The Big Venture Challenge

The Big Venture Challenge, a national competition seeking to find the 25 most ambitious social entrepreneurs in England, will open to applications from the 9th May 2011. 
To be eligible to apply applicants must be 16+, be founders of the venture, and be based in England. Those selected as one of the 25 Big Challenge Award Winners will receive an initial £25,000.

The Big Venture challenge is looking for 25 ambitious entrepreneurs in England who want investment to deliver social impact at scale. They want to find social ventures that are tackling issues such as depression, dementia or obesity. Does your business have a way to reduce elderly admissions to hospital or help long term unemployed people back into work? Apply for the Big Venture Challenge and you could become one of 25 winners.

25 winners will receive:

an initial £25K grant 
the chance to apply for a £50K grant if you can match this with £50K loan / equity investment 
the chance to apply for a £100K grant if you can match this with £100K loan / equity investment 

As well as this you will have access to:

A dedicated Development Manager to help you tailor your one-to-one support programme 
Access to a pro bono lawyer 
Access to a pro bono financial specialist 
Access to a pro bono mentor who will be a successful high growth entrepreneur 
Access to a PR team 
Boot camps on relevant topics (eg. leadership, building a team, sales & marketing) 
Access to a network of Super Connectors to help you build wider relationships 

If you think you're up to the 'The Big Venture Challenge' then visit http://www.bigventurechallenge.com/home and apply online.

Good luck!