Finnfund invests in mobile operating system for feature phones

Finnfund has invested $3.4 million in KaiOS Technologies, maker of KaiOS, the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones.

It has been estimated that 3.4 billion people in emerging markets do no use the internet despite living in areas with mobile broadband coverage. One of the greatest barriers to mobile internet adoption is the cost of a smartphone, often being more than 20% of monthly income. KaiOS brings mobile connectivity to millions of people in emerging markets by providing an operating system that allows manufacturers and operators to make KaiOS powered phones affordable.

“With this investment, KaiOS can expand into new markets in sub-Saharan Africa,” says Sebastien Codeville, CEO and co-founder of KaiOS Technologies. “We are happy to partner with an investor like Finnfund who share our vision of how important it is to boost digitalisation in Africa.”

“The investment in KaiOS is yet another important step in connecting the unconnected,” says Finnfund’s investment manager Kuutti Kilpeläinen. “KaiOS has proved that it can solve the affordability problem and we are proud to join the group of investors who all share the same ambitious goal of closing the digital gap.”