Indian startups have huge potential to be commercially viable and scalable: Paulson
HYDERABAD: In a bid to strengthen the Indian start-up ecosystem, US-headquartered chipmaker Qualcomm has dedicated $150 million.
“The Indian IT and engineering talent has high maturity levels and startups in this space also exhibit the same maturity. Startups are coming with innovative ideas and solutions in the country and we have been actively supporting them. Our aim is to identify, handhold, mentor and fund startups with innovate solutions,” Qualcomm India president Larry Paulson told Express, after announcing the third edition of ‘Qualcomm Design in India’ program in Hyderabad on Saturday. Acccording to him, the Indian startup ecosystem has a lot of potential to come up with commercially viable and globally scalable startups.
Under the ‘Qualcomm Design in India’ 2018 program, about 15 startups focusing on fintech, agritech, meditech, rural IOT, biometrics and smart infrastructure will be selected and mentored by Qualcomm. These startups will also be provided access to Qualcomm labs at Bangalore and Hyderabad. While, initially, these startups will be offered $10,000 to work on their ideas, startups coming with commercially viable and scalable models will be provided with upto $75,000 to enter the market.
With disruptive tech like AI, machine learning, IOT are taking on the IT industry across the globe, Paulson noted that it has had the history of affecting some jobs. Likewise, disruptive technology will also create new opportunities for Indian startups. “We are open to support the startups addressing local problems using tech,” Paulson noted.