Xodus Foundation has set out about Ghc 30,000 grand to startups and small businesses that have to struggle every day for survival more so in this Covid-19 induced business climate without any clearly defined support system.
According to the Executive Director of Xodus Communications Limited,
Richard Abbey Junior the impact initiative duped “The Pitch” is to serve as a social change maker in order to provide technical and financial support to a select number of budding entrepreneurs in Ghana to help them grow and scale up their businesses into profitable ventures.
He said, this laudable competition will help inform the Ghanaian public about the importance of entrepreneurship as a tool for post covid-19 economic recovery for development.
“ This is indeed a dream come through. I believe this will help showcase some of the young entrepreneurs leading the way in Ghana through innovation on new products and services…”, he said.
The Approach
The Pitch is a 3-month long entrepreneurship competition that will be hosted once in a year from October to March. The approach is to identify, screen, select and support the young entrepreneur with a unique value proposition for the Ghanaian market and one that has the highest growth potential among the lot with social impact in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Mentorship Drive
Selected finalists will be given a full day training on how to effectively package their businesses to attract the needed capital or investment for growth. Topics such as marketing, branding, international market entry, bookkeeping, accounting, working capital management, strategic planning, innovation, business plan development and company valuation shall be treated at the mentorship programme to equip the young entrepreneurs with the requisite skills for enterprise development.
Over the long term, the five finalists will receive technical assistance from mentors and coaches for 12 months in managing and growing their businesses effectively through innovation. This will be fully funded by the Pitch initiators and partners.
Funding support and Accessibility
The final participants shall have the opportunity to bid for the grand prize of GHc 30,000 through voting (At no cost) by the Ghanaian public constituting 50% and the verdict of the jury constituting 50% to determine the ultimate Winner through a live show to be telecast live on all approved social media channels.
The Winner, First Runner Up and Second Runner Up shall have the additional opportunity to pitch their businesses to private equity funds, venture capital fund, angel investors and other institutional investors that the PITCH has identified as Strategic Partners for this competition.
The three finalists will have the opportunity to raise debt or equity from the sources that will be made accessible to them by the PITCH
Eligible Costs
The Winner can apply the grand prize of GHc 30,000 to only the following costs of doing business:
• Purchase new machines, software or technology to drive business growth
• Purchase additional raw materials for production
• Technical Assistance for testing market potential of a promising product, service, or technology
• Equipment purchase and/or working capital to undertake expansion of existing product or service to cater to a larger market or off-takers
• Cost of Technical Advisory Services for Commercial investment attraction activities
• Funding to undertake research and analytics on markets, competitors, and sector trends.
• Funding to undertake export promotion activities for products or services
• Support for Marketing of products, or a service; especially social media marketing
Ineligible Costs
The Winner shall not utilize funds from the GHc 30,000 grand prize on any of the following activities
- Purchase of a new car whether personal or for the company
- Funding any illegal activity as proscribed by the Laws of Ghana
- Sales or distribution of cigarettes or alcohol products
- Payment of salary arrears or existing debts
- Travel expenses on leisure, holiday or vacations including hotel bills or air tickets
- Donations to 3rd parties in any form whatsoever
The Jury (Advisory)
Richard Abbey Junior
Selorm Kofi Dake
Elsie Apau Klu
Rebecca Donkor
Dr. Nicholas Omaboe
Eligibility
Contestant Must:
• Be an entrepreneur
• Be a citizen of Ghana or resident in Ghana
• Be between 20 and 40 years of age
• Have a legally registered business
• Have a business that is operating for at least 12 months with minimum turnover of GHc 50,000
• Run a venture that has a Bank Account
• Run a venture that has a functional website
• Be an entrepreneur with majority shares of at least 51% in the venture in case the venture is owned by more than a party
• Must submit copy of National ID Card as proof of identity and age
Assessment Criteria
The following criterion shall guide the overall assessment, rating and declaration of the Winner for the PITCH
• Commercial Viability of Venture – (30%). This refers to revenue size, number of customers or clients, number of employees, profit margin, growth rate of the venture, pending contracts secured, jobs created etc
• Style and Quality of Presentation – (20%). Organization, logic, financial analysis etc
• Votes from the Public – (25%). The public viewers will vote to have a say in the process of selecting the winner of the competition.
• Votes from the Jury – (25%). The jury will vote to constitute 25% of the overall marks for assessing the winner of the competition.
The above criteria shall apply for each elimination stage of the competition until the grand finale when the ultimate winner shall be announced.
Thematic Areas
The competition is open to young entrepreneurs operating ventures in any of the following sectors:
• Service
• Technology
• Manufacturing
• Food & Beverage
• Education
• Agriculture & Agro processing
• Health & Pharmaceuticals
• Telecoms and Mobile
• Others
10.0 Stages
The stages of PITCH are detailed below:
• Online Application
• Interview
• Selection
• Presentation to Jury
• Grand Finale
• Votes Collation and Tally
• Awards Ceremony
12.0 Contact Details
The founder of the PITCH, Richard Abbey Jnr, can be contacted through the following channels for all partnership or sponsorship requests.
richardabbeyjnr@gmail.com
Phone: +233-244469369.
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