Intel Invests In Five Companies Developing Technologies For The Digital Home
Intel Corporation today announced that its venture investing organization, Intel Capital, has made five additional investments in companies developing innovative technologies for the digital home.
The new investments, made from the $200 million Intel Digital Home Fund, include first-time investments in Cablematrix Inc., a broadband network services software company, Mediabolic Inc., a developer of embedded software for consumer electronics devices, and Pure Networks Inc., a provider of consumer software and services for the digital home. BridgeCo AG, a digital entertainment networking solutions provider, and Envivio Inc., a broadcast and streaming media tools and systems company, received follow-on financing.
Financial terms of the new investments were not disclosed.
"The Intel Digital Home Fund investments we're announcing today support Intel's initiatives to enable people to enjoy digital content - including music, games, photos and video - on multiple devices in the home and beyond," said Scott Darling, Intel Capital vice president and director of Enterprise and Digital Home Sectors. "Barriers, such as interoperability and ease of use, must be overcome to accelerate digital home technology adoption. We're investing in these five companies to help solve these technical issues, making it simpler and more enjoyable for people to connect their consumer electronics and computing devices and share content around their homes."
In addition to investing, Intel is delivering innovative products, technologies and specifications for a new generation of connected devices that work together on a wireless home network, helping to bring the PC and consumer electronics industries together. Intel is also working with hardware, software, content and service companies to enable the digital home experience.
BridgeCo, based in Zurich, Switzerland, designs integrated chips and software that wirelessly link PCs to consumer electronics devices so consumers can easily enjoy digital content anywhere in the home. The company's network adapters are used in a wide range of consumer products, such as wireless audio adapters, audio/video receivers, DVD/AVR players and music instruments. Intel Capital first invested in BridgeCo in 2002. For more information about BridgeCo, visit www.bridgeco.net.
CableMatrix, based in Atlanta and Jerusalem, provides a software platform, the On Demand Service Platform (ODSP?), based on the CableLabs? PacketCable? Multimedia standard. ODSP's technology enables broadband service providers to deploy multimedia-rich applications, such as videoconferencing, online gaming, SIP telephony and streaming media, with a high level quality of service. For more information about CableMatrix, please visit www.cablematrix.com.
Envivio, based in San Francisco, develops Moving Picture Experts Group Layer 4 (MPEG-4) and Advanced Video Coding H.264 software compression solutions. This includes a rich set of integrated broadcast and streaming media tools for broadcasters, network operators, content developers and enterprises. Intel Capital first invested in Envivio in 2002. For more information about Envivio, please visit www.envivio.combg.
Mediabolic provides an embedded software platform for consumer electronics products, PCs and PC peripherals. The San Francisco company's middleware solution aggregates, organizes and distributes entertainment media within the home - making it possible for consumers to enjoy digital media anywhere in the home, including the living room or entertainment room. The software platform includes compelling music, photo and PVR applications that operate in new and traditional categories of consumer electronics products, such as DVD players and PCs as well as digital media servers, recorders and adaptors. For more information about Mediabolic, please visit www.mediabolic.com.
Pure Networks makes the digital home lifestyle easier, more secure and useful for consumers. The Seattle company's consumer software and services tie together the wide range of routers, gateways, networked devices and PCs with multiple operating systems found in the digital home, allowing users to more fully enjoy their home networks. Pure Networks' consumer products are distributed directly to consumers and to hardware manufacturers and service providers. For more information about Pure Networks, please visit www.purenetworks.com.
Previous Intel Digital Home Fund investments include Digital 5 Inc., Entropic Communications, Musicmatch Inc., Staccato Communications Inc., Trymedia Systems Inc., Wisair Ltd. and Zinio Systems Inc.
Intel Capital, Intel's strategic investment program, focuses on making equity investments and acquisitions to grow the Internet economy in support of Intel's strategic interests. Intel Capital invests in hardware, software and services companies in several market segments, including computing, networking, and wireless communications. For more information, visit www.intel.com/capital.
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.