Konotor, a user engagement platform for mobile apps developed by Chennai-based Demach Software India Pvt Ltd, has received $125,000 (Rs 73 lakh) in funding from Qualcomm Ventures and Accel Partners.
The funding follows Konotor emerging as the winner of Qualcomm’s QPrize 2014 India edition. As winner of the regional competition, it would now compete with other regional winners globally for the QPrize Grand Finals competition which comes with $150,000 grand prize. Qualcomm organises QPrize in seven regions, including China, Europe, India, Israel, Korea, Latin America and North America.
The prizes are awarded as convertible note funding for the company’s expansion.
This is the fourth edition of QPrize, which is aimed at identifying and funding promising, early-stage technology companies.
Gurgaon-based Mavin Technologies Pvt Ltd, which connects advertisers with consumers which, in turn, helps reduce the cost of the consumer’s data plan, bagged the second prize for the India edition and received $75,000 in funding.
The other two finalists—LivQuik Technology India Pvt Ltd, which enables fast and secure payments on mobile devices; and CarIQ Technologies Pvt Ltd, a connected car platform—have also received undisclosed amount in funding from One97 Communications and Persistent Systems, respectively.
“Through QPrize, we identify breakthrough ideas at early stages and help them grow by providing the promising young entrepreneurs with mentorship, investment support and exposure to the global mobile ecosystem,†said Karthee Madasamy, senior director (India & Israel), Qualcomm Ventures.
Other QPrize India finalists
Quarter (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 (Bangalore): It has developed a local shopping app that allows users to browse, discover and buy by connecting them directly to local stores.
Edsix Brain (Chennai): It has developed an app called Skill Angels, which harmonises academic learning with brain skills through games.
Spatial Ideas Web Solutions (Mumbai): It provides smart, affordable technology solutions to urban local bodies and government offices to bring transparency, accountability, efficiency and seeks to reduce corruption in core government citizen services.
CartPerk Technologies (Bangalore): It enables consumer package goods (CPG) brands to run retailer-independent loyalty programmes over multiple shopping trips and reward users directly by leveraging their smart phone.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)