The chance to get a foot in the door of the lucrative China business market can be hard to come by, but a startup initiative in Wangaratta will hold a special event to help with that next month.
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Coordinator Emma Jones has described the Pitch Fest event as a friendlier version of the television show Shark Tank.
The five categories are artificial intelligence, food and fibre, cultural creativity, health, and transport and mobility.
Mrs Jones said there had already been strong interest from a gaming startup, the farming sector and manufacturing software innovation.
Businesses and startups will pitch their new idea in front of judges, in the hope of winning $100,000 worth of prizes. The big prize is entry to the Jiangsu Victoria Startup Summit held in Nanjing, China in May 2019.
Entrepreneur organisation Runway Geelong is also involved in putting together the Wangaratta event and chief executive Peter Dostis said he was excited for the opportunities it would bring to the North East.
"China can be a difficult market to enter without the right level of connections and introductions," he said.
"The summit is a fantastic opportunity for any North East startup or scaling-up business looking to get started in China."
Applications for Pitch Fest can be made at www.startupshakeup.co and close on March 27, before the event takes place at the Wangaratta Regional Study Centre on April 4 from 6pm-8pm.
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