Budding Brighton business brains fight it out for £50,000

Budding entrepreneurs are getting close to turning their business dreams into reality with a £50,000 prize fund.

The Young Start-up Talent initiative is aimed at 16-25 year olds in the area who have that special spark to start up in business.

In the hotly-contested semi-final of the Dragon’s Den style competition, 14 young business men and women were selected to pitch their ideas to some top professionals at City College Brighton and Hove.

Among those present were representatives from Mayo Wynne Baxter, Juice FM, The Argus, and Harvey Fowler Accountancy.

Six finalists were chosen, among them Ricardo Mwe-Di-Mailila, who was pitching his business ‘Treble & Base’, an online musical platform for start-up artists.

Former City College Business student William Sudan was also chosen after pitching ‘White Eyebrow’ – a healthy antioxidant-packed tea in a bottle.

Ricardo, William and the other four young finalists will receive support donated by local businesses including mentoring, accountancy, legal advice, marketing, branding, printing, a laptop and IT support.

They will also receive further mentoring ahead of the final at City College on March 18.

The winner will be announced at a showcase event on April 22 at Brighton Racecourse.

For further information on the initiative visit www.youngstart-uptalent.co.uk