Britain’s brightest young minds invited to compete in Tech City Investment Organisation’s Young Entrepreneurs Festival

 

London, 14 September 2012: Britain’s brightest young entrepreneurs will descend on London’s Tech City to participate in a business bootcamp, with the best given a chance to pitch to angel investors and raise seed funding for their business idea. The Young Entrepreneurs Festival aims to bring together up to 150 of the country’s finest young minds for three days of intense coaching and competition, and be in with the chance to raise the vital finance to start their entrepreneurial journey. Candidates between the ages 16-24 and 25+ can now apply online for a place in the festival, where the highest potential candidates will be invited to present their business plans to a rockstar panel of industry experts.

Taking place from September 18-20 at Hackney House, competing entrepreneurs will put their business acumen to the test in a series of sessions focusing on sales & marketing, understanding equity and valuation, marketing overseas and investor pitching. Throughout the festival, participants will hear from, and be directly mentored by, industry luminaries including serial entrepreneur and former LinkedIn business leader of the Year, David Murray-Hundley, CEO and author of “Student to CEO” and “Bank To The Future” Simon Dixon, and CEO of Global Natives and International Media Technology Mentor, Daniel Teweles.

Speed mentoring sessions with industry experts and “Pitch and Dip” peer-to-peer pitch sessions will enable young entrepreneurs to gain feedback and validation on their business plans. The format is designed to test and stretch the contenders’ entrepreneurial flair and core business skills, meaning only half of the highest-performing young entrepreneurs will go on to compete in the second day of activities. The festival will culminate in the top ten best young entrepreneurs pitching in front on an audience of leading angel investors at the Ad:Tech London exhibition in the National Hall, Olympia on September 20 where the ultimate winners of the Young Entrepreneurs Festival will be announced.

Commenting on the event, Benjamin Southworth, Deputy CEO of Tech City Investment Organisation said: “New technologies and developments in the digital space create exciting opportunities and spark curiosity amongst young people today. Learning from world-class mentors and experienced entrepreneurs, the Young Entrepreneurs Festival helps to take that curiosity to the next level and encourage the full potential in the next generation of British entrepreneurs.”

Says Nicola Mendelsohn, IPA President and Patron Creative Pioneers Challenge: “The young entrepreneurs of today will be the job providers of tomorrow, and will ensure Britain’s competitiveness in creative and digital media. The YEF provides us with the perfect opportunity to single out the front runners and fast-track them into the ecosystem. It’s a win-win for all parties.”

Another participating mentor, David Murray-Hundley, serial entrepreneur and winner of LinkedIn Business Leader of the Year said: “The Young Entrepreneurs Festival is a perfect opportunity to uncover inspirational entrepreneurial talent. I’m really excited to play a role in this and to do my part to inspire a new generation of aspiring business leaders across Europe.”

Winners of the Young Entrepreneurs Festival will receive valuable business support including free workspace and technology, and the top 25 young entrepreneurs will also gain ongoing mentoring support into 2013 to help them navigate potential business challenges.

The Young Entrepreneurs Festival is organised by Tech City Investment Organisation in conjunction with the Creative Pioneers programme of the IPA, and supported by the Ad:Tech London Exhibition.

If you have a great business idea, apply now.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About TCIO

The Tech City Investment Organisation (TCIO) was set up by UKTI in April 2011 to support the growth of the tech cluster in East London, helping to make it Europe’s centre of innovation and the location of choice for tech and digital companies and investors. Our objectives are to: assist in securing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Tech City; engage with overseas VCs and help them to set up or start evaluating deal-flow in Tech City; and support the cluster, and raise its profile internationally.

In November 2010, the Prime Minister set out the Government’s ambition to help East London become one of the world’s great technology centres. Government is helping in two ways:

  • firstly, by ensuring that national policy promotes enterprise and growth. The Entrepreneur Visa, Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme and opening up Government procurement are three examples of action central Government has taken in direct response to concerns expressed by Tech City companies about access to talent and finance. No 10 is responsible for driving national policy; and
  • secondly, by attracting inward investment, and supporting companies in the cluster who want to expand into international markets. TCIO was set up to do this.

Venture-backed, high-potential companies like Airbnb and Yammer have landed in Tech City as a result of our support, and we have worked to secure investment from leading international technology firms including Cisco, and Intel. World-leading academic institutions like UCL and Imperial College, London are also setting up here. Alongside the start-ups and small businesses like Songkick, EDITD and Lightbox, are leading international tech companies such as Google. A well-established network of incubators like Seedcamp and White Bear Yard provide early stage funding and support, and top international investors including Accel and Index are also here.

For more information, visit www.techcityuk.com, follow us at @techcityuk or contact us at [email protected]