On Monday, Virgin Media announced the judges who will be joining Sir Richard Branson for Voom 2018. The judges will decide which entrepreneurs win a share of £1million in prizes after pitching their big ideas live. Virgin reported that Founder of Innocent drinks Richard Reed, serial entrepreneur and TV presenter Sophie Morgan, founder and CEO of Tropic Skincare Susie Ma, and Virgin Media Business’ MD Peter Kelly were selected for the competition’s 2018 judge panel.
As previously reported, Voom is described as a search to find the “most innovative and exciting” small and medium-sized businesses in the UK and Ireland. The event was launched seven years ago. Speaking about the judge’s panel, Branson stated:
“We have great team of judges who will help scrutinise business plans and pitches before deciding who will win Voom 2018. The judges know all about the challenges of starting a business – and have the insight needed to spot a great idea and turn it into a business. He added: “It is not too late to enter, I would encourage anyone who has been thinking about entering to grab the opportunity and submit their entry, it may be the best decision they ever made!”
Experienced Voom judge, Peter Kelly, Managing Director of Virgin Media Business, also commented:
“We’ve pulled together the highest calibre judges to scrutinise the final pitches from the many exciting entries that are pouring in to the competition. Whether an entrant, finalist or winner – we know that being part of the Voom community opens doors for the businesses involved and we encourage both entrepreneurs and more established businesses to take part. With an incredible judging panel in place and high-quality pitches coming through, the final on May 23 is set to be electric”
Virgin added that businesses can enter Voom 2018 by submitting their idea up until 7 pm BST on May 8th. Each of the pitches will be open to public voting, with the top 40 pitches from each of the two categories going through to semi-final heats in Manchester. Six finalists will go on to pitch live to the judges, including Sir Richard Branson, for the chance to win a share of £1 million in prizes at the final in May.
Voom 2018 entry requirements:
- Over 18, and
- Living and working in the UK or Republic of Ireland
- Businesses must employ 250 people or fewer.