Houman Haghighi, formerly head of business development at Qualcomm Ventures, mobile semiconductor producer Qualcomm’s corporate venturing arm, has joined venture capital firm Menlo Ventures as a business development partner.
Haghighi joined Qualcomm Ventures in 2011 and has overseen investments in robotic gaming platform Reach Robotics, robotic arm developer Carbon Robotics, deep learning technology producer Clarifai and cybersecurity technology producer AttackIQ.
During his time at the unit, Haghighi also founded and headed Qualcomm Robotics Accelerator, a joint effort with accelerator TechStars. His relationship with Qualcomm dates to 2003 and he held positions in engineering, project management and product development before transitioning into corporate venture capital.
Haghighi will work with Menlo Ventures’ acceleration scheme, Fuel, and will also engage with the firm’s portfolio, which includes Uber, Bitsight and Roku, to explore partnerships that could facilitate extra funding and build a network of potential partners for portfolio companies.
Haghighi said: “The partners at Menlo Ventures share my belief that a VC should bring more to the table than a chequebook and pen. The Menlo team is committed to partnering at every stage of the founder journey.
“They brought me here to give founders an unfair advantage – engaging our deep industry relationships to give our companies the access and edge they need to succeed.”
Photo of Houman Haghighi courtesy of Menlo Ventures.
