We don’t usually like to cover start awards on ArcticStartup (unless we’re giving it of course!). I realize the road to startup success is arduous, and winning any sort of fancy rock with writing on it helps mentally affirm the crazy life path you’ve put yourself on. But we get “enough” press releases from contest where there are 100 winners each year that I’ve become cynical. That being said, when there’s €100 000 behind the award, I think it’s noteworthy. Early this week two companies from ArcticStartup region won the QPrize, hosted by Qualcom Ventures.
The judges must have appreciated services that combine web and mobile into a full service. For Western Europe, Copenhagen’s Everplaces won the first prize, while in Eastern Europe, Pult took first place.
Everplaces is a mobile and desktop app that allows you to save places that you’ve been to using the mobile app, and then explore other’s shared recommendations and places online to save to your phone. They have positioned themselves towards travel expiration by allowing you to dig through pictures of restaurants and maps of cities, and point you to featured collections.
But when I’m not traveling I find myself using it as a personal notetaking app for places. I know I’ll never find my friend’s apartment in Tampere again, so I’ve got that saved and categorized. Hear our interview with CEO Tine Thygesen on our podcast, Unfair Advantage.
Pult.io is another app I was happy to see win the prize, because it made me open up the web app again. We covered them last February, and while I was really interested in their concept, the web app seemed to have stalled without seeing any new features.
Pult.io connects any internet-enabled screen to a HTML5 app on your phone, allowing you to control the screen using your smartphone as a remote. Paid content is in the works, but currently Pult connects you to free TV channels on the internet, freely available movies and TV shows, Youtube and Vimeo videos, and photos. The app also hints at social features, games, and files being added to the service as well. As it stands, Pult is a better way to sit on the couch and watch Youtube videos, and it will be interesting to see what other types of media they can connect to the service.
Qualcom ventures has hosted eight regional competitions throughout the world, including Brazil, China, India, Israel, North America, South Korea, Western and Eastern Europe. Each regional winner receives €100,000 in convertible note funding and earns the opportunity to participate in our Grand Finals competition which offers an additional $150,000 USD in prize funding.
Images from the Everplaces Blog and Pult’s Facebook page.
