By Telecom Lead Team: Intel Capital is creating a $100 million
investment fund to accelerate the adoption of technology and services in the
automotive industry.
The $100 million will be invested globally over the next 4
to 5 years in hardware, software and services companies developing technologies
to promote in-vehicle applications.
The Intel Capital Connected Car Fund will enable the
seamless connection between vehicles and any connected device, including mobile
devices and sensors.
With the ever increasing amount of electronics in vehicles,
and the demanding nature of emerging applications, there is a need for
high-speed communications protocols. Front-runners for more wide-spread use
are: FlexRay, MOST and Ethernet. The Strategy Analytics Automotive Electronics
Service (AES) report called Automotive High Speed Networks predicts that
Ethernet will see both the fastest growth and the largest volume by 2020.
Automotive Ethernet market to exceed 120 million nodes a year
by 2020
The Intel Capital Connected Car Fund will drive the
development of technologies to enhance the in-vehicle experience of the future.
Technology has become an integral component of everyday
life, with consumers demanding uninterrupted access to the Internet and the
constant flow of information, news, entertainment, and social media,” said
Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president.
Intel Capital will focus on technologies that advance next
generation of in-vehicle infotainment, advanced driver assistance systems and
seamless mobile connectivity. This includes new in-vehicle applications and
development tools, next-generation ADAS technologies and multimodal
capabilities such as speech recognition, gesture recognition and eye tracking
optimized for the connected car.
By
2014, automobiles will be among the top three fastest-growing areas for
connected devices and Internet content.¹ Intel’s experience in developing
personal computing, software, security and cloud computing technologies will
bring a new level of innovation to the car to enhance the driving experience
for both drivers and passengers,” said Staci Palmer, general manager of Intel’s
Automotive Solutions Division.
Intel Capital invests in network security analytics company
Solera Networks
Solera Networks, a provider of Network Security Analytics,
has secured $20 million in Series D financing led by Intel Capital. Other
existing investors such as, Capital, Signal Peak
Ventures and Trident Capital have also joined Intel Capital for the
funding.
Solera Networks expects
that the new funds will support the company’s rapid growth by further expanding
global sales, marketing and product development initiatives.
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