Swisscom Ventures, the in-house venture capital division of the Alpine telecoms operator, has backed a $1.8m investment in Poken, a Switzerland-based company that produces a keychain for connecting to social networking platforms.
Dominique Mégret, head of Swisscom Ventures and an influential member of the European corporate venturing operations, will go on Poken’s board of directors.
Megret said: "Poken is at the nexus of the mobile and events spheres, with unique capabilities relating to NFC [Near Field Communication, which is a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology enabling the exchange of data between devices over limited distances], RFID [radio frequency identification] and social networking."
The PokenEvent service helps customers, such as software company IBM, Microsoft and Adobe, car maker BMW and Tempo Music, to host networking events. In addition, event organizers such as PublicisLive, host of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, have also used the PokenEvent networking platform to help reduce the use of business cards and distribute digital materials at their events.
Stephane Doutriaux, chief executive of Poken, said: "Over the [past] six months, Poken has narrowed its focus to meet the needs of the events and corporate networking space."