Nokia Growth Partners has announced a significant expansion of the group's investment plans, providing an additional US$100 million investment into a Fund of Funds program with a special focus on emerging technology markets, including India and China.

The firm also announced that John Gardner and Paul Asel, two industry veterans, will lead the expansion effort.

Launched in 2004, Nokia Growth Partners' inaugural US$100 million Venture Capital Fund invests directly into growth stage technology companies that share an alignment of business interests with Nokia.

Nokia Growth Partners has now created a Fund of Funds program targeting an additional US$100 million of investments in top tier venture funds that offer access to emerging markets and/or exposure to innovative technologies in domain areas beyond the scope of Nokia's traditional core businesses.

Building on the earlier successes of its direct investment Venture Capital Fund, Nokia Growth Partners will also devote additional resources to increase its activity in Asia, with specific emphasis on China and India. Nokia Growth Partners will be managing a combined US$200 million of capital between the Venture Capital Fund and the Fund of Funds program.

"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."