BlackBerry Partners Fund co-managers merge investment teams

The BlackBerry Partners Fund, a $150 million venture capital fund created to invest in applications and services for the BlackBerry OS as well as rival mobile platforms, announced co-managers RBC Venture Partners and JLA Ventures have merged their investment teams. According to Fund co-managing partner Kevin Talbot, the reorganization promises to boost efficiency and trim duplication.

The BlackBerry Partners Fund was founded in mid-2008 with capital commitments from limited partners including Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM), Thomson Reuters and the Royal Bank of Canada--the fund has made 12 investments over the past 24 months, financing startups including buzzd, Digby, SocialDeck and Transpera. RBC remains a limited partner. 

Clairmont Capital, an independent firm newly created by Talbot and the former RBC Venture Partners investment team, will manage the RBC Venture Partners portfolio on behalf of RBC. Clairmont Capital will oversee assets from RBC's two early-stage financial services technology investments, totaling approximately $250 million. 

For more on the BlackBerry Partners Fund:
- read this release

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