LONDON – Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of mobile technology company Qualcomm Inc. (San Diego, Calif.), has launched its third annual QPrize seed investment competition by opening it up to eight regions.
The competition is open to any entrepreneur or group of persons over 18 years of age and that have secured less than $2 million in funding. It is being organized as heats for the following eight regions: Brazil, China, India, Israel, North America, South Korea, Western and Eastern Europe.
Each regional winner will secure $100,000 (100,000 euros in Europe) in convertible note funding and the opportunity to participate in a final competition to determine an overall best startup, which offers an additional $150,000 in funding. Qualcomm Ventures said that all of its first year (2010) winners went on to secure Series A funding and that nearly two-thirds of second year (2011) winners have secured institutional investment.
To take part interested parties have to submit their business plan to Qualcomm Ventures by Aug. 17, 2012. No non-disclosure agreements are possible so sensitive material should be left out of the plan, Qualcomm Ventures state on their website.
Qualcomm Ventures began funding companies in 2000, with a $500-million fund for strategic investments in early-stage high-technology ventures. Since then Qualcomm Ventures has funded numerous technology-based companies and set up a $100-million fund in China and a 100-million euro fund in Europe.
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