BlackBerry Partners Fund, a corporate venturing vehicle for phone maker Research In Motion (RIM), has joined a consortium investing $15m in PocketGear, a US-based mobile applications provider.
Kevin Talbot, co-managing partner at BlackBerry Partners Fund, which is managed by third parties RBC Venture Partners and JLA ventures, has joined PocketGear’s board as part of the series B round.
The round was led by venture capital firm Trident Capital as well as repeat VCs Noro-Moseley Partners and Wakefield Group.
Noro-Moseley and Wakefield had initially backed the portfolio company as it raised $3.25m in equity as part of its spinout from corporate venture-backed peer Motricity in 2008.
PocketGear acquired peer Handango earlier this year after its partnership with RIM, the maker of the BlackBerry phone, and following its estimated $80m in VC funding.
Talbot said: "The global mobile application market is forecasted to exceed $20bn by 2013, according to multiple industry analysts. Apps will be available from multiple sources and PocketGear, with the 140,000 apps, 32,000 developer partners and 40 app stores that it already operates (for handset manufacturers and mobile operators) is well positioned to capture significant market share.
"PocketGear’s broad distribution (three of the world’s top 10 mobile operators and four of the top five US mobile operators) and attractiveness to developers will ultimately result in more apps being written for the BlackBerry platform and more BlackBerry apps being available wherever an end-user may shop for those apps."