Vodafone announces Mobile Clicks 2010 finalists, €150,000 up for grabs

Vodafone has announced the four finalists of its Mobile Clicks competition to find the best mobile Internet start-ups based in either Spain, The Netherlands, Portugal or the UK. The shortlist includes startups working on field-worker remote reporting; mobile loyalty cards; mobile application “lifecycle management” and so-called ‘2nd screen’ gaming, where you interact with your mobile in conjunction with watching sport through a different medium, such as TV or in person.

The four finalists are competing for a a prize fund of €150,000 (2/3 of which will go to the overall winner, the remaining €50,000 to the runner-up), based on five criteria: originality, creativity and innovation; technical and operational feasibility; economic and financial viability; value to end-users; and the quality of the management team.

The eventual winners will be chosen by a panel, although there is also a public vote, and will be announced at a live final at the PICNIC Festival on September 24th. The panel includes Vodafone executives along with experts like GigaOm founder Om Malik, Mobile 2.0 Europe lead Rudy de Waele, Mobile Monday co-founder Peter Vesterbacka and Russell Buckley, VP at Admob, along with TechCrunch’s very own Robin Wauters.

Full details of the four finalists after the jump.

Netherlands

Akvo Phone: A mobile application that allows live field-reporting for development aid project workers. Akvo Phone allows reports including pictures, text, phone identity, geographic location (GPS) and time stamp to be remotely submitted, freeing up time for field workers to get on with their jobs.

Portugal

Cardmobili: A comprehensive collection of membership and loyalty cards is gathered through crowd-sourcing as well as comprehensive searches of loyalty programs and then sent to the customer’s mobile phone. The digitalisation of opt-in loyalty cards, coupons and vouchers gives customers convenient and easy access to relevant purchase offers.

Spain

MALCOM: A mobile application lifecycle management system which is a revolution both for publishers and developers. The service – accessed through a simple web interface – takes the complexity, time and cost out of managing, updating and rolling out mobile applications, making it much more straightforward for application developers to manage their work.

UK

Roulette Cricket: Part of a new wave of mobile entertainment, so-called ‘2nd screen gaming’ gives fans a new way to engage with their favourite sport. Roulette Cricket is designed to be played whilst watching live sport, either at the ground, on TV or online.