Tech entrepreneurs from Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and St. Kitts and Nevis seeking to ‘go global' assembled on the rooftop of the Digicel Headquarters in Kingston for an intense two day workshop in mid-November.
The group were all finalists in the pitchIT Caribbean business pitch competition for web or mobile businesses held earlier in the year. The workshop falls under the World Bank’s Entrepreneurship Programme for Innovation in the Caribbean, EPIC, and its Caribbean Mobile Innovation Programme.
"Every innovation in the world started with an idea,” noted Marie Legault, Councilor and Head of Cooperation for the High Commission of Canada in Jamaica in her presentation to the startups. The Canadian Government provides $20 million to support the regional programme to boost economic growth. She advised the participants to maximize the time they have with the experts making presentations.
Following several hours of immersive training, the entrepreneurs refined the pitches for their business ideas and made presentations to the panel of experts that led the workshop. The pitches were evaluated based on their likelihood to attract three types of investors: venture capitalists, angel and corporate.
VentureOut Challenge Jamaica winner Grik.ly was determined to be the most likely to receive venture capital funding, Trinidad based Interact XL was determined to be most likely to attract an angel investor while compatriots Made In the Caribbean was assessed most likely to benefit from a corporate investor.
Startup Weekend Jamaica winners Project Agro, Barbados developers SimPlify and CariOLA from St. Kitts and Nevis received honorable mentions in each of the three categories respectively.
The group were all finalists in the pitchIT Caribbean business pitch competition for web or mobile businesses held earlier in the year. The workshop falls under the World Bank’s Entrepreneurship Programme for Innovation in the Caribbean, EPIC, and its Caribbean Mobile Innovation Programme.
"Every innovation in the world started with an idea,” noted Marie Legault, Councilor and Head of Cooperation for the High Commission of Canada in Jamaica in her presentation to the startups. The Canadian Government provides $20 million to support the regional programme to boost economic growth. She advised the participants to maximize the time they have with the experts making presentations.
Following several hours of immersive training, the entrepreneurs refined the pitches for their business ideas and made presentations to the panel of experts that led the workshop. The pitches were evaluated based on their likelihood to attract three types of investors: venture capitalists, angel and corporate.
VentureOut Challenge Jamaica winner Grik.ly was determined to be the most likely to receive venture capital funding, Trinidad based Interact XL was determined to be most likely to attract an angel investor while compatriots Made In the Caribbean was assessed most likely to benefit from a corporate investor.
Startup Weekend Jamaica winners Project Agro, Barbados developers SimPlify and CariOLA from St. Kitts and Nevis received honorable mentions in each of the three categories respectively.