Senior Nokia Exec Departs to Join Venture Fund

By

Tero Ojanperae, Nokia's senior vice president of services and its former chief technology officer, will be leaving the company at the end of September after more than two decades of service.

Ojanperae will still have a close relationship with Nokia though, as he is moving on to a managing partner role with a new investment fund called Vision+ that will collaborate directly with the struggling Finnish phone maker.

Vision+ will fund application and game development projects for Nokia-supported platforms, including the Windows Phone 7 OS, which Nokia has embraced as its new mobile operating system. Not surprisingly, Nokia said that is plans on being an “anchor investor” in Vision+.

Eventually, the investment firm will look to pursue product development opportunities in other industries, including clean water and energy.

“Vision+ will be able to provide support to developers and entrepreneurs when they plan to introduce the best visions and product concepts into global and local markets,” Ojanpera said of the new company.

The management team shakeup comes on the heels of a massively disappointing second quarter for Nokia, which has had difficulty keeping up with Apple and other thriving handset makers in the global smartphone race.

Nokia saw its handset sales drop 11 percent from Q1 and 7 percent from the same period last year. In the second quarter alone, the Finnish company posted a loss of around $692 million, which included a bulk payment of approximately $600 million for intellectual property royalties.

Without the balloon payment, Nokia would have suffered more than a $1 billion loss for the three months ending in June. Stunningly, Nokia suffered a 33 percent drop in smartphone sales during the quarter.

The company is resting its hopes on Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 to resuscitate its flailing smartphone business and recapture the top spot in the market. Only time will tell if the company bet on the right horse.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.

Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO… follow us on Twitter



Beecher Tuttle is a TechZone360 contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]

TechZone360 Contributor

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Related Articles

Enhancing Cybersecurity Measures for Modern Businesses

By: Contributing Writer    7/2/2025

Cyberattacks are rising, and businesses of all sizes feel the pressure. Small companies often think they're too small to be targets. They aren't. Hack…

Read More

Lessons Learned from Enterprise Oracle Cloud Migrations

By: Contributing Writer    7/1/2025

Switching to Oracle Cloud can feel daunting. Security risks, unexpected expenses, and performance troubles often turn what seems like an effortless up…

Read More

Protecting Business Assets with Smarter Security Frameworks

By: Contributing Writer    7/1/2025

Protecting your business is more challenging than ever. Cyber threats are increasing every day. Hackers target small and large businesses alike, searc…

Read More

Emerging Trends in Technology and Their Impact on Future Innovations

By: Contributing Writer    7/1/2025

Technology is changing faster than ever. Business owners often struggle to keep up. What's trending today might be outdated tomorrow. Falling behind c…

Read More

Tech Podcast Award Winners Bring Excitement and Enthusiasm to a Range of Important Tech Topics

By: TMCnet Staff    6/18/2025

Tech Podcast Award winners produce engaging, informative, and often entertaining content, bringing valuable insight from industry front lines to the e…

Read More