Qualcomm Inc. announced it will form a venture arm to invest in start-up companies in an effort to proliferate the use of CDMA technology.
Qualcomm is making a $500 million commitment to the new venture company, Qualcomm Ventures.
“The convergence of wireless technology and the Internet has created opportunities for new products, applications and services, and we look forward to helping drive these innovations,” said Jeff Jacobs, who will manage the new company. “Qualcomm Ventures will focus on strategic investments in promising young start-up companies that can deliver these new capabilities and accelerate CDMA usage worldwide.”
Jacobs was previously Qualcomm’s senior vice president of business development.
Qualcomm said it will target a variety of areas for investment, including communications devices and applications; wireless communications components and infrastructure; Internet infrastructure, content and services; and enabling and complementary technologies.
But the new ventures will not be limited to start-ups, said Christine Trimble, Qualcomm’s director of corporate public relations. She said Qualcomm has invested in up to 14 companies in the past few years and they will be added to Qualcomm Ventures’ portfolio.
Qualcomm, for instance, is one of the financial backers of Graviton Inc., a 1999 start-up headed by Solomon D. Trujillo, former chairman and chief executive of U S West Inc.
