During the Mobile World Congress, Nokia president and CEO Rajeev Suri revealed that Nokia Growth Partners (NGP) has closed a new US $350 million fund for investments in internet of things (IoT) companies.
The move to bolster its activity within the IoT is set to create new industries and opportunities in connected mobility, smart cities, public safety and healthcare and the connected home.
Suri says the new fund brings assets under management by NGP to more than US $1 billion and serves to find “the best entrepreneurs in the internet of things globally”, as well as support Nokia's goal to become a “leader in a world where everybody and everything is connected”.
The fund is sponsored by Nokia and is to identify new opportunities to grow the ecosystem in IoT solutions.
"The $350 million internet of things investment fund, tasked with finding and funding the best entrepreneurs across the world, reflects our strong intent to be a leader in the technologies that connect people and things, while establishing successful partnerships for both Nokia and the investee companies," Suri says
He added that NGP has established a successful investment track record over the past 10 years, with recent successes include early investments in GanJi and UCMobile, resulting in two of the largest tech acquisitions in China history, as well as the listing of Rocket Fuel on the Nasdaq.
NGP managing partner Bo Ilsoe added: “Connecting everything through IoT solutions is the next big technological wave and it will affect all aspects of our lives.
“We are excited to continue working closely with Nokia to build the ecosystem while increasing partnering and company success. With the new commitment from Nokia, NGP has more than US $500 million of fresh capital to deploy behind the best entrepreneurs and teams out there."
The fund will support Nokia in defining future business opportunities and the technical underpinnings for the rapidly growing IoT market. Working closely with operators, enterprises and partners through its IoT community, Nokia combines its mobile and fixed network infrastructure assets with secure IoT connectivity, distributed cloud, as well as IoT platforms with applications and analytics and individualised services.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.