SA Innovation Summit Pitching Den Competition 2019 is now accepting entries. The Pitching Den competition is an initiave of SA Innovation Summit. The competition aims to promote and develop the entrepreneurial creativity of startups, able and willing to disrupt the status-quo, to showcase their ground-breaking products or services, to gain visibility across government officials, local, regional and international investors and industry titans, as well as to secure financial and business support in the stages of scaling and growth.

Pitching Den invites high-growth early-stage startups from all over the world to pitch their innovative business solutions to a well-rounded panel of venture capitalists, angel investors and business development experts, and also, to compete for investment, maximum media exposure and networking opportunities with enablers and sponsors.

Benefits

• Showcase your technologies / ideas to a wider audience
• Get PR exposure
• Obtain access to funds and acceleration support (the judges will commit to second interviews if the pitches are of interest)
• Tap into different markets (the audience will watch to make connections)
• Likewise, have access to technical expertise (advisers, IP specialists & venture capitalists)
• Moreover, get access to the Match and Invest Lounge, where key funders will be available for consultation

Eligibility

The Competition is open to all early- and later stage high-potential startup companies, private or publicly held, who meet the following criteria:

• a start-up with a turnover of up to ZAR 100 million;
• the model is an original idea with unique IP of technological solutions;
• similarly, the company demonstrates high growth potential, scalability, and/or has national or international expansion plans with a high level of commitment by shareholders and management team;
• furthermore, close to achieving break-even or profitability.

Applying

• You can enter as an individual, group or a company.
• The Intellectual Property should belong to you or your company and you should be able to supply proof of ownership on request.
• You can pitch more than once for different products.
• Only entries received online using the online submission form are acceptable.