The final round of judging in the Isle of Man Entrepreneur Challenge took place on Thursday 17th April. The Challenge was launched by Siliconiom, together with sponsors PwC, Continent 8 Technologies and Acclaim, with the aim of identifying the brightest new business ideas on the Island and in turn seek to assist in taking these ideas to the next level.
Judging was undertaken in two stages; the first round of judging took place in the middle of March when short listed entries were selected to go through to the next stage.
The final round of judging took the format of a 7 minute presentation in front of panel of carefully selected judges. This was followed by a 2 minute question and answer session.
Ian Clague, Senior Partner at PwC said; “It was great that the short listed entries came from a diverse range of business sectors, with representatives from the creative, food and beverage, financial services and service industries. The judging generated some lively debate among the panel.”
Before the winner was announced feedback was giving to all the shortlisted entries and where possible the judges offered assistance to help with their ventures.
Jane Dellar, Chief Executive of the Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce; Owner Coffee Exchange and Surava Ltd, explained the choice of winner “Zoe McAndry, from First Choice Taxis, had clearly defined her market, the opportunity for her product and the investment she was seeking to make it succeed.”
Zoe will now present her pitch at the Siliconiom evening on the 19th May where she will be able to pitch for investment from an audience of carefully selected guests. In addition, there is business support package worth ?10k available from sponsors PwC, Continent 8 Technologies and Acclaim if Zoe attracts investment as a direct result of the business pitch on the 19th.
Steve Hawkins Founder of Siliconiom finished off by saying “We would like to thank everyone who entered the Isle of Man Entrepreneur Challenge and we have already started planning for next year’s Challenge.”
Photograph; Isle of Man Entrepreneur Challenge judges with the selected entrepreneur, from left ; Courtenay Heading, Jane Dellar, Zoe McAndry Brian Hewett, and Ian Clague.
