Leading telecoms provider Flow Business and BTC Business have announced that six Caribbean start-ups are in with a chance to claim their share of $15,000 USD in cash and prizes as part of a live pitch challenge on Friday, July 1.
Flow Business and BTC Business has been celebrating Small Business Fridays throughout the month of June with its free series of InKnowvation virtual events held under the theme ‘Pivot to Success: Transforming Your Business for the Digital Age’. As part of the series, small business owners were invited to submit a two-minute video to win the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a live virtual audience at the InKnovation finale on Friday.
The six finalists are Lauren Peters of Nuance Solar (Trinidad), Nima Anvar of GuestChat (Grenada), Demetria Turnquest of Miracle Health (Bahamas), Jovan Miller of PolyCloud Interactive (Jamaica), Nikolai Gillezeau of Sphare Marketplace (Trinidad) and George Wauchope of Emailchaser.io (Cayman Islands).
“The response to InKnowvation has been incredible, with more than 3,000 small business owners signing up for the forums. We also received hundreds of entries for the business pitch challenge, and we are excited to see what our finalists have in store for us on July 1,” said Nicolas Collette, Vice President, B2B, C&W Communications. Nuance Solar provides residential and commercial solar-powered solutions such as Wi-Fi cameras, water heaters and lighting; GuestChat aims to increase direct bookings on hotel websites using its specially designed booking bot; and Miracle Health is an organic skincare company.
PolyCloud Interactive is a gaming and animation studio that creates educational content for early childhood and primary levels; Sphare Marketplace is an e-commerce ecosystem that aims to provide equal benefits for both vendors and consumers; and Emailchaser.io is a website that allows you to find almost anyone’s email address, even if the email address that you are looking for isn’t publicly available.
“We have been inspired by the incredible stories of these enthusiastic Caribbean entrepreneurs, and we are inviting the regional business community, especially fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners, to join us on July 1 and be inspired as well,” added Collette.
The finale of the InKnowvation series takes place on July 1 with Kadeen Mairs, founder of soon-to-be-listed microlending service Dolla Financial, delivering the feature presentation.
Other presenters include online business coach and Flow Ambassador, Keron Rose; chief executive officer of Jamaica-based online food delivery service QuickCart, Monique Powell; artist manager for musical acts Sheneesa and Ding Dong, Romecih Major; and TV host and content curator, Yendi Phillips. To register for the free virtual session, interested parties should visit flowbusiness.co/events.
InKnowvation: Small Business Fridays is produced in partnership with Tech Beach.
