A UK-focused start-up accelerator - which prioritises sales and revenue over pitching skills - has reached the midpoint of the competition, which kicked off in May.
The current contending companies range in industry and scope, but all are seeking to win the Startup Race's £10,000 prize in January.
This final cash prize will be provided in the form of a grant from the Startup Race limited company to the team that made the most sales by the end of the competition.
After the current competition has completed, they will be partnering with Scottish investors to run a £300,000 follow-on race and then a £1m International Startup Race.
With more than 530 teams registering, the companies currently in the program include:
- The House of Tula, founded by Priyanshu Nath, which offers sustainably-crafted journals.
- Olmedo, founded by Mariely Macias Olmedo, which is a women’s fashion label blending authentic Mexican embroideries and western inspirations.
- NEAR, founded by Isaac and Lauren Elmore, which is an app connecting travellers with the best recommendations from locals all around the world.
- FastRefund, founded by Davranbek Tashbayev, which is an instant refunds platform providing money back for returned online purchases.
- Redwing, founded by Thomas Quiroga, which is an app helping consumers, readers and fans navigate the maze of comic books.
- Arouund, founded by Ash Blyde, which is an app streamlining and event management, making it easier to monetise events with direct payouts.
Upon entry to the accelerator, participants gained access to resources in order to validate their thinking, develop their business model and personal profile in order to attract co-founders.
Through the process, a number of high net-worth individuals will observe how the teams perform and may be introduced to companies that they may consider supporting at the end of the program.
“We want to help more entrepreneurs prove their success quickly and robustly over a specific period of time in order to prove to investors a need, should they indeed need that funding,” said Michael Clouser, co-founder of The Startup Race.
The competition's other co-founder James Shoemark explained: “We are disrupting the standard model - known as ‘pitching parades’ - in order to enable entrepreneurs to prove themselves in both product and market fit, through sales and revenue.“
The idea began in 2014 when a young entrepreneur asked Shoemark, who was hosting a League of Entrepreneurs Meetup at the time, if and how the start-up process could be gamified.
He teamed up with Clouser, a former Silicon Valley venture capitalist, and other Edinburgh-based investors, to partner with him on this new venture.
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