BlackBerry maker launches $150M fund for mobile applications
May 13, 2008
The BrandBerry
The maker of the BlackBerry mobile device has partnered with business news giant Thomson Reuters and Royal Bank of Canada to launch a $150 million fund for developing mobile applications and services for the BlackBerry and other platforms.
The news comes a couple of months after the venture capital firm behind Google, Amazon and Intuit earmarked $100 million in venture capital to invest in firms creating applications and services for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch.
“The BlackBerry Partners Fund will focus on evaluating companies in all regions of the world and investing in the long-term success of those that demonstrate market leadership and unique differentiation,” said John Albright, managing partner of JLA Ventures and also co-managing partner of the BlackBerry Partners Fund, in a statement.
“Whether it’s access to corporate data or the latest craze in mobile entertainment, we want to fund companies that are forerunners in driving adoption and further enriching the mobile experience,” he said.
The fund didn’t return a call by press deadline.
The BlackBerry Partners Fund will not limit the development of mobile applications and services to a single platform or specific industry segment.
In that regard, this fund differs from the iFund, which finances only applications and services for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch mobile devices.
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers’ iFund will focus on location-based services, social networking, mobile commerce, communication and entertainment. Stage and size of the investment don’t matter.
Per its mandate, the BlackBerry Partners Fund will focus mobile commerce applications including payments, advertising, retailing and banking as well as vertical and horizontal applications.
Other mobile applications of interest to the fund are those related to communications, social networking and location-based software and services such as navigation and mapping.
Media and entertainment and lifestyle and personal productivity applications will also get funding.
JLA Ventures and RBC Venture Partners will jointly manage the venture capital fund.
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is known for its business-focused devices that offer email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet applications.
Royal Bank of Canada is the country’s largest bank by assets and market capitalization, employing nearly 70,000 full- and part-time staff and serving more than 15 million clients worldwide.
Thomson Reuters is the result of the recent merger between two news and financial-information behemoths. Based in New York, the company employs more than 50,000 people worldwide.
All three investors in the BlackBerry Partners Fund expect that it will play a key role in developing next-generation mobile applications and services as the mobile channel gains more importance in personal and business life.
“The mobile world has evolved well beyond phone calls and simple messaging to require more empowering and liberating solutions that connect people to everything that matters most to them, wherever and whenever they want it,” said Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of Research In Motion, in a statement.