New ZTE Innovation Venture Fund to support mobile application developers, start-ups in North America

ZTE USA, the fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer in the US and second-largest in the no-contract market*, today announced the newly established ZTE Innovation Venture Fund at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The new fund is designed to bring unique and innovative mobile applications and content to the North American market. Select mobile application developers and start-ups will have their ideas come to fruition when distributed across ZTE's global ecosystem that consists of a growing range of "smart" mobile devices, from smartphones to smart media streaming projectors.

"We're excited to provide a path for young, growing and passionate start-ups to change the future of the wireless industry in unthought-of ways," said Lixin Cheng, chairman and CEO of ZTE USA. "We see the potential within developers that can change the wireless market for the better if given the right support and financial resources."

ZTE is providing more than equity or financing, but also strategic partnership opportunities to jointly innovate with their teams. ZTE also provides start-ups with a global audience through the tens of millions of smartphones shipped worldwide every year.

The first to join the ZTE Innovation Venture Fund is Azumio, the creator of the top weight-training and fitness application in the world, Fitness Buddy. Azumio is pioneering ways in which biofeedback can be used within mobile health applications for happier, healthier living.

"It's exciting to be a part of the ZTE organisation that is currently shaking things up during a critical transitional time for the wireless industry," said Jeff Yee, vice-president of technology planning and partnerships at ZTE USA. "We already have teams lined up that we believe in, and who we think show promise in shifting the marketplace."

Strategic investments and support provided by the ZTE Innovation Venture Fund will be led and managed by Jeff Yee, who created the first developer ecosystem for mobile commerce applications while at AT&T. Along with Jeff Yee, executive committee members, Lixin Cheng, chairman and CEO of ZTE USA and George Zhengzhi Hou, VP, ZTE Mobile Devices and Mobile Internet, will help direct investments for the ZTE Innovation Venture Fund.

Research and development has powered ZTE's growth since 1985. Today, ZTE has 19 R&D centres and 10 joint innovation centres worldwide. ZTE will continue its commitment to research and innovation with increased R&D investments globally and North America to develop high-quality patents and product designs.

*Strategy Analytics, North America Handset Vendor Market Share, Q3 2014.