by MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – QUALCOMM has announced the completion of the first year of the Africa Innovation Platform.
This is a suite of mentorship, education and training programmes created to support the development of the continent’s emerging technology ecosystem.
The platform offered by the American multinational corporation has provided resources and support for local universities, ten small-to-medium sized startups and grant participants.
Said to be the first of its kind in Africa, this equity-free mentorship programme identified promising early-stage startups keen on applying advanced connectivity and processing technologies to innovative end-to-end systems solutions, including hardware, and provided these companies with business coaching, access to engineering consultation for product development and guidance on protecting intellectual property.
Beneficiaries have been exposed to Qualcomm engineers and its suite for mobile platforms and technologies, including 4G, 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning.
The inaugural cohort includes some startups from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda.
The Africa Innovation Platform comprises the Qualcomm Africa University Relations Programme, Qualcomm Academy and Qualcomm Wireless Reach Social Impact Funds as well as the Patent Filing Incentive.
“With emerging technologies in 5G, AI, robotics, IoT, and multimedia, we are seeing a new era of invention,” said Alex Rogers, President, Qualcomm Technology Licensing and Global Affairs.
“Through initiatives like the Qualcomm Innovation Platform, we are enabling companies around the world to build on our foundational technologies and join us in finding solutions to the world’s biggest challenges,” Rogers said.
Applications for the 2024 Qualcomm Make in Africa startup mentorship program are now open.
– CAJ News