Pitch-A-Thon: Entrepreneurs get a shot at investment

The 3rd and final phase of the 2016 Pitch-A-Thon, took place on Wednesday 22 June, 2016 at the French Hub in Grand Baie. The Pitch-A-Thon is a newly launched platform to connect Mauritian entrepreneurs with potential investors and mentors to accompany them in their journey to finance the growth of their businesses. The winning team of this year’s Pitch-A-Thon will be granted access to funding opportunities ranging from 100,000 USD to 2 million USD from one of the event’s partners, Investplace (investplace.io). Other participating entrepreneurs will have the chance to receive mentorship and network support from fellow entrepreneurs coming from Australia, the US, Denmark, working in sectors as diverse as UX Design, digital marketing, and programming. The promoters of the event have harnessed the power of multiple international entrepreneur networks, and the partners of this event include sw7 (sw7.co), the biggest African tech accelerator, and Project Getaway (projectgetaway.com), the premier collaborative event for entrepreneurs from all over the world. The 2016 Pitch-A-Thon is a three-part event, with the following event structure: Phase I – 15 May 2016 Sw7 Pitching and Fundraising Workshop: This workshop was led by Keith Jones (South Africa) and Mike Sigal (US) and focused on getting to the core of a pitch. Phase II – 9 June 2016 SPIN Pitch Challenge: This workshop was organized with the support of Stagissimo, Investplace, and Project Getaway, and focused on the methods of pitching, and the do’s and don’ts of pitching. Phase III – 22 June 2016 Pitching Day: This event will require the entrepreneurs to deliver a 2-minute pitch, followed by questions from the jury, and entrepreneurs will be assessed on the quality of their pitches, and the growth potential of their idea.