(Yicai Global) April 2 -- Cloud Pick Intelligent Technology and Eeasy Electronic Technology have secured investment from Intel Capital along with 12 other technology startups.

Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of chip-making giant Intel, is injecting a total USD117 million into the 14 early-stage companies, including California-based Landing AI which was set up by Chinese American scholar Andrew Ng, it said in a statement released at the Intel Capital Global Summit yesterday. At last year's event, it unveiled a USD72 million outlay on 12 firms, three of which were based in China.

The latest batch are building powerful artificial intelligence platforms, researching and analyzing materials that make up world and human sciences in innovative ways, using more efficient and environment-friendly manufacturing technologies, or adopting subversive new approaches to chip design, according to Intel Capital.

Founded in 2017, Shanghai-based Cloud Pick is a new retail solutions provider. It uses computer vision, deep learning, sensor fusion and cutting-edge computing technology to offer unmanned cash desks and smart inventory management for convenience stores.

Resembling Amazon Go, Cloud Pick has opened a number of 'grab-and-go' convenience stores with partners. It won investment from ZhenFund and Faxian Venture Capital in its angel round fundraising, and from GSR Ventures and Volcanics Venture in its pre-A series funding.

Zhuhai-based Eeasy Electronic, which was set up in July 2016, designs and provides solutions for System on a Chip. The company's products include AI acceleration, image and graphics processing, video encoding and decoding, and mixed-signal ULSI design capabilities. Its AI SoC for video, automotive and smart devices will begin mass production by the end of this year.

Intel Capital buys equity in global innovative startups, including those involved in AI, autonomous driving, cloud computing, fifth-generation mobile, and future computing. It has invested more than USD12.5 billion in 1,550 companies worldwide since 1991, more than 670 of which have listed or been bought by other companies.

The other companies in yesterday's announcement were:
- SambaNova Systems, an AI application technology company
- Untether AI, a high-performance AI chip developer
- Mighty Networks, a content subscription service provider
- Pixeom, an edge computing software developer
- Polystream, an image processing innovator
- Tibit Communications, a new network service provider
- Medical Informatics, a software monitoring and analysis company
- Reveal Biosciences, a deep learning healthcare platform
- OnScale, an on-demand extended engineering simulation software provider
- ProteanTecs, a provider of universal chip telemetry technology for electronic systems
- Qolibri, a firm dedicated to solving the problem of semiconductor sub-cleanrooms