Enabling the deep-tech and innovation ecosystem in India

Welcome to Ecosystem Enablement, where we highlight key activities Qualcomm is driving around the world to help broader technology ecosystems flourish and the impact our programs are having in different global regions.

For nearly three decades, Qualcomm¹ has helped drive India’s growth and adoption of wireless technology.  As the world’s second-largest cellular market and home to a deep bench of talented Qualcomm engineers, India is deeply rooted in Qualcomm’s spirit. What you may not know, however, is how this relationship is reciprocated through Qualcomm’s commitment to India. Our enablement programs have a deep-tech ecosystem, including:

• Supporting over 100 early-stage startups in multiple deep-tech areas.
• Mentoring women-led startups.
• Providing guidance to post-graduate researchers at India’s top universities.
• Training thousands of students and professionals in the areas of advanced wireless technologies and intellectual property law.

Read on to learn more about how Qualcomm’s initiatives continue to foster India’s digital transformation.

Qualcomm Design in India Challenge (QDIC) for Startups

Launched in 2016, the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge (QDIC) is India’s longest running hardware-focused, equity-free startup incubator program. QDIC focuses on enabling deep-tech startups to develop innovative products while learning to protect their intellectual property rights (IPR). The program offers technology training, lab support, business coaching, IPR mentoring, and business development assistance, in addition to seed funding, monetary awards, and financial incentives for patent filing. 

To date, QDIC has incubated 89 startups in fields like smart infrastructure, health-tech, robotics and drones, and automotive. These startups have collectively raised over $250M in funding, produced over 25 commercial products, filed more than 350 domestic and international patents (including approximately 10% IoT-related patents filed in India by startups), and saw seven successful M&A exits. QDIC will incubate 12 more startups in 2023.

Representative Startups in Key Technology Fields
 

Advanced Technology Laboratory for Startups and Licensees

The Qualcomm Innovation Lab in Bangalore provides state-of-the-art lab equipment and engineering expertise for development and testing of new products using 5G, radio frequency (RF), artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and other technologies. Over 100 Indian startups have used the lab to test and develop their ideas. The lab has also enabled the design of over 30 4G and 5G products from Qualcomm’s India-based patent licensees.  

One particular highlight of this lab is a state-of-the-art 5G Mobile Edge Compute (MEC) private network that has been used by many startups and licensees to build their wireless MEC applications and services. Five startups were able to showcase their 5G-enabled services at the India Mobile Congress 2022, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official launch of commercial 5G services in India.

Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship (QIF) academic research program

The QIF program is an annual fellowship for Indian Master’s & PhD students with 1:1 research mentorship from Qualcomm employees. Areas of research include:

• Advanced Semiconductor Electronics, and Process Engineering.
• Advances in Communication Theory and Techniques.
• Autonomous driving.
• Machine Learning, including ML Compilers.
• SoC Processor Architecture and Design, Multimedia Computing, Secure System Design.

Since 2016, the program has awarded over 75 fellowships (collectively valued at approximately $1M USD) and led to articles in more than 30 top tier research journal publications in India.

L2Pro India: Learn to protect your intellectual property (IP) course

L2PRO is an e-learning platform designed to promote intellectual property awareness and enable inventors to help bring innovations quickly to market using various IP tools. The program explains IP domains, patents, copyrights (including software), trademarks, IP considerations in company business models, and research and development (R&D) value-driving efforts. 

To date, over 5,000 students have taken the L2Pro course. The course has also featured in multiple IPR workshops held across India.

Qualcomm Women Entrepreneurship India Network (QWEIN)

Qualcomm launched the QWEIN program in 2020 to provide mentorship for women entrepreneurs in technology and help them realize the full potential of their businesses.

QWEIN focuses on women-founded early-stage tech startups and offers 1:1 mentorship from senior Qualcomm leadership for women founders, in addition to masterclasses covering business product strategy, IP strategy, marketing, leadership and more. The program also provides opportunities to connect with potential system integrators, customers and venture capitalists to further their business and scale prospects.

To date, QWEIN has incubated 25 women-led startups and will incubate 11 more in 2023.

Qualcomm Semiconductor Mentorship Program (QSMP) 

Launched as part of the 2022 Semicon India conference, QSMP offers mentorship to semiconductor startups from their design phase through commercialization. Startups receive 1:1 mentorship from Qualcomm senior leadership, as well as masterclasses covering semiconductor design topics, pitch clinics, IPR workshops, go-to-market strategy and more. Selected startups also have the opportunity to connect with system integrators, potential customers, investors and venture capitalists.

Continuing India’s digital transformation

Qualcomm is more than just the world’s leading mobile technology innovator — we take pride in helping grow the entire ecosystem of cutting-edge wireless and AI technologies. Just as we make long strides in our R&D efforts to drive leading contributions to wireless technologies, we make long-term investments to drive tech ecosystem growth around the world by investing in STEM talent, universities, startups, operators, government initiatives and more. 

As Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon reaffirmed during a meeting with PM Modi in Oct 2022, Qualcomm is strongly committed to supporting India’s digital transformation and the development of India’s domestic technology innovation capabilities. Through our programs listed above and many more, Qualcomm is proud to help the broader tech ecosystem in India thrive.

1: QUALCOMM Incorporated and its subsidiaries are collectively referred to as “Qualcomm.”