Indian PM scores in Silicon Valley: Qualcomm announces $150M fund for startups in India

India’s mobile internet boom has brought in a new fund for startups. Giant chipmaker Qualcomm today announced an India-specific US$150 million venture capital fund for startups in the mobile and internet-of-everything (IoE) ecosystem. This fund will be established through its venture arm, Qualcomm Ventures.

Besides the new VC fund which will provide startups with support to scale up, Qualcomm will also set up an innovation lab in Bangalore. This will provide technical and engineering support to hand-picked Indian companies. It will run a country-wide design challenge to pick innovative product and hardware companies to host at the the Qualcomm Innovation Lab.

Indian PM’s Silicon Valley tour

Steve Jobs went to India for inspiration, Apple's Tim Cook tells PM Modi http://t.co/Sikomh2pmO pic.twitter.com/AdarXRrGJt

— NDTV (@ndtv) September 27, 2015

The announcements were made when executive chairman of Qualcomm Dr. Paul E. Jacobs met Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in San Jose today. Modi is in the US for a series of meetings with tech giants to garner support for his government’s ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla CEO Elon Musk were among others he met during a tour of Silicon Valley today. The Indian PM is also scheduled to visit the campuses of Google and Facebook today, rounding it off with an address to Indian-Americans at the SAP Centre in San Jose. Tomorrow, Modi will meet US president Barack Obama.

See: Here’s a peek into the goodie bag from Google for the Indian PM on his Silicon Valley tour

Thanks @elonmusk for showing me around at @TeslaMotors.Enjoyed discussion on how battery technology can help farmers pic.twitter.com/r2YuSPPlty

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 27, 2015

Cusp of a mobile tech revolution

Qualcomm is already active in the Indian startup ecosystem with investments in over 20 companies in the country. So far, its India portfolio has startups across the mobile ecosystem, including hardware, software platforms, ecommerce, healthcare, location-based services, and retail technology.