Adding value prior to the investment, Intel Capital “demo day” facilitates introductions to Intel executives!
April 14, 2014
Intel Capital (iCap) has long been a strong strategic partner to many of Intel’s business units. In fact, iCap has a stellar track record of identifying, making equity investments in, and acquiring companies that enhance the business groups’ strategic mandates. Intel Capital places a lot of importance on being the eyes and ears for the business groups by scouting the environment and introducing new technologies and emerging trends that the rest of Intel may not be aware of yet.
It was this mindset that led to the joint PC Client Group (PCCG) and Perceptual Computing (PerC) Intel Capital Technology Day (ITD). Led by Marlon Nichols of the iCap UPC (Ultrabook-Perceptual Computing) investment sector, the event was a bit different from other ITDs. Rather than showcasing relevant companies in the iCap portfolio to select members of the global 2000 in an effort to cultivate business partnerships, which is generally how it’s done, this event focused specifically on the pipeline companies—companies iCap is considering making an investment in—that the UPC team believed could significantly impact the strategic direction of both PCCG and PerC. The participating companies included two recent portfolio companies (companies that Intel has already invested in): Altia Systems (a touch centric, high quality video conferencing solution), and InviSage (a QuantumFilm-based digital image sensor technology). The remaining 13 were pipeline companies with technologies that included wireless charging, head mounted augmented reality eye wear, 3D printing, context driven mobile video, among others.
Following a welcome from iCap President and Intel Executive Vice President Arvind Sodhani, PCCG General Manager Kirk Skaugen and PerC General Manager Mooly Eden each shared their vision for their respective organizations. From there, the event took an innovative turn by having each of the 15 companies spend 10 minutes pitching their businesses to the other attendees. Following the presentations, the event transitioned to focus on audience networking and independent technology demonstrations hosted at each of the company demo stations.
The event was very well attended, taking up three large adjoining ball rooms at Intel Capital headquarters in Santa Clara, CA. The audience remained engaged throughout the day, interacting with one another and spending time with the technology demos. Upon an invitation from Kirk Skaugen, Brian Krzanich (CEO at Intel Corporation) joined the event and met with a number of the participating companies.
Intel Capital is very proud of what we were able to accomplish. This ITD represents iCap’s consistent effort to think outside the box while delivering on its promise to be a value-add partner to the rest of Intel. Additionally and equally important, the event granted 15 startups with an opportunity to share their vision and solutions with key decision makers at one of the largest companies in the world…a privilege that not many other venture capital firms can offer to their existing or prospective portfolio companies.