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talent 23, a year of talent and skills

a year of talent and skills

Three ways to pitch your start-up

by Mel Kanarek

Keep an eye on these events and deadlines in September.

If you’re looking for funding or mentoring for your start-up idea, or want to hone your pitching skills, there are a bunch of opportunities coming up in September that don’t require a trip to London:

Tech North’s Northern Stars

Northern Stars is back for a second year, with Sheffield hosting the first of three regional events before the final in November. The Sheffield event is on 8th September, so get your application in soon.

Pitch@Palace

Pitch@Palace offers Entrepreneurs the chance to get their Tech business idea in front of a global audience of influencers who can catapult it to the next level. It was established by the Duke of York and in less than three years, Pitch@Palace has helped over 205 businesses grow, with some now enjoying huge global success.

Enterprises can be at any stage of development from initial ideas and prototyping to those having launched commercially and looking to scale up.

Businesses can apply on-line now and 42 Entrepreneurs will be selected to attend a ‘boot camp’ on 14th October from which 12 to 15 will be selected to pitch to a panel of judges at St James’ Palace on 2nd November. Applications need to be made by 9th September. As part of the process, there will be a number of ‘On Tour’ regional events, which applicants can opt to attend in order to pitch their idea to a local panel of judges. Fifteen to 20 will be selected to pitch and the top three will be automatically invite to attend Bootcamp. The Sheffield On-Tour event will take place at the Factory 2050 on 20th September between approximately 11am and 3pm (exact timings to be confirmed).

Venturefest Yorkshire

Venturefest takes place at York Racecourse on 16th November. It includes a pitching competition (PitchFest) with a £5k prize and 12 month support package, and a separate contest to win free display materials and exhibition space in the Innovation Showcase, with one £1k prize. People shortlisted for either get to attend a full day workshop to prepare them to make the most of the opportunity to impress potential investors.

The deadline for entries to both competitions is 16th September and the workshop takes place on 30th September. There are full details and an online application form at www.venturefestyorkshire.net.