Intel is investing $15 million in three technology companies whose businesses touch on health care, real estate and infrastructure services.
Intel Capital, the investment arm of the giant chip maker, announced May 3 that it is investing in Caring.com, SmartZip Analytics and Virtustream.
Caring.com is designed to help users navigate the issues surrounding care for elders. The site, based in San Mateo, Calif., offers everything from original articles and tools to advice from experts, a host of caregivers and a directory of eldercare services.
Intel officials said the site gets 1 million unique visitors a month. The business will use the money to expand its offering, including ongoing Website development, enhancements of its eldercare services directory and new marketing programs.
SmartZip Analytics, based in Pleasanton, Calif., uses proprietary analytics to give investment advice and ratings for residential properties across the United States. Users can take the information to determine which properties to buy, according to Intel.
SmartZip will use the money from Intel to expand its offerings.
Virtustream’s services are designed to help customers take advantage of cloud computing. The Washington D.C.-based company offers strategy, integration and managed services that use virtualization technologies and xStream, Virtustream’s cloud computing platform.
Virtustream will use the money from Intel to improve its infrastructure and enhance xStream, according to Intel.
The money is part of Intel’s $200 million Intel Capital Invest in America Technology Fund, which was announced in February as a way of U.S.-based industries that the chip maker says will enable greater economic growth and recovery from the global recession.
“Technological innovation is an important driver for growth across all economies,” Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president, said in a statement. “New ideas require an ecosystem to take root and grow to encourage the formation of new businesses and creation of new industries. These three investments, ranging from IT infrastructure to digital health and the consumer Internet, reflect the core emphasis Intel Capital places on cultivating the most promising areas of innovation to foster the development of the technologies of tomorrow.”