Qualcomm, Microsoft join forces on QPrize

Qualcomm and Microsoft will jointly organize the third edition of Qualcomm Ventures QPrize competition in India. This competition identifies the most promising early-stage technology companies in India. And the winner will receive US$ 150,000 funding from Qualcomm.

As per the alliance, Microsoft will provide US$25,000 for the second prize winner of QPrize in India and sign up the shortlisted applicants to its BizSpark program while the finalists would be considered for BizSpark Plus program.

The QPrize competition is open to entrepreneurs across China, India, Israel, Korea, North America, Western Europe, Brazil and Eastern Europe. Applications for business plan are sought before August 17th, 2012. "From the pool of competing entries, Qualcomm Ventures will select one first prize winner of the QPrize India competition who will receive US$100,000 of convertible note funding from Qualcomm. The QPrize India winner will then be eligible to compete against other regional finalists in the QPrize Grand Finals competition for an additional US$150,000 in convertible note funding to help transform his or her innovative business plan into reality," said a release.

“India is at a tipping point where strong talent, emerging Angel investors and VCs, and easy access to global markets are all coming together to foster an exciting and vibrant startup ecosystem,” said Harish Vaidyanathan, Director of Evangelism at Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. He added, “We are happy to join with Qualcomm on the QPrize competition, which is aimed at driving innovation in early stage startups and encouraging budding entrepreneurs to think Big.”