The BlackBerry Partners Fund Announces the “Jump Start” Program to Finance Innovation in Smartphone Applicat...

By Mauricio

TORONTO, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ – The BlackBerry Partners Fund LP, a $150 million venture capital fund formed to focus on applications and services for the BlackBerry(R) platform and other mobile platforms, announced today that it has launched its Jump Start Financing Initiative.

The Jump Start initiative provides entrepreneurs with capital infusions of up to $250,000. The funding initiative is designed to bring new and innovative ideas into the development process faster allowing entrepreneurs to focus on building great smartphone applications instead of raising seed capital.

“At the BlackBerry Partners Fund we believe it is important to encourage the development of an industry that is predicted to become the fastest growing application market the world has ever seen,” said Rick Segal, Partner of the BlackBerry Partners Fund, who is spearheading this program. “We are eager to review pioneering ideas and assist entrepreneurs with the advancement of their concept into a viable product faster and more cost effectively than ever before.”

“Building a business to compete in the fast moving mobile marketplace requires focus,” said Kevin Talbot, Co-Managing Partner of the BlackBerry Partners Fund. “We want entrepreneurs to spend time building innovative applications instead of searching for start-up capital in a time where the economic environment may prove unnecessarily distracting.”

By offering up to $250,000 in the form of a convertible debenture, the BlackBerry Partners Fund is providing entrepreneurs with a standard financing package that is not onerous on the entrepreneurs while giving the BlackBerry Partners Fund early exposure to the opportunity. Entrepreneurs interested in the Jump Start Funding Initiative should visit www.blackberrypartnersfund.com.

About BlackBerry Partners Fund

The BlackBerry Partners Fund is a $150 million venture capital fund focused on applications and services including mobile commerce (payments, advertising, retailing and banking), vertical and horizontal enterprise applications, communications, social networking, location-based applications and services (navigation and mapping), media and entertainment, and lifestyle and personal productivity applications for the BlackBerry(R) and other mobile platforms. The Fund will consider all stages of development and is co-managed by JLA Ventures and RBC Venture Partners. For further information visit: www.blackberrypartnersfund.com.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.