After launching the Ultrabook Fund to invest in tablet technologies, Intel Capital, the investment arm of chip giant Intel Corporation, has created a $100 million fund to invest in technology innovation in the automotive industry.
Called the Intel Capital Connected Car Fund, the new venture vehicle will be targeted primarily at investing in technologies that will deliver in-vehicle infotainment, mobile connectivity, driver assistance systems and other car-focused applications. This also includes new in-vehicle applications and development tools, speech recognition, gesture recognition and eye tracking optimized for the connected car.
The fund plans to invest over the next four to five years, and will be looking at funding startups across the technology spectrum including hardware, software and services companies.
It’s important to note that Intel, as a company, has been working with automakers and in-vehicle infotainment suppliers to help integrate its own technologies into cars. For example, Toyota and Intel announced last Fall that the two companies would be researching and possibly developing an automotive infotainment platform.
Besides the tablet technology fund, the investment firm also has country-specific funds such as the India Technology Fund, China Technology Fund II, Brazil Technology Fund and Middle East and Turkey Fund as well as past technology specific funds such as Intel Digital Home Fund and Intel Communications Fund. Intel says that its Intel Capital investment portfolio is currently valued at approximately $2.179 billion.