Qualcomm Ventures Kicks Off Second Annual QPrize Competition to Find the Next Big Wireless Innovations

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), today at DEMO Fall 2010 launched its second annual international venture investment competition to identify and fund the industry's most promising early-stage technology companies.  The Qualcomm Ventures QPrize™ competition is open to entrepreneurs in North America, Europe, China, South Korea, Israel and India and will provide up to US$750,000 in total seed funding to help entrepreneurs transform their innovative business plans into reality.

"Last year's QPrize featured such an exciting variety of new ideas that we decided to expand the competition into two additional regions – South Korea and Israel," said Nagraj Kashyap, vice president of Qualcomm Ventures.  "New mobile capabilities are being imagined and designed by creative entrepreneurs throughout the world.  The QPrize competition helps these companies accelerate their ideas and get them to market more quickly."

QPrize spotlights up-and-coming industry leaders that have the potential to shape the future of wireless communications and significantly impact their regional markets, eventually growing into profitable companies.  Qualcomm has teamed with DEMO, the technology industry's premier launchpad for emerging technologies, to give QPrize finalists additional exposure within the venture community.  QPrize finalists will be invited to DEMO Spring 2011 where they will compete for the grand prize and receive an exhibit in the DEMO pavillion.  The grand prize winner will also receive stage time to present their technology to an audience of venture investors, news reporters, bloggers and other DEMO attendees.

The deadline for business plan submissions is December 14, 2010.  From the pool of competing entries, Qualcomm Ventures will select up to six finalists from the six contest markets.  The finalists will each receive US$100,000 (euro 100,000 in Europe) of convertible note funding from Qualcomm.  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.  Entrants' submitted business plans are evaluated by a panel of experts based on the merits of the technology innovation, its market potential, the company's management capabilities and the attainability of the proposal's financial projections.

The Qualcomm Ventures QPrize competition is open for submissions.  Additional details including candidate eligibility and submission guidelines are available at www.qprize.com.

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.  For more information, please visit www.qualcomm.com/ventures.

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is the world leader in next-generation mobile technologies.  For 25 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of wireless communications, connecting people more closely to information, entertainment and each other.  Today, Qualcomm technologies are powering the convergence of mobile communications and consumer electronics, making wireless devices and services more personal, affordable and accessible to people everywhere.  For more information, please visit Qualcomm around the Web:

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Qualcomm is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated.  QPrize is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Qualcomm Incorporated