Intel Capital to invest $17 mn in 3 Indian Cos

Mumbai: Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global investment organisation, announced its plans to invest $17 million in three Indian companies Yatra.com (online travel portal), BuzzInTown.com (an events-oriented social network extensible across Web and mobile platforms) and Emnet Samsara Media Pvt Ltd (an out-of-home advertising company focusing on the Indian public transportation market).

The funding will come from Intel Capital India Technology fund. “Intel Capital places a great deal of importance on encouraging entrepreneurship and technology innovation in India and our latest investments in Yatra.com, BuzzInTown.com and Emnet Samsara are proof of that,” Mr Arvind Sodhani, President of Intel Capital and Intel Executive Vice-President. “Since starting in India in 1998, Intel Capital has invested in approximately 50 companies across eight cities,” added Mr Sodhani.

Yatra will use Intel Capital funds to accelerate business growth, upgrade technology to add new products and features to its Web site and fund potential acquisition opportunities.

BuzzInTown.com is a portal promoted by Wortal Inc.
Wortal will use the funds to expand its affiliations in 30 more cities, enable media and Internet delivery of content, and for increasing site traffic.

Emnet Samsara plans to use the proceeds from the investment to build its business further by reaching out to more buses and bring an interesting mix of content and advertising to them.

The investments in India are part of the $250-million Intel Capital India Technology Fund, which was founded in December 2005.

This fund invests in Indian technology companies to help stimulate local technological innovation.