Five South African Startups will duke it out for R25000 in prize money at Social Media Week Johannesburg before a panel of expert judges and a live audience.
The last couple of years have seen South African startups join in earnest the league of rising entrepreneurs drafting a new narrative of success for the African continent. It’s great news for our country with its young population and its high unemployment rates. A flourishing startup scene can only serve to bridge the gap between South Africa’s vast potential and its economic hurdles.
Ventureburn and Ford, in collaboration with Social Media Week Johannesburg, are putting their money where their mouths are by offering five exceptional local startups the platform to flog their brilliant business ideas to a panel of expert judges, who will preside in the company of a live audience to make for an even more compelling setup.
Entrepreneurs interested in participating are invited to put forward a one-page business plan to submit@memeburn.com by September 15th. The most impressive five out of the entries submitted will then be invited attend Social Media Week Johannesburg in order to present their pitches on Friday 26 September at the Wits Amphitheatre.
The judges will deliberate and offer valuable pointers based on each participant’s five-minute bid before the winner is chosen and awarded a R25000 cash prize sponsored by Ford.
In addition, all five finalists will receive the following: Two complimentary week passes to Social Media Week Johannesburg where they will benefit from valuable master classes by Google, networking opportunities with our event partners and access to the closed event on Why SA Start Ups Fail being hosted by Alan Knott Craig Jnr and the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship
In order to be eligible for consideration, potential contestants need to be able to demonstrate the following:
- An enterprise running for no more than three years
- The problem which their respective startup solves
- A South African base
- A working prototype
The whole exercise will help wind down an eventful five days of keynotes, panels, networking mixers, virtual hangouts, fireside chats and master classes in venues across the Startup Challenge, and demonstrates Social Media Week Johannesburg’s commitment to help nurture the crucial entrepreneurial spirit driving proudly South African innovation.