Intel Capital has detailed its plans for its $300m Ultrabook fund, which a senior Intel executive said was a "top priority" for the corporate venturing unit.
Intel Capital’s $300m Ultrabook Fund, which the IT company launched in August, is expected to be deployed over three years.
Such a level of deployment in Ultrabook-related technologies would make the fund a significant percentage of the annual corporate venturing investment by Intel. So far his year Intel has invested $472m.
David Flanagan, a managing director of Intel Capital’s mobility division, said: "I would expect the first investment to be within the next two quarters and the fund should be fully invested in three years, which is really fast."
The fund aims to foster new technologies to enhance the laptop devices which aim to compete with Apple’s MacBook Air, and include Intel-designed technology.
Although Intel isn’t revealing how many of its 100 investment managers are dedicated specifically to the Ultrabook Fund, Flanagan said it was the top priority of all the Intel Capital investment managers around the world.
The technologies of interest to the fund include hardware innovations such as slim, lightweight components and improved battery life. Touch screens are expected to be available in some models next year. Flanagan is also interested in what he describes as "wow" technologies such as gesture and speech-based user interactions which allow the computers to be ‘touchless’.
The Ultrabooks are currently sold by Toshiba, Asus, Acer and Lenovo and Intel has high hopes for their success. Erik Reid, General Manager of Intel’s Mobile Client Platforms anticipates that the Ultrabooks, priced at around $1,000, will capture 40% of the consumer market for notebook computers.
