Three days left to apply for SA Innovation Summit’s pitching den, inventor’s garage

Startups and small businesses with high-growth potential have until midnight on Sunday (9 July) to apply to pitch at the SA Innovation Summit‘s Pitching Den competition in September. A competition for inventors, also to be run at the summit, also closes this Sunday.

In a press release on Monday, summit director Audrey Verhaeghe said the competitions are an important part of the summit, with finalists and winners exposed to a large number of investors.

Judges will select 25 finalists by 24 July to take part in the Pitching Den, which is set for 6 and 7 September.

The overall winners will be announced at an award ceremony and will be entered into the Startup World Cup in Silicon Valley where they will compete with the best startups from all over the world, for a grand prize of $1-million.

‘Pitching Den aims to recognise companies whose innovative tech solutions have potential to make significant impact’

Winners will also receive media exposure worth R500 000, business match-making, acceleration, and much more.

“The Pitching Den was designed to recognise companies whose innovative tech-enabled solutions have the potential to make a significant impact on the growth of the continent,” said Verhaeghe.

The competition is open to all early-stage high-potential startup companies, that have an annual turnover of up to R100-million, an original idea with unique intellectual property (IP) of technological solutions, that demonstrate high-growth potential and are close to achieving break-even or profitability.

Last year’s winner was Delvv.io. The startup’s founder Trevor Wolfe in March jetted off to San Francisco to compete against 15 other winners of regional startup competitions in the grand finale of the Startup World Cup.

The summit is also partnering with Popular Mechanics magazine to run the Inventor’s Garage. The competition is open to anyone with a working prototype or product.

The Inventor’s Garage will accept applications of anything from a proven concept to products that are in early commercialisation — whether a kitchen or garage inventor, a business or a seasoned innovator.

Inventions will be judged on the second day of the summit, during which the winners will be announced at the award ceremony as well as awarded cash prizes. This will guarantee exposure, advice, mentorship, and possible deal-making.

For more details and to apply visit http://innovationsummit.co.za/pitching-den/ and http://innovationsummit.co.za/inventors-garage/