Qualcomm India Private Limited, which is a subsidiary of the Qualcomm group, and the Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), an autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), have announced their plans to collaborate and strengthen India's semiconductor design ecosystem. This collaboration involves Qualcomm providing support to C-DAC in terms of expertise, best practices, cutting-edge technology, intellectual property, tools, and skill development. The goal is to promote Design in India and Make in India initiatives, fostering the development of indigenous System-on-Chips (SoCs) for high-volume products like surveillance IP cameras and Wi-Fi routers.

Under the guidance of MeitY, C-DAC aims to establish the Digital India futureLABS, envisioning a future where the domestic R&D ecosystem is strengthened in specific technology sectors such as Automotive, Compute, Communications, Strategic Electronics, and Industrial Electronics/ IoT. The goal is to build a collaborative Research & Innovation ecosystem, fostering effective partnerships between Indian industry, multinational corporations, startups, and academia. This initiative seeks to catalyze innovation within these identified verticals for the advancement of technology in India.

In addition, Qualcomm and C-DAC intend to renew their collaboration to support Indian semiconductor design startups and encourage innovation in the semiconductor space through the Qualcomm Semiconductor Mentorship Program. Each shortlisted startup is paired with a Qualcomm leader for mentorship on product planning, development, and masterclasses on IPR generation, and scaling up. This collaboration has previously supported 4 startups in their development journey under the Qualcomm Semiconductor Mentorship Program 2022-23.

Savi Soin, President of Qualcomm India said, "India's semiconductor ecosystem is working to create a new supply chain for both domestic and international markets, and Qualcomm is committed to supporting its growth. There is, and will continue to be, a large and growing demand for semiconductors as industries increasingly adopt intelligent, connected technologies and devices. We are excited about the opportunity this presents for Indian semiconductor startups to create domestic solutions, using the design and engineering talent in the country. Qualcomm will help them with the technology and the expertise needed to enable their success".

Magesh, Director General C-DAC said, "With increased digitization across sectors, the semiconductor industry has become crucial for the growth of many other industries. The prevailing global and domestic environments offer new opportunities for both established companies and startups. Qualcomm's mentorship program will help us identify, interact with, and support the scaling-up of the most promising Indian semiconductor startups. In addition, Qualcomm, with its understanding and expertise in SoC development across, mobile, compute, connectivity, IoT and Automotive and enablement efforts towards the Indian technology startup ecosystem will be a valuable addition to our futureLABS initiative".

Having engaged in over 25 years of research and development in India, Qualcomm has played a pivotal role in nurturing the country's technology startup ecosystem since 2016. The Qualcomm Design in India Challenge stands out as Qualcomm's flagship incubation program for hardware startups, providing dedicated engineering support and a cutting-edge laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment and prototype platforms in Bengaluru. In 2020, Qualcomm introduced another startup initiative, the Qualcomm Women Entrepreneur India Network, a mentorship program specifically designed for women-founded startups. Recently, Qualcomm unveiled the expansion of its Chennai Design Centre in Tamil Nadu, which specializes in the advancement of wireless connectivity solutions. This expansion underscores Qualcomm's unwavering commitment to maintaining a leading position in the dynamic field of wireless communications.