Arcsoft raises $20 Million for Mobile and Cloud Applications

Arcsoft, the Fremont, California based multimedia software maker, has recently announced the end of a new funding round which has brought the company the amount of $20 million. This money is going to be used in order to create mobile and cloud-based browser applications and to invest in core technologies.

This funding round has been led by Intel Capital, the Intel’s global investment arm, and by Tudor Ventures, the venture capital unit of Tudor Investment Corp. Michael Deng, the CEO at Arcsoft, declared the following: “We’ve been in talks with Intel and Tudor about possible investments for two years. Finally, we’ve made this happen so we can develop next-generation imaging and multimedia solutions.”

The company is known on the market for its software which has been bundled with new desktop and laptops computer manufacturers such as HP and Dell. As well, the company is known for expanding its software to phones, digital cameras, scanners and printers. Among their mobile hardware partners, we can name Nokia, Samsung, LG and Motorola. Nonetheless, Deng refuses to announce which are the specific devices from those original equipment manufacturers which work with Arcsoft’s technologies.

Michael Deng, the CEO at Arcsoft, declared after the announcement of the end of this funding round: “We want to be more aggressive in areas like imaging, video, gestures, facial-recognition and 3D. Our codecs and software greatly improve many devices being used today, and we can do more.”

For the moment, the company does not provide any consumer-facing mobile applications, but the money raised in this new round of funding will help it produce iOS and Android applications. Deng stated the following concerning this: “We’ve been focused on the OEMs for a long time, but we see this as an area worth dedicating resources toward.”

PhotoStudio, Print Creations, Panorama Maker, total Media Theater and DVD Slideshow are just some of the most popular PC software titles developed by Arcsoft. For the moment, the company intends to launch new applications, similar to these ones, but for the cloud. Deng also stated that the company would have more announcements related to this software in the months to come.

Arcsfot is a company which has been founded in 1994 and which is privately owned. The company has over 800 employees and it has lastly received funding in the amount of $10 million from Panasonic and Seiko Epson in 2001. This great distance between the two rounds of funding indicate the fact that the company has the ability of standing without outside investments for so long.