Nokia which recently sold off its devices & services business to Microsoft, has launched a $100 million connected car fund to invest in startups which are in & around the automotive ecosystem. This fund will be managed by the company's venture arm Nokia Growth Partners (NGP). A Nokia Growth Partners spokesperson told Medianama that India is one of the countries where the company has a team who is looking for investment opportunities. Other countries include United States, Europe and China. In India, it has two dedicated investors based in Delhi and another investor in the US looking at Indian region. Investment Size & Focus Areas Nokia mentions that the fund will work closely with the company's mapping division HERE to invest in auto-tech and local services companies, that will help Nokia improve the existing ecosystem around HERE’s mapping and location products & services. The company told Medianama that it focuses only on growth stage companies (Series B, C or even D) and typically invests around $5 million to $15 million on each company depending on whether they are leading the investment or not, irrespective of the geography. The company's investment focus areas for this fund include: - Smart Travel & Marketplaces which includes car sharing, ride sharing, taxi booking and ticketing among others. - Consumer Services: Traffic Information, Local real time services, driver assistance, points of interest, coupons, flexible insurance and others. - Systems: Intelligent driving, telematics, security, sensors and user interface enhancements among others. - Services & Enablers: Fleet management, analytics, connectivity, advertising, mapping, payments, asset tracking and…
