51Âþ»­

Students and graduates with a great business idea are being urged to turn to video in a bid to win £1,000 to get their dream off the ground.

Even if all you’ve got is an idea for a gap in the market, 51Âþ»­ Leicester’s (51Âþ»­) latest round of the could give you the training and cash to turn it into a start-up business.

Pitch2Win May 2017 winner Chanelle Pal

The Pitch2Win competition, launched today, is open to current 51Âþ»­ students or anyone who has graduated since 2012 and has now been revamped into a three-stage process.

Enterprise Co-ordinator Stacey Simpson said: “The idea is that entrants will be a bit more comfortable with the first video stage and they can be more creative through film, if they want to.

“They might want to find different ways of expressing their ideas.

“We’re hoping to engage more students and graduates this year because the first stage is only to produce a short two-minute video pitch, which they can do for example from their own living room."

Stacey added: “Maybe they’ve only got a spark of an idea which they want to tell us about. We wouldn’t want to put them off by asking them straight away to put together a full-blown pitch.

“This year we’re adding a boot camp stage which will enable those shortlisted to work through their idea with us and get advice on how to do their full pitch.”

Entrants are invited to Film It, Pitch It and Win It in a three-stage process which begins with them submitting a two-minute video telling about themselves, their business idea and their inspiration/motivation for it.

The deadline to submit a video entry is 9am on Monday, October 30.

Stage Two will be a one-day boot camp at 51Âþ»­’s Innovation Centre on Thursday, November 9, where 15 shortlisted entrants will work through their idea and receive training on putting together their pitch.

Then on Wednesday, November 15, they will return to The Innovation Centre to present their pitches before a panel of judges from the scheme’s sponsors.

These include the , which funds start-up businesses with interest-free loans, the , which will provide financial guidance to Pitch2Win winners, and the , a law firm offering legal advice to start-ups.

Pitch2Win aims to support 51Âþ»­ students and graduates with any type of business idea, from freelance photography to designing their own fashion label or launching a new video game.

Jessica Okoro (centre) with May 2016 competition runners-up Mohammed Omar and Dominic Bryan

Past winners include who set up her own business teaching children and young people about maths and science, and who is trying to launch a company selling cheap bottled water to rehydrate revellers outside clubs and late-night bars.

“It’s hard to find funding for start-ups so having access to funding through Pitch2Win is fantastic for our winners,” added Stacey.

“It’s been a really positive scheme for not only our students but also the panel members who support it.”

For full competition details visit www.dmu.ac.uk/pitch2win or contact the Enterprise Team on 0116 207 8914 or enterprise@dmu.ac.uk.

If you require advice about your business idea before entering, you can also book an appointment at the .