Cape Town begins with the ninth edition of the annual #YouthStartCT Entrepreneurial Challenge which is nearing the finishing line. The contestants have completed their final pitches and now it’s with the judging panel who will announce the winners in the days leading up to the Youth Day.
Reportedly, the #YouthStartCT Entrepreneurial Challenge is a process of elimination where the contestants have to pitch their existing businesses or business ideas to a judging panel to progress towards the next round.
The competition began with an induction session for the 67 qualifying young entrepreneurs, followed by two rounds of training and resultant pitches in the business ideas category. The participants with existing businesses attended three training sessions and delivered three pitch presentations, during the last session, which was held on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Services and Health – Councillor Francine Higham said that he is very excited to see how the year 2025 will play out for #YouthStartCT Challange. The contestants have done the hard work, and the City of Cape Town officials thanked them by throwing their hats into the ring.
The challenge provides excellent learning opportunities that created a platform for networking and new markets. They hope that their commitment, adaptability and willingness to embrace constructive criticism will pay off. Higham said that they are now down to the business end of the competition and are looking forward to the big revelation at the awards evening in June.
Moreover, the judging panel is in the process of finalising the top perfomers in the various categories. In the category for existing businesses, the panel will conduct the site visits as part of its final deliberations.
The site verification observed a process to confirm and assess the key aspects of the business operations. The city partners in the competition include Workshop-17, ORTSA, the V&A Waterfront, False Bay College and Silulo Foundation. Further, the prizes will be awarded to the winners at a ceremony on June 11, 2025.
Considering this, MMC for Community Services and Health – Francine Higham also marked that they are in the final stretch of the ninth #YouthStartCT Entrepreneurial Challenge and the excitement is real.
She highlighted, from early-stage ideas to fully-fledged businesses, each contestant brought passion, purpose and a willingness to grow. Over the past few weeks, they have gone through training, have delivered pitches and in the case of existing businesses, they are even doing site visits to see their work in action.
According to Higham, this challenge is about more than winning. It’s about building networks, finding new markets, and developing the grit needed to grow a business in Cape Town. The City of Cape Town will be announcing the winners in the lead-up to Youth Day, and is looking forward to celebrating with them at the awards evening on June 11th.