Nokia and Microsoft-backed incubator AppCampus announces it has invested $1.7m of its $23.4m total in over 60 start-ups.
AppCampus, an incubation programme set up by Finland-based Aalto University in partnership with Microsoft and Nokia, has announced it has invested €1.7m ($2.2m) of its total $23.4m in over 60 cases since opening its doors in May.
The two corporates have each supplied €9m ($11.7m) to the programme, which is to be used in supporting the development of applications that can be used in Microsoft’s Windows 8 platform. According to news provider TechCrunch, the average investment per app developer is around $30k, but individual investments vary between $25k and $88k.
Although full details of the start-ups in development have not been released, two apps, Modz and Sihti, have been named. Modz looks to develop an app that can help young people monitor their blood sugar, whilst Sihti will be a mobile job-application app.
Aside from the financial backing, the firms are also providing marketing and distribution support to incubated startups through the companies’ channels.
“We can help you make a beautiful application and put it on the marketplace, but the end result is the traction you can get,” explained Paolo Borella, one of the leads at AppCampus. “This is where we have a unique advantage. We can leverage Microsoft and Nokia to distribute and promote for the best cases. So not everybody, but a few will be able to leverage Microsoft’s and Nokia’s strength to push and promote their activities. It’s kind of an unfair advantage.”
In addition, AppCampus will be introducing a co-working space on the Aalto University campus that will become available by the end of the year. As of yet, none of the AppCampus start-ups have left the programme, but it is hoped that the first firms will exit in the next couple of months.
