Nokia Growth Partners gets $150 investment from Nokia

Nokia Growth Partners, a global private equity and venture capital management firm, today announced an additional commitment of USD 150 million from Nokia, increasing funds under management for direct investments to USD 250 million. Nokia began sponsoring funds and promoting venture investments in 1998 as a catalyst for innovation in the mobile industry. Nokia commitments to venture funding activities to date exceed USD 900 million.

Building on a track record of successful investments, Nokia Growth Partners, launched in 2004, will now establish direct operations in India and China and augment investment activity in the U.S. and Europe. With the additional investment announced today, Nokia Growth Partners will continue pursuing investments that are of strategic relevance to Nokia, and or complementary to their strategy.

In addition to its direct investment activities, Nokia Growth Partners will advise on Nokia’s other venture capital fund investments. Both of these activities focus on promising companies seeking change in the mobile landscape. Target investments include companies creating innovative mobile applications and services that encourage rapid adoption of mobile solutions, such as context and location based services, mobile payments, mobile advertising, music and entertainment and other mobile services and software.

“Over the past decade, Nokia has developed an innovative, systematic and sustainable private equity and venture capital strategy”, says Rick Simonson, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Nokia. “Our funds are structured to reinforce the primary responsibility of any fund manager: to deliver superior return on investment. For the funds we invest in, the prospect of partnerships and insights that come from close alignment with Nokia set us apart from pure financial investors. This increase of our commitment to Nokia Growth Partners is aligned with our strategic focus on consumer Internet services, reflecting the increased role that Nokia Growth Partners will play in our future success.”

During the past year, Nokia has also developed close working relationships with selected venture funds in which it has invested, in addition to those investments under direct management. These include:
- BlueRun Ventures – early stage venture, global
- Founders Fund – early stage venture, U.S.
- Gobi Partners – early stage IT and digital media fund, China
- Magma Venture Partners – early stage semiconductor & communications fund, Israel
- Oak Hill Capital Partners – late stage, global private equity & buy-out firm, U.S.
- Technology Crossover Ventures – growth/late stage venture fund, U.S.

“Nokia has selected each of these funds based on a strong record of delivering superior returns to investors, demonstrated expertise in relevant markets for Nokia and a strong commitment to work closely with Nokia, to enhance the opportunities for success in the companies in which they invest,” said Paul Asel of Nokia Growth Partners.

“Today’s announcements underscore the success of Nokia Growth Partners,” concludes John Gardner of Nokia Growth Partners. “Nokia’s new commitments will more than double our capital under direct management, enabling us to scale globally and better support Nokia strategic interests at a critical time for the industry. Alignment with the global industry leader in mobile devices and a leading innovator in the convergence of mobility and the Internet is a clear advantage for the companies in which we invest.”

Source – Press Release