Qualcomm to Invest in Four Chinese Tech Startups

Qualcomm Incorporated announced today it would invest US$40 million into four Chinese tech startups, Chukong Technologies, 7Invensun, inPlug and Unisound, as well as the China venture fund of Walden International. The move is part of a US$150 million investment plan for the Chinese tech market announced by Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf in Beijing this July.

Chukong Technologies is a leading mobile game and game engine developer, 7Invensun develops eye- and head-tracking technology, inPlug is a smart home gadget maker, and Unisound develops speech recognition and natural-language processing services.

The investment in Walden International will go to China-based semiconductor companies, or companies in related sectors, according to Qualcomm.

Before its involvement with the four startups ,the US chip giant had invested in two other Chinese  companies, Wowokid, an English-learning service for pre-school kids, and Boohee, a fitness service.

Five years ago Qualcomm Ventures introduced QPrize, a seed investment competition, to China. Some investees such as Wowokid are graduates of program.

Editing by Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues)