Trimble announced the creation of Trimble Ventures, a venture fund focused on investing in early and growth-stage innovative companies that align with Trimble's mission of transforming work in the agriculture, construction, geospatial and transportation industries.

The fund will launch with $200 million allocated for investments and focus on companies with the potential for technology enabled innovation and disruption in the digital transformation of the industries Trimble serves. In addition to an investment, Trimble Ventures will bring unique value to partner companies by offering hands-on expertise and insights, industry experience and access to customers, markets and distribution.

Trimble Ventures will deploy strategic capital to accelerate the growth of innovative companies and partners that complement Trimble's products, technology platforms and support its customer's work. The fund will invest in early and growth-stage companies with technologies and solutions related to hardware and software applications; artificial intelligence; augmented, virtual and mixed reality; autonomy and robotics; blockchain; the Internet of Things (IoT) and analytics; and sustainability.

"We are focused on partnering with companies that are solving important problems in markets that align with our vision of transforming the way the world works," said Rob Painter, Trimble's president and CEO. "Innovation is a cornerstone for Trimble. By providing capital, industry expertise and broader access to markets for early and growth-stage companies, we can help them scale more rapidly. In addition, our partners can help extend Trimble's platforms to better serve our collective customers.This is an exciting opportunity to accelerate innovation and effectively bring new solutions to our customers and industry."

Additional information on Trimble Ventures can be found at: ventures.trimble.com.