Lenovo launches $500 million startup fund

World's largest PC maker, Lenovo Group will be investing $500 million in start-ups after it announced the launch of its Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group (LCIG) on Wednesday. LCIG will invest in core technology and Internet related areas with focus on cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, robotic and Internet services.

Lenovo is known for its smart investments. Its first fund, created in 2010 and $100 million in size, includes Israeli facial recognition startup Face++, publicly listed Chinese firm iDreamsky and biometrics specialist NokNok Labs from the U.S. among its 40-plus company portfolio.With its second fund, Lenovo hopes to integrate its global resources, enhance its Internet services and intelligence ecosystem via investments and foster innovation within and outside of Lenovo.

Besides backing startups, Lenovo has also launched an incubator program for its own businesses. Following in the footsteps of Baidu, which recently spun out its video and student learning services, Lenovo is pushing a “subsidiary incubation” program which allows some of its units like SHAREit, its file-sharing application, Lenovo Cloud, and Lenovo Connect to go independent, raise funding from third-party investors and tap into the new Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group (LCIG).

“Technology breakthroughs are changing the way all of us live today. With our long-industry history and experience of driving and developing core innovations, we’re well-prepared to shape the future of game-changing technologies through funding and nurturing start-ups and bringing incubator projects to market,” Lenovo CTO He Zhiqiang said in a statement.

Lenovo’s new fund and startup push come at a time when the company is restructuring after posting its first loss last year amid a challenging business environment.