Qualcomm has announced the launch of the Snapdragon Metaverse Fund, which will basically see $100 million handed out to those wishing to build something metaverse-y. Yep.
Earlier this month, as part of its Mobile World Congress announcements, Qualcomm declared that it will be powering the metaverse, in whatever form it ends up taking.
“We believe that the next version of computing will be spatial computing, which many people now are calling the metaverse,” Qualcomm product VP Mike Roberts said during a press briefing.
“Whatever the metaverse ends up looking like, we are going to be powering it.”
But this wasn’t the first time the company talked about this digital realm – you may remember Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon last year stating this was the direction his company was taking, by saying: “If you are going to spend time in the metaverse, Snapdragon is going to be your ticket”.
So back to the announcement.
The Snapdragon Metaverse Fund, Qualcomm says, was established to invest up to $100 million in “developers and companies building unique, immersive XR experiences, as well as associated core augmented reality and related artificial intelligence technologies”.
The fund plans to deploy capital through a combination of venture investments in companies by its investment arm, Qualcomm Ventures, and also via a grant program to developers. Areas considered for the funding are of course XR experiences such as gaming, health and wellness, media, entertainment, education and enterprise.
“We deliver the ground-breaking platform technology and experiences that will enable both the consumer and the enterprise to build and engage in the metaverse and allow the physical and digital worlds to be connected. Qualcomm is the ticket to the metaverse,” Amon added on Tuesday.
“Through the Snapdragon Metaverse Fund, we look forward to empowering developers and companies of all sizes as they push boundaries of what’s possible as we enter into this new generation of spatial computing.”
I guess the metaverse isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
If you want to learn more, head over here. Applications for the Snapdragon Metaverse Fund will officially open in June.