Qualcomm bets on the metaverse push with a $100 million fund

Qualcomm has announced a $100 million dollar Snapdragon Metaverse Fund, that will invest up to $100 million in developers and companies building extended reality (XR), augmented reality (AR) and related artificial intelligence technologies.
The fund will deploy capital through a combination of venture investments Qualcomm Ventures in leading companies as well as a Qualcomm Technologies grant program for the developer ecosystem building XR experiences in the fields of gaming, health and wellness, media, entertainment, education and enterprise.
“We deliver the groundbreaking 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,” said Criano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated, in a press statement.
Applications for the Snapdragon Metaverse Fund will open in July and the company is yet to release more details.
In the same announcement, Qualcomm also announced its collaboration with Japanese gaming company Square Enix to explore XR experiences for the latter’s intellectual properties. Square Enix is known for video game franchises like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest but the company also has merchandise, arcade gaming facilities and comic book publishing businesses.

Square Enix’s Advanced Technology Division (ATD) will work on the tech giant’s Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer platform to build ‘new immersive gaming experiences’.
“We have been investing in XR and look forward to building on Snapdragon Spaces. In particular, we think the time is right with XR to innovate on games of a classic genre we are especially known for and look forward to sharing them with the world to further our mission to help spread happiness across the globe,” said Square Enix technical director Ben Taylor.
Qualcomm has already been collaborating with companies like Epic Games, Unity, Oppo, Lenovo, Motorola, Xiaomi and others on its Snapdragon Spaces XR platform. The company also already has a Snapdragon Spaces Pathfinder Program.