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This summer, Intel Capital chief Arvind Sodhani told us that dealflow at Intel Corp.'s (NASDAQ:INTC) venture arm was slowing largely because startups were loathe to sell equity or dilute themselves at low valuations. Intel Capital generally only gives updates on its portfolio performance and investment levels at year's end, but the head of the corporate VC's Europe, Middle East and Africa region gave a preview of how things are looking for that part of the world.
And, despite assurances early in the downturn that suggested Intel Capital would not waver in its investment levels, the fact that managing director Ashish Patel in a Bloomberg report Tuesday said that Intel's investment in the EMEA region has been cut in half this year is a bit startling. The story notes that overall startup investments in Europe alone have slid only 23% in the first nine months. Perhaps the other parts of Patel's region have seen an especially sharp decline. An Intel Capital spokeswoman, who confirmed that the figure cited by Patel is "about right," said that while there have been decreases in some parts of the EMEA region, the giant chipmaker has actually increased investments in the Middle East. She cited investments in Jordanian digital content companies Jeeran and ShooFeeTV. Earlier in the year, Intel Capital unveiled that it was backing United Arab Emirates startups Pulse Technologies, Vertex Animation and Conservus International. If the Middle East did indeed see an increase, there must be some rather significant drops in other parts of the EMEA region to account for the overall 50% decrease. We'll have to wait a few months, until Intel Capital puts out its annual portfolio wrap-up, to find out. - Olaf de Senerpont Domis
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