‘You got to bet on an idea’: Canadian entrepreneur holding $250K funding competition for startups

A Canadian entrepreneur is giving again by holding a contest to assist a startup flip their business thought right into a actuality.

Trivelle Simpson, founding father of the enterprise capital agency The Drive Group, is providing $250,000 to the winner of the “Drive 250” funding competitors, which he likens to “Dragon’s Den meets The Apprentice.”

“There comes a time when you got to bet on a founder, you got to bet on an idea. You got to bet on somebody who’s addicted to what they’re doing, and then you create products that will change the world,” Simpson instructed CTV’s Your Morning on Thursday.

Simpson says he was impressed to lend a serving to hand to new entrepreneurs after his personal experiences struggling to accumulate funding.

“One time at a startup, finding money was the hardest thing,” he defined. “The whole idea was that smart startups need easy access to capital. It was one of the visions that we had, that when we get through the door, we’ll take it back to smart businesses that need investment.”

After The Drive Group selects a shortlist of semi-finalists, the startups will take part in a set of weekly challenges on social media. From there, 4 finalists can be chosen to journey to Toronto and pitch their concepts earlier than judges at a dwell present for an opportunity to win the grand prize.

Simpson began The Drive Group in 2016, beginning with simply the funds acquired from a single tax refund of $1,500 and continued to develop by progressively bigger investments in derivatives, capital markets, actual property and extra.

“I think that the biggest advice I give to anyone, whatever you’re doing, you got to be addicted to it. Ninety days out of the 100 days, it’ll look like you should quit. But you got to survive the 90 to get to the 10 where pays you back,” Simpson mentioned.

The Drive Group is accepting functions till April 1 and plans to announce semi-finalists on April 14.