Virgin Media Business is looking for entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas to Sir Richard Branson, giving them the chance to win various a share prizes from an overall pot of £1 million, coupled with valuable PR.
The final culminates in a pitch to Sir Richard in London on 23 May 2018. Participants will receive an invite to the FastTrack 100 Conference and awards dinner and the chance to attract mentoring and financial support.
This prize pot includes marketing campaigns, mentoring, ultrafast connectivity packages, business growth programmes, advertising, and cash prizes, all of which will be distributed between winners and runners-up.
For 2018 are two main categories and a host of special awards.
The main categories are:
- Spark & Start-Up: this category is for small businesses with fewer than 20 employees. The business might have an established operation or simply a bright idea.
- Scale & Grow: for businesses (with between 20 and 250 employees) that have been trading for at least a year – and are ready to scale.
Partner awards
- PayPal International Award: The winner receives processing fees on the first £100,000 of payments made by their business account, as well as one-to-one executive mentorship to five selected businesses for a period of six months post-competition.
- Virgin Unite Impact Award: This category includes a £20,000 grant for a charity, business, or social enterprise that’s making a difference to people in need.
- Grant Thornton Award: Leaders with VOOM recognises outstanding leadership, and the two winners will receive support to finance their growth ambitions, including 1:1 planning for finance, creation of finance-ready documentation, plus pitch coaching and more.
- Crowdfunder Award: The five businesses that crowdfund the most money during VOOM will be shortlisted and reviewed by the judging panel, with the winner being rewarded with £70,000 of extra funding by Crowdfunder, Crowdcube and JCDecaux.
Entrants must be a UK or Ireland resident with a UK or Ireland based business; and aged 18 years or over. Only one entry per person will be accepted.
The deadline for completing a pitch is 8 May 2018