Are You A Youth Entrepreneur? Enter Youth Pitch
The Bermuda Economic Development Corporation [BEDC] is looking for students across the island to pitch the next great idea with a focus on technology, for a chance to compete in the Youth Pitch category of the Rocket Pitch Competition.
A spokesperson said, “If you are a student under the age of 18 with a burning idea for a new tech related business, now is the time to develop your idea! The Bermuda Economic Development Corporation [BEDC] is looking for students across the island to pitch the next great idea with a focus on technology, for a chance to compete in the Youth Pitch category of the Rocket Pitch Competition. Youth Pitch was launched in conjunction with Global Entrepreneurship Week, a weeklong celebration to inspire, mentor and engage the public around all things entrepreneurial.
“This year the preliminary round of the Youth Pitch will be held on October 12th and takes place during Bermuda Tech Week 2020, hosted by the Bermuda Business Development Agency and FinTech Bermuda. BEDC, in partnership with the Economic Development Department [EDD], will be looking to find the top two technology-driven ideas to advance to the Youth Pitch finals scheduled on November 18th as part of the Rocket Pitch Competition.
Said Dr. Gina Tucker, Director of Education, FinTech Bermuda, “Our team discussed the need to include a youth component to Bermuda Tech Week 2020 in addition to the Education Summit, and it made perfect sense to partner with the BEDC since they have for the last three years, run a Pitch Competition for young entrepreneurs. The only difference this year is that the focus will be on technology. I encourage all students to enter the competition.”
“The framework of the Youth Pitch presentation is simple: the presenter[s] has five minutes and eight slides to tell the story of their business or idea to a panel of judges and then respond to questions. For the Youth Pitch category, this process will involve a public preliminary competition to be held on October 12th during Bermuda Tech Week 2020. The first and second place winners will receive $3,000 and $1,000 respectively which includes a startup package of cash, and services to assist with the development of their business idea. Additionally, this year all those that submit their pitch kits for the competition will be entered into a draw where one lucky person will win an iPhone.
Raymond Lambert, Director of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises at BEDC, said, “This is a great opportunity to turn your business idea into reality. What we have found is that young people look at things from a different perspective, and this year we are looking forward to some very exciting submissions.” Last year’s Youth Pitch winner, Ahmani Peet’s pitched Ahmani’s Cookie Company, and is now steadily growing his cookie empire. Greg Mwangi & Zaire Lodge took home the second-place prize with ‘Moov’, an app that tracked bus schedules and alerted users when a bus was near their stop.
Ahmani Peets, had this to say about his experience, “Youth Pitch was good because it did help me to grow my business. More people became aware of my business and I used the prize money to buy cases for my vendors as I got more locations and I have a commercial Mixer now.” He continues, “I was able to show people that Autism defines a person who is unique. Just because someone has Autism, it doesn’t mean that they can’t do things that are great.”
“Those who enter the Youth Pitch competition will also receive plenty of support. BEDC will host free workshops that will consist of presentation tips and coaching. Entrants are encouraged to download their Pitch Kits to get started. The Pitch Kit is a guide that will help you create your pitch and make sure that you are providing all of the necessary information. Pitch Kits can be downloaded at www.gew.bm. Once your Pitch Kit is completed, simply submit it at www.gew.bm or email it to info@bedc.bm. The submission deadline is Friday, September 25th by 5pm. For further details email info@bedc.bm.”
