BlackBerry, a US- and Canada-listed communications services provider, has set up a $50m corporate venturing fund.
The BlackBerry IVY Innovation Fund will target startups useful to data-driven automotive ecosystem providers.
Announced in December 2020 as part of a multi-year, global agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS), BlackBerry IVY is the company’s intelligent vehicle data platform.
The fund will provide portfolio companies with cash and access to BlackBerry’s customers as well as access of up to $100,000 in AWS credits.
Vito Giallorenzo, senior vice-president for corporate development and strategic partnerships at BlackBerry and who is managing the fund, said: “The BlackBerry IVY Innovation Fund will be a powerful tool to enable both established and startup partners to benefit from BlackBerry IVY’s powerful data insights and help us drive advancements across the entire transportation industry.”
When known for its mobile phones, Blackberry a decade ago had set up the $150m BlackBerry Partners Fund II to invest exclusively in mobile computing companies.
Vito Giallorenzo photo from LinkedIn
