BlackBerry Partner Found: arrivano i primi investimenti

N. Commenti: 0 » // 29 Ottobre 2008 h16:24

Come in molti si ricorderanno, BlackBerry Partner Found è l'iniziativa che vede coinvolti RIM ed altri investiroti importanti (Royal Bank of Canada e Thomson Reuters), atta a veicolare un finanziamento di 150Milioni di dollari verso società di sviluppo di applicazioni per BlackBerry. Oggi, con un comunicato stampa, BlackBerry Partner Found annuncia i primi destinatari dei finanziamenti.

Sono tre le applicazioni che anno ottenuto la prima trance di finanziamenti, e sono delle nostre vecchie conoscenze.

L'applicazione che ha ottenuto il maggior finanziamento è WorldMate (8 Milioni), applicazioni che permette di controllare orario dei voli internazionali, ma anche info sul meteo e news.

Altra applicazione che ha ottenuto il finanziamento è Digby (5.5 Mil), applicazione per la gestione di estore ottimizzati per gli smartphone; la terza applicazione, Buzzd (3.2 Mil), è una applicazione turistica, che permette grazie alla localizzazione GPS, di indicare eventi, luoghi e manifestazione nella zone di interesse.

A seguire tutto il comunicato stampa.

Toronto - October 29, 2008 – The BlackBerry Partners Fund LP, a $150 million venture capital fund formed to focus on applications and services for the BlackBerry® and other mobile platforms, announced today that the Fund has made investments in buzzd, Digby and WorldMate. “Since its inception this past May, the BlackBerry Partners Fund has had the opportunity to review thousands of business plans from companies focused on developing the next generation of business and consumer applications for BlackBerry and other smartphone platforms,” said John Albright, Co-Managing Partner of the BlackBerry Partners Fund. “Today, we are announcing investments in companies that are leaders in the mobile application marketplace.” “Around the world, people are becoming increasingly reliant on mobile devices in every facet of their lives, whether for business or personal use,” said Kevin Talbot, Co-Managing Partner of the BlackBerry Partners Fund. “To capitalize on this unprecedented market opportunity, the BlackBerry Partners Fund is helping entrepreneurs drive innovation and develop cutting-edge mobile applications and services with a compelling user experience. Our goal is to be the primary destination for entrepreneurs that are building behavior changing smartphone applications and that are determined to be the architects of the mobile ecosystem of the future.” BlackBerry Partners Fund is proud to announce the following investments: · buzzd, a location-sensitive city guide and social network for mobile devices, has raised $3.2 million in a Series A Preferred Stock financing with BlackBerry Partners Fund, Greycroft Partners, Monitor Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures. “buzzd is proud to be one of the first investments of the pioneering Blackberry Partners Fund,” said Nihal Mehta, CEO of buzzd. “With the proliferation of smart phones around the world, we are excited to be part of a revolution that leverages rich handset functionality such as location-sensitivity and increased relevance to consumers everywhere.” · Digby, a leading mobile commerce service provider, has raised $5.5 million Series B Preferred Stock with the BlackBerry Partners Fund and existing shareholders. "We're thrilled to be working with the BlackBerry Partners Fund to advance our business to the next level. Their knowledge of the mobile market and experience with building successful companies will play a critical role as we expand our marketing and sales activities", said Dave Sikora, Founder and CEO of Digby, Inc. "We are looking forward to solidifying our leadership position and accelerating adoption of our storefronts in the mobile commerce market." · WorldMate, a company that has paved the way for mobile travel innovation and serves over one million frequent flyers and road warriors around the world, has raised $8 million in a Series C Preferred Stock financing with BlackBerry Partners Fund, Motorola Ventures and AMC Communications. "We share the BlackBerry Partners Fund's vision for a mobile internet business based on meaningful, valuable and profitable consumer experiences, and are honored that they consider us one of the companies spearheading movement toward this vision," said Nadav Gur, CEO of WorldMate. "We’ve been instrumental in helping the travel industry enter the mobile space. This funding, as well as our association with the BlackBerry Partners Fund will help us take our leadership in this segment to the next level of commercial success."

Stefano Forzoni

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