Five entrants have been shortlisted for the chance to win the $1 million grand prize that is up for grabs in this year’s Scotiabank Vision Achiever Programme Business Plan Competition.
An event planner, tour operator, bottled water manufacturer, videographer and developer of an online barter site are the five finalists.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, Scotiabank said that the finalists were chosen from among 16 entrants.
Shemar Spencer, who is behind barter app Swopp, Shannita Ramnarine, of Experience GT Tours, and Natalya Thomas, of Aone Events, were selected as a result of their video pitches receiving the most reactions on Facebook. Additionally, the judges selected two wild cards entrants—Sherwin Bart, of Your Waters, and Ruth Wilson, of Soarers Video Production.
The release said the five finalists will be put through an intense business coaching programme by one of the bank’s partners, ActionCoach, from June to August. They will then have to produce a business plan using Scotiabank’s free Plan Writer Tool from the bank’s website.
Afterward, they will then have to do a television pitch in front of a panel of judges and they will be scored and a winner and runner-up will be decided. The winner will be awarded $1 million, while the runner-up will be awarded $500,000. The prize money has been doubled from last year as part of the bank’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
Last year, Denisha Victor, of Koko, and Davindra Laltoo and Omesh Balmacoon, of Guyana Premier, were the top two finishers in the competition and were awarded $500,000 and $250,000, respectively.
