Initiative to Support Kiwi Student Startups Launches

Media release: 5 December 2017

Initiative to Support Kiwi Student Startups Launches

An annual initiative to find New Zealand’s most promising student entrepreneurs has launched - offering the winner a chance to compete at the international finals in Toronto.

The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA), an initiative of the Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO) is aiming to support young Kiwi entrepreneurs.

Lester Binns, spokesperson for the NZ chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organisation says the experience provided by competition has proven invaluable to past winners.

“The GSEA awards give students the chance to compete against some of the world’s most exciting, young entrepreneurial minds.

“Student startups will be judged by a panel of successful business owners from the Entrepreneurs Organisation.

“The NZ winner will take home a $5000 cash prize as well as $1000 to attend a conference, a lunch with one of the high profile EO members and a shot at a prize pool worth almost $60,000 when they compete against finalists from more than 110 other cities around the world in Canada.

“There is also a entrepreneurial mentor prize which will provide invaluable one on one guidance for their winner at the beginning of their career,” he says.

Binns says increasingly the judges are taking into account ethical and social elements of the business.

“The competition looks at a range of criteria including social responsibility and innovation - the size of the business is less important to the judges than the promise they show as budding entrepreneurs,” he says.

To be eligible, students must enrolled in a tertiary institution, and own a business which has been generating revenue for more than six months.

The competition entry is open until January 19, 2018. For more information or to enter visit gsea.org

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