Jio Platforms, the telecom and digital arm of Reliance Industries are still attracting heavyweight tech investors. This time Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of Qualcomm Incorporated (who also build all the Snapdragon chips on your phone and an industry leader in wireless technologies) has announced an investment of Rs 730 crore in Jio Platforms. It would give Qualcomm a 0.15 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms.
The Rs 730 crore investment Jio Platforms would take the whole companies equity value to Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value to Rs 5.16 lakh crore. This investment from Qualcomm would support Jio Platforms ambition to build and rollout advanced 5G infrastructure and services.
Till date, the company has attracted twelve leading global investors and thirteen investments. The investment came from Facebook, Silver Lake (2 investment), Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton, PIF, Intel and finally Qualcomm.
As you may already know, Qualcomm is the world’s leading wireless technology innovator and the driving force behind the development, launch and expansion of 5G. Qualcomm Ventures is a global fund that invests in pioneering companies across the wireless ecosystem in areas like 5G, AI, IoT, automotive, networking and enterprise. They already have a presence in India with investment in companies that address key domestic issues from Dairy, Transportation to Defense, and build world-class products for India and the world market.
“With our shared goal of extending the benefits of digital connectivity to everyone and everything, we anticipate Jio Platforms will deliver a new set of services and experiences to Indian consumers. Jio Platforms has led the digital revolution in India through its extensive digital and technological capabilities… As an enabler and investor with a longstanding presence in India, we look forward to playing a role in Jio’s vision to further revolutionize India’s digital economy.“, said Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated in a press statement.
In the last three-and-a-half-year Reliance Jio has disrupted the entire telecom and digital ecosystem of India. With cheap data plans, the telco has gathered more than 388 million subscribers, thus wearing the crown of top telecom operator in India. The telco has built its world-class eco-system with services like JioTV (live tv streaming), JioSaavn (music streaming), JioPay (payment service), JioFibre broadband, LYF smartphones and smart devices. The best part here is that the telco has been offering these devices, applications, content and services at affordable tariffs as part of Jio Digital Life.
Moving ahead, Jio has also entered the retail sector with the launch of JioMart. With a backbone of more than 7K stores spread across India, JioMart is slowly pushing itself to more cities and regions.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of RIL, said “Today, I am delighted to welcome Qualcomm Ventures as an investor in Jio Platforms. Qualcomm has been a valued partner for several years and we have a shared vision of connecting everything by building a robust and secure wireless and digital network and extending the benefits of digital connectivity to everyone in India. As a world leader in wireless technologies, Qualcomm offers deep technology know-how and insights that will help us deliver on our 5G vision and the digital transformation of India for both people and enterprises,“.