I don’t post things like this very often but as it seems like it could help a few startups out there here goes. Let me know if you’d like to hear more about these kinds of schemes or not and I’ll give it some thought. There’s a fine line with this kind of post, but I’m up for anything promoting that helps the startups scene in Europe in the right way.
Qualcomm Ventures Europe is running something called The Qprize Competition: There’s $100k prize money for a European startup, plus the opportunity to compete with the winner from India, China and the US to win a further $150k, for a total of $250k funding. They’re targeting very early stage companies, although it’s “buyer beware” in terms of what kind of pound of flesh they want form the winner.
QPrize is a new global investment program with a (fairly low, it has to be said) $500,000 early-stage fnd for external companies and non-employee entrepreneurs. It is an International Business Plan Competition, with one semi-finalist for North America, Europe, China and India. Each semi-finalist will each receive $100,000 funding and will be invited to San Diego, California to compete for the Grand Prize. The Grand Prize winner will receive an additional US$150,000, for a total prize of US$250,000. Companies selected are those who haven’t raised any institutional funding.
The key sectors are: Consumer/enterprise applications and services Communication devices Semiconductor and component technologies Mobile platforms Digital media and content Healthcare technologies and services CleanTech.
The final date for application is July 31st, and all applications should be submitted via the QPrize website.