Intel and Qualcomm Infuse Strategic Investments in Jio

In the midst of pandemic, lockdown, and financial teardown, India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani owned Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries becomes top tech company to invest. After the announcement of Facebook's investment in Jio in end of April '20, six American PE investors (SilverLake, Vista, General Atlantic, KKR, TPG and L Catterton), and three companies of Saudi Arabia and UAE would invest in Jio Platforms til middle of June '20.

Around a week back, on June 24th, Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Facebook’s proposed investment in Jio Platforms via its newly formed subsidiary Jaadhu Holdings LLC.
Even after that, funding from Americans do not stop. On July 02, American chipmaker Intel announced to invest in Jio via Intel Captial, the investment arm. The transaction would be Rs 1894.50 cr and that translated into 0.39 %  stake sale of Jio. 

Wendell Brooks, Intel Capital president expressed his excitement, “Jio Platforms’ focus on applying its impressive engineering capabilities to bring the power of low-cost digital services to India aligns with Intel’s purpose of delivering breakthrough technology that enriches lives. We believe digital access and data can transform business and society for the better.”

In the Intel-Jio deal, Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Jio Platforms/Reliance Industries and AZB ＆ Partners and Davis Polk ＆ Wardwell acted as legal counsels.

On 13th July, 2020, San Diego based wirelss technology company Qualcomm Inc announced to invest Rs 730 cr in Jio via its investment arm, Qualcomm Ventures. Qualcomm will acquire 0.15% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis with this investment. Qualcomm tags this investment as a strategic funding to rollout advanced 5G infrastructure and services with Jio to change lives of millions of Indians. 

According to Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated, ''Jio Platforms has led the digital revolution in India through its extensive digital and technological capabilities, and he expects Jio to spearhead the 5G revolution as well. With unmatched speeds and emerging use cases, 5G is expected to transform every industry in the coming years. 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.”

Rajen Vagadia, President - Qualcomm India and SAARC clears the fact this investment is not an exclusive deal, and Qualcomm would invest further even in this sector. 

Qualcomm Ventures already supporting MapMyIndia, Portea, IdeaForge, Bounce, Ninjakart, Shadowfax, and YourStory, among others in India.  

If you can remind, Qualcomm, back in 2010, acquired BWA spectrum in India in 4 circles, to promote LTE over WiMAX on 4G turf. Later they sold the airwaves to Airtel. 

Trivia #2, Qualcomm Ventures’ portfolio company Reverie, which offers a language technology platform, was acquired by Reliance Industries in April 2019.