The worlds of travel, food and drink and luxury lifestyle are brimming with talent, and with start-up culture in London and beyond showing no signs of slowing, there's never been a better time to be a small-business owner with brilliant ideas and the passion to see them through.
But acquiring crucial funds – and finding an audience to market to – isn't always straightforward, and that's why we've partnered with crowdfunding platform Crowdcube to take care of both. Firstly, we're recruiting talented entrepreneurs to apply to pitch for a crowdfund worth up to £8 million, that's supported by both Crowdcube and Square Up Media, the publishing house that owns Escapism and our sister titles Foodism, Square Mile and Hedge, from now until 19 November.
But we're going beyond that, too: after a judging process (presided over by Crowdcube's CEO and founder Darren Westlake, Square Up Media's founder and CEO Tim Slee, Brewdog's VP of brand strategy Sarah Warman and Grant Thornton's head of growth finance Sarah Abrahams), the seven successful applicants will not only be invited to pitch in person, and successful applicants will have access to £200,000's worth of media spend across Square Up Media's titles. The result is an initiative that could be truly life-changing for one or more entrepreneurs.
Find out more about the campaign below:
The prize
By winning this competition, you'll be able to elevate your business and take it to the next level. Here are just some of the benefits:
- Up to £200,000 in media spend across brands Foodism, Escapism, Hedge, Square Mile
- Winners will gain access to the Square Up Media network
- Increased brand awareness across the UK
- Day-long crowdfunding accelerator with the fundraising team at Crowdcube
- Investment-readiness workshop with Grant Thornton
- Crowdfunding pitch where you can raise up to €8 million in exchange for equity in your business
The criteria
- You must meet the criteria in order to be shortlisted to the final:
- Looking to close investment on Crowdcube before 31st March 2019
- Available to pitch at the final in London on 29th November 2018
- Be a UK Limited Company
- Have a post-revenue business with an engaged consumer base
- Looking to engage with Square Up Media's brands
