OStatic

I read with interest this item from ZDNet on Intel getting open source mojo through its hookup with SpikeSource. If you're unfamiliar with SpikeSource, see our story here.ﾠ SpikeSource has a unique business model that straddles open source and closed source, and is headed up by one of the darlings of the dot-com boom: Kim Polese. SpikeSource is partially funded by Intel Capital, and it powers Intel's Certified Solutions Program which tests and certifies ISV (independent software vendor) applications against security, interoperability and performance metrics. SpikeSource's Solutions Factory platform is used for such tests. Why is this hookup between SpikeSource and Intel good news for open source?

There is more good news for open source on the venture capital front. Following record inflows for venture capital into open source for the first quarter, The 451 Group is reporting that VC funding levels rose again in the second quarter as compared to last year. Funding rose just under 14 percent to $115 million, compared to $101.5 million in 2007. Here's the really striking stat: Total funding for the first half of the year to date stands at $321.3 million, up 62 percent over the first half of 2007, just shy of the $328.5 million raised in the whole of last year.

SpikeSourceﾗknown for the automated testing, maintenance and support services it has provided for businesses using open source technologyﾗhas just announced a new service that will straddle the open source and closed source arenas. The company is introducing a Solutions Factory platform aimed at ISVs, and has a new round of investments. Existing investor Intel Capital has poured $10 million into the company, and a string of existing venture capital investors--Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), Fidelity Ventures, CMEA Ventures, and DAG Venturesﾗhave also invested undisclosed amounts. Is SpikeSource abandoning its open source focus? Not entirely.