The Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a specialised unit at the University of Cape Town (UCT) Graduate School of Business, has partnered global impact investment fund Mustard Seed to offer local social enterprises the chance to pitch for funding at an event on September 10.
The pitching competition is an add-on to the Bertha Centre’s Pathways to Funding Do’ference for Entrepreneurs programme, and will offer startups with a social or environmental mission to pitch to Mustard Seed.
Mustard Seed looks to address the rising appetite for entrepreneurship and socially-minded enterprise among graduates by investing in businesses with a clearly defined social or environmental mission, thus bridging a critical funding gap to support early-stage ventures.
The pitching competition is open to companies in the startup or early growth phases, with interested teams required to prepare a two-minute pitch video and submit their entries via the Mustard Seed website.
After the final event, the Mustard Seed Investment Committee will select five finalists for consideration and due diligence, with the Audience also able to vote. Mustard Seed typically invests between US$100,000 and US$1 million, and usually invests in at least one startup post-event.
Pitch videos should contain what problem the startup is solving, current traction, revenue model, potential scalability, funding sought, and how the startup is going to make the world a better place. Videos must be submitted by September 1, with finalist teams to be announced by September 3.
