Makyth Ventures Ignite
Winchester College’s annual inter-school pitching competition for secondary school students across the UK.
Fostering entrepreneurial skills and mindsets amongst students, encouraging inter-school collaboration and raising the profile of entrepreneurial education across the sector.
For ambitious, curious Year 9-11 students from across leading UK secondary schools.
Immersive workshops by Makyth Ventures ahead of programme finale at Winchester.
Selected teams invited to present at the finale; includes ‘pitching bootcamp’.
What’s involved
Participating student teams take part in a series of workshops with experienced business professionals to help them build compelling business proposals, culminating in a live pitch competition for family, friends and of course, a panel of judges.
Think Dragons’ Den meets TEDXTalk meets Model UN. After a successful pilot event in 2022 that saw 10 participating schools and 16 student teams, we are thrilled to be expanding the initiative in 2023.
If you’d like to learn more about MV Ignite, please get in touch at [email protected].
Unique Benefits for Students
Professional Skills
Work with – and compete against - peers form leading secondary schools across the UK; gain exposure to new ways of working and collaboration.
Entrepreneurial Experience
Immersive programming from Winchester College’s Makyth Ventures team aimed at helping you build foundational entrepreneurial skills and mindsets.
Practical, applicable problem solving
Tackle a real-world entrepreneurial case challenge; access support from practitioners across the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Long-term support & exposure
Ongoing support for winning teams, with the ambition of bringing case solutions to life following the Makyth Ventures Ignite programme.
2023 CHALLENGE:
THE FUTURE OF FOOD
This year we've partnered with FUEL10K, a leading innovative UK breakfast brand, exploring the future of food amongst macro trends like climate change, ageing populations, natural commodities, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The challenge? Pitching a successful new product for FUEL10K, but imagining you're in the year 2043. Winning teams will need to think creatively, understand macro world trends and convince a panel of impressive 'Dragons' from the food industry.
TIMELINE
MAY
26
SCHOOL REGISTRATION DEADLINE
Schools must complete registration by May 26th to take part. Please email [email protected] to enquire about participating in 2023.
INTRODUCING THE CHALLENGE
Each school attends an MV IGNITE kick-off meeting with the Co-Founder of FUEL10K who will introduce the challenge.
JUNE
JUNE
30
STUDENT SIGN-UP DEADLINE
Schools submit final student teams by the end of summer term.
SEPT
22
ROUND 1 SUBMISSIONS
Teams submit a 500-word proposal for their product idea.
A first round of judging will follow and teams selected to go through to the next round will be announced on the 29th September.
MENTOR FEEDBACK SESSIONS
Teams will be required to design an A3 infographic research poster and also prepare a 5-minute pitch about their idea. Maykth Ventures will provide online mentoring and be on hand to answer student and sponsor questions throughout the programme.
SKILL 1: Finessing Your Idea
SKILL 2: Creating Your Poster
SKILL 3: Perfecting Your Pitch
OCT
25
FINAL SUBMISSIONS
Teams submit their final A3 poster and a recording of their 5-minute product pitch.
OCT 28
FINAL EVENT & LIVE PITCH COMPETITION!
10:00 – 15:00
Teams and their school sponsors attend an exciting day of guest speakers, workshops and pitches where the 2023 winners will be chosen. Family will also be invited to attend.
KEY DETAILS
Schools are asked to contribute £500 to take part.
Schools can register up to 6 teams to participate; teams should have 2-4 students and students can be from Years 9-11.
Each team must have a sponsor such as a teacher; we recommend at least one sponsor for every 3 teams.
Schools should advise of interest as soon as possible by emailing [email protected]; registration is limited.
Schools must complete registration forms by May 26th; the registration form takes ~7 minutes to complete.
A link to the registration form will be shared with schools that express interest.
2022 HIGHLIGHTS
Want to get involved?
We are inviting teams of ambitious and creative students from across the UK to take part in our 2023 Makyth Ventures Ignite event, Winchester College’s inter-school entrepreneurial pitching competition.
If you are interested in taking part in this exciting project with interscholastic collaboration (and a healthy dose of competition!) at its heart, please get in touch via the form below or email [email protected].