Oxygen Accelerator to ‘Give
Away’ £75,000 to One Lucky Start-Up – With No Strings Attached
Mark Hales to personally invest as voted for by the mentors, investors and the nine
other start-up teams
Birmingham,
22 June 2011: Oxygen Accelerator, A ‘BOOT CAMP’ programme for
technology start-up businesses, has put up a further £75,000 prize to be won by
one of the 10 participating teams.
Oxygen Accelerator was launched last month as a 13-week intensive mentoring and
training ‘boot camp’ for the businesses selected from hundreds around the world
to join the initiative at Birmingham Science Park Aston.
Founded by entrepreneur Mark Hales and Birmingham Science Park Aston, Oxygen Accelerator aims
to find and nurture tech companies of the future and will open up new channels
to follow-on investment from VCs, Angel investors and private equity funders.
Now, as an extra incentive, Mark Hales has put up £75,000 of
his own money to be won by the business voted for by mentors, investors
and peers as the ‘most improved’ on the
programme, which starts in September. Furthermore,
the start-up to receive the cash will not be accredited as the ‘best’ company
out of the ten selected, but as one that has gained fruitfully from the
programme and has proven its ability to continue to develop a sustainable
business. Finally, the £75,000 cash
reward will be received 13 weeks after the programme has finished so not to
influence the investment decisions of potential funders.
Oxygen Accelerator was created to help give the selected groups the necessary
environment and equipment to be able to super-charge their business’ products
and ideas as marketable in the real world.
Founder and entrepreneur, Mark Hales, adds: “We are keen to bring
technology into the UK and create a tech-hub outside London.
“Investing a further £75,000 into the team that has shown a marked improvement from when
they joined the programme, will help fuel inspiration, determination and the
passion needed to make a business work. I want to make clear that each team
selected for this process is a winner to have come through the 13 weeks and
this cash-injection is in no way a bias towards one particular company. It’s
just another investment to be gained at the end of the process when each
business will be pitching to investors on ‘Investor Day’. The only difference is, it’s theirs and they
do not need to give up equity or alike! Moreover, it allows them to have faith
in the tech community and believe that people will invest in an idea if it has
the right ingredients to turn it into a credible business – but that takes time
and Oxygen Accelerator is here to support this development.”
Applications are open until Thursday June 30th.
The successful 10 will have access to a pool of state-of-the-art resources and also
receive guidance from fellow successful tech entrepreneurs, business mentors
and financial and legal support, which is imperative for any business during
its formative stages. It’s about having
the right advice or connections at the right time. Crucially at the end of the
13 weeks they will also present their products to venture capitalists and angel
investors, as the programme culminates with an ‘Investor Day’.
Criteria for applying for Oxygen Accelerator is simple: founders of the company will be
asked a series of questions relating to existing milestones, investment to date
and revenue generation – basics that are usually part of a business plan. Accompanied with this should be a short video
of the founding members as to why they should be selected to be part of the Top
10, which will give judges a good impression of what they are like as
individuals. Judges will be looking for
strength in idea, how much they think they’ll benefit from the programme,
presentation and thinking as well as team dynamics.
Applications are open now and close on June 30th 2011. Click here for more
information on how to submit your proposal, or how to become a mentor and/or
investor: http://oxygenaccelerator.com
