Qualcomm, Accel back India-China IoT player Borqs
Qualcomm Ventures and Accel Partners India have co-led a new round of funding worth $10 million for Borqs, an India-China venture that develops internet-of-things (IoT) devices.
Borqs, which is headquartered in Beijing with R&D centers in Bangalore and Beijing, was founded in 2007. The company works with internet-connected device manufacturers to design and develop chips, smart devices and IoT software solutions. Its customers include SoftBank, Vodafone, Qualcomm, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Huawei.
In December, Borqs announced a reverse merger with NASDAQ-listed investment firm Pacific Special Acquisition in a deal worth $303 million. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of April.
Karthee Madasamy, managing director at Qualcomm, told The Economic Times that the investment in Borqs will help Qualcomm create innovative 4G phone design through collaborations with Indian and global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
“Borqs has a great set of customers and delivers end-to-end IoT solutions platform. Our partnership with Borqs will fuel greater cooperation among our portfolio companies around the globe,” added Shekhar Kirani, a partner at Accel.
According to AVCJ Research, Borqs raised a $7 million Series A round of funding in 2007 from GSR Ventures and KPCB, and a $17.4 million Series B round in 2009 led by Keytone Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners. In 2011, Intel Capital invested an undisclosed sum in the company.
The latest funding round will be used to improve Borqs’ engineering capabilities for the development of autonomous products.
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