The U.S. Embassy is offering this Startup Weekend in partnership with Up Global, whose institutional sponsors include Google, Amazon, the Kauffman Foundation, and Coca-Cola, and with Imagine Space – a makerspace American Corner that is a joint project of the Embassy and the Ottawa Public Library. We are seeking nominations for young Canadian would-be entrepreneurs for this Startup Weekend, and ask for your help in spreading the word about it through your network. This Startup Weekend is open to selected participants only but any and all young Canadian aspiring entrepreneurs are invited to apply. Once selected, Startup Weekend participants will have the standard Startup weekend experience: Participants will be invited to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams will organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback. There will not be any funding for the start-ups.
The Embassy will fund travel, accommodation and meals for participation at our Startup Weekend for selected nominees who are Canadian youths (no minors) with a strong interest in becoming an entrepreneur. Nominees should have a clearly defined idea for creating a new business, but may be lacking in concrete business development planning skills, or have limited access to the expertise, tools, and technologies that can help them in their startup journey. The idea should be in “seed” stage, i.e., not yet a business.
For more information, and to apply, see: http://usembassyottawa.startupweekend.org. Please note the application deadline of midnight, Sunday, April 6.
