GSMA Mobile Innovation Winners Announced

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