Pitch Competition

Awakening Africa Hub is home to building entrepreneurs; we are all-around about building successful entrepreneurs and communities.

The Heaven Center Pitch Competition Is an opportunity for minority entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas and build strong networks with ambitious and passionate individuals and mentors. Our goal is to encourage and support entrepreneurship in the African American community by offering competitions where entrepreneurs can receive constructive feedback from experienced venture capitalists and established CEOs.

This competition is for founders of African descent who build innovative solutions to unlock untapped markets and create new opportunities.

This avenue will provide valuable information and inspiration for various business models and the opportunity to receive feedback from a diverse audience before promoting startup businesses.

ELIGIBILITY

1. Participants must be at least 18 years or older, early-stage founders in either pre-seed or seed round of funding with a focus on solving problems in an African country or Black communities in the diaspora.
2. Operating your business for less than three years
3. An entrepreneurial start-up without a direct or indirect operating relationship with an existing large-scale corporation, investment fund, or government agency

Up to 10 finalists will be selected to compete in the live pitch event on December 16, 2022, where finalists will pitch their products and ideas to a panel of expert judges and compete to win $5000.

Competition rules and guidelines are as follows:

• Send an introductory video that cannot be longer than 90 seconds (please introduce yourself and briefly explain what you do). Please send the to info@afblounge.org or text/WhatsApp the video to 817-204-9524
• We reserve the right to adjust the number of finalists at any time.
• Finalists must confirm their intent to participate in the live pitch event by submitting their business plan by Nov 25^th, 2022.
• All public sessions of the live pitch event may be recorded and re-broadcast by the event organizers, the public at large, or media members. Participants should not expect or assume any rights of confidentiality related to data or information presented or discussed during public sessions.
• Competition organizers reserve the right to disqualify any application submission that it deems inappropriate, unethical, or offensive or to disqualify any finalist that violates the rules of the live pitch event.
• Finalists will be notified by email by Nov 21^st.

What will the judges be evaluating during the pitch competition?

• Team (investors invest in people)
• Market Validation (judges want to see what level of knowledge you have of the market in which you are competing)
• Product (is it innovative? Is it solving a problem? Make judges understand your vision)
• Business Model (be clear about how you will make money)
• Soft Skills

Tips

• Research all the panelists
• Prepare a three-minute presentation: on PowerPoint or in a similar format, where you present the problem, the market, the solution, the team, the business model, and what you’re asking for.
• Develop a more detailed presentation. This should include more information about the market, the financing model, and further details about the solution/platform.
• Include performance milestones.
• Be assertive, and be humorous if you don’t like being strong. It’s another good strategy to capture their attention and be remembered.
• Practice your pitch until you are tired of listening to yourself! Practice and then again and again, in front of a mirror, in front of your team, your friends, family members, and your pet, if you have one.

Key Dates

November 14^th: SUBMISSION DEADLINE

November 21^st: SEMI-FINALIST SELECTION

December 16^th: FINAL LIVE PITCH

Location: Plano Event Center (2000 E Spring Creek Pkwy, Plano, TX 75074)