Do you know the next young entrepreneur of the year?
Let them know that applications for the 2024 competition close in:
Become a supporter.
Interested in helping young entrepreneurs get started? The Young Entrepreneurs Challenge from Verizon and Unloc is back! It can help young people with fresh business ideas turn them into reality with a £10,000 (12,000€*) cash prize, one-to-one mentorship, a trip to the One Young World Global Summit and much much more!
Do you work with 16–25 year olds that have a tech idea that could support one of the UN’s sustainable development goals? This could be their chance to turn their aspirations into reality! The Young Entrepreneurs Challenge can help them get their business off the ground, or boost their existing startup to the next level.
Download our free marketing materials below. Many of these can be personalised with your organisation’s logo. Use them to get the message out and let’s help young people with their first step on an incredible journey!
Spread the word
Spread the word
Personalised images for social
It only takes a few clicks to create an image personalised with your organisation’s logo for you to promote The Young Entrepreneurs Challenge. You could help a young person achieve their potential and solve one of the world’s biggest challenges.
Start by clicking the “Choose file” button under an image. Select a PNG or JPEG of your logo—around 500 pixels wide is best. Then just click “Download”. Or just click “Download” to get the image without personalisation.
Personalised digital posters
Use these images for kiosk displays in public areas. Personalise with your logo for additional impact. It only takes a few clicks.
Clicking the “Choose file” button under an image. Choose a PNG or JPEG—600 pixels or more wide is best. Then just click “Download”.
Personalised posters to print
Print these posters at A4 or A3 for your noticeboards. You can add your organisation’s logo with just a few clicks. Click “Choose file” and upload a PNG or JPG or your logo. A personalised PDF will be downloaded to your device.
Previous finalists
Even the most experienced entrepreneurs doubt themselves from time to time. Look at our previous finalists as an example—many of them were nervous and unsure about entering. Now they are flourishing and running their own successful businesses. Encourage anybody you know is thining about applying to read their stories. It could be just the confidence boost they need and inspire them to enter this year’s challenge.
Olivia Simpson
Symbiotex
Anjali Devadasan
Treeva
Evan Davies
Scrapp
Idan Gal-Shohet
Fibe
Marion Cantillon
Pit Seal
The prizes
One-to-one mentorship
The winner will be paired with an enterprise mentor, who will create an individual plan focused on the winner’s key priorities. They’ll also get a series of exclusive masterclasses with a variety of industry experts.
Cash award of £10K (12K€*)
The overall winner will receive a £10,000 (12,000€*) grant to help accelerate their business idea or start-up.
* Approximate Euros equivalent. The actual prize will be calculated based on the exchange rate at the time of the award.
One Young World Global Summit
The winner will also get a trip to the One Young World 2024 Global Summit in Montréal. This annual event brings together many of the brightest young leaders from 190+ countries and 250+ organisations.
Eligibility
- Individuals between the ages of 16 and 25 years on 1 February 2024
- Residents and/or citizens of the U.K. or the continent of Europe
- Both written and video applications must be in English
- Business proposals must be:
- Legal in all mainland European countries
- Not have the purpose of political lobbying
- Be the applicant’s own idea and not infringe on the copyright, patent or intellectual property of others
- Businesses must be either:
-
- Pre-start (not yet trading)
- No more than three years old and have had an annual turnover of less than £100,000 (120,000€) in its most recent financial year
- Immediate family members of the judging panel are not eligible to apply
- Previous entrants are welcome to re-enter, but previous finalists are not eligible
Timeline
Want to help more?
If you're a school, college, university or other organisation and would like more support to promote The Young Entrepreneurs Challenge, please get in touch.
Share this
The sponsors
At Verizon, we create the networks that connect people to the things they love, be it businesses to consumers; work teams to work teams; or employees to charities.
We’re problem-solvers, engineers, technologists, innovators and thought-leaders who create the networks that move the world forward. Networks that connect anything to everything and everyone to anyone. Networks built for innovators, entrepreneurs and anyone with the ambition to tackle the world’s biggest challenges.
Our story has been hundreds of years in the making and today businesses use our award-winning networks to make breakthroughs in immersive retail experiences and virtual fashion shows, through to remote healthcare and building revolutionary factory infrastructures to deliver the promise of the digital world.
Unloc is a dynamic social enterprise on a mission to empower young people to be innovative change makers. We strive to encourage entrepreneurial thinking amongst 16-25 year olds, help grow their skills, get a handle on their ambitions and promote alternative career pathways.
Through our wide range of engaging programmes, academies, and courses, as well as our physical Changemaker Studios spaces, digital offer, and touring roadshows across the UK, we provide young people with the confidence, creativity and skills required to be the changemakers of tomorrow.
Through the Verizon and Unloc partnership, The Young Entrepreneurs Challenge provides an extremely valuable platform for young people across Europe to promote their creative business ideas, and take their first bold steps into a promising new future.
Verizon UK Limited. Registered in England and Wales #02776038. Registered address Reading International Business Park, Basingstoke Road, Reading, RG2 6DA.
Unloc Learning Limited. Registered in England and Wales #08578126. Registered address c/o Portsmouth Guildhall, Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth, PO1 2AB.
@ 2023 Verizon UK Limited. All rights reserved.
