Verve Mobile, a US-based provider of mobile advertising services, has raised $14m in its series C round that included two corporate venturing units.
In a regulatory filing as Verve Wireless, the company said it was trying to raise $10m and last year had gathered $7m but investors said the round had closed at $14m.
Nokia Growth Partners, which raised $250m for its third fund from its Finland-based phone making parent last month, led the C round, with participation from Qualcomm Ventures, which invests on behalf of the eponymous chip maker.
John Gardner, managing partner of Nokia Growth Partners and a member of the Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist 100, has joined Verve’s board, while Quinn Li, a partner at Qualcomm Ventures, has become a board observer.
Gardner said: “Nokia Growth Partners’ investment approach is focused on companies that are changing the face of mobility, communications and the internet. Location-based advertising is a strategic area of interest for us and [this] investment in Verve is a testament to this.”
Tom MacIsaac, chief executive of Verve Mobile, said: “Nokia and Qualcomm are global leaders in mobile technology innovation and have important insights, assets, initiatives and relationships that can help Verve maintain its lead in location powered mobile advertising.”
BlueRun Ventures, Verve’s B round lead investor and which spun off from Nokia in 2005, also reinvested in the C round.
In September 2010, Verve raised $7m in its B round, which also included media group Associated Press in the syndicate after its initial investment in July 2008. Verve had raised $9.5m in it’s A and B rounds.