THE WBAF 50 SELECTION PROCESS Step 1: Application You can apply for the WBAF Take Invest online at https://gust.com/programs/wbaf-takeinvest-summit-2018 If you are residing in one of the following countries, you will be re-directed to the competition for your country of residence: • • • • • • •
Bulgaria Croatia Greece Hong Kong India Kazakhstan Kosovo
• • • • • •
Montenegro Saudi Arabia South Africa Turkey UK Niger
If you reside in a country that is not on the list above, your application will be processed in the Global Applications section.
Step 2: Acceptance You will receive an official letter confirming acceptance for the competition. All confirmations will be sent by 15 October 2017. Absence of a notification by 15 October 2017 indicates that the applicant has not been accepted into the WBAF competition. The acceptance letter will include information about the following: • Competition place • Competition date • Competition rules
Step 3: The WBAF competition On a specified date and place, competitors will pitch to a jury of investors. On the same day, the top 3 start-ups, scale-ups and high-growth companies will be announced. These will be invited to participate in the WBAF Take Invest Summit on 19-20 February 2018 in Istanbul. Each country’s WBAF Commissioner will inform WBAF Headquarters of the Country Champions (the top 3). The WBAF Investment Committee will review the local winners and create the WBAF 50 list. Those selected for the WBAF 50 will receive an official letter from the WBAF Investment Committee confirming acceptance for the WBAF Take Invest Summit.
Contestant profile There are two types of WBAF contestants: Start-ups: Promising businesses that have not yet raised any outside capital from angel investors, venture capital firms or other formal sources of seed funding. Scale-ups: Typically, these are companies that have received funding from angel investors or VCs and who are now raising €500K – €3M with the aim of internationalising. Applications from both categories are welcome to enter the competition.