Nokia increases focus on China and India

John Gardner and Paul Asel, two industry veterans, will lead the expansion effort in the emerging markets for Nokia. Nokia Growth Partners was established in 2004 and is aimed to become a financial platform from which Nokia will be able to get resources for investment projects in companies that are developing new exciting technologies in areas that would fit into Nokia's core business. "Over the past decade, Nokia has crafted an innovative, systematic and sustainable strategy to private equity and venture capital," says Rick Simonson, CFO of Nokia. "An important tenet at Nokia is to strive to be 'best in class' in all areas of operations. Our investment in BlueRun Ventures, a global early stage venture capital fund, and Nokia Growth Partners, a strategic global growth fund, provides Nokia with a holistic approach to gaining access to the innovation and partnering opportunities created in a broad slice of the venture capital industry spectrum, all on a disciplined, return on investment basis. The expansion of the Nokia Growth Partners platform into fund of funds investing is the logical next step in this continuum", he adds.