The
GSM Association (GSMA) announced the winners of the Americas leg of the 2009
Mobile Innovation Global Award Competition. The winners were announced
at the Mobile Innovation Marketplace -in
Atlanta, Georgia this week.
The Global Finalists for the 2009 Mobile Innovation Global Award Competition - Americas Tournament are:
- modu, Israel
- Ubidyne, Germany
And the five Global Semi-Finalists are:
Most Innovative Wireless Device-centric Technology
- CooTek, China
Most Innovative Carrier Infrastructure or Platform
- Ubidyne, Germany
Most Innovative Mobile Application in a Vertical Market
- Tagattitude, France
Most Innovative Consumer Application or Service
- Sharpcast, USA
Most Innovative ‘True Mobile Start-Up’
- modu, Israel
A combination of top innovators and thought leaders attended this
inaugural event including high caliber industry leaders such as Tom
Wheeler, MD, Core Capital Partners; Ted Matsumoto, CSO, SoftBank Mobile
Corp; Mohan Gyani, Vice Chairman, Roamware; Michael Nash, EVP Digital
Strategy & Business Development, Warner Music Group; Pam Zuercher,
Head of Global Product Innovation, Visa and David Christopher, CMO,
AT&T Mobility.
The Mobile Innovation Marketplace is a unique platform for top
innovators competing for the Mobile Innovation Global Award Champion
title. Over two days, each of the fifteen finalists from across five
categories pitched their products and services to senior executives
from several leading mobile operators and venture capitalists, who
selected the eventual winners.
“The Mobile Innovation Marketplace has been a great success, with
more than 201 organisations from 27 countries attending this inaugural
event,” said Bill Gajda, Chief Commercial Officer for the GSMA. “Driven
by an impressive entrepreneurial spirit and a desire for technical
excellence, it’s clear there are some outstanding opportunities ahead
for these highly innovative companies. We commend the enthusiasm and
commitment shown by all the finalists in the competition, and they have
proved that they have what it takes to succeed in the mobile world.”
The Mobile Innovation Global Award Competition was created by the
GSMA as part of the Mobile Innovation Market, which encourages
breakthrough technology, applications and services in the mobile
industry by bringing together smaller companies developing innovative
mobile products and solutions, with industry investors from leading
venture capital firms and senior figures from mobile operators and
leading global brands.
modu and Ubidyne have won the right to compete against other
regional ‘Mobile Innovation Global Finalists’ for the prestigious title
of the ‘2009 GSMA Mobile Innovation Global Award Champion’, to be named
during the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress, the largest, most significant
and most successful global mobile event in the world, in Barcelona next
February.
Quotes from the judges
“I would like to congratulate all the participants who have progressed to this level,” said Jeff Ezell, VP Long Term Service Planning and Business Development, AT&T.
“The competition was fierce between the contestants and there were some
fantastic presentations. I would especially like to congratulate modu
and Ubidyne for winning this Americas regional leg of the 2009 Mobile
Innovation Global Award Competition and wish them great success in
Barcelona.”
“Orange always seeks innovation and new ideas that help us offer our
customers new options. At the Mobile Innovation Marketplace - Americas,
we’ve seen some top-notch technology,” said Steve Glagow, VP Partner Program, Orange.
“The GSMA has again pulled together a winning group of contestants
making the choice difficult for the judges. However, two technologies
stood out above the rest and warrant special recognition and
progression to Mobile World Congress next year. Congratulations modu
and Ubidyne.”
“Choosing amongst so many innovative proposals was a very difficult task,” said Marcos Battisti, Mobile Sector Director, Intel Capital.
“The different winners are companies that are truly making an impact in
the overall telecommunications space. The industry is going through
tremendous change and companies like the ones competing at the Mobile
Innovation Marketplace - Americas are providing solutions that will
address these challenges.”
“I was impressed with the level of participation and commitment each
of the innovators displayed and wish to thank them all for their
participation in the Mobile Innovation Marketplace Americas,” said Peter Barry, Head of Venture Capital and Start-ups, Vodafone Group.
“It was a difficult decision for us to pick the Semi-Finalists and I
was thrilled to be a part of the process. I would like to wish modu and
Ubidyne my sincere congratulations and best of luck at the Mobile World
Congress next year.”
“The quality of the entries has been outstanding across all five
categories and I believe this competition will lead to some significant
opportunities for operators to take these innovative mobile services to
market,” said Steve Zimba, Managing Director, Global Telecoms Business, Communications Sector, Microsoft.
Other judges on the panel included Frederic Schepens, EVP, Strategic
Business Development, Belgacom; Paolo Paganucci, VP Scouting &
Benchmarking, TIM; Dixon Doll, Cofounder & General Partner, DCM;
Dr. Cheol Kim, Director, SK Telecom and Jeff Belk, Principal, ICT168
Capitol, LLC.
For more information on the Mobile Innovation Marketplace - Americas, please visit www.mobileinnovation.us