The fourth edition of the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) is underway with applications now open to entrepreneurs in 200 countries looking to take part in the world’s largest startup support program and pitch competition. Hosted by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and Monsha’at, the program offers founders a chance to pitch on a global stage for a share of US$1 million in prizes plus additional investment opportunities and in-kind support.
Interested entrepreneurs can complete an application here. National finals will take place in 200 countries between June and September. In October, global finalists will be invited to participate in an intensive startup bootcamp. The top 100 startups will advance to the quarterfinals and compete for a chance to pitch at the Global Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in November.
But EWC is more than just a global pitch competition with a shot at life-changing prizes. It elevates entrepreneurs from all stages—idea-stage, early-stage, growth-stage or beyond— by providing them with tools and resources to grow their venture.
All applicants will receive access to EWC Accelerates, a virtual training program that helps entrepreneurs hone their skills and increase their chances of winning their national competitions and advancing to the Global Finals.
The EWC online platform also offers all contestants that start an application access to $1,000 worth of perks. All founders that complete an application will receive access to more than $25,000 in perks. The top EWC100 will receive $100,000 in in-kind services from partners such as AWS, Freshworks, Google Cloud, Hubspot, Stripe, Zoom and more.
All global finalists will receive an additional package of perks and in-kind support services and gain automatic entry into the GEN Starters Club, an invitation-only community of talented founders.
Since launching in 2019, the Entrepreneurship World Cup has attracted 400,000 registrations from 200 countries and connected founders with over US$3M in cash prizes and another US$256M worth of perks and free support and services.
Past winners include NERv, a Canadian healthtech startup with a sensory platform designed to detect complications following abdominal surgeries, TurtleTree Labs, a biotech startup from Singapore that produces milk using cell-based technology, and TODOC, an electroceutical solution company from South Korea that has developed a low-cost cochlear implant.
Testimonials about the EWC Experience
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Kyousik Min, CEO and founder of TODOC (2021 Entrepreneurship World Cup champion): “The prize money will be invaluable to take TODOC to its next phase, which is clinical trials for technology that will allow deaf people to hear for the first time.”
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Fengru Lin, CEO and co-founder of Turtle Tree Labs (2020 Entrepreneurship World Cup champion): “Even just a few days after the competition, we’ve had many investors, industry partners and media partners reach out to us. The global recognition has allowed us to shine the light on the importance of food security and the importance of thinking about different ways to tackle food security challenges.”
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Bethelhem Dejene, CEO and Founder, Zafree Papers (2020 Top 10 Global Finalist): “[EWC] taught us the ins and outs and nuances of raising investment. It accelerated our understanding of how to go about it in a very short time, massively prepared us for the process, and put us in a much stronger position than we were in before. We were able to hustle and successfully fundraise from foreign investors to get our company off the ground.”
For media inquiries, please contact:
Kathryn Forrest
Manager for Communications
Global Entrepreneurship Network
kathryn@genglobal.org