Finnish mobile company Jolla says it has completed its latest investment round and has secured new financing for the company.
It follows an announcement in November, when the investment was delayed and co-founder Antti Saarnio described the company as being in a “death valley”.
Jolla says this new investment will enable further development of its Sailfish OS.
Antti Saarnio, who’s also chairman of Jolla, said “A very important part in a start-up’s journey is going through death valleys. Most start-ups need great survival skills and determination and innovative solutions to succeed in the long run. Jolla has now successfully completed its investment round and is ready to continue to provide a true mobile OS alternative to the world. This latest death valley was the most difficult one but proved that highly motivated teams can win even when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges.”
”So far Jolla as a start-up has been solely carrying the high investment cost of the Sailfish operating system. It has been very challenging to finance this operation. We are now moving into a model where our partners in the BRICS countries, especially in Russia, India and China, will invest in the R&D of local market operations, while Jolla will focus more on the development of the core of Sailfish OS, producing Sailfish software releases, and supporting its licensees & app developers. Further licensing deals will be announced soon.”
[Jolla blog]