Intel to invest in viable Romanian projects

Intel is willing to invest in Romanian IT companies, provided that they come up with viable projects, Marlo Thompson, Intel PR manager for Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said. The financial sources come from a strategic programme of US company Intel Capital and are practically unlimited.

Intel Capital was launched at the beginning of the ’90s and the first investments were aimed at PCs and other chip-based technologies. Intel Capital resources are currently directed towards the companies dealing with infrastructure and Internet services development.

“Intel has not invested in a Romanian company yet, but we are interested to do it in the future and we expect the companies having viable projects to contact us,” Marlo Thompson said.

The Intel official went on to say that there was not any particular amount to be disclosed, as the fund’s financial resources are actually unlimited provided there are worthy projects.

As one of the largest “corporate venture” investment programmes, Intel Capital comprises 550 technology companies throughout the world in its 3.7 billion-dollar portfolio. This programme allows Intel to take over minority stakes, which are usually not lower than 10 million dollars.

Intel Capital invests in companies dealing with the development of technologies and solutions aimed both at 32 and 64-byte servers and at the clients (PCs, handheld equipment).

The company also pours funds in network products and technologies. The companies may be both software and hardware providers. Intel also invests in companies developing services and content using Internet infrastructure, such as C2C or B2C web sites.