Research in Motion has launched a very interesting concept with partners RBC and Thomson Reuters to create the BlackBerry Partners Fund, which is a $150 million dollar venture capital fund that will be exclusively focused on the development of applications for the BlackBerry platform. The fund will be managed by JLV Ventures and RBC Venture Partners.

The fund will consider applications that are in all stages of development. The applications can be in just about any area, allowing developers to spread out and explore new areas of development and use for the BlackBerry platform.

To help move the process forward, the BlackBerry Partners Fund is sponsoring what is being called “BlackBerry Partners Fund Developers Challenge for BlackBerry Developers.” With a deadline of September 30, 2008 interested developers will have a chance to submit their BlackBerry application for consideration in the contest.

A number of prices will be awarded, including BlackBerry devices, cash company spotlights, and more to be announced. All finalists will receive free registration to the BlackBerry developers’ conference and free devices for participating.

The idea of trying to spur more development targeted at the BlackBerry platform is quite important these days; with all of the apps that Apple is selling for the iPhone, the development pace of the BlackBerry could quickly be lagging behind that of the iPhone.

A push, of course, needs to be made quickly to attempt to stimulate the development of more applications for the BlackBerry platform, while at the same time the BlackBerry Partners Fund will continue to evaluate the potential investment into companies or projects that need that extra push to make it to market.