Swisscom Ventures To Make Strategic Investment in Poken
May 18, 2010 11:21 AM
Telecom operator will invest in Poken, a leading provider of solutions for the events and corporate networking space. Looks to foster innovation in NFC, RFID and Social Networking.
Lausanne, Switzerland, May 18th, 2010. Poken announced today that it has received a strategic investment from Swisscom Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Swisscom AG - Switzerland's leading telecom operator. Swisscom is participating in a $1.8 million round, and will be represented on Poken’s Board of Directors by Dominique Mégret, Head of Swisscom Ventures, a seasoned executive and entrepreneur.
Swisscom's venture arm invests in early-stage startups developing leading edge technologies and demonstrating a strategic fit with Swisscom, including services in the mobile, events, and content space. Poken's success working with large corporate partners is a natural indication of the synergies that exist between Poken and Swisscom. Swisscom is a diversified service provider catering to the world's leading institutions. Its reach goes beyond telecommunication services, e.g. events, medical, and data management activities.
”Poken is at the nexus of the mobile and events spheres, with unique capabilities relating to NFC, RFID and Social Networking,” states Dominique Megret, Head of Venturing at Swisscom AG, “we believe these are high drivers for growth in the years to come.”
The Swisscom Venture investment and partnership are further validation of Poken’s fast-paced evolution as the market leader in social networking devices. Poken is helping customers build solutions for bridging the gap between online and offline social networking needs. The new pokenEVENT service offering is gaining significant traction in the events and corporate networking space -- helping customers such as Adobe, BMW, IBM, Microsoft and Tempo Music host powerful networking events. In addition, event organizers such as PublicisLive -- host of the World Economic Forum -- have also used the pokenEVENT networking platform to help reduce the clutter of business cards and streamline the process for distributing digital materials at their events.
“Over the last 6 months Poken has narrowed its focus and is building a world-class suite of hardware and software solutions to meet the needs of the events and corporate networking space” said Stephane Doutriaux, CEO of Poken. “We believe Swisscom can add considerable fuel to our growth, as well as provide assistance in working with leading event organizers and corporate partners. This is a significant partnership for Poken, our customers, and our network of resellers.”
Poken continues its market deployment in over 50 countries worldwide, providing its suite of unique products and services targeted at the corporate networking and events market. The pokenEVENT suite includes customizable Poken devices, an interactive brandable Member Hub, and rich open social platform. To learn more about “pokenizing” your next event, meeting, conference or promotion visit the Poken website at www.poken.com/solutions or contact the Poken events team at events@poken.com.
About Poken:
Poken is the acknowledged market leader in bridging online and real world social networking. The poken.com website provides a 360-degree experience to people meeting in the real world, sharing an experience, and staying in touch both on and offline. Poken's products cater mainly to the events and conferences industry, but also offer a broader consume facing, Web 3.0 online experience. Founded in December 2007 and headquartered in Lausanne (Switzerland) with reseller partners in major countries around the globe, the mission of Poken, its products, employees, fans and users is to enhance the experience of connecting with people, places, and things.
https://doyoupoken.com
About Swisscom Ventures:
Swisscom Ventures is the corporate venturing arm of Swisscom AG - Switzerland's leading telecom operator. The group was founded in 2005 as a division of Swisscom's group level activities, and is focused on investing in early stage growth companies with strategic relevance to Swisscom and its operating business lines:
http://www.swisscom.com/ventures
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Simone Kuhn
Poken S.A.
T: + 41 (0)21-311-0678
press@poken.com
