China-based internet-of-things (IoT) device developer Borqs International has closed a $10m series E round co-led by Qualcomm Ventures, mobile chipmaker Qualcomm’s corporate venturing unit, The Economic Times reported on Monday.
Founded in 2007, Borqs provides smart connected devices and cloud services for the internet-of-things industry, and has research and development centres in Bangalore and Beijing.
The round, which was co-led with venture capital firm Accel Partners India, has taken place about six weeks ahead of a $303m reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed special purpose vehicle Pacific Special Acquisition.
Pacific Special Acquisition agreed to acquire Borqs in December 2016. Once the merger closes, Borqs will become the combined company’s operating entity and Pacific will change its name to Borqs Technologies.
Shareholders in Borqs will then own about 78% of Pacific’s outstanding ordinary shares, while Pacific’s shareholders will hold about 22%.
The latest round boosted Borqs’s total funding to at least $50m. It raised an undisclosed amount of series D capital from Norwest Venture Partners, the VC firm that manages funds for financial services firm Wells Fargo, in 2014.
Borqs raised about $12m from undisclosed investors in 2012, and about $10.5m from Intel Capital, the corporate venturing arm of chipmaker Intel, in 2011.
The company had collected $17.4m in a 2009 series B round featuring Norwest, Keystone Ventures, GSR Ventures and its partner investor Mayfield Fund China, after securing $2m in 2008 from GSR and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.
SK Telecom China Fund, an investment vehicle of telecommunications network SK Telecom, is also an investor in Borqs.