#YouthStartCT 2018 entrepreneurial challenge opens

19 Apr 2018

The City of Cape Town's #YouthStartCT challenge, now in its third year, is officially open for entry. The competition is aimed at young adults between the ages of 18 and 35 who have innovative business ideas that can help grow the economy and create employment in their communities.

#YouthStartCT 2018 entrepreneurial challenge opens

Forms are available online here or at one of the City’s libraries.

The City’s Social Development and Early Childhood Development Department first launched #YouthStartCT in 2016 as part of its youth development initiatives. This year the winners will be given the chance to partner with the City on projects that will uplift job seekers and provide sustainable employment opportunities.

"Entrepreneurs will present their business ideas in their entries. All the entries received will be reviewed, and the top 100 entries will be offered 10 weeks of after-hours mentoring in Cape Town. Thereafter 20 finalists will be selected for the playoffs. The top 20 will be offered further mentoring. The top three winners will be announced at a gala event," said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security; and Social Services, Alderman JP Smith.

How to enter:

Contestants should formulate an innovative idea for creating employment in their community.
Optional: they may make a short video explaining their idea and upload it to a public video platform such as YouTube.
They should include the URL in their entry form.
Hard copy entry forms are available at City’s libraries. The list of libraries is available on www.capetown.gov.za/youthstart

The City will also run a series of idea-generation sessions where would-be applicants can learn more about the competition and test their ideas. Details of these sessions will be publicised on www.capetown.gov.za/youthstart, the #YouthStartCT webpage and the City’s social media accounts when they become available.