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Xodus Foundation has set out about Ghc 30,000 grand to startups and small businesses that have to struggle every day for survival more so in this Covid-19 induced business climate without any clearly defined support system.

According to the Executive Director of Xodus Communications Limited,
Richard Abbey Junior the impact initiative duped “The Pitch" is to serve as a social change maker in order to provide technical and financial support to a select number of budding entrepreneurs in Ghana to help them grow and scale up their businesses into profitable ventures.

He said this laudable competition will help inform the Ghanaian public about the importance of entrepreneurship as a tool for post-covid-19 economic recovery for development.

“ This is indeed a dream come through. I believe this will help showcase some of the young entrepreneurs leading the way in Ghana through innovation on new products and services…”, he said.

The Approach

The Pitch is a 3-month long entrepreneurship competition that will be hosted once in a year from October to March. The approach is to identify, screen, select and support the young entrepreneur with a unique value proposition for the Ghanaian market and one that has the highest growth potential among the lot with social impact in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mentorship Drive

Selected finalists will be given a full day of training on how to effectively package their businesses to attract the needed capital or investment for growth. Topics such as marketing, branding, international market entry, bookkeeping, accounting, working capital management, strategic planning, innovation, business plan development and company valuation shall be treated at the mentorship programme to equip the young entrepreneurs with the requisite skills for enterprise development.

Over the long term, the five finalists will receive technical assistance from mentors and coaches for 12 months in managing and growing their businesses effectively through innovation. This will be fully funded by the Pitch initiators and partners.

Funding support and Accessibility

The final participants shall have the opportunity to bid for the grand prize of GHc 30,000 through voting (At no cost) by the Ghanaian public constituting 50% and the verdict of the jury constituting 50% to determine the ultimate Winner through a live show to be telecast live on all approved social media channels.

The Winner, First Runner Up and Second Runner Up shall have the additional opportunity to pitch their businesses to private equity funds, venture capital funds, angel investors and other institutional investors that the PITCH has identified as Strategic Partners for this competition.

The three finalists will have the opportunity to raise debt or equity from the sources that will be made accessible to them by the PITCH