MC INTERVIEW India can offer blueprint for affordable AI, says Qualcomm Ventures India MD

Qualcomm, Ventures India MD Rama Bethmangalkar.

• Qualcomm Ventures commits $150M to India's deep tech startups
• Focus on affordable, on-device AI for India's population scale
• India aims to be a global model for scalable, low-cost AI

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Powered by AI’s rapid evolution, India’s startup ecosystem is undergoing a shift , from scale-first consumer apps to science-led deep tech ventures, a transition Qualcomm Ventures India is backing with a renewed $150 million commitment, managing director Rama Bethmangalkar has said.

Given the intensive capital requirement of AI infrastructure and semiconductors, the company expect $150 million to be deployed much faster than the previous fund cycles, told Moneycontrol in an interview, adding first three investments have already been made under the new fund.

AI in India will not mirror the West. It will be cheaper, on-device and built for population scale, which can make India the leader in affordable AI adoption, Bethmangalkar said. Edited excerpts of the interview:

Why is India strategically important for Qualcomm Ventures and how has your investment thesis evolved over the past two decades?

Qualcomm Ventures has been in India for the last 18-plus years. This is something that Qualcomm feels is very important at the corporate level — to be able to sense innovation that is happening in startups across the world, across technologies. So that we can learn ourselves and, at the same time, add value to the startups. What technologies we develop — that’s basically why the group exists.

We’ve been fairly successful over the last 25 years — over 300 companies invested in, with around 150 active at any point in time.

In India, we have made multiple investments. MapmyIndia was our first investment here and that was also our first IPO exit in India. So as you see, Indian startups are maturing. We are seeing a lot more companies getting to scale, willing to list, and also return capital — not just to Qualcomm but to more investors. In some sense, this is a maturing phase of Indian startups.

Now it is about disseminating products and technologies like any other geography. India will be at the forefront of creating products and technologies every day. We have already seen that across many sectors in tech and others where we have leapfrogged several decades of development. And I think in AI, this is a perfect moment for India to be there at the same time as other major countries.

It’s been over 10 years since your $150 million India fund, do you plan to increase the corpus?

I think you have seen the evolution of the venture ecosystem itself. What used to be seed rounds are not seed anymore. What used to be Series A and B are no longer the same as before. So if you look at the pace of investment, we’re going to be deploying far more capital sooner.

Even in our previous fund, we had a certain timeframe to invest. We deployed it ahead of schedule — more than a year earlier. Given how the industry and startups now require more capital to innovate faster and go to market faster, we certainly expect to see this new $150 million commitment deployed sooner than typical fund cycles.

Qualcomm is committing another $150 million for the Indian market. Would you like to elaborate on this commitment?

We’ve been investing in India since 2007. Back then, India’s startup ecosystem was just getting started. Smartphone penetration was negligible. Internet penetration was around 30 million users, primarily using feature phones for calling. If you recall, value-added services revolved around cricket, Bollywood and astrology.

Around 2010, 3G was introduced in India and Qualcomm was at the forefront of the smartphone revolution. The combination of high-speed internet and smartphones — capable of doing computing on the device — gave enormous power to developers, businesses and consumers.

That led to leapfrogging from feature phones directly to smartphones. Then we saw the innovation boom — direct-to-consumer businesses such as ride-hailing, food delivery and e-commerce — all built on the backbone of 3G and later 4G. Jio’s rollout changed the game by bringing connectivity across the country.

We innovated in important areas like fintech, digital payments and identity. Deep tech innovation had started — companies like ideaForge and MapmyIndia were doing strong work — but the limelight was on consumer internet startups.

Now, from 2015 to 2025, we have come to a stage where fundamental innovation — requiring science, engineering, product-building, and capacity creation — is gaining prominence. Many founders of new-age deep-tech companies previously worked in consumer internet startups and are now building deep-tech ventures.

We are a deep-tech company. We saw this shift back in 2007. Today, the timing is right for India and that’s why we are recommitting another $150 million for startups.

The world has changed. AI is a huge force multiplier. AI was already present on smartphones for many tasks, even if we didn’t call it AI. Now AI form factors are expanding — it could be in cameras, automotive systems, payments, robotics, PCs or next-generation smart devices. This is how we see AI evolving, delivering new use cases and value to Indian consumers.

Is there a timeline for deploying the new $150 million commitment?

We’ve already started — about three investments so far. Our cheque sizes have increased compared to the last fund. Given the capital requirements in AI infrastructure and semiconductors, we expect the $150 million to be deployed much faster than the previous vintage. We don’t have rigid constraints on cheque sizes — we can go up or down depending on the merits of the startup. So yes, the pace of investment will be significantly faster.

How will you select startups for investment? Will geopolitical factors, supply chain diversification, or the AI revolution influence your decisions?

Some things never change — high-quality founders, their vision, ideas and execution, that remains the primary criterion. Beyond that, geopolitical and supply chain considerations are increasingly relevant. There has been growing interest in sourcing critical components from India. We take this seriously.

For example, we invested in Cavli Wireless, one of seven companies globally designing advanced cellular modules. The company is fabless, designs in India and manufactures in India — serving Indian customers in automotive and IoT and also exporting globally.

This trend has accelerated in recent years. One of Qualcomm’s strengths is our presence in over 190 countries. We help startups expand beyond India and connect them to global supply chains and customers. That’s an important part of our fund thesis.

Are there gaps in India’s AI ecosystem compared to countries such the US and China?

The US and China had a head start in AI due to capital and infrastructure. But over time, gaps close. India has shown it can leapfrog — from feature phones to smartphones, from low credit card penetration to fintech innovation.

AI requires capital, talent and education. While capital availability may differ, India has entrepreneurship and innovation strength. With 1.4 billion people and 25 official languages, India presents unique AI use cases — multilingual, localised, personalised applications.

India can apply AI to solve uniquely Indian challenges. I believe India will catch up in areas like robotics and humanoids as well. That’s why this funding is important — to bring Indian AI entrepreneurs to the forefront of global innovation.

How deep does Qualcomm Ventures go in partnerships with portfolio companies?

We work very closely with our portfolio companies. For example, with IdeaForge, we helped stabilise Wi-Fi connectivity for drones moving at high speeds — 30–40 yards per second. It required specialised engineering.

With Cavli, Qualcomm engineering teams support design reviews to ensure products meet global customer requirements.

Beyond that, our business units and executive leadership support go-to-market initiatives. We may combine a startup’s technology with Qualcomm’s existing technology and jointly approach customers, giving them confidence that both Qualcomm and the startup stand behind the product.

Any thoughts on India's AI startup ecosystem?

The timing is right for startups in India. The timing is right for AI in India, and the timing is right for Qualcomm in India. One important point: AI in India will be different from AI elsewhere.

India needs affordable AI. The only way to make AI affordable is through on-device AI, where processing happens locally rather than entirely in the cloud. That improves privacy, security, and most importantly, cost.

When AI runs on a device — whether a phone, PC, car, or IoT device — the cost comes down and usage goes up. Consumers benefit.  India does not need extremely expensive AI solutions. We need affordable AI at population scale. We saw this with smartphones and the digital payments stack. Once technology becomes affordable, adoption accelerates. India can show the world how to make AI affordable at scale.

Disclosure: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.