Qualcomm steps up search for smart grid startups

With its 21 August deadline fast approaching, chip maker Qualcomm is stepping up its efforts to identify promising clean tech startups as part of its QPrize investment competition.

The company's investment arm, Qualcomm Ventures, is offering four $100,000 prizes to technology startups in North America, Europe, China and India, with a further $150,000 up for grabs for the eventual global winner.

The winners of the regional investments are to be announced over the next two months, with the global winner scheduled to be unveiled towards the end of the year.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Keith Muhart, senior marketing manager at Qualcomm Ventures, said a wide-range startup developing wireless technology could submit a business plan for consideration as part of the competition, but he added that there would be a particular focus on clean technologies.

"There is so much interest in technologies which help to cut emissions from both a legislative and a customer perspective that we are seeing a low of investment momentum in the sector," he said.

The company is particularly interested in clean tech startups that use the 3G wireless network for which Qualcomm provides technology, according to Gil Demeter, senior financial analyst at Qualcomm Ventures.

"As a general thesis, any clean technology that pushes the use of 3G wireless would be of real interest," he said. "There is a range of areas where the technologies overlap, such as with wireless smart grids and smart meters, wireless energy, and energy management systems."