VirtualLogix, a Sunnyvale, Calif. company, said it has raised $16 million in a second round of funding to push "virtualization" software to things such as iPods, mobile phones, traffic lights and digital watches.
Virtualization allows multiple operating systems to run simultaneously on hardware devices, allowing companies to make more efficient use of that hardware. This helps them trim the outlays they make on hardware.
Virtualization is all the rage. Intel just pumped $218.5 million into well-regarded virtualization company VMware (scroll down) in exchange for a mere 2.5 percent ownership. Yesterday, we wrote about Moka5 raising more cash for its virtual computer in your pocket. However, VMware doesn't work on the so-called "embedded" devices that Virtuallogix serves. Cellphones, for example, have memory and battery limitations, different types of operating systems and diversity of applications -- all making virtualization more of a challenge.
VirtualLogix Chief executive Peter Richards tells us the "embedded" virtualization market will be worth $6 billion within four years. It is driven by the desire by developers to keep their application code intact -- using virtualization to adjust to industry trends, such as to multi-core and other complex chips. It also lets them keep their code intact as more devices are built with Linux-based operating systems.
Esprit Capital Partners led the round, which included Intel Capital and previous investors Atlas Venture and Index. VirtualLogix has raised a total of $28 million. It isn't clear why other earlier backer Cisco Systems, didn't reinvest.