Cape Town - Budding business owners will get the opportunity to “flex” their marketing muscles during the Sparkup! 2015 weekend programme and live investment initiative next month, where over R1 million in funding will be up for grabs.
From May 8 to 10, there will be 15 qualifying start-ups looking to get investment, and they will compete at the Graduate School of Business in Cape Town.
Sparkup! organiser Tracy Gander said that during the three days, the various entrepreneurs will receive an intense dose of business grooming, which will culminate in a live audience investor pitch.
The programme is fully funded, although entrepreneurs will have to cover their own travel and accommodation costs.
Gander said the goal of Sparkup! is to improve the growth and investment potential of tech start-ups and ultimately drive job creation in South Africa.
“To do this effectively, we need to ensure that our start-ups are of consistent quality and match the needs of the investment community. Selection criteria for entry into the programme is tough. Businesses need to show traction in terms of customer base and revenue,” she said.
Since 2011, Net Prophet Sparkup! has run alongside the annual Net Prophet Conference in Cape Town. Sponsored by Saratoga and Microsoft BizSpark in partnership with Silicon Cape, and facilitated by business coach Permjot Valia, the weekend workshop will focus on fine-tuning start-up business propositions.
For those start-ups that make the grade, the threeday training programme will hone the skills and mindset of small business owners, and facilitate the network to get their ventures noticed.
“We have active angel investors with cash on the table and 32 hours of actionpacked, handson coaching by industry experts. The start-ups will gain the skills to approach their businesses from a different perspective,” said Gander.
Through peertopeer participation and oneonone mentorship from serial entrepreneurs, the young business owners will get the opportunity to grow their network through these interactions.
The first live investing event in South Africa, based on the internationally acclaimed Dragon’s Den TV series, was held last year where entrepreneurs who successfully graduated from the Sparkup! weekend programme were given the opportunity to pitch to various investors.
Ekaya chief executive Justin Melville took part in last year’s programme, where over R1 million was raised for the various small businesses.
“The angel investors we attracted were all tremendously valuable allies to have, and their value goes deeper than just the cash on table,” said Melville.
Cape Times