Get a Starter for 10 for your South West creative business
Starter for 10 is a competition to find the very best of South West creative businesses and support them in their quest to take an innovative new product to market within six months.
Creative England will be making 10 catalyst investments of £10k each to 10 start-up businesses. On top of this, they will provide an extensive business support programme: a two-day intensive business bootcamp, workshops and ongoing consultations.
Companies are invited to pitch their ideas to our prestigious panel of judges, who will select the best 10 ideas to receive this investment and support package.
Who is it for?
Starter for 10 is for ambitious new companies looking to grow. Businesses should be no more than two years old and should have, or be developing, a product that will be market-ready for August 2013.
Your business should be in one of the following creative sectors:
Digital, web and interactive
Mobile and app
Games
Social media
Marketing
Your business must be based in Bristol, Dorset, Devon, Wiltshire, Somerset or Gloucestershire.
How it works
Starter for 10 begins with 3 regional heats, in 3 cities across the region (Bristol, Bournemouth and Exeter).
These 'Pitch Battles' will see 15 companies from each area battling it out before a panel of industry professionals and investors.
Then, 15 shortlisted companies will come together for a 'Grand Finale' pitch battle, where the 10 winning companies will be chosen. These businesses will go on to receive a £10k investment, as well as comprehensive business support to help get their product to market within six months.
A condition of your acceptance onto the Starter for 10 programme will be to attend a fixed series of pitches, workshop and events.
The money
The £10,000 catalyst investment is paid in two instalments of £5,000, the first tranche is paid on acceptance to the programme and the second upon your product being market-ready. We will require evidence of your products entry to market to received by 10th August 2013 in order to release the second tranche.
The money is non-repayable and we do not want an equity share in your idea or your business.
The money will ease the process of getting your product to market, as this can mean different things to different companies and ideas we have not been prescriptive as to the exact use of this money however we will require you to agree to only use this money for the business needs of the specific product in your application.
Key dates
Applications open 18th February
Applications close 1st March
Successful candidates notified 7 - 8th March
Pitch battles take place:
Bristol - 11th March
Bournemouth - 13th March
Exeter - 15th March
Shortlist for the final announced 18th March
A day of pitching practice will be held on the 26th March in Bristol
The grand finale pitch battle will take place on 27th March in Bristol
Winners announced - 29th March
Business Bootcamp - 15th and 16th April. (It is a condition of entry that winning businesses attend these sessions where they will be given intensive business planning support with our business development consultant Steve Taylor)
(All dates subject to change)
apply to the Creative England portal: https://www.grantrequest.com/SID_873/Default.asp?CT=CT2&SA=SNA&FID=35049&SESID=41476&RL=
