Two Indian firms Althea Systems and Verismo are part of a group of 18 firms that have received a total of $77 million in investment from Intel Capital, the investment arm of microprocessor giant Intel.

The investments were disclosed today at an Intel Capital conference in Huntington Beach, California.

Here are details on the two Indian fledglings that got moolah from Intel Capital:

* Althea Systems‘ cloud-based video discovery platform is said to make it easier to find and share online videos across various devices. Althea launched a PC version of Shufflr, a social video browser, with a rich, immersive video experience in July.

Shufflr’s video discovery platform on the cloud aggregates video from several sources and combines machine aided and social discovery engines to help users find video they like. Shufflr is to be available soon on smartphones, tablets and TVs, providing continuity of video experience from one device to another.

Intel Capital’s investment will help Bangalore-based Althea expand its development team and marketing efforts.

* Verismo’s Internet TV platform brings seamless convergence of IPTV linear channels, Internet video, social networking and personal media playback directly to the TV without the need for a PC.

Mountain View, California and Bangalore based Verismo intends to use the Intel investment to accelerate growth and expand sales and marketing operations.

Background on Intel Capital
Since 1991, Intel Capital has poured $9.7 billion into 1,100 companies in 48 countries.

During the last two decades, 189 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and 258 were acquired or participated in a merger. In 2009, Intel Capital invested $327 million in 107 investments with 50% of funds invested outside the U.S. and Canada.

Just in case you schmucks didn’t know, Intel Capital is headed by a desi Arvind Sodhani.