Vocera Secures Funding from Intel, Cisco

Vocera Communications this week announced that it has closed its fourth round of funding with investments from Cisco Systems and the Intel Communications Fund.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based startup has raised $31.3 million since March 2000. The fourth round totaled $11.3 million, according to Victoria Holl, director of marketing for Vocera. The company did not disclose the total amount of the investments from Intel and Cisco.

Vocera offers a line of wearable voice "badges" that work on an 802.11b wireless network. Holl said the company would use the funding to further development of its wireless voice system, which consists of the badge and software that runs on Windows 2000 servers. The system has been deployed in hospitals, retail stores and libraries including Denver Health Medical Center, Long Beach Memorial in Long Beach, Calif., Target Corp., and Florida's Orange Country Library System.

The funding from Intel is part of the chipmaker's plan to invest $150 million in Wi-Fi ventures over the next few years. "Our investment in Vocera is a great example of our effort to expand the Wi-Fi ecosystem and further the development of standards-based, converged voice communications solutions," Denis Aull, general manager of Intel's Network Building Block Division, said in a release.