Nokia's maker closes a new funding round at $1 billion valuation

The press release still refers to HMD as a “start-up”, though it is now also a unicorn. The Espoo, Finland-based company has raised $100 million in a funding round at a valuation of a cool billion dollars. The money came from multiple investors led by Ginko Ventures.

The money will go to “strategic investments” and aggressively expanding the lineup of Nokia-branded phones. And that’s the plan for this year, so we won’t have to wait until 2019 for exciting announcements.

HMD is not even two years old yet (it was founded on December 1, 2016), but in the fiscal year 2017 it posted revenues of $2.13 billion (and a small operating loss of $77 million). It sells its Nokia phones in 80 countries, but sees them used in 170 countries. It has been a meteoric rise.

"We are thrilled to have these investors join us in our journey to script the next chapter of Nokia phones. It is our ambition to deliver great smartphones that delight our fans while staying true to our Finnish roots and the hallmarks that the Nokia brand has always been known for. We aim to be among the top smartphone players globally and our success to date gives us the confidence to further continue on a growth path in 2018 and beyond," said Florian Seiche, CEO, HMD Global.

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