Cisco's corporate venture-capital arm said it would deploy $150 million to start-up companies over the next two to three years. The investments will be made to companies that into areas such as Internet-enabled communication between objects. Besides investing in the "Internet of Things," Cisco has been also putting money in big data.

Cisco also announced that it took part in a $7 million investment in Everything, a London-based company that connects products to the Internet. The company also joined a $14.5 million funding round for Ayla Networks, a Calif.-based company that helps companies monitor devices using the Internet.

The networking giant said it would increase its investment in Alchemist Accelerator, a San Jose, Calif.-based incubator for start-up companies, with a goal of supporting companies working on the Internet of Things.