The Biggest Party in India!
Qualcomm invests $97m in Reliance Jio, hours Google announced it would ship $10 billion. Facebook had dropped some $5.7 billion already. Amazon continues to ship cash to India. And Walmart’s pen has not dried up. Vista Equity Partners is not left out. People, #India is having a great party of a generation. America goes India! Samuel explains this new party.
Qualcomm has thrown its full weight behind Reliance Jio with $97 million investment equity to acquire 0.15% stake in the Indian telecom operator.
Reliance Jio has been ambitious in its quest to dominate the telecom industry in India. Its agility has attracted a lot of investment interests. It has raised more than $15.7 billion in four years, with Facebook being the highest stakeholder with $5.7 billion followed by Vista Equity Partners and Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund who staked $1.5 billion respectively.
Qualcomm has become the latest to join the army of investors under Reliance Jio’s command. Qualcomm said its aim is to help Jio platforms “roll out advanced 5G infrastructure and services for Indian customers.”
Update: Google just joined Jio club, TechCrunch newsletter reports.
Another giant tech company has invested in India’s largest telecom, following Facebook’s investment a couple of months ago. Reliance Jio has raised about $20.2 billion in the past four months — more than the entire Indian startup ecosystem raised last year. Google and Reliance Jio will also be working together to develop low-cost Android smartphones.
“Getting technology into the hands of more people is a big part of Google’s mission,” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai. “Together we are excited to rethink, from the ground up, how millions of users in India can become owners of smartphones.”
Perhaps the diaspora need to invest back home beyond send cash for the upkeep of relatives. If we can have 3 Tekedias focusing on other area, we may be able to command attention like India.
