HMD Global has received $100 million in total funding from several investors following its latest round of financing, bringing the Finland based company’s market valuation to over $1 billion. The company says it will use the money to expand its business operations and provide funding for the company’s growth plan as it enters its second year since its inception on December 1, 2016. For this year, HMD Global aims to grow its suite of Nokia-branded mobile devices and extend the scope of its channel across strategic markets. The latest round of funding was led by Geneva-based Ginko Ventures via Alpha Ginko Ltd. and included DMJ Asia Investment Opportunity Limited and Wonderful Stars Pte. Ltd., an FIH Mobile subsidiary.
HMD Global purchased the license to sell Nokia-branded devices in late 2016 and shipped nearly 8.5 million smartphones to retailers in 2017 alone. Nokia experienced success with its Android-based offerings in partnership with HMD Global, surpassing the likes of Google, HTC, and Sony in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to analyst Neil Shah. A number of smaller Chinese original equipment manufacturers which have been making a name for themselves have also been outperformed by Nokia, including Meizu, Coolpad, and Gionee. A market study conducted by Counterpoint Research recently revealed that HMD Global sold 4.4 million Nokia brand smartphones during last year’s fourth quarter, capturing 1 percent of market share worldwide. Shah recommended that the company focus on growing a fan base in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa markets moving forward. While the market analyst did not specifically mention India as a key market for HMD Global, the company last May said that the success of its Nokia-branded smartphones and feature phones will depend on India in the future. The company then announced in early April that it will begin selling Nokia-branded Android smartphones in India via Nokia.com as part of a broader strategy to expand its reach in India using online methods.
Elsewhere in the world, HMD Global is also expected to unveil more devices on May 29 after the company recently started sending out invites for an event which will be hosted in Moscow, Russia. Although the company did not mention any specific devices on it, the Nokia 2, 3 and 5 (2018) are expected to be unveiled during that event.