Silicon Valley giant Intel has signed a definitive agreement to acquire virtual reality company Voke, further expanding its interests in sports. Intel in March led a $12.5M Series A round of venture capital funding for Voke, and less than eight months later, has acquired Voke outright, buying out other investors that included the NBA Kings and cable network A&E. The Voke acquisition also adds to one it made earlier this year of Replay Technologies, an Israel-based provider of panoramic, 360-degree replays, and Intel intends to combine the two emerging technologies as much as possible. “These two are very complimentary,” Intel Senior VP and Intel Capital President Wendell Brooks said of Replay Technologies and Voke, which has forged a niche in live streaming in VR. “We’re looking to make Replay more of a real-time product, and along with what Voke is doing from a fixed-point camera perspective in VR, we think we can do things that are completely transformative to the fan experience. ... We are in the sports business to stay.” Financial terms were not disclosed, but Brooks said it was “a small deal by Intel standards,” and one that involved a premium in company valuation compared to the venture capital funding in March. The Voke name, company HQs in Santa Clara, Calif., and executive leadership, including founder and chief executive Sankar “Jay” Jayaram and newly hired chief strategy and product officer David Aufhauser, will all be retained. Jayaram said Voke was not overtly looking to get acquired, but added Intel’s deepened involvement “represents a great opportunity for the team. And this will accelerate our growth and get VR into more people’s homes. We’ve already had a good level of interaction with multiple divisions at Intel.” A closing on the acquisition is slated for later this month.
