Chivas Regal, the world’s first luxury Scotch whisky, will launch the third year of The Venture – a global platform to find and support promising entrepreneurs who want to Win The Right Way – those who aspire to use enterprise and innovation as a force for good.
The Venture provides social entrepreneurs with the opportunity to win a share of USD 1 million in financial investment, invaluable contacts and global exposure for their company, as well as mentorship from world-famous business mentors.
In 2016, more than 2,500 owners of start-ups from around the world applied for The Venture II, but only 27 were selected. Previous winners who have represented South Africa in the USA include CrashDetech, a revolutionary mobile phone app that detects car crashes, and Lumkani, a shack fire-detection device now used in informal settlements. Both businesses benefited from the opportunities created through The Venture platform.
This year, for the first time ever, Chivas Regal South Africa is exploring an exciting new platform to garner entries in the format of a 10-part televised elevator pitch series. Entrants from the submissions to The Venture will be selected to appear in the series where, in just 60 seconds, they will pitch their business ideas. Participants will be narrowed down to the top five, who will then be mentored by well-known South African business moguls. The five will then re-pitch their polished business plans in a final session to a panel of experts and celebrities, who will select The Venture 2017 winner to represent South Africa in The Venture III final in USA.
The ATTACQ Pitching platform opens at universities in the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces
The LaunchLab CQ is engaging in an exclusive Retail Challenge with ATTACQ.This Challenge has now moved to the next stage: the Ideas Programme Pitching Platform which has started on participating campuses around the country: Stellenbosch University (SU), University of Western Cape (UWC), University of Cape Town (UCT), Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), University of Johannesburg (UJ), University of Witwatersrand (WITS) and University of Pretoria (UP).
This Challenge is open to all aspiring entrepreneurs from student and non-student communities and is running until 23September 2016. It is an exciting platform for emerging entrepreneurs to pitch their retail innovation ideas and to also stand a chance to win their share of R100,000 in seed-funding and LaunchLab incubation support to the value of R150,000.
ATTACQ invests in and develops high-quality real estate assets as long-term investments that generate quality rental income and sustainable capital growth for shareholders. With this in mind, ATTACQ wishes to build an innovation pipeline as a value-add for their clients and for customers that visit their real-estate properties daily. ATTACQ know that people will always need space, but the nature of the activity in that space is changing every day.
They have recognised this opportunity and are looking for ideas with business potential that may create the next breakthrough innovation in retail by addressing the following: Responding to the e-commerce needs of clients and customers, customer experience, comfort and convenience, payments within ATTACQ properties, operational issues: utilities, security, cleaning
Participants can enter their business ideas by doing an informal 3-minute video pitch with no digital presentations.
Seedstars World heads to Kenya
Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, is returning to Kenya on October 7 2016. The Kenya leg of the summit backed by CfC Stanbic Bank will see the best seed-stage entrepreneurs battle it out for top honours while providing them with an opportunity to win up to USD 1 million and network with investors and mentors from around the world. Its previous participants have raised over USD 61M collectively, providing employment to more than 800 employees worldwide.
The companies selected to pitch at the Seedstars Nairobi event need to be less than 2 years old, have raised less than USD 500,000 in funding and have built a minimum viable product, ideally with existing traction. The Seedstars World team is searching for one additional criterion – the startup’s regional and global scalability. With a strong network of international partners such as Inmarsat, INADEM, Standard Bank and Deloitte, Seedstars World is looking for smart Start-ups that solve regional issues and develop profitable products for the global market, to support their regional businesses and growth.
“Kenya has shown impressive development in the start-up and tech entrepreneurship ecosystem not just with in the country but also for Africa. We are looking forward to see what the young innovators have got in stock of us and cannot wait to meet them all in person.” says Selam Kebede, Associate for Africa at Seedstars World.
Up to 10 of the best seed stage startups in Kenya will be invited to pitch for the opportunity to compete at the Seedstars Summit, that annually takes place in Switzerland. Kenya was previously represented by Illuminum Greenhouse.
