To strengthen the company's venturing initatives, Nokia today launched the Nokia Early Stage Technology Fund, a EUR 40 million corporate venture fund aimed at providing early-stage financing for new business ideas inside the company. This fund is the newest venture arm of Nokia Ventures Organization, which exists to develop new business opportunities that fall outside of the current development path or focus of Nokia's core businesses.
Highlighting Nokia's commitment to innovation, Johan Schmidt, Vice President and Head of New Growth Businesses, Nokia Ventures Organization, said the fund uniquely combines the entrepreneurial and corporate worlds. "Nokia has a rich history of innovation and this new fund allows us to capitalize on opportunities at a very early-stage and deliver the results back to the company. We can provide our entrepreneurs with the resources they need to build a business while keeping Nokia's options open for the future," said Schmidt. "This type of venturing within the corporation helps ensure a continuous renewal for Nokia which promotes our future growth and development."
Designed to complement Nokia's existing new business development tools, the Nokia Early Stage Technology Fund plays a key role in Nokia Ventures Organization's overall business development process. The Fund will serve internal entrepreneurs and provide the seed capital to develop new business ideas while taking advantage of Nokia's corporate framework, including the deep understanding of the mobile markets and technologies.
"We are looking at strategic opportunities that are closely linked to Nokia's core vision, but have an uncertain immediate value," said Petteri Terho, Managing Partner of the new Nokia Early Stage Technology Fund. "The fund can help maintain a corporate option while giving entrepreneurs the space to develop their idea."
Nokia Ventures Organization, which serves as the innovation engine for the company, has a comprehensive portfolio of corporate venturing tools and capabilities. Together with the Nokia Early Stage Technology Fund, Nokia Ventures Organization hosts four specific initiatives for driving innovation and developing new businesses:
- Insight & Foresight: Identifies disruptive technology and market/business model developments, their drivers and consequences, and concretizes emerging business opportunities for Nokia.
- New Growth Businesses: Develops and operationalizes strategic new business ideas and transforms them into substantial, sustainable businesses.
- Innovent: A US-based team that collaborates with external early stage entrepreneurs to offer expertise and resources that help clarify their visions and accelerate the process between concept development and commercialization.
- Nokia Venture Partners: A global independent venture capital firm with USD 650 million under management that invests exclusively in mobile and IP related start-up business and technologies. Nokia is the lead investor in the fund.
The combination of both internal and external tools complement each other and provide a solid foundation for building Nokia's future growth.
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed broadband and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges.
Further information:
Jyrki Rosenberg
Nokia Ventures Organization
Tel. +358 7180 62865
Denise Crew
Nokia Corporate Communications
Tel. +1 972 894 4818
www.nokia.com