Photo Courtesy: City of Prince George

By Veronica Beltran

helping startups

Dragon’s Den but Prince George style

Sep 18, 2020 | 9:59 AM

PRINCE GEORGE—Ever wanted to be on Dragon’s Den?—Well, now might be your chance with a somewhat similar pilot event the City of Prince George is hosting.

Titans’ Den will give entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their ideas to Prince George business leaders and, maybe receive financial help to bring their dreams to life.

Here’s how it works: the Titans will hear entrepreneurs proposals and contribute their own money towards the concepts they feel have potential. Unlike the T.V. show Dragon’s Den, business leaders will not be taking any stake or control in successful projects as part of this initiative, nor will the event be televised or conducted in public.

“As the City affirmed during the consultation process of the City’s Economic Development Strategy, securing seed funding to get ideas off of the ground is notoriously tough for entrepreneurs. This has left many innovative and worthwhile ideas stranded too often on a literal drawing board.”—Melissa Barcellos, Manager of Economic Development for the City of Prince George

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The Titans will remain anonymous throughout the course of the event, but a release from the City says they are “well known Prince George entrepreneurs with many years of experience operating successful businesses.”

Participants will be required to have an understanding of the market they are entering, with some basic costs outlined, and steps they intend to take to develop their business. Entrepreneurs will be able to ask for a maximum of $4,000 from the Titans—$1,000 from each Titan.

“As this is a pilot project, we will be measuring the success of the event and then making a decision about whether to hold more.”—Melissa Barcellos, Manager of Economic Development for the City of Prince George

The event will take place at the Ramada Hotel on October 29. Physical distancing protocols will be in place.

Anyone interested in participating in the event or local business owners interested in supporting entrepreneurs are asked to contact Allan Stroet at the City of Prince George at allan.stroet@princegeorge.ca or by calling 250-561-7582.