The 2022 winning team Upcycl from Milton Peters College, pitching at the finals last year. From left are: Jael Jong-a-Lock, Isaiah Peterson and Kymora Reed. Not in picture, Rani Plattel.
PHILIPSBURG--The deadline for the second annual National Youth Pitch Competition has been extended to September 15.
The competition is designed to promote financial literacy, hone entrepreneurial skills and foster innovative mindset among the youth. It is open to secondary school students. Multiple teams from the same school can apply. However, only the highest scoring team which completed the accelerator can pitch at the finals. Due to feedback and expected deteriorating weather conditions, the application deadline was extended, coordinators said in a press release.
The competition has three main phases. The first phase is the application phase, where school teams of no more than four students apply digitally. Included in the application is a start-up budget among other details. The second phase is the accelerator where professional experts pour into the student teams training them in finance, sales, intellectual property, and communications. Finalist teams must successfully complete the accelerator, which lasts for six weeks, in order to pitch at the finals. The last phase is the final competition where student teams represent their school and pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges. The finals will take place on November 19, 2023 during Global Entrepreneurship Week.
The winner of this year’s National Youth Pitch (NYP) Competition will receive NAf. 10,000, mentorship and a summer entrepreneurial exchange in 2024. The school will receive the NYP trophy, which now sits at Milton Peter’s College (MPC), as the winning team, Upcycl, are students of MPC. Besides the grand prize, the audience both in real life and virtual can vote for their favourite student team. This team would receive the Crowd Favorite award of NAf. 2,500.
Any application received after September 15, at 11:59PM will not be considered. Thereafter, a committee will score the student teams based on a detailed rubric. Some of the criteria include: creativity and innovation, viability, profitability, scalability, impact and leadership. Each category is of equal value. The highest scoring team per school will be the finalist team. Though the accelerator is open to all applicants, it is mandatory for the finalist teams.
Last year, more than 100 people were in attendance and more than 3,000 viewed online.
Organisers are hopeful that the competition will provide the youth with an opportunity to showcase their business ideas, develop their skills, and become more involved in the island’s development.
