Remote control and sensor technology manufacturer Universal Electronics has committed an undisclosed amount to a fund being raised by Sweden-based venture capital firm Capital A Partners with a $60m targeted close.
Capital A expects the fund to reach an initial close during the first half of 2018 and has also received commitments from undisclosed additional investors.
The fund will invest in internet-of-things (IoT), mobility, human-computer-interface technology developers based in the Nordics region, in addition to nanotechnology, security layer and advanced materials technologies which are compatible with those sectors.
Universal Electronics core business is its cross-compatible TV remote controls but it has diversified into control hubs for IoT devices.
Capital A launched a $25m seed fund in January 2017 with VC firm Butterfly Ventures dubbed Butterfly Venture Fund III, to invest in research and university-based businesses in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
The firm also raised an earlier pilot fund named Cap A Fund I, which accrued 18 portfolio investments across the Nordics and the USA.
Louis Hughes, chief operating officer and head of corporate development at Universal Electronics, said: “Becoming involved with Cap A’s new fund early has already provided us access to technologies from the Nordics that otherwise we would not see.
“Having this intelligence and the opportunity to invest through Cap A is a value proposition that we have not seen before.”