Intel is on a spending spree, dedicating $30 million to four U.S. investments. In an aim to “foster entrepreneurship,” Intel’s global investment organization has set its sights on the states. The four companies receiving funding include Adaptive Computing, Ciranova, Joyent and Nexant.

Moab’s Adaptive Computing provides unified, automation intelligence technology, while Ciranova develops analog IC physical design software. Joyent has a cloud-computing infrastructure, and Nexant offers energy software and services.

“A culture of investment is essential to keeping the U.S. on the leading edge of technology innovation and stimulating economic activity,” said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president. “The investments in Adaptive Computing, Ciranova, Joyent and Nexant are the latest examples of Intel Capital’s commitment to advance the next technological breakthroughs by supporting innovation across a variety of sectors from chip design to cleantech to the cloud.”

It’s the Joyent investment that captures our interests most at SiliconANGLE, especially as it marks the second round of funding from Intel. The cloud-computing IaaS and PaaS service already has a substantial customer base around the world. Joyent’s Smart Technologies run a major public cloud infrastructure, hitting on an important aspect of the industry’s growth and offerings overall.

Intel’s investment in Joyent is important for the continued development of these projects, as they pertain to third-parties, spanning public, private and hybrid clouds. The funding will be used to expand international operations, with specific hopes for open-source Node.JS and other technologies included in Joyent’s core PaaS cloud offering.

Intel is making a number of announcements at its Developer Forum in San Francisco this week, including news of the combo-chip Sandy Bridge. Get more firsthand coverage here.