10 spots up for grabs for the 2018 San Francisco Entrepreneur Delegation

Heavy Chef, Startup Safari and Startup Grind have partnered to send 10 South African entrepreneurs to San Francisco for the annual Startup Grind Global Conference to be held in February next year.

The 2018 San Francisco Entrepreneur Delegation will depart for Silicon Valley on 8 February. The week-long trip will see the delegation attend the Startup Grind Global Conference taking place between 12 and 14 February next year. Successful applicants will win free flights, accommodation, workshop facilitation, entry into the Startup Grind Global Conference, and a daily allowance.

The San Francisco Entrepreneur Delegation will depart Cape Town on 8 February

Members of the delegation will visit Apple, Facebook, Google and Tesla offices. The delegation is scheduled to take part in daily workshops with members also expected to get an opportunity to meet with influential tech entrepreneurs.

Startup Grind community director Guillaume de Smedt told Ventureburn that the delegation will consist of two levels of entrepreneurs, five “super entrepreneurs” and five emerging entrepreneurs.

“Our aim is that, in addition to the value gained from meeting leaders from world-renowned Silicon Valley companies, the entrepreneurs on the delegation will find value within the delegation itself,” said Heavy Chef founder and CEO Fred Roed.

Tickets for the trip are valued at an all inclusive price of R120 000.

Roed said Heavy Chef had loosely copied the “Tom’s Shoe” model.

“For every established entrepreneur that buys a ticket, we aim to fund the ticket of an existing high-potential entrepreneur. We have a panel of adjudicators from Heavy Chef, Startup Safari and Startup Grind that are assessing the applications for emerging entrepreneurs. Alternatively, established entrepreneurs can select someone that they’d like to bring themselves,” he said.

The winners will be announced by 15 November.

Interested emerging entrepreneurs with existing businesses and a website can apply to join the delegation here, while you can also learn more about the tour here.

**Update: This article has been updated to include additional comments from Heavy Chef.

Featured image: Startup Grind Global Conference 2018 via Facebook