10/16/2009
c114.net
The financial crisis has had an impact on many venture capital funds, but 3G is providing good opportunities for VCs to explore emerging sectors. “Qualcomm has so far invested in dozens of companies and now still manages 27 companies in four sectors, including the wireless applications, software and services sector; the wireless components and devices sector; the infrastructure sector and the enabling technologies sector,” James Shen, Sr. Director of Qualcomm, said recently. “The financial crisis did not have an impact on Qualcomm’s venture capital. Moreover, 3G has boosted the budding companies’ enthusiasm about starting a new business and the restructuring of operators has brought more opportunities to small companies.” The semifinal of the QPrize Business Plan Competition in China was held in Wuhan on September 17. Eight manufacturers competed for the regional first place prize. Mr. Shen also said, “The eight manufacturers are engaged in handset input methods and all-in-one card mobile payment, among other areas. Video, which is rumored to be a 3G “killer” application, was not in this list.” Cootek received the first place prize for the China Region and received US$100,000 in venture financing thanks to its innovative user interface for touchscreen mobile devices. Qualcomm will support two representatives of Cootek to go to America in November and compete for the Grand Prize of an additional US$150,000 in funding. Li Qiaoling, CMO of Cootek, said that they will use the US$100,000 for R&D of new products. Recently, Bedo Technologies announced that it received a strategic investment from Qualcomm. Mu Rong, CEO of Bedo, said that Qualcomm will help Bedo to accelerate its business development.
