Nokia has today announced it is acquiring Withings, the company behind a range of connected health products including watches, fitness bands, sleep-trackers, thermometers, and scales. Founded in 2008, Withings had raised a little more than $30 million in equity funding, and today’s acquisition values the French startup at €170 million ($192 million).
Since offloading its Here mapping unit and shifting its mobile phone division to Microsoft, Nokia has consisted of two core divisions — Nokia Networks, a broadband network infrastructure business; and Nokia Technologies, a wing that aims to keep the brand alive in the public realm. This includes virtual reality (VR) cameras, and just yesterday the Finnish company announced a tie-up to power Disney’s push into VR. Now, Withings suite of products will be added to the Nokia Technology arm, and signals an interesting new direction for the company that was once synonymous with mobile phones.
“We have said consistently that digital health was an area of strategic interest to Nokia, and we are now taking concrete action to tap the opportunity in this large and important market,” said Rajeev Suri, president & CEO of Nokia, in a press release. “With this acquisition, Nokia is strengthening its position in the Internet of Things in a way that leverages the power of our trusted brand, fits with our company purpose of expanding the human possibilities of the connected world, and puts us at the heart of a very large addressable market where we can make a meaningful difference in peoples’ lives.”
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