NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global investment organization, today announced four U.S. investments to drive continued innovation across the entire continuum of computing.
The new deals total approximately $24.5 million and include CrowdStar, a developer of social games on Facebook and mobile platforms; iStreamPlanet, a provider of live Web broadcast management and automated video workflow; Music Mastermind, an independent entertainment and technology company; and PerspecSys, a cloud data security provider. The new investments were announced at an Intel Capital event in New York.
The computing continuum is Intel’s vision of delivering a smarter, more secure, and always-connected computing experience that spans a range of device segments – including laptops, cars, smartphones and smart TVs – and the Internet data centers to which they connect.
“Intel Capital supports entrepreneurship all over the globe, helping to turn breakthrough ideas into successful companies,” said Arvind Sodhani, president, Intel Capital and executive vice president, Intel. “The explosion of computing has created endless opportunities for the development of interesting applications that deliver unique user experiences. Intel Capital’s investments in these companies will help advance applications ranging from cloud computing security to an enhanced entertainment experience.”
With the four new investments announced today, along with recently announced deals in China and India, Intel Capital has surpassed $10 billion in total investments since its inception.
“This milestone is a significant achievement for Intel Capital and represents our dedication to continuously support companies pushing the edge of technology innovation,” Sodhani said.
Details on the new investments follow:
CrowdStar is a global developer of social games with a growing community of 31 million monthly active users. CrowdStar is home to some of Facebook's most popular, fun and entertaining games, including "Happy Aquarium," "Happy Island," "Happy Pets," "CrowdStar's It Girl" and "Zoo Paradise." A YouWeb-incubated company, along with recently acquired former Intel Capital portfolio company OpenFeint, CrowdStar has quickly become one of the most successful developers in social gaming. CrowdStar will use the funding for hiring and acquiring talent.
iStreamPlanet develops and operates live and on-demand content creation, management, security, monetization and delivery products and services that bring media experiences to life by creating content once and delivering across multiple screens and devices. This includes Over-The-Top (OTT) and TV Everywhere (TVE) live and on-demand HD video delivery, content protection, management, monetization, rich media experiences, collaboration and analytics. iStreamPlanet has streamed high-profile events to millions of viewers, including “NBC Sunday Night Football,” The Championships at Wimbledon, U.S. Open Golf, Notre Dame college football, the Ryder Cup and the 2011 Kentucky Derby. iStreamPlanet and Intel also worked closely together to build out the Olympic Cloud Origin Services for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. The investment will be used to expand U.S. operations and continue to build out in European markets.
Music Mastermind is the developer of SoundBetter, the audio processing suite behind its consumer-focused platform. This groundbreaking technology eliminates the traditional effort required to make music, breaking down barriers hindering creativity and allowing anyone to instantly become a recording artist. Music Mastermind is currently preparing for the launch of its create-and-share music platform in the second half of this year, which will showcase the rich media capabilities of Intel-based PC, mobile and set-top platforms. The investment will be used to accelerate deployment of its product roadmap.
PerspecSys enables enterprise adoption of cloud computing by addressing sensitive data Privacy, Residency, and Security (PRS) concerns. The PerspecSys PRS Solution™ preserves enterprise management and protection of sensitive data used in public and private cloud applications. This helps to remove the traditional barriers to enterprise cloud adoption such as regulatory compliance requirements, industry standards or internal data management policies that would not normally allow sensitive data to go into the cloud. PerspecSys’ global customers include financial services firms, banks, management consulting firms and public sector services. The investment from Intel Capital aligns well with Intel’s Cloud 2015 vision and will be used to drive growth and vertical market segment expansion.
About Intel Capital
Intel Capital, Intel's global investment organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health, consumer Internet, semiconductor manufacturing and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$10 billion in over 1,140 companies in 49 countries. In that timeframe, 191 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and 268 were acquired or participated in a merger. In 2010, Intel Capital invested US$327 million in 119 investments with approximately 44 percent of funds invested outside the United States and Canada. For more information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit www.intelcapital.com.
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