Nokia Growth Partners, Nokia’s private equity and venture capital management arm, recently invested in kyte.tv, a startup company that enables users to create and broadcast interactive TV channels on their mobile phones, as well as the Internet.
In a statement about the investment, Rob Trice of Nokia Growth Partners indicated that his company seeks to capitalize on the popularity of user-generated content and social networking services.
Having a major device manufacturer like Nokia in its corner is of potential value to kyte.tv beyond the dollar amount, because it could allow the company to advertise or offer its services to millions of Nokia handset owners across the globe. Along similar lines, the company recently announced investment deals with a service provider, Swisscom, and a media company, Holtzbrinck Ventures. According to Daniel Graf, co-founder and CEO of kyte.tv, the combination of a media company, service provider and device manufacture provides the company “with key access to distribution across Europe and beyond.”
This is not the first time Nokia has shown interest in the user-generated video and sharing phenomenon. Earlier this year, it partnered with Google’s YouTube to allow the viewing of that service’s videos on its mobile phones.
For more information, visit www.kyte.tv and www.nokia.com.
