Papua New Guinean entrepreneurs are being invited to enter the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) in Saudi Arabia in November this year.
The programme will enable entrepreneurs to connect to a global community of entrepreneurs and for a chance to pitch for a share of US$1 million (over K3 million) in prizes plus additional investment opportunities and in-kind support.
The Kumul Foundation Inc is the official lead partner and organizer in Papua New Guinea for Entrepreneurship World Cup Papua New Guinea which will feed start-ups into the global competition, through a partnership recently forged by Chairman Anthony Smaré at the Global Entrepreneurship Conference in Saudi Arabia in March this year.
The EWC will be contested by 400,000 entrepreneurs from idea stage to growth stage across 200 countries with an aim to strengthen start-up eco-systems across continents.
In a statement, EWC emphasized that this is not just a global pitch competition with a shot at life-changing prizes. It elevates entrepreneurs from all stages—idea-stage, early-stage, growth-stage or beyond— by providing them with tools and resources to grow their venture.
“Papua New Guinea is an emerging start-up entrepreneurial ecosystem and to grow, PNG entrepreneurs need to connect with international entrepreneurial networks to learn, to form connections for ideas and investment, and to validate their start-ups. So I encourage as many start-up entrepreneurs who have exciting start-up companies in PNG to apply!”
“We will have a national pitch competition, where winners will share in K30,000 in prize money, and get a chance at advancing further into the international competition.
“Hopefully we will have a Papua New Guinean start-up or two considered for the final list who will go to Saudi Arabia to pitch for the global prize in November later this year.”