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Startup? Enter Qualcomm Ventures's QPrize today. $550k up for grabs.

Does your business accelerate wireless technology development in any of the following sectors?

– Consumer/enterprise applications and services
– Communication devices
– Semiconductor and component technologies
– Mobile platforms
– Digital media and content
– Healthcare technologies and services
– CleanTech

Yes?

Good.

I’ve got some cash for you.

Well, more precisely, Qualcomm Ventures does. The 800lb Gorilla of the wireless industry is giving back to the community in the form of the inaugural half million dollar ‘QPrize‘.

There are four lots of $100k available for each winning company — and a grand prize of an extra $150k, so one lucky company will take away $250k.

That’s some really good seed financing — or a super shot in the arm for an existing startup.

I’m really pleased Qualcomm Ventures have extended the deadline as there are a number of companies I know who should definitely get stuck in. This isn’t one of those things only reserved for the Silicon Valley initiated — it’s real. I’ve met the chaps behind the QPrize and interviewed them (there’s video coming) and they were very direct about the fact that the winners could be absolutely *anyone*.

If you’re a startup, you’re looking for money — and you believe you’ve got some good stuff, get on with it. Seriously, take a few minutes, fill out the entry form and see where it takes you. It is a ONE page form.

And the beers are on you if you win, right?

The competition is open to any entrepreneurs from the following geographies: North America, Europe, China and India.

I’d like to get back to the ONE PAGE form thing. This is really straight forward. You fill in a few contact details and then you’ve got to give a 255-character description and attach your business plan thus:

You should probably already have some kind of business plan to hand, right? Or a decent PowerPoint deck?

The European semifinals are in London — count on MIR to attend and cheer on the European entries.

The web address you need:

http://www.qualcomm.com/ventures/qprize/index.html

And if you need a final kick to put this on your to-do list for later today, the grand prize winner gets to go to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress absolutely free, to compete as a finalist in the GSMA Global Mobile Awards – Mobile Innovation Grand Prix. Nice.

The deadline for entries is August 21. Don’t leave it anywhere near that long though.