KPN, a leading Dutch telecom company, is stepping up its efforts to promote innovation by establishing a dedicated venture fund, KPN Ventures. KPN aims to increase its exposure to the startup community, accelerate further innovation in products, services and networks for KPN’s customers, and contribute to the development of innovation ecosystems in The Netherlands.
In the near future, KPN plans to partner with agile and innovative startups in the fields of connectivity, productivity and digital media. KPN has reserved an initial total amount of €35 million for selected investments that meet the criteria of the fund.
Jan Kees de Jager, CFO of KPN, explained: “We offer potential partners our best-in-class networks, in-depth knowledge of connectivity and security, and the possibility of offering new applications to millions of customers. By combining forces with the startup community, we demonstrate our commitment to open innovation and accelerate the development and commercialisation of innovative applications.”
With this latest move, KPN seeks to stay at the forefront of new developments in technology. According to the company, KPN already offers the best national 4G coverage in Europe and is moving ahead with carrier aggregation to further increase capacity and speed. KPN is also implementing innovative technologies in its fixed network so that by 2016, 85% of Dutch households will have access to download speeds of 100 Mbps or more.
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