Nokia Growth Partners is a global venture capital firm with US$200M under management that invests directly into companies via its Venture Capital Fund and manages investments into other venture capital funds through its Fund of Funds Program.
Nokia and most everyone understand the "mobile phone" is in the midst of a revolutionary transformation from a simple voice-only device to an internet-enabled multimedia device. For many in the developing world, the Nokia device they own is their first internet-connected device. It could also be their first camera, their first navigation device, or their first digital music player. Nokia now ships more cameras and digital music players than anyone in the world. This convergence of the mobile device with other traditional consumer electronics is occurring in concert with the blurring of wireline and wireless network access, and the fusion of the concept of "mobility" with the web. There is a rising awareness that smarter mobile devices and networks can add intelligence to existing internet services to facilitate real-time, richer, more personalized access to the people and content users value.
The rapidity of this transformation demands that Nokia partner with external innovators to access and leverage competencies beyond its current core to maintain its competitive edge. Nokia Growth Partners was created to facilitate relationships between Nokia and private companies with innovative products and services that meet Nokia's needs.
VENTURE CAPITAL FUND
Nokia Growth Partners manages its Venture Capital Fund to focus on investments in information and communications technologies, ranging from components to services. We look to partner with companies in a mid-to-late financing stage, with typical investments ranging from US$3 to US$8m. We lead, co-lead, or follow in investment rounds. We evaluate board participation on a case-by-case bases. At a minimum, we expect to have board observer rights to track the financial health of our investments and to have a regular vehicle through which we can maximize our partnership with management teams.
Nokia Growth Partners targets investments in companies that:
- Have a commercially available product or service
- Are ramping revenues in large, growing markets
- Are beginning to experience adoption by major industry participants such as Nokia
We are interested in investing in companies anywhere in the world that meet our criteria.
The first and foremost objective of Nokia Growth Partners is to partner with and support entrepreneurs in growing their companies into global leaders in their chosen field. Nokia Growth Partners places a great deal of emphasis on the experience, talent and commitment that a company's management team brings to the table. Target companies will have a full management team with substantial sector experience that have developed a well thought out execution plan to maximize value to stakeholders. Our assessment of the team's ability to drive the enterprise towards a high-value exit scenario is a key determinant of our investment decision.
Nokia Growth Partners' value-add goes beyond such provided by traditional venture funds. In addition to the access of the Fund's vast network of contacts in industry and in the investment community, and the guidance it can provide on strategic and tactical issues faced by entrepreneurial companies, Nokia Growth Partners can facilitate and improve a target company's chances of engaging with Nokia in a win-win commercial relationship.
FUND OF FUNDS PROGRAM
In 2007 Nokia Growth Partners will make and manage investments in other top-tier venture capital funds to gain deeper perspectives and technology access in specific emerging geographic and technology regions aligned with Nokia's interests. Target funds will have an established track record of investing into people, companies, and geographies that are relevant to Nokia's efforts to push the company beyond its core businesses, including:
- Services
- Digital Media & Content
- Emerging Markets (Including China and India)
As with all of its initiatives, Nokia Growth Partners' Fund of Funds Program will be driven by a Return-on-Investment focus and will only invest in teams that have proven capability to deliver top-tier financial returns.
OUR HISTORY: THEN & NOW
Nokia Growth Partners began its mid-stage investment operations in the beginning of 2005. The founding team members of Nokia Growth Partners came from the early-stage investment operations of Nokia Venture Partners. At the time Nokia Growth Partners was formed in early 2005, Nokia Venture Partners was renamed to BlueRun Ventures (www.brv.com). BlueRun Ventures continues to be an early-stage, global, ROI-based investor that has Nokia as a significant limited partner in its current fund. The Nokia Growth Partners team in its Silicon Valley headquarters is co-located with BlueRun Ventures.
