The Caribbean Innovation Challenge (CIC), an international entrepreneur competition and business start-up accelerator platform for young people in Caricom and associate states, is offering further business development and international visibility opportunities for young entrepreneurs in the Caribbean.
A release from the Barbados and the OECS office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) announced new entrepreneurship development opportunities for Caribbean Innovation Challenge alumni and young participants. The CIC is a component of the UNDP Barbados and the OECS Youth-IN programme and is implemented in collaboration with the YABT.
Luis Viguria, CEO of the YABT explained, “The CIC had close to 500 teams participating in 2013, these teams will have once again the opportunity to compete and represent the Caribbean in a hemispheric competition and support platform like the TIC Americas in 2014.” So in an effort to continue providing follow-up services to the teams that registered for the CIC in 2013, the organising partners will give them access to the Talent and Innovation Competition 2014 TIC Americas support platform.
According to the release, this opportunity for teams that had competed previously to be part of the TIC Americas 2014, was approved in anticipation of the launch of the second edition of the Caribbean Innovation Challenge, to be announced later this year and which will run its complete Competition Model for the Caribbean, including promotion and marketing, the Business Opportunity Online Training BOOT Camp, the CIC Support System, online semi-finals and evaluation process and the on-site Finals, Expo and Awards Ceremony.
It said that teams that were part of CIC 2013 will automatically receive notification about this unique opportunity to compete in TIC Americas 2014, and they will then have until March 2, 2014 to present the deliverables of their projects under two categories.
The Talent and Innovation Awards category focuses on social and economic innovation through entrepreneurship. These proposals can be projects in implementation or to be implemented. This award is a joint initiative of YABT and the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI) and the Organisation of American States (OAS).
The Eco-Challenge Awards, on the other hand, is a special category for projects focused on environmental issues. The Eco-Challenge is a joint initiative between YABT and PepsiCo that seeks to promote sustainable solutions to address the challenges of environmental problems.
It said that a delegation of up to five finalist teams will be selected, during the judging and evaluation process, to represent the Caribbean at the Hemispheric TIC Americas 2014 Finals, to be held in June 2014 in Asuncion, Paraguay prior to the 2014 OAS General Assembly.
For further information, young entrepreneurs should contact: Janine Chase, UNDP Barbados and the OECS, email: Janine.chase@undp.org, T: 1 246 467 6041; or Ana Maria Torres, Young Americas Business Trust, email: ticamericas@yabt.net, T: 1 202 370-4723.
