The British Council joined forces with London Metropolitan University (UK) to run its largest video pitch competition in 2021 – the Creative Spark Big Idea Challenge.
The competition provides thousands of young people (aged between 18 and 35 years) with the opportunity to develop their own business ideas and enterprise skills. The platform also helps young entrepreneurs to raise their profile and improve their career prospects, at a time when youth unemployment is a growing concern and the Covid-19 health pandemic has disrupted economies around the world.
This year, we are also piloting a new award category, Climate Change, which showcases business ideas that address the causes and effects of climate change with the goal to protect our planet and its resources with a focus at community, local or national level.
The finalists were selected by a panel of national and international judges experienced in enterprise education and creative entrepreneurship. The general public can vote for the People’s Choice Award Winner from now until 18 July 2021. Last year, almost 100,000 people voted for our People’s Choice award winners and gave the teams invaluable international exposure.
The competition will be run in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan from 5 to 18 July 2021. Over the last two years, we received 920 new business ideas, supported by 110 higher education and creative institutions, and voted on by 122,000 people.
Winners of each competition category in Azerbaijan will receive up to £ 3,000 in grant funding, personalised mentoring support, and a chance to participate in a Startup Sprint Course.
You may find the detailed information about the finalists here or by downloading the press release down below.