Qualcomm launches venture investment contest for start-ups

Qualcomm has launched its QPrize 2012 international venture investment competition to identify and fund the industry’s early-stage technology companies. The Qualcomm Ventures QPrize competition is open to entrepreneurs across China, India, Israel, Korea, North America, Western Europe and, new this year, Brazil and Eastern Europe. One finalist from each region will be awarded USD 100,000 (EUR100,000 for Europe finalists) in convertible note financing from Qualcomm as seed funding and will be invited to compete against other regional finalists in the QPrize Grand Prize competition. The grand prize winner will receive an additional USD 150,000 of convertible note funding. The deadline to submit business plans for most regions is 17 August. Qualcomm Ventures will select up to eight finalists from the eight contest markets. Entrants’ submitted business plans will be evaluated by a panel of experts based on the merits of the technology innovation, its market potential, the company’s management capacities and the attainability of the proposal’s financial projections. The Qualcomm Ventures QPrize competition is now open for submissions and details, including candidate eligibility and submission guidelines, are available at qprize.com.