SparkCognition Announced as the Only US-Based Winner of the 2015 Nokia Open Innovation Challenge

Austin, TX, December 3, 2015 (Newswire.com) - ​On August 3, Nokia launched its third consecutive Open Innovation Challenge, offering the brightest innovators an opportunity to collaborate on game-changing ideas to shape the programmable world. Nokia received hundreds of submissions from all around the world and after intensive evaluation work, ideas were drilled down to 10. These 10 winners from Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland and the U.S. were announced at Nokia’s celebration event, held at its headquarters in Finland this month.

At the 2015 Nokia Open Innovation Challenge Awards in November, SparkCognition, an award winning company that applies artificial intelligence technology to model physical and virtual assets, continuously learn from data, and derive intelligent insights to secure and protect assets, was the only US-based company that was honored as a winner. In addition, the company was also chosen by Nokia Growth Partners as the winner of the “Investors Choice” (the company that would serve as the most attractive investment). See the video here.

“That Nokia chose SparkCognition as a top ten winner, and that we then won the Investor Choice category, speaks volumes about the groundbreaking product our team has built,” said Amir Husain, President and CEO of SparkCognition. “Nokia is a global leader. They have blazed a trail of innovation in the telecom space and the companies they brought together for the Open Innovation Challenge are some of the most innovative in the world. It is a true honor to be recognized by this industry leader, and we are very much looking forward to working with such an outstanding and innovative team.”

The challenge, organized in partnership with Nokia Growth Partners (NGP), invited participants to submit innovative ideas, technologies, or business models for a chance to collaborate with Nokia around exciting and even disruptive ideas, and to leverage Nokia’s global market reach and connectivity expertise. The participants were also reviewed by NGP, which is actively investing in promising IoT companies.

“We are delighted to announce the winners of our third annual Open Innovation Challenge – all of whom are among the brightest innovators and experts in the IoT domain. We understand that Nokia and others cannot do it alone. We need to think outside the walls of our innovation machinery and reach into the IoT ecosystem for partnerships and co-creation,” said Hossein Moiin, Executive Vice President and CTO, Nokia Networks. “By incorporating innovations from all around us, we can build a programmable world that will benefit us all.”

Nokia’s vision is to expand the human possibilities of technology, to improve people’s lives and help them thrive by enabling a programmable world where billions of people, things, sensors and devices are connected. As such, the company anticipates exciting use cases within various verticals, including health, security, automotive, public safety, industrial Internet and smart cities.

About SparkCognition

SparkCognition (www.sparkcognition.com) based in Austin, Texas, is the world's first Cognitive Security Analytics company. Its groundbreaking MindFabric platform and Cognitive Fingerprinting technology model physical and virtual assets, continuously learn from data, and derive intelligent insights to secure and protect assets round the clock. SparkCognition is backed by Michael Dell's private investment firm, MSD Capital, L.P., California-based venture firm, The Entrepreneurs' Fund (TEF) and Alameda Ventures.

About Nokia

By focusing on the human possibilities of technology, Nokia embraces the connected world to help people thrive. Our three businesses are leaders in their fields: Nokia Networks provides broadband infrastructure, software and services; HERE provides mapping, navigation and location intelligence; and Nokia Technologies provides advanced technology development and licensing. www.nokia.com

Nokia Networks, which provides broadband infrastructure, software and services, operates at the forefront of our industry. From the first ever call on GSM to the first call on LTE, we have set the pace of innovation, a record that continues with future technologies such as 5G. Together with our operator customers, who serve close to 5 billion subscribers, we are embracing the opportunity of the connected world and helping to solve its challenges. http://networks.nokia.com

About Nokia Growth Partners

Nokia Growth Partners (NGP) specializes in growth-stage investing; seeking for companies who are changing the face of mobility and connectivity. Working closely with entrepreneurs NGP offers market insight, a deep network and a global reach spanning across the United States, Europe and Asia. NGP is an independent fund manager backed by Nokia. http://www.nokiagrowthpartners.com/

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