Qualcomm Ventures Announces the QPrize Venture InvestmentCompetition in India
Qualcomm Incorporated today announced the third edition of its venture investment competition in India to identify the industry’s most promising early-stage technology companies. The Qualcomm Ventures QPrize™ competition was first launched in 2009 to promote innovation in the technology industry and is managed by Qualcomm’s venture investment arm, Qualcomm Ventures.The Qualcomm Ventures QPrize competition is open to start-ups whose business plans accelerate technology development in the following business sectors:
- Consumer/enterprise applications and services
- Communication devices
- Semiconductor and component technologies
- Mobile platforms
- Digital media and content
- Healthcare technologies and services
- CleanTech
The deadline for business plan submissions is August 17, 2012. From the pool of competing entries, Qualcomm Ventures will select one winner of the QPrize India competition who will receive US$100,000 of convertible note funding from Qualcomm Incorporated. The QPrize India winner will then be eligible compete against other regional finalists in the QPrize Grand Finals competition for an additional US$150,000 in convertible note funding. Sponsors and partners for the QPrize India competition include Mumbai Angels and YourStory.in.
Last year’s winner of Qualcomm Ventures India QPrize competition, Bengaluru-based company Reverie Language Technologies, provides technology and solutions for local language (Indian, Perso-arabic and other South Asian complex scripts) processing of digital media in mobile and other devices.
Qualcomm Ventures, the venture investment group of Qualcomm Incorporated, was launched in the United States in November 2000 with an initial US$500 million allocation. Qualcomm Ventures’ aim is to support Qualcomm’s mission of enabling and fostering 3G and wireless Internet markets through investments in privately owned startup ventures. These investments include companies focusing on wireless communication technologies and products serving consumer, enterprise and vertical markets worldwide. After successfully expanding its activities in Korea, Japan, China and Europe, Qualcomm Ventures set up its India presence in 2008 with a direct equity investment in Tessolve. It has also invested in Kirusa and MapMyIndia.
Stay tuned for the QPrize competition application form, eligibility and submission guidelines on YourStory.in soon!
