Dell has set up a $60 million Fluid Data Storage Fund to back early-stage storage start-ups, a combination of build and buy. Jim Lussier, managing director of Dell\u2019s venture capital business, says it is looking for mid-level widgetry hoping to find the \u201cnext big thing.\u201d Apparently that means cloud storage, memory-based storage and next-generation-storage architectures.
\nIt figures to put a modest $3 million-$5 million per round in five to 10 promising start-ups in exchange for equity and access to the IP.
\nOf course they\u2019d have to play to Dell architecture.
\nDell says it\u2019s \u201clooking to change the economics of the storage industry by doing two things \u2013 bringing high-end enterprise features to the broad mid-market and solving enterprise problems at a midrange price point.\u201d <\/p>\n