Karthee Madasamy, former managing director and vice-president of mobile chipmaker Qualcomm’s strategic investment unit, Qualcomm Ventures, is set to launch his own fund, LiveMint reported yesterday.
The vehicle is expected to be between $40m and $50m in size and will operate out of Silicon Valley. It will invest in early-stage technology startups, though it is not yet clear if it will focus solely on opportunities in the US.
The fund is expected to launch within weeks, if not days, according to three people aware of the plans. Madasamy is currently in the process of hiring a team to manage the fund.
Madasamy stepped down from Qualcomm Ventures, where he was responsible for the unit’s India fund, in June 2017 to set up a venture capital fund in the US. He was replaced by Varsha Tagare.
Madasamy had been with Qualcomm Ventures since 2006, during which time he led investments in companies including Waze, a GPS navigation software developer that was acquired by internet company Google for $966m in 2013.
– Photo of Karthee Madasamy courtesy of LinkedIn.