What do you need to apply?

Complete the online application form.  The form requires basic information on the company and team members. In addition, you will be asked to include links to:

• LinkedIn profiles for each member of the team

• Please make sure your profile is up to date and accurate.  Check for spelling mistakes, inaccurate dates and information and ensure it correlates with your application form.

• A pitch deck describing the company and its plans

• A pitch deck is a brief presentation, often created using PowerPoint, Prezi or Keynote, used to provide the audience with a quick overview of your business plan.

11 slides of a pitch deck (We don't insist on 11, but try to make it 10–20 and no more!)

This is an indication of the type of things we would typically expect to see in your pitch deck

• Introduction– who you are, why you’re applying for the CCE Programme

• Team– who’s involved with the business you’re pitching, briefly describe how you met, each person, what their role is and what they bring to the team

• Problem– what are you trying to solve?

• Advantages– what makes your idea better than anyone else’s and how are you different from others?

• Solution– how will you solve the problem

• Product– how does your product or service work?

• Traction– who are your potential customers

• Market– what’s the potential size of your market<

• Competition– who’s out there doing something similar?

• Business model– how will you make money

• Investing– what’s your planned budget/financials?

Tips

• Make a great first impression – tell us your story in an engaging way

• Keep slides simple, error free and visually engaging

• Know your numbers and facts

• Don’t make it too long – between 10 and 20 slides 

A video describing you and your idea

The video is your opportunity to showcase yourselves and your idea. We would like to see a compelling explanation of the business idea being pitched featuring all applicants, not an advert. Videos that do not feature all applicants, or that are just an advert for the product will not be accepted and your application will not be progressed. It doesn’t need to be long, 2–3 minutes will give you time to do this. We are not expecting a professionally edited film, but do ensure the sound and picture quality is of a good enough quality for the panel to get the most from what you submit. We will not accept videos that do not feature all team members who wish to be considered for the Programme.

Tips

• Storyboard (i.e. plan) what you’re going to say before you start filming. The more time you spend doing this, the better the outcome will be

• Have a well-defined structure and be clear about what message you want to get across to the panel and if you’re all participating make sure you don’t talk over each other

• Film in a quiet location and ensure there are no interruptions 

• Practice, practice, practice