戴尔启动创新存储技术专项风投基金

    你是不是创办了一家创新的存储初创公司？如果是这样，电脑制造商戴尔（Dell）或许能给你投些钱。戴尔首席执行官迈克尔•戴尔在《财富》杂志（Fortune）美国阿斯彭技术头脑风暴大会上（ Brainstorm Tech conference）表示，该公司正在筹建一只6,000万美元的早期存储基金。

    “戴尔向有前景的科技公司提供种子投资已经有很长的历史了，”戴尔在会上表示。“我们真心相信智能手机和平板电脑很大程度上推动了当前数据爆炸式地增长。”

    戴尔曾经是VMWare和闪存初创公司Fusion-io的早期投资者【Fusion-io的首席科学家就是苹果（Apple）的联合创始人斯蒂夫•沃兹尼亚克】。据该公司称，这家新设立的基金名为“戴尔流数据存储基金”（Dell Fluid Data Storage Fund），将投资5-10家“有前景的存储初创公司”。戴尔每轮将投资300万-500万美元，获得所投资公司的股权。

    “我们的存储投资将与戴尔流数据架构策略齐头并进，最终为更多市场提供价格更适中、管理更便捷的存储解决方案。”戴尔公司在周二发布的博客文章中写到：“我们将从两方面来改变存储行业，一是将高端企业特色服务拓展到更广阔的中端市场，二是以中等价位解决企业问题。”

    戴尔正在努力将自身从个人电脑制造商转型为数据中心软件、服务和技术的供应商，存储是摆在它面前的几个主要的机会之一。目前，笔记本电脑和台式电脑的销售额仍占戴尔收入的54%，但身为首席执行官的迈克尔•戴尔表示，如今的公司与4、5年前相比已经大不相同。

    “业务结构将出现巨大的变化，”戴尔说。但这位公司创始人兼CEO也承认，他还需要做很多宣传和说服的工作，很多CEO和首席信息官都对戴尔进入软件和存储这些新领域感到意外。戴尔不仅投资那些有助于公司转型的企业，同时也在大举收购初创公司（最近的收购案例包括Quest Software和Wyse Technology），戴尔还说，公司在存储和其他战略性领域还将继续这种做法。

    “光今年我们就已投入50亿美元用于收购，”戴尔说。“存储领域正在发生翻天覆地的变化，未来我们会继续在这个领域进行收购。”

    译者：早稻米

    Got an innovative storage startup? Dell may want to give you some cash. The computer maker is launching a $60 million early stage storage fund, announced by CEO Michael Dell at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen.

    "Dell has a long history in seed investments in interesting technology companies," Dell told the audience at Brainstorm. "We really believe in this explosion of data driven a lot by smartphones and tablets."

    Dell was an early investor in VMWare and flash memory startup Fusion-io (whose chief scientist is Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak). According to the company, the new so-called "Dell Fluid Data Storage Fund" will invest in five to ten "promising storage startups." Dell will invest $3 to $5 million per round, and obtain equity positions in the companies it invests in.

    "Our storage investments will align to the Dell Fluid Data architecture strategy with the end game of bringing more affordable and easier to manage storage solutions to more of the market," the company said in a blog post published today. "We are looking to change the economics of the storage industry by doing two things -- bringing high-end enterprise features to the broad mid-market and solving enterprise problems at a midrange price point."

    Storage represents one of several big opportunities for Dell, as the company tries to transform itself from a PC maker to a provider of software, services and technologies used in data center. Sales of laptops and desktops still account for 54% of Dell's revenue, but CEO Dell says it's a "very different company that it was four to five years ago."

    "The business mix is changing pretty dramatically," said Dell. But the founder and CEO also admitted he has a lot of evangelizing to do, and that many CEOs and CIOs he meets with are surprised when they hear about the newer businesses Dell has entered, like software and storage. Dell hasn't just invested in companies that help propel its transformation, it's also aggressively acquiring startups (recent acquisitions include Quest Software and Wyse Technology) and Dell said the company will continue to do so, in the storage space and other strategic areas.

    "We've spent $5 billion on acquisitions just this year," said Dell. "The storage world is really getting shaken up a tremendous amount and you'll see us continuing our acquisitions in that area."