The global fund will focus on investing in startups developing new and innovative 5G use cases, driving 5G network transformation and expanding 5G into enterprise markets. This fund is designed to help accelerate 5G innovation beyond the smartphone and drive 5G adoption.
As 5G continues to roll out faster and more broadly than 4G, industry experts expect it to have a significantly greater impact than any previous generation of cellular technology and fuel a new era of innovation.
“5G will transform industries and should be viewed as a business strategy for all,” said Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm. “The intent of this fund is to fuel innovative 5G businesses that will be poised to take advantage of the $13.2T economic benefit that 5G will enable by 2035.”
In 2018, Qualcomm announced the launch of the Ventures AI Fund, with a focus on investing in innovative startups using on-device AI. The 5G Ecosystem Fund looks to build on this strategy of investing in technology areas that will drive the economy forward and where Qualcomm has a demonstrated expertise.
“The 5G Ecosystem Fund will invest in startups developing 5G applications beyond smartphones and across the entire 5G value chain” said Quinn Li, Senior Vice President, Qualcomm Technologies and global head of Qualcomm Ventures, “from companies developing new use cases leveraging 5G’s unique capabilities to solutions that transform networks into an intelligent, software-defined connectivity fabric. We want to fuel the innovations in the 5G ecosystem and unlock the potential of 5G.”
Qualcomm Ventures has a strong track record of investing in leading global startups with over 350 investments made since the group started in 2000. This includes notable companies like Zoom, Cloudflare, AMEC, Xiaomi, Cruise Automation, 99, Thundersoft, Fitbit and Waze.
This fund will continue to invest in those that share Qualcomm Ventures’ vision to transform yet-to-be seen innovations and technologies into reality by using the power of 5G. Qualcomm’s industry-leading research and pioneering development of 5G will allow Qualcomm Ventures to serve as an ideal investor in startups that can leverage 5G’s capabilities and bring forth the next wave of innovation.
