Nokia invests $250 mn in venture funding for mobile ecosystem

Finish handset manufacturer, Nokia has announced a third round of investment of USD 250 million in its venture firm Nokia Growth Partners (NGP). Nokia Growth Partners intends to invest in high potential businesses within the mobile ecosystem in the U.S., Europe and Asia. 

NGP also announced its expanded presence in China with the appointments of David Tang as managing director and Lu Guo as principal.

"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," Timo added.

"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. He added, "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."

David Tang is an advisor to leading mobile businesses such as UCWeb and Ganji. NGP has enjoyed a long relationship with Tang during his earlier tenure as vice chairman of Nokia China. David Tang and Lu Guo together have over 35 years global technology and investment experience. David Tang joins Nokia Growth Partners from AMD where he was Corporate Senior Vice President and President of AMD China. Lu Guo joins from Keytone Ventures where he was Vice President responsible for mobile and Internet investments. They will be based in Beijing.