The MobileMonday Mobile Peer Awards competition is bringing a virtual jury together to select the best startups to present at the exquisite Petit Palau at the Palau de la Musica on February 16, 2009. The Mobile Peer Awards Barcelona are amongst the most influential events in the mobile industry and the point of reference in startup innovation during the Mobile World Congress.

The idea is that each chapter of Mobile Monday, nominates their favourite local startup to go into the final. This year there are no less than a staggering 67 chapters entering. This means that there’s an (online) pre-judging round selecting 20 finalists to present their 3-minute pitch at the event in Barcelona.

To make the finalist selection as transparent and open to the industry as possible, the organizers are accepting applications to the finalist-selecting jury (individuals who will select the finalists among all the chapter nominees by online vote during mid January – and will not need to be in Barcelona). If you’re interested to become part of that jury or know someone who should be part of it, send an email to jury AT mobilepeerawards DOT com with a short bio, your LinkedIn profile, and personal blog and twitter name if you have it.

Confirmed members that will also judge at the event itself include Russell Buckley, James Whatley, Peggy Anne Salz and industry leaders from the mobile ecosystem. Last year’s jury included, amongst others, representatives from Telefónica, Vodafone, Google, Yahoo!, MobHappy, GoMoNews, Nexit Ventures, and Xtract.

For startups

Participation is free of charge and open to any startup willing to pay their way to the event. Innovative startups active in mobile technology or startups with a mobile product are invited to register to participate at mobilepeerawards.com before the December 31 deadline.

If you’re interested to become a partner or a sponsor to the Mobile Peer Awards during Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona, you can download the latest sponsorpack, or contact info AT mobilemondaybarcelona DOT com.

The MobileMonday Peer Awards are organized by MobileMonday Barcelona in collaboration with the entire MobileMonday Community. Previous Peer Awards winners included Realeyes 3D, Mobile Complete (now Device Anywhere) and Plazes in 2007; Buzzd, Funambol, Taptu and Kimia in 2008. You can view the Winners’ Circle page here.