Motorola Solutions, a New York-listed communications equipment supplier to companies and governments, has used its corporate venturing unit to invest in Vivotech, a near-field communication (NFC) software and systems provider.
The undisclosed amount invested was part of a bigger, extended round for Vivotech, according to Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, which separated from Motorola Mobility in January.
Motorola had previously invested in Vivotech in mid-2007 but with the de-merger of Motorola Mobility the portfolio company had become part of the home equipment company’s corporate venturing unit, Motorola Mobility Ventures.
Reese Schroeder, managing director of Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, said: "Motorola separated into two companies on January 4 and we also separated the ventures group. The Vivotech investment was assigned to Motorola Mobility. However, Motorola Solutions sees value in Vivotech as well and made its own investment through Motorola Solutions Venture Capital."
Motorola Solutions Venture Capital is expected to help Vivotech’s mobile commerce service and the NFC ecosystem worldwide.
Michael Annes, corporate vice-president of business development and ventures at Motorola Solutions, said: "Investing in start-up companies is an important part of Motorola Solutions’ innovation strategy. This year, our venture capital team is hitting the ground running with a portfolio of 20 start-ups and 10 venture funds and expects to invest in an additional five to six companies."
Motorola Solutions said the corporate venturing group’s investment priorities for 2011 were on technologies that supported the company’s public safety and enterprise mobility businesses, such as mobile computing, cloud computing, video and video analytics, retail experiences and analytics, RFID-enabled solutions and security.