New Dell fund will invest in data storage technology

The chief of US computer maker Dell on Tuesday announced the launch of a $60 million fund focused on investing in technology for storing the massive amounts of data being collected by businesses.

"We really believe in this explosion of data driven a lot by smartphones and tablets," Michael Dell, founder of the Texas-based company that bears his name, said at a Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado.

"The storage world is really getting shaken up a tremendous amount."

Dell saw "huge opportunity" for technologies and startups that help businesses store and make smart use of data being gathered in a world of mobile devices and applications hosted on servers in the Internet "cloud."

He said that was part of the motivation for Dell's purchases of EqualLogic and Compellent Technologies in the past five years and that his company would make more acquisitions in that area.

"We see this as an area of continuing innovation," Dell said. "So, these are the kinds of things we will be investing in."

(c) 2012 AFP