Cisco Pumps $150m into M2M Start-Ups

Cisco Investments the corporate venture capital arm of Cisco has announced it is allocating an additional $150 million over the next two to three years to fund early stage companies.

The new funding allocation builds on Cisco Investments’ current $2 billion portfolio and is focused on next horizon “themes” to accelerate the development of disruptive technology markets.

Cisco Investments also announced it has made three minority investments in IoT accelerators and startups Alchemist Accelerator, Ayla Networks and Evrything.

The new funding increases Cisco Investments’ investing to $250 million total, adding to the previously announced $100 million commitment to startups focused on the emerging Internet of Everything (IoE) market opportunity.

A new emphasis for Cisco Investments is to accelerate the development of the portfolio companies by connecting them to expertise and resources within its existing network of partners and customers through major industry events, such as the annual Cisco Live.

Currently, Cisco has an active portfolio with a fair market value of US$2 billion with more than 80 direct investments around the world, as well as limited-partner positions (as an investor in a fund run by a venture capital firm) in more than 35 funds globally.