Nokia has announced that it's investing quarter of a billion dollars in its venture funding division, Nokia Growth Partners. The cash injection will allow Nokia Growth Partners members to invest in "high potential businesses within the mobile ecosystem." The venture capitalists will focus on Nokia's markets in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
The Finnish smartphone manufacturer, which made a profit of $269 million during 2012's fourth quarter, has expanded its presence in China by appointing former AMD China president David Tang as its managing director. Lu Guo, a former Keystone Ventures vice president, will take up the role as principal.
Nokia's latest investment is its third since it founded Growth Partners back in 2005. The fund has been invested in a number of firms such as mobile user interface company Swype.
"Over the past decade, Nokia has developed an innovative venturing strategy," said Timo Ihamuotila, Nokia executive vice president & chief financial officer. "Our ongoing commitment to Nokia Growth Partners reinforces Nokia's support for a vibrant mobile ecosystem and our determination to collaborate with industry innovators to build great mobile products."
"Nokia Growth Partners is delighted with Nokia's continuing commitment, which recognizes strong financial performance since our formation in 2005," said John Gardner, managing partner of Nokia Growth Partners.
"What sets NGP apart from pure financial investors are the partnerships and insights our invested companies get from their close association with Nokia. In the past year, NGP has also realized several successful exits, including the IPOs of Morpho and Inside Secure and sales of Swype, Summit Microelectronics and Netmagic. We are excited about our existing strong portfolio of companies and their potential impact globally."
Search giant Google is another technology firm known for its investment spending as well; it last invested $300 million into its venture-capital arm for start-ups.
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DjEaZy ... Nokia Invests $250 Million in Funding For Mobile Ecosystem... it will be not enough...Reply -
DjEaZy ... and for what they gonna build the ecosystem..? ... do nokia have computers, TV's, tablets and phones to integrate with each other??... and nokia is payed by MS... on what other mobile OS they gonna build the ecosystem on other than Win8 ...Reply -
teh_chem DjEaZy... Nokia Invests $250 Million in Funding For Mobile Ecosystem... it will be not enough...This isn't to build an entire ecosystem of their own. Read on...Reply
DjEaZy... and for what they gonna build the ecosystem..? ... do nokia have computers, TV's, tablets and phones to integrate with each other??... and nokia is payed by MS... on what other mobile OS they gonna build the ecosystem on other than Win8 ...Did you even read the article? It discusses the companies and technologies that NGP has already invested in, that eventually turned successful--companies that have had a significant impact on the mobile users already, and aren't specific to Nokia.
This isn't about inventing their own ecosystem, it's about investing in promising technologies and companies that feed in to the overall mobile ecosystem. An example they gave of a well-known technology, Nokia invested a modest amount of money in Swype, which has eventually integrated into numerous handset maker's phones and tablet devices. This move is about investing in things that aren't specific to Nokia's own phones/platforms, but rather attacking the mobile arena as a whole. Which is a very intelligent method for generating growth for the company. -
DjEaZy teh_chemThis isn't to build an entire ecosystem of their own. Read on...Did you even read the article? It discusses the companies and technologies that NGP has already invested in, that eventually turned successful--companies that have had a significant impact on the mobile users already, and aren't specific to Nokia.This isn't about inventing their own ecosystem, it's about investing in promising technologies and companies that feed in to the overall mobile ecosystem. An example they gave of a well-known technology, Nokia invested a modest amount of money in Swype, which has eventually integrated into numerous handset maker's phones and tablet devices. This move is about investing in things that aren't specific to Nokia's own phones/platforms, but rather attacking the mobile arena as a whole. Which is a very intelligent method for generating growth for the company.... in a sense i agree... and that was my take on ecosystems... but... then how this is a ecosystem? ... what essentially nokia wants, is to find and patent some revolutionary thing and then patent-troll others? Seems so...Reply -
robochump DjEaZy... Nokia Invests $250 Million in Funding For Mobile Ecosystem... it will be not enough...Reply
Perhaps but I def like the competition which offers us better devices every year. I am curious sa to how smart phones will evolve of the next 10-20 years. Implants anyone? lol.