Intel Launches New China VC Fund

From today's WSJ:

Intel Corp.'s venture-capital arm has completed its first round of investment in China and plans to invest another $500 million in the country over the next several years, executives said.



Intel Capital, the Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker's investment unit, has created the new $500 million fund to focus on technology startups at varying stages, including companies working with wireless broadband, technology media and telecommunications, Arvind Sodhani, the unit's president, said in an interview Tuesday. It is the largest country-focused fund for Intel Capital globally.



Intel plans to fully invest the new fund in three to five years, and is betting China will continue to grow even as other economies slow. When the economy takes a downturn "the natural reaction of investors is not to invest in technology or entrepreneurship," Mr. Sodhani said. But "technology is not really driven by what the state of the markets are at any point in time," he said, adding that "China is on a track all its own. Its economy is growing at a spectacular rate."



Intel Capital has been investing in China for 10 years, and established its first China-focused fund, with $200 million, in 2005. The announcement of its new fund comes as China's technology market is rapidly expanding. The country is the world's largest cellphone market by number of accounts and, by some estimates, surpassed the U.S. this year as the largest Internet population. Personal computer sales are growing at double-digit rates annually, and online services like video-gaming are booming.