BlackBerry Partners Fund steps up investments
Published: 30 Oct 2008 10:25 GMT
The BlackBerry Partners Fund announced its first three major investments on Wednesday.
The $150m (£91m) fund was established in May to bankroll software developers creating new applications for smartphones, including RIM's BlackBerry devices. The fund, which considers investments throughout the world, is co-managed by JLA Ventures and RBC Venture Partners.
The fund had made only small investments prior to the selection of three established start-ups that will get much bigger chunks of investment.
The three companies are: Buzzd, which uses GPS to provide city guide information and social networking; Digby, which builds 'mobile storefronts' for businesses; and WorldMate, which offers travel information, like weather details, as well as a currency converter and alerts regarding travel plans, directly to phones.
Buzzd will get $3.2m in what is the company's first round of funding; Digby will get $5.5m in its second round; and WorldMate will get $8m in its third round.
The fund's mandate is to find companies to invest in that build software for all smartphones, not just BlackBerry devices. The idea is that smartphones in the future will be powerful portable computers.
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Over the past several months, software has become a critical piece of the smartphone phenomenon. This summer, Apple announced its iPhone 3G and the App Store where users can download third-party applications. Google has since come out with its Android Marketplace for devices running its open-source Android operating system. T-Mobile is introducing the first Android phone, the G1, on Thursday in the UK.
RIM has also recently announced a new application storefront for third-party applications. The company has promised new hooks and software tools to make it easier to test and develop applications for the many different versions of its product.
The company has recently added three new devices to its lineup: the 3G BlackBerry Bold, the Pearl Flip and the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm.
Credit: BlackBerry Fund makes first major investments from CNET News.com
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