Welsh inaugural start-up competition Startup Wales is to kick off on Friday, October 9 and will last till Sunday, October 11.
The competition, set up and organised by Penarth-bred tech entrepreneur Rich Woolley, will bring together developers, designers and entrepreneurs in Cardiff to form and launch their own innovative start-ups within 48 hours.
It’ll take place at Vale College’s City Centre Campus on Dumballs Road, which is a 5 minutes walk from Cardiff Central train station.
Contestants will come up with viable start-up ideas and develop them right throughout the weekend, before presenting to a panel of judges on the Sunday. They’ll be competing for a range of prizes, including £10K of seed investment and co-working space.
The event host will be Ralph Chiti, an ex-Google mobile advertising guru, and the judges include Nick van der Meulen, CEO of VDM Capital Management, Georgina Campbell Flatter, head of entrepreneurship at MIT, David Notley, the founder of Impact Innovation, multiple business owner Steve Dimmick, and Neil Cocker, the founder of Cardiff Start and Dizzyjam.
Backers include the Welsh Government, Google, Business Wales, Tech Dragons, Cardiff Start, Small Joys Co, Paperclip, Sport Draftr, Social Chain, Innovation Cardiff, Vlab.Ventures and Hive.
Rich Woolley, founder and lead organiser of StartupWales, also CEO of app Paperclip, said: “There is so much talent in Wales, and the Welsh Government provides great support for early stage businesses, – it seems that there is a real opportunity to put Wales on the startup map here.”
“I set up StartupWales to accelerate the process in Wales; so many people have potentially great ideas in their heads but just need a little extra nudge to get them started. Conversely, many talented others have the appetite to add value to any project, but haven’t found the right one to run with yet.
“StartupWales aims to bring Welsh ideas and talent together under one roof to kick-start the process”
