Startup Competition Comes To Detroit, Offers Big Prizes

Prepare your business pitches, Motor City dwellers. Detroit is one of three cities that will host Project Startup Live, a series of competitive entreprenuerial forums aimed at bolstering local startups. The program is a partnership between A&E, Comcast Business CMCSA and crowdfunding website RocketHub. Michigan entrepreneurs have until May 19 to enter a pitch competition with Project Startup. Three finalists will be selected to do a live, 3-minute pitch in front of a panel at forum at TechTown Detroit on June 4. One winner and two runners-up will be chosen.

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 The grand prize winner will receive $5,000 and two years of Comcast Business phone, Internet and cable services. Each of the two runners-up will receive $2,500 and a consultation with the CEO of RocketHub, Brian Meece. Entrepreneurial Communities Detroit was an easy choice for the competition, Comcast spokesperson Michelle Gilbert told Benzinga. “Comcast Business knows first-hand the vibrancy of our entrepreneurial community and the tremendous impact small businesses have had in our region,” she said. “From A&E's and RocketHub's perspective, early on in this partnership, they took notice of the growing number of entrepreneurs and small business owners who have managed to flourish in Detroit despite the city's recent economic challenges." The competition is also taking place in Boston and Provo, Utah. “We're seeing a significant uptick in project launches from all three areas that will likely increase even further after the Project Startup Live Forums,” Gilbert said. The Fine Print Contestants much be at least 18 years old and a resident of Michigan. Entry into the competition requires the creation of an online profile through projectstartup.com, a business pitch or 250 words or less, and the inclusion of any applicable URL links for the startup. The forum will be filmed, and Cocmast subscribers will be able to view the competition On Demand this summer in the three markets where the forums are taking place, Gilbert said. The exact air date window hasn't been determined yet.