Qualcomm Ventures, US-based semiconductor technology producer Qualcomm’s corporate venturing unit, has launched a $200m investment vehicle intended to boost an ecosystem around an expected 5G network product offering.
The 5G Ecosystem Fund will provide up to $200m in funding for companies developing technologies and products that will incorporate 5G, which is expected to take over as the preeminent cellular networking standard.
More specifically, the fund will invest in areas involving the transformation of mobile networks to a 5G standard and its potential in enterprise markets. In addition to mobile systems, 5G is also set to enhance the capabilities of internet-of-things products and services.
The unit has invested in some 350 companies since it was formed in 2000. The latest vehicle comes in the wake of its introduction of a $100m AI Fund in November 2018 that was also placed within the context of Qualcomm’s 5G technology development.
Quinn Li, head of Qualcomm Ventures, said: “The 5G Ecosystem Fund will invest in startups developing 5G applications beyond smartphones and across the entire 5G value chain, from companies developing new use cases leveraging 5G’s unique capabilities to solutions that transform networks into an intelligent, software-defined connectivity fabric.”
5G-focused companies to have already received funding from Qualcomm Ventures include Affirmed Networks, a wifi deployment platform developer that raised $38m in February this year.
