PitchIT Caribbean to Host Regional Competition for Tech Entrepreneurs in Montego Bay

Kingston, Jamaica–PitchIT Caribbean, the Canadian government-funded program concerned with mobile app development in the Caribbean, will host the region’s largest tech entrepreneurship competition on June 3 to 4, 2016, in Montego Bay. Registration is now open and will close midnight on April 20, 2016.

Designed for techpreneurs in CARICOM states, the two-day event is expected to feature 25 mobile app start-up teams, all of whom will pitch to a panel of judges and an audience of regional and global investors.

Five winners will each be awarded a coveted spot in PitchIT Caribbean business accelerators located in Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as US$5000 in seed funding to develop their business. Business acceleration includes expert business and technology mentoring, networking opportunities, working space and facilities, expense paid trips to international conferences and competitions, intense product development, and investor readiness training.

“At PitchIT Caribbean we are very focused on identifying, engaging, and developing top tech talent across CARICOM, and this competition is one of our major activities toward that objective. So we want all tech entrepreneurs to sign up for a chance to give their start-up a big boost,” explained Keith Whyte, acting project manager, PitchIT Caribbean.

Tech entrepreneurs can sign up for the competition by visiting http://challenge.pitchitcaribbean.com/ and completing the application form along with a pitch deck and an executive summary of their business or business idea. There is no cost to make a submission to the event.

Who Can Enter

The competition is open to contestants from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Additionally, contestants must be part of a team of at least two members, with such organizations including for-profit, non-profit or academic with fewer than 10 employees.

On June 1 and 2, the 25 finalists will participate in the pitching boot camp which will prepare them for the key competition days of June 3 and 4.

PitchIT Caribbean is the central operation of the Caribbean Mobile Innovation Project, which is part of the Entrepreneurship Program for Innovation in the Caribbean (EPIC), an initiative funded by the government of Canada and executed by infoDev and the World Bank Group.

Related Links

http://www.loopjamaica.com/content/jamaican-start-ups-pitch-investor-conference-finland
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/career/UTECH-students-win-Caribbean-CODESprint_19040820
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Jamaican-techpreneurs-head-to-Slush-2015-in-Finland_19233816

More on PitchIT Caribbean

PitchIT Caribbean is a program concerned with enhancing the mobile app development ecosystem across CARICOM. It is designed to accelerate mobile app entrepreneurs through the start-up life cycle, which runs from ideation to pitch, from pitch to market, and from market to maturity.

The program supports four hubs, located in Barbados, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago. PitchIT Caribbean is the central operation of the Caribbean Mobile Innovation Project, which is part of the Entrepreneurship Program for Innovation in the Caribbean (EPIC), an initiative funded by the government of Canada and executed by infoDev and the World Bank Group, domiciled in the Caribbean through a three-party consortium, led by UWI Consulting Inc., working along with Mona School of Business and Management and Mona Business Support Services. Learn more.

Kalando Wilmoth
Communication Consultant
Caribbean Mobile Innovation Project / PitchIT Caribbean
Email: kalandowis@gmail.com
Phone: 329-8286 || Twitter: @KalandoW

Alison Binger Christie
Communications Consultant, World Bank Group
Email: abingerchristie@worldbank.org
Phone: 1.876.330.1155