KPN has committed €35m (US$39m) to a new fund investing in start-ups, becoming the latest operator to pursue venture capital as an alternative to traditional research and development.
KPN’s CFO Jan Kees de Jager said KPN Ventures would enable the…
KPN has committed €35m (US$39m) to a new fund investing in start-ups, becoming the latest operator to pursue venture capital as an alternative to traditional research and development.
KPN’s CFO Jan Kees de Jager said KPN Ventures would enable the operator to partner with “agile and innovative players,” which was important in a market “characterised by an acceleration in the pace of technological innovation, growing demand for connectivity and rapidly changing consumer dynamics”.
He said that KPN could offer potential partners access to its networks, knowledge base and security, and the potential to offer a product to its millions of subscribers.
De Jager continued: “By combining forces with the start-up community, we demonstrate our commitment to open innovation and accelerate the development and commercialisation of innovative applications.”
Earlier this month Kuwait telco Zain invested in MENA VC fund Wamda Capital to capitalise on the most promising ideas in the B2B and digital spaces.
Telefonica, for its part, last month committed US$200m to a limited partnership with Coral Group, a VC focusing on mobile and telecom. It said that the new platform, alongside its R&D, would help transform the company into a “major player” in next generation networks, big data, machine learning, and the Internet of Things.
Last November, Deutsche Telekom set up Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, earmarking €500m to invest in German tech start-ups.
