Win up to £20K to start or grow your business: CrowdBnk is running the #GreatIdeas crowdfunding competition in February 2013 to celebrate its launch.
Small businesses have long been an important source of jobs in the UK and represent a significant portion of the UK output. Given the current economic climate and public spending cuts, startups and small businesses in the UK have an even a greater role to play. Yet the Breedon report suggests small businesses in the UK could see a funding gap of up to £191 billion in the next 5 years.
Crowdfunding offers an alternative source of funding for these businesses. This week sees the dispatch of the eagerly awaited crowdfunded product – the Pebble Watch, which ships worldwide. The startup Pebble Technology raised over $10 million in the US, through Kickstarter, to manufacture their smart watch – proving that people will get behind ideas that capture their imagination.
CrowdBnk is running the #GreatIdeas competition for people with ideas to test their entrepreneurial skills through crowdfunding. It is a UK wide competition open to anyone with an idea whatever stage they are at, across all sectors. Success will be judged by the crowd as people back ideas they are excited about here.
Starting on the 31st Jan and running until the 1st of March, it is free to enter and at the end of the competition the winners get cash prizes to help get their ideas off the ground. The idea that raises pledges worth £10K the quickest will win £7K additional funding from CrowdBnk. The idea that is shared the most by its supporters through social media wins an additional £3K. The funds will be awarded to the entrepreneurs at an event held in March 2013.