Long Island Incubator Funds a $200,000 Innovation Program

25K Startups funds a $200,000+ program to source all of their incubator's ideation and brainstorming through a competitive pitch platform.

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25K Startups

Dec 21, 2015, 08:35 ET

EAST MEADOW, N.Y., Dec. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Long Island's 25K Startups, announced the funding of a $200,000 innovation program where they will be sourcing all of their company's ideation efforts to passionate founders and aspiring entrepreneurs through a competitive pitch platform.

Michael Sherman, founder of 25K, said, "Ideas are worthless, they're a dime a dozen, that's all you'll ever hear from VCs and investors. I strongly disagree and bet plenty of others do as well. What about the folks working 9 to 5 that have great ideas they simply cannot execute on? What about college students and single parents? What about passionate entrepreneurs that already run a business and don't have the time or resources to launch another simultaneously? That's what our platform is all about, giving those individuals an outlet and an opportunity."

"To kick off the program, we're hosting an online idea pitch competition in January. The winner will receive $5,000 in cash, a scaling equity position and a $25,000 seed investment. This is a very different type of pitch competition in that we aren't buying equity in startups; we're buying great business ideas and plans from individuals at the ground level."

"Winners of the competition who would rather not participate in building out the business won't need to lift a finger beyond providing an idea and a plan. They will receive the cash prize and lifetime 5% equity position without being directly involved in the business. For those who do want to be directly involved in building businesses with us, they will have the opportunity to build a substantial equity stake beyond the guaranteed 5%."

A panel of judges, including Michael Sherman, Founder of 25K; Ian Ippolito, Founder of vWorker acquired by Freelancer.com; Andrew Samwick, Economics Professor at Dartmouth; Angela Stringfellow of AMEX; Eric Lituchy, formerly CMO of Phone.com; and Smashbug's Matt Callahan, will privately review entries and select winners. A feedback round will occur allowing entrants to work with the panel to refine their pitches.

Registration for our first pitch competition ends January 1, 2016 at 12 pm EST. Deadline for submissions ends February 1, 2016.

About 25K Startups
25K Startups is Long Island's unconventional private incubator. For more information about the competition, visit http://www.25kstartups.com/competitions/.

Contact Information
Chelsea Gilbert
Email
(516) 486-3902 x24

Competition #01 link – http://www.25kstartups.com/competitions/onegreatidea/2016-01