Calling all Australian entrepreneurs to these global events

Australian entrepreneurs have two upcoming opportunities to win cash prizes, gain access to global networks and be apart of building capacity and capability in Australia’s entrepreneur ecosystem.

To our main audience of WA entrepreneurs, we encourage you to look at these events as an opportunity to represent our great state and demonstrate the diverse range of startup talent.

Entrepreneurship World Cup 2022

The Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) is an annual pitch competition delivered by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and a supporting host country to provide entrepreneurs access to networks, investment, awareness, and scale.

The competition is open to all entrepreneurs, regardless of level. This ranges from the ideas stage of launching a startup to the growth stage of already having a Series A round.

There are seven phases of participation:

1. Registration – applicants are on-boarded automatically by the competition website and segmented into appropriate categories based on their stage: Idea, Early, Growth.
2. EWC Accelerates – applicants are invited to participate in EWC Accelerates and learn from a series of virtual training opportunities to sharpen their skills regardless of their stage (e.g. pitch training).
3. EWC Qualifiers – applicants compete against others from their country in EWC Qualifiers (competitions) around the world. For countries without a national organizer, applicants will compete in a Global Pool. Up to 250-300 contestants advance past the EWC Qualifiers to the EWC Group Stage in Phase 4.
4. Bootcamp + EWC Group Stage – All EWC Group Stage contestants are invited to participate in a structured virtual bootcamp comprising two or three cohorts organized by Idea Stage, Early Stage and Growth Stage. Teams participate in a cohort-level workshop and direct one-to-one mentorship sessions designed to explore unique challenges, uncover applicable solutions and refine their pitch and presentation.
5. Assessment + Global Finalist Selection – EWC Group Stage contestants are evaluated based on the results of due diligence and other factors tied to the Bootcamp. The top 100 are selected as the “EWC 100” Global Finalists.
6. Global Finals – the EWC 100 are invited to participate in an intensive preparation bootcamp before competing for prizes.
7. Post-EWC Support – EWC 100 are enrolled in the GEN Starters Club, providing a global peer network, mentorship and other support services to help members, especially after the EWC, reach their full potential. Other partners may be engaged to provide post-EWC support.

The top 100 finalists will be eligible to receive a share of prize packages totalling US$10 million of in-kind services and more than US$1 million in cash prizes.

Furthermore, all global finalists (including a minimum of 25 from the top 100) will receive a full travel scholarship for one team member to pitch on stage in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia before judges, investors, partners, and industry experts. The scholarship includes a round-trip flight ticket, visa, hotel accommodation, meals, and local transportation.

Finally, the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) will align with the themes that will have emerged from the EWC program development process. The aim of this event is to act as a state specific Global Entrepreneurship Congress (read below for further details). This is set to happen from 14 to 20 November 2022.

Applications for the EWC will close August 15, 2022. For more information about the application process, eligibility and rules, visit the official website.

Chad Renando, the Managing Director of GEN and a PhD researcher on innovation hubs wrote up a fantastic post on LinkedIn providing more details into the EWC, with particular reference to the application requirements for Australian entrepreneurs. Read that post here.

Global Entrepreneurship Congress 2023

The Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) is an annual congress delivered in a different country each year attracting 2,500 to 5,000 delegates. In 2023, Australia has won the right to host the congress, from 1 May 2023 to 4 May 2023 in Melbourne.

This event is once again delivered by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN). The GEC has been running annually since 2009, bringing together a network of 180 countries with a focus on supporting One Global Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.

The Congress builds capacity and capability in the host country’s ecosystem, mobilises national entrepreneur support, attracts global investment, and brings leaders together to address global challenges through entrepreneurial action.

The emphasis of the GEC is on addressing the underlying systemic factors that enable entrepreneur success.

As written by Dr Renando in his LinkedIn post, this event directly follows on from the EWC, as that competition will showcase Australian entrepreneurship to the world, therefore creating momentum for the focus areas of GEC the following year.

The GEC audience is more broad than the EWC. In addition to entrepreneurs, the GEC will bring together university leaders and researchers, government policymakers, ecosystem builders and leaders, industry representatives including peak bodies and associations, corporations, international delegates, investors, program providers, incubator managers, and service providers.

Day one will include opening ceremonies, headliners, keynotes, and ministerial sessions. Days two and three are the main content sessions, with four to six content streams including additional keynotes, panels, and workshops. Day four includes workshops to embed the lessons for each country delegation and final headliners to consolidate the themes.

Dr Renando wrote another LinkedIn post providing more details. As of the publishing of this article, registrations have not yet opened for the GEC. However, expressions of interest are open.