The competition is facilitated by Digital Shoreditch and supported by a growing number of leading businesses and organisations, including The Tech City Investment Organisation (TCIO), Taylor Wessing, Seedrs, City University London, London & Partners, London First, Schools for Startups, KPMG, Ketchum and the Mayor of London. The winning company will not only receive £1million but will also receive dedicated support and assistance from the partners, as it sets up its operation in London.
The company will need to show that it has the capability of using the £1million equity investment to build a £100million company based in London. Entrant turnover must be less than £1million per year and the company must have been trading for fewer than 10 years. The competition is open to entries until August 29, 2013, with the final taking place December 2013.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "London is a terrific home for technology start-ups and a world leader in this booming sector. This competition is an aptly innovative approach which I hope will unleash even more of the entrepreneurial talent for which this city is renowned."
Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, Michael Fallon, said: "The UK is a great place to do business, with constantly improving infrastructure and a skilled labour force. This initiative can provide a real boost for entrepreneurship and start-ups with high growth potential and help to keep London ahead in the global competition for talent, innovation and success."
Benjamin Southworth, deputy CEO of Tech City Investment Organisation, commented: "The Million Pound Startup competition perfectly demonstrates how London and the UK are open for business. Entrepreneurs based here can benefit from the world’s most ambitious package of policies, businesses incentives, tax and visa support as well as the diverse and vibrant start-up ecosystem in Tech City. It is exactly the sort of initiative that will continue to drive the creativity, collaboration and community that makes Tech City Europe’s digital capital and I’m sure we’ll see some incredible success stories as a result."
Kam Sta, founder of Digital Shoreditch, added: "The east London digital and tech cluster around Shoreditch is an amazing place for start-ups with high growth potential due to first class support networks and like-minded entrepreneurs. We’re running one of the world’s largest competitions in history to attract high growth potential companies from the digital and tech space around the globe to London."
The £1 million is being sourced through a combination of angel funding, institutional capital and equity crowdfunding. The FCA-regulated investment platform Seedrs is running the investment process. The contest partners and judges will work together to ensure the winning company is of high-calibre and successfully completes due diligence.
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