Nokia Ventures invests in early stage ventures in the Internet, wireless, e-commerce and new media sectors.
HELSINKI, Finland,Feb. 14, 2000 Nokia Ventures expanded its operations to Europe by opening a European headquarters in London. This move highlights the strategic importance of the growing wireless Internet sector in Europe and Nokia's leading role in developing it.
Pekka Ala-Pietila, President of Nokia, commented:"Nokia Ventures is an important element in Nokia's overall renewal strategy.The main purpose of Nokia Ventures is to enable Nokia to learn in advance about potentially important technologies and markets outside the company's present core activities, operations or plans. Nokia Ventures operates seamlessly between the USA and Europe, aiming at a truly global approach and investment portfolio."
"We see Europe as a very promising and growing market for'new economy' start-ups. Europe is becoming an Internet economy and will play a key role in creating the wireless Internet," said Martti Malka, Nokia Ventures' partner responsible for the European operations.
"Nokia Ventures has a hands-on approach to its investments via board membership in the portfolio companies. Our first and foremost objective is to partner with and support entrepreneurs in building successful companies. Nokia brings added value to the portfolio companies through our technical and marketing insight, our industry contacts, as well as by utilizing synergies between the portfolio companies." The London office will handle Nokia Ventures' investments on a pan-European basis.
Nokia Ventures was formed in 1998 with an initial fund of US$100 million. The fund's sole Limited Partner, Nokia Corporation, has invested in the fund with the express intent to gain exposure to and learn about new technologies, markets and trends beyond the reach of Nokia's current business unit strategies.
Nokia Ventures is focused on working with companies looking for early stage financing, with typical investments ranging from $1 to $5 million, depending on the stage of development, business model and industry category. Nokia Ventures is an independent operation driven by returns on investment where the investment decisions are made between the Fund's partners."Nokia Ventures' independence is an important factor in securing its long term success," says Ala-Pietila.
Investments are not dependent on strategic relationships with Nokia and are based on the opportunity to capitalize on large,high-growth market opportunities that will enable both the portfolio company and Nokia Ventures to realize a respective financial return. Qualified entrepreneurs must demonstrate a solid business plan and the management capabilities required to build a sustainable competitive advantage in the global marketplace.
To date, Nokia Ventures has invested in approximately 15 start-up companies. Examples of investments so far include eVoice,Pogo.com, Confinity and FusionOne. eVoice is an IP telephony company dedicated to providing convenient messaging solutions via the Internet. Pogo.com operates the leading Internet-based game service and is the first service to target the emerging market of family Internet game players. Confinity is concentrating on meeting the rapidly growing demand for new payment methods utilizing strong cryptography on hand-held computers and other small devices. FusionOne is developing
cutting-edge Internet synchronization software and services that make information access simple and seamless across multiple
communications and computing devices.
About Nokia:
Nokia is paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. Nokia is the leading mobile
phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks, related services as well as multimedia terminals. In
1999, net sales totaled EUR 19.8 billion (USD 19.9 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York
(NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 55,000 people.
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