Intel Capital: CVC Giant'S Active Investment

[CVC Quest series report]

29 years invested in 1544 enterprises, CVC giant Intel capital is enough to rely on this report card has been called "the world's largest VC".

It is worth a book's success rate of up to 40%: among the more than 1500 companies invested, more than 200 have been listed, and more than 400 have been acquired.

"We are positioning ourselves as strategic investors, focusing on strategic returns and financial returns. One of our goals is Earn Learn. " In March this year, Wang Tianlin, general manager of Intel capital and general manager of China region, told reporters in an interview with twenty-first Century economic report.

Wang Tianlin joined Intel in 2005. He was an engineer who had managed Intel's Centrino product R & D and marketing team in Oregon and Israel. In 2014, he returned to China to enter the Intel China Research Institute and took into account the post investment management of Intel investment. In 2016, he joined the Intel investment team and is now in charge of the capital division in China. Equity investment and business development.

Since 2016, Intel capital has reduced the number of investments in the world every year and increased the average single investment scale, but the pace of investment in the Chinese market is still consistent with the past. At the Intel Capital Global Summit last year, they announced a total investment of $117 million to 14 technology start-ups, including Chinese enterprises, cloud technology and billion intelligence electronics, and Dr. Wu Enda's Landing AI in California.

Wang Tianlin disclosed that Intel capital is investing in the same strategies and standards in different parts of the world. Although investment decisions are carried out around the world, its industrial background brings the team's deep understanding of the industry. The investment of Chinese projects is not as slow as that of the local VC institutions.

Intel capital has invested in China since 1998, and has invested more than $2 billion 100 million in more than 140 technology companies. Gan Jun system

Specia Force

Intel capital has a history of nearly 30 years in the world, with the support of the former chairman and CEO Andy (Andy Grove) of Intel, known as the paranoia of Silicon Valley, the founder is Les Vadasz and Avram Miller, and the two have both experience in engineering background and business management.

The identity of enterprise venture capital (CVC) determines that Intel's external investment is bound to revolve around the company's overall strategy. Like many CVC, its investment funds all come from the profits of the parent company, and there is no limit to foreign investment.

Intel investment has been active in the field of investment in science and technology. So far, it has invested 1544 enterprises in 57 countries and regions in the world, with a total investment of more than 12 billion 400 million dollars, representing cases including Broadcom, VMware, CiTRIX and Red Hat.

In 2018, Intel capital invested $391 million in 38 new investments and 51 additional investments, ranking third in the world's most active CVC ranking, behind Google Ventures and Salesforce Ventures.

As the strategic investment department of Intel, Intel capital also takes into account the merger and acquisition and venture capital business of the company. The style of venture capital is mainly directed investment, early investment and post investment.

According to a set of data previously disclosed by Intel capital President Bi Wende (Wendell Brooks), Intel capital had 70% of its projects in 2017, and 60% of the 2015-2017 years' investment was concentrated in the A round investment stage. Tami Hutchinson, vice president of Intel capital, said not long ago that 3/4 of the projects invested in 2019 were leading investors. It should be a proactive investor, playing a leading role in negotiating investment terms, giving full play to the functions of directors and helping the growth of companies.

"Investment in China keeps pace in the past"

Intel capital has invested in China since 1998, and has invested more than $2 billion 100 million in more than 140 technology companies. Its first investment in China is Sohu. Early investment projects in China include Kingsoft, PCCW, AsiaInfo, UT, and Zhuhai.

Consistent with the global investment strategy, Intel Capital China team's current investment is also closely centered around the company's data centric strategy. In 2016, Intel put forward the transformation from a processor manufacturer to a data company. Its investment business was mainly focused on artificial intelligence, autopilot, semiconductor storage, 5G and cloud computing, and Internet of things robots.

From a global perspective, the total annual external investment of Intel capital investment reached 1 billion US dollars, with an annual investment of about 60-70. Beginning in 2016, Intel capital lowered its investment rhythm to 300 million -5 billion dollars a year for 30-40 projects. The strategy was adjusted to "a larger share and a more strategic investment share in the invested company".

In an interview in 2017, Bi Wende said he hoped that more value-added services could help the investment companies grow and succeed. Of course, such a choice could also make Intel capital more competitive with its competitors.

After the decrease in investment and the increase in the amount of money, Intel's capital will focus more on projects that have been invested in projects. Now, at least half of the team's time is spent on post investment services. Of course, the support they provide is not only the intelligence of the investment team, but also the resources of Intel's market, sales department and Intel global customer channel.

Despite the decrease in global investment in recent years, Intel capital's investment in China has maintained the pace of investing in 5-8 start-ups as before. The projects disclosed since 2019 include Yun Na technology, Yi Zhi electronics and Mei De De Kaman robot.

Financial intelligence double harvest

Turning to the future, Wang Tianlin said Intel capital's goal is consistent, that is, to help Intel embrace large-scale industrial change and subversion, while ensuring excellent returns. The current market will continue to focus on hard technology in the long run, from the underlying chip to the upwards hardware, software, services and applications, and layout around the relevant ecosystems.

The success of Intel capital is not only in the investment link, but also from the exit. In its more than 1500 investments worldwide, more than 670 portfolio companies have completed public listing or been bought by other companies. Nearly more than 140 companies in China have invested nearly 40 companies in the market.

It is worth noting that the launch of the science and technology board in China's capital market has brought a new exit channel for Intel capital, which focuses on hard technology investment. In 2019, six months after the opening of the science and technology board, three enterprises of Intel capital invested in technology, Lok Technology and Zhuo Yi's information landed on the capital market successively.

"We feel that this year's exit will be very good, and there will be very good plans for next year and next year." Wang Tianlin told the twenty-first Century economic report reporter in this interview.

But obviously, the core driving force of Intel's foreign investment and acquisition is not only financial returns, but also the standard of strategic return is multidimensional: "both the invested companies and Intel can get strategic returns."

Intel capital is like a special force of the company. They rely on years of experience to settle their judgement and constantly search for technological products or business models with subversive potential in the market.

"This part of the investment is not large, but (to the company) is very important." Wang Tianlin said that the mission of Intel capital has always been to search for technology, products and business models with disruptive potential, and "expand the ecosystem with entrepreneurs". (Editor: Lin Kun)

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