SYDNEY, 22 May 2018StartCon, backed by Australian VC firm Right Click Capital, has today announced the launch of its Pitch for $1 Million competition. As the biggest pitch competition in the Asia-Pacific region, it will bring together over 600 startups and 400 leading investors, from 15 cities, across a series of 1-day events in each city.

 

The Pitch for $1 Million Principal Partner, Right Click Capital – part of the global Draper Venture Network, which collectively has US$1.8 billion in assets under management – will be offering the winning startup AU$1 million in funding. The funds will be used to support the winner to further develop its proprietary technologies, bolster its team’s talent, as well as scale and expand its business operations globally.

 

Benjamin Chong, Partner at Right Click Capital said, “We’re excited to partner with StartCon, Australia’s largest startup conference and entrepreneur community, and look forward to helping the local startup ecosystem level the playing field with its US-based counterpart. There is such great talent in the Asia-Pacific region, and we cannot wait to contribute our specialist experience to support early-stage companies and enable them to scale and expand globally.”

 

“As Principal Partner, we are committed to the success of the initiative and will give the winner the opportunity to tap into our partnership with the Draper Venture Network, opening the door for it to draw on in-depth operational and expansion experiences.”

 

StartCon’s CEO Cheryl Mack, said, “Following our long-standing success with StartCon, I’m really pleased to offer local founders the opportunity to showcase their businesses to the rest of the world. There is so much startup talent in Asia Pacific that just needs a global stage in order to show how great their companies are. We’re giving them that stage through “Pitch for $1 Million”, as well as a financial boost with the help of Right Click Capital.”

 

“As Right Click Capital is both founder-led and has extensive experience in investing in early-stage, high-growth tech businesses across the Asia-Pacific region, they were the obvious partner for us.”

 

This is the ninth year that the startup pitch competition has been running, following previous year’s success stories, which include Checkbox and Shippit. Regional winners from each city will receive flights and accommodation to StartCon 2018 where they’ll get a chance to pitch in front of 4,000 people. The winning startup will be announced in Sydney, Australia on 1 December 2018, during the StartCon conference.The Pitch for $1 Million Regional Final events will bring together startup founders, investors and other players from each local startup ecosystem, and will be held in the following cities (subject to change).

 

Regional Finals – Asia / Pacific

 

  • Singapore – 17 August 2018, at Sofitel City Centre
  • New Zealand
  • Suva, Fiji
  • Guangzhou, China
  • Chennai, India
  • Manila, Philippines

 

Regional Finals – Australia

 

  • Adelaide – 7 September 2018 at Pullman Adelaide
  • Brisbane – 5 October 2018 at Sofitel Brisbane Central
  • Darwin
  • Hobart
  • Melbourne – 12 October 2018 at TBC
  • Perth
  • Sydney – 30 November 2018 at Royal Randwick Racecourse (StartCon 2018, Day 1)
  • Regional NSW
  • Regional VIC
  • Asia Pacific Grand Final – 1 December 2018 at Royal Randwick Racecourse(StartCon 2018, Day 2)

 

Startups who are not able to attend one of the regional events will also have the chance to submit their pitch via video.

 

For more details about the event, please visit https://www.startcon.com/pitch/

 

About StartCon

 

StartCon (formerly Sydstart) is Australia’s largest startup conference, expo and entrepreneur community established in 2009. The annual startup and growth conference is attended by over 3,500 people. Now in its ninth year, StartCon has gone from strength to strength, selling out eight years in a row and delivering exceptional value. At StartCon, people will find International Keynotes, Expert Workshops, Tech Expo & Startup Alley, Pitch Competition, Australasian Startup Awards, FinTech Stage, Hackathon, Networking & Parties, and many more.

 

Freelancer Limited who owns StartCon and is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker ASX:FLN, also owns Freelancer.com, the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by total number of users and jobs posted; WarriorForum, the world’s largest Internet marketing community and marketplace; and Escrow.com , the world’s largest provider of secure online escrow and online transaction management for consumers and businesses on the Internet. 

 

About Right Click Capital

 

Right Click Capital is an investment firm that specialises in identifying, investing in and supporting technology businesses across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. The firm’s partners have all founded multiple successful technology businesses, and have extensive operational and investment experience. Right Click Capital is the Australian member of Draper Venture Network, a global alliance of venture capital firms with over USD1.8bn in collective assets under management and 500 portfolio companies around the world.

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Jasmine Chen
BlueChip Communication
+61 2 9018 8611
jasmine@bluechipcommunication.com.au

 

Helma Kusuma
Communications Manager
+62 812 104 9853
helma@freelancer.com