Fancy winning up to £250,000 from Richard Branson?

He’s looking for fast-growth SMEs and start-ups. Move fast to win!

Of all the people you could pitch to, Richard Branson wouldn’t be too shabby an option, would he?

How about the possibility of winning up to £250,000-worth of marketing support at the end of your pitch, plus hands-on mentoring, travel and telecoms support for your business?

Not too shabby at all, we’d say.

So here’s what you need to know about Pitch to Rich, the competition recently launched by Branson to unearth exiting innovation, fast-growing businesses and the savviest start-ups in the UK.

The type of businesses this is open to

SMEs across the UK, from any industry, split into the following categories:

>> “Grow” – businesses that are beyond the start-up phase and hungry to unlock that next phase of growth. Think the Fast Track businesses of tomorrow

>> “Start-Up” – those at the beginning of their business journeys

>> “New things” – those with a truly disruptive idea

What you can win

>> “Grow” – winner gets £250,000 marketing campaign, runners-up £100,000 + travel, mentoring and business support package

>> “Start-Up” – winner: £150,000 campaign; runners-up £50,000 campaigns + support package

>> “New things” – winner: £50,000 cash; runners-up £10,000 cash + support package

Some great news about your chances

At the time of writing, there were 80 pitches from “Grow” businesses (and just over 350 across all categories), which means it looks like you currently stand a pretty good chance of making it to the shortlist of 50 businesses from each category.

How you enter (it’s pretty straightforward)

>> A 150-word elevator pitch plus a pitch video, logo, images, and supporting documents, which then goes live online. More info here and sample pitch here.

>> Then you need to get as many people as possible to vote online for your pitch as possible to have a chance of making it through to the shortlist.

BUT YOU NEED TO MOVE FAST!

You need to submit your pitch online by Tuesday 5 May.

BUT public voting on live pitches has already begun, and that decides which businesses go through to the shortlist, so move fast! And then get promoting your pitch.

150 businesses make the shortlist (the top 50 from each category according to the public vote), then 30 semi-finalists are announced on 19 May.

The live finale is on 26 June (pic below).

You can also join or attend the Pitch to Rich roadshow, though none of the events take place in London. Find out more about that here.