Ledstiernan and Mobile Internet Capital (MIC) have entered into an alliance with three purposes:
-- to explore investment opportunities in each other's markets, primarily in the mobile internet and wireless communication sectors in Japan and the Nordic countries respectively.
-- to support companies within Ledstiernan and MIC, that have intention to move into the global markets.
-- to provide for the structured exchange of experiences and know-how about the respective markets.
Mobile Internet Capital (MIC) is Japan's leading venture capital company focusing on the mobile internet and wireless communication sectors. MIC is backed and partly owned by NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile communication operator. Of particular interest to Ledstiernan and its portfolio companies is NTT DoCoMo's considerable experience in next generation mobile networks and "i-mode", where more than 20 million subscribers already have access to internet services via their mobile phones.
NTT DoCoMo has a 30 percent interest in MIC. The other shareholders are Internet Research Institute, a supplier of Internet technology (30 %), Mizuho Securities, one of Japan's leading investment banks (30%) and Mr Ikuo Nishioka, CEO of MIC and former chairman of Intel, Japan (10 %).
MIC's first fund have some 35 corporate investors including NTT DoCoMo, SONY, NEC, Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric, Sanyo, Sharp, SONY Music, Sega and other NTT Group Companies.
"The wireless internet market have emerged in Japan and in Europe, and it is becoming increasingly global. Our alliance will create a unique opportunity in combining Japan's leadership in mobile internet services and consumer markets, with leadership in mobile technology development in Sweden and Finland. We believe that our cooperation will contribute to further expansion of the global wireless internet market.", comments MIC's CEO, Mr Ikuo Nishioka.
"MIC will be a very valuable partner for us, not least since its shareholders and investors are among the most prominent industrial enterprises in the communication sector in Japan. We hope, therefore, that this agreement will serve as a door-opener paving the way for our portfolio companies to enter the Japanese market," comments Ledstiernan's CEO, Johan Wachtmeister.
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