Qualcomm Ventures, a corporate venturing arm of mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, has partnered Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and VC firm Indicator Capital to launch a R$240m ($45m) Latin America-focused fund backed by several corporates.
The Indicator 2 IoT FIP Fund has secured capital commitments from limited partners including electronics producers Lenovo and Multilaser, communications technology provider Motorola, financial services firm Banco do Brasil and Telefônica Ventures, on behalf of telecommunications firm Telefónica’s.
The vehicle, which will be managed by Indicator Capital, also drew in commitments from unnamed institutional and corporate investors. It will focus on early-stage, Latin America-based companies that provide goods and services related to internet-of-things technology and connectivity.
Indicator 2 IoT FIP Fund will back up to 30 companies at series A stage over the next 10 years, investing an average of about $1.9m per deal. It is expected to complete seven investments by the end of 2021.
BNDES and Qualcomm Ventures launched a tender process to select a manager for the fund in December 2019, and the pair made an initial commitment of $16m as part of the fundraise.