Qualcomm Ventures launches QPrize Business Plan competition

MUMBAI, INDIA: Qualcomm Inc. has launched a global business plan competition to promote innovation in the wireless industry. The Qualcomm Ventures QPrize competition is open to entrepreneurs in North America, Europe, China and India, and will provide US$550,000 in total seed funding to help entrepreneurs transform their innovative business plans into reality.

“Many of tomorrow’s great technology innovations are being developed by small companies, entrepreneurs and university students,” said Nagraj Kashyap, vice president of Qualcomm Ventures. “This competition is designed to provide initial financial support to help bring their ideas into the market.”

“Qualcomm continues to make R&D investments in India and, through Qualcomm Ventures, provides early-stage funding to innovative Indian start-ups in the wireless space,” said Kanwalinder Singh, senior vice president of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm India and South Asia. “QPrize is an additional initiative to identify and strengthen novel business ideas while in the concept stage. We look forward to spirited participation from Indian entrepreneurs and hope to move their ideas toward commercial reality by extending initial mentoring and financial support.”

The Qualcomm Ventures QPrize competition is open to international entrants whose business plans accelerate wireless 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 July 31, 2009. From the pool of competing entries, Qualcomm Ventures will select one semi-finalist for each of the four contest markets: North America, Europe, China and India.

These four semi-finalists will each receive US$100,000 of convertible note funding from Qualcomm Ventures and will be invited to the Qualcomm Ventures CEO Summit in San Diego, to compete for the Grand Prize. The Grand Prize winner will receive an additional US$150,000 of convertible note funding, for a total prize of US$250,000 in venture financing. Key sponsors and partners for the QPrize competition include DLA Piper and Plug and Play Tech Center.