Qualcomm and Accel Partners, Jointly Award US$125,000 in Venture Financing
Qualcomm Incorporated, by means of its venture investment arm, Qualcomm Ventures, declared the India finalist in its international Qualcomm Ventures QPrize 2014 venture investment competition. Qualcomm and Accel Partners each contributed US$100,000 for the combined winner and runner-up prizes. Being the winner of the regional finals competition, Demach Software India Private Limited, based in Chennai, will get US$125,000 in venture financing to swell its business.
The company was cherry – picked based on the merits of the technology innovation, followed by its industry potential, the company’s management competences as well as the attainability of the proposal’s financial projections. The victory facilitates Demach Software India Private Limited to move forward in the competition as against other regional champions for an additional US$150,000 in regard to venture financing at the QPrize Global Grand Prize competition, taking place June 9-10, 2014 at Bloomberg’s Next Big Thing Summit in San Francisco, California. Mavin Technologies was conferred US$75,000 in venture financing as the runner-up in the regional finals competition.
Sponsors as well as contributors for the QPrize India 2014 competition comprise Accel Partners, Persistent Systems and One97 Mobility Fund.
The four winners at the India level stand as, viz:-
- QPrize India 2014 winner: Demach Software India Private Limited, Chennai
- QPrize India 2014 Runner-up: Mavin Technologies Private Limited, Gurgaon
- QPrize One97 Winner: LivQuik Technology (India) Private Limited, Mumbai
- QPrize Persistent Winner: CarIQ Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Pune
Demach Software India Private Limited secured the competition with Konotor, an exclusive user engagement platform meant for mobile apps that taps into the influence of in-app messaging.
“The pace of innovation has never been greater. This year’s QPrize finalists are a testament to the type of great ideas that are developing into potentially game changing start-ups,” alleged Karthee Madasamy, managing director, India and Israel of Qualcomm Ventures. Supplementing that – “Demach Software India Private Limited embodies the spirit of entrepreneurship. We congratulate them on their accomplishments and look forward to seeing them in the Grand Prize competition.”
Subrata Mitra, Partner at Accel Partners held that, “At Accel we have collaborated with some of the best seed & early-stage technology companies from India since 2005, many of which have since emerged as category leaders. Likewise, QPrize has successfully identified several high quality early-stage companies. We are excited to work with Qualcomm on this initiative.”
Pratyush Prasanna, Vice President at Paytm purported that, “Mobile phones are fundamentally changing many ways of doing things. We believe payments also will fundamentally change with mobile phones enabling a lot more scenarios. As a company which has its core business as mobile products and mobile payments, we are excited to support the next generation of bleeding edge companies through our participation in the QPrize competition.”
“Technology is at the core of Persistent. Through the Persistent venture fund, we invest in start-up players in our ecosystem and help them define their technology roadmap. We are pleased to support Qualcomm’s initiative of nurturing innovation in India through involvement in the QPrize competition.” Informed Dr. Anand Deshpande, Chairman and Managing Director, Persistent Systems.
Companies competing in the India regional QPrize competition involved, viz:
- Demach Software India Private Limited, Chennai: Konotor – a user engagement platform for mobile apps that taps into the power of in-app messaging.
- Mavin Technologies Private Limited, Gurgaon: facilitates affordable mobile data for prepaid smartphone users in emerging markets by connecting advertisers with targeted consumers on their mobile devices.
- LivQuik Technology (India) Private Limited, Mumbai: QuikWallet, facilitates fast and secure payments on mobile devices.
- CarIQ Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Pune: a connected car platform that offers tailor made services and products that allow users to remotely manage, monitor, and interact with their vehicle.
- QURATER, Bangalore: a customer care solution that enables real-time tracking of complaints, queries and feedback to deliver service management, sales leads and marketing insights that improve customer service, grow the business and build brand advocacy.
- Wooplr Technologies Private Limited, Bangalore: a local shopping app that allows users to browse, discover and buy by connecting them directly to local stores.
- Edsix Brain Lab Private Limited, Chennai: Skill Angels maps and harmonizes academic learning with brain skills through games.
- Spatial Ideas Web Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai: delivers smart, affordable technology solutions to the urban local bodies and government offices to bring transparency, accountability, and efficiency and reduce corruption in core government citizen services.
- CartPerk Technologies pvt Ltd, Bangalore: CartPerk enables CPG brands to run retailer-independent loyalty programs over multiple shopping trips and reward users directly by leveraging their smart phone.
The QPrize 2014 competition received a record number of applications. The competition is open to entrepreneurs across China, Europe, India, Israel, Korea, Latin America besides North America. The goal of the contest is to be able to identify and fund the industry’s next promising, early-stage technology companies. Demach Software India Private Limited will be invited to contend against other regional finalists in the QPrize Grand Finals competition. Additional details on the competition are available at www.qprize.com.