Qualcomm Commits $150 Mn in Indian AI Startups Through its Venture Arm

Qualcomm has announced that it will invest up to $150 million in India through a new Strategic AI Venture Fund. It will deploy the capital through Qualcomm Ventures, and the fund will back startups across stages, with a focus on AI in automotive, IoT, robotics and mobile.

The announcement came as CEO Cristiano Amon attended the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. The company said the fund aims to support India’s expanding AI startup ecosystem. It will focus on edge AI and technologies with industry use.

Qualcomm revealed it sees opportunity as India’s startup ecosystem grows and AI adoption rises. It wants to help emerging firms build solutions with market impact. Quinn Li, Senior Vice President at Qualcomm Technologies and Global Head of Qualcomm Ventures, called India one of the world’s vibrant centres of innovation.

“This additional investment expands our support for founders building the next generation of transformative technologies,” Li said. “We look forward to helping these companies scale and contributing to India’s continued progress.”

Qualcomm has invested in Indian startups since 2007. It has backed more than 40 companies. Its portfolio includes Jio, MapMyIndia, ideaForge, Shadowfax, Cavli Wireless, SpotDraft and ToneTag. It also partnered with Indian voice AI company Mihup at the event.

The company said it supports founders with access to its technology expertise and global industry network, adding that its India team provides regional insights to portfolio companies.

Moreover, Amon said AI is entering “its next chapter,” in which intelligence runs directly on the devices and systems people use every day. He wrote that AI will operate across smartphones, PCs, cars, robots and connected infrastructure, with more processing shifting closer to users through edge computing.

India’s scale, developer base and digital growth make it central to this transition. Noting that AI can support precision farming, healthcare screening, smart cities and personalised education, he said, “India is not simply adopting AI, it is helping define how AI can work for the world.”