Startup Bus aims to get the entrepreneurial engine firing

by Startacus Admin

Here at Startacus we promise that apart from the odd ‘wheely-wheely’ bad pun we will keep you fully posted on this innovative and fun initiative aimed at creating and discovering the next big thing.

The Founderbus will see a UK team of 25 young budding entrepreneurs, touring the UK on a mission to build up a business idea to present in front of leading investors in Europe. Their ultimate aim and destination is pitching their idea at LeWeb conference in Paris.

Travelling around the UK from November 29 to December 5, the group of students, young professionals and entrepreneurs, selected by Founderbus UK, will refine their idea on the bus (with debates inevitable!), stopping off for workshops conducted’ by top industry names along the way at numerous locations including Oxford University’s Christ Church and Said Business School; Cambridge University; Google Campus and the London Business School.

Founderbus UK is run by a team of students and recent graduates from universities including Oxford and LSE and is run in partnership with several groups including Oxford Entrepreneurs, CityMeetsTech, IvyCity and the Startup Leadership Program.

But this ain't no Summer holiday...The bus will then travel to Paris to take part in the large Buspreneurs’ Competition, facing five rival buses from all over the continent. The winning bus will get an open ticket into LeWeb Startup Competition as a finalist. They will be pitching their idea at the most important tech fixture in Europe. Last year LeWeb Startup Competition received 600 applications, had 32 semi-finalists, 16 finalists and 4 winners, so this is a massive double decker of a competition to take part in.

The Founderbus project is being launched in the UK after being a big success abroad, principally in Germany. The UK bus will compete against two buses run by Founderbus and three run by StartupBus Europe, who are also collaborating in the venture. Some buses will be trekking through several countries but Founderbus is solely in the UK until reaching Paris. In total there will be 150 ‘buspreneurs’ battling it out in Paris.

We wish the UK bus all the best on its’ journey and look forward to hearing how they ‘fare’ once the competition gets under way and they really drive their business pitch home. *cue the bad joke trumpet sound!*

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Published on: 4th November 2012