracking.

Sodhani said Intel Capital is evaluating promising startups and will announce the new fund's initial investments soon. The investment arm expects to lead 65% to 70% of the rounds it participates in, Sodhani said.

"This is at the early stage of momentum. We are seeing ... the point at which it makes sense to announce this fund so we can turbocharge and get other investors going," he said.

The fund will be led by Intel Capital managing director Bryan Wolf, who oversees investments Intel makes in the enterprise, embedded and visual computing sectors.

Intel also announced Wednesday the opening of a new automotive product development center in Karlsruhe, Germany, an academic program that will focus on in-vehicle infotainment and communications systems and new initiatives in automotive technologies at Intel Labs, the company's research and development arm.

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Intel launches $100M car technology fund

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Olaf de Senerpont Domis

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