Final Ten to compete on last day of PitchIT Caribbean Challenge

June 3, 2016
Five teams from Jamaica, one from Guyana and two each from Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, emerged as the top 10 tech-entrepreneurs from a total of 25 groups on day one of the PitchIT Caribbean’s tech-entrepreneurship competition and showcase, in Montego Bay, Jamaica today.

The teams include Samelogic, ClickPaye, Money Mobile Solutions, MekUp Jamaica and Bookfusion of Jamaica; Directory.GY of Guyana; Medi Revu and Caribbean Transit Solutions of Barbados and Reach and Wanderscape of Trinidad and Tobago.

PitchIT Caribbean is being staged by the Caribbean Mobile Innovation Project (CMIP) which is part of the Entrepreneurship Programme for Innovation in the Caribbean, currently being executed by the University of the West Indies Consortium, with funding from the Government of Canada and the World Bank.

The aim of PitchIT Caribbean is to enhance the region’s mobile app development ecosystem.

Twenty-five teams consisting of mobile app developers from seven countries across the Caribbean have been, since Friday morning, pitching to a panel of judges and an audience of regional and global investors in a bid to win US$5000 in seed funding to develop their businesses and a spot in PitchIT business accelerators across the Caribbean.

Other entrants were Carib Auto Express of Barbados; Linkup Group of Dominica; GetThere, Eventah, Pandosoft of Jamaica; Ash.co of St. Kitts and Nevis; FARMS of St. Lucia and Kewsplus, SoftDev Interactive, Wallet, Injury Care Utility, Caribbean Treasure, Drop and Lifeball Technologies of Trinidad and Tobago.

Training manager of the CMIP, Craig Perue in explaining the format of the competition, prior to its official start on Friday morning, explained that the project commenced more than 16 months ago - in January 2015 - but only became highly visible in February 2016. “We had approximately 300 persons across the entire Caribbean – from Suriname in the South all the way up to Belize, who applied. A hundred and fifty persons registered for our training programme and participated in 12 weeks of training. From that 150 persons, 80 teams entered the PitchIT Challenge Competition. And today we have 25 finalists with us,” he said.

Perue said the last two days of the preparation phase which took place on June 1 and 2 in Montego Bay, consisted of a boot camp during which the finalists spent copious amounts of time working on their pitch decks, under the supervision of six expert facilitators.

While acknowledging that the Caribbean was highly placed on the world's list of countries with the most start-up businesses, in most cases they were not offering non-traditional or new products and services, which underscored the relevance of the CMIP. “

It’s worth noting that according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, two countries – Jamaica and Trinidad are already in the top 10 in the world in terms of entrepreneurial activity. But it is important to note what this means; it means is that we have lots of starters; lots of new businesses founded each year. There were over 3,000 companies new registered just in Jamaica, in 2014. What is needed therefore, ladies and gentlemen, is not simply more new business registrations; we need more innovation,” he said.

“We don’t simply need more of the same; what we need is new business models; innovative business models, new products and new markets and that is what we are here to assess,” he added.

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Terms & conditions

The following is a summary of the terms and conditions for the PitchIT Caribbean Challenge June 2016. Please download the official rules (pdf) and read it through carefully before you enter.

download rules

The Competition is open to Contestants from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.
Contestants must be part of a team of at least two members.
Contesting organizations may be profit, non-profit or academic with fewer than 10 employees. Public sector agencies/organizations may not compete.
There is no cost to make a submission.

Submissions will be judged on the following criteria:

Problem, Customer Segments and Opportunity Size
Proposed solution to the customers’ pain
Revenue Streams Envisaged and Tested
Analysis of the competitive landscape and positioning
Customer and User Growth Strategy / Channels
Team Composition and Commitment
Market Traction and Secondary Achievements
Projections for milestones and Key metrics
Completeness and Overall Impressiveness

25 finalists will be selected to pitch at the PitchIT Caribbean Challenge in June 2016.

The 25 finalists, when selected, will be asked to submit a three minutes video which will become part of their company profile and be used for a people’s choice Facebook competition, the prize for which will be awarded at the PitchIT Caribbean Challenge.
Two members of the 25 finalist teams must be willing and available to travel to Jamaica for the period May 29 – June 4, 2016. Travel and accommodation costs will be provided by PitchIT Caribbean. Selected Finalists will also get the opportunity to be a part of a two day intense pre-challenge Bootcamp that will prepare them to win over leading world investors and close deals.

Benefits for finalists

If you are selected as one of the 25 finalists, apart from the opportunity to win the main prize, the PitchIT Caribbean Challenge will provide you with opportunities to:-

network

Benefit from being a part of a community of innovators who share experiences, knowledge and resources. Source talent and build collaborative efforts for the future.

get mentorship

Ramp up your skills and knowledge through the training, coaching and mentorship we will provide to the selected teams.

Meet Market players

Get connected to important players in your target market - large corporates, development organizations, government entities - who can help you to reach your intended customers. intended customers.

Meet funders

Pitch your MVP to startup funders and build relationships that may lead to your project being funded.

Understand investor expectations

Grow in your understanding of investor expectations and how you can present your concept in ways that are more attractive to them.

Get publicity

Take advantage of the publicity and media around the PitchIT Caribbean Challenge and bring your app into the limelight.

How to enter

1 Create an executive summary

You’ll need to explain your vision for what your app will do. Use our guide document to create your executive summary.

Download executive summary guide

2 Create an investor pitch deck

You’re going to need to create a pitch deck. Here’s a template we’ve created that will help you with that process.

Download pitch deck template

3 Complete the entry form

Fill out the entry form. You'll need to attach your executive summary and investor pitch deck.

Enter now

The Caribbean’s biggest tech-entrepreneurship competition and showcase was held on

June 3-4, 2016

25

entrepreneurs will pitch

5

winners will be chosen

The Final 10!