'Startup weekend' hopes to ignite Manx entrepreneurial spirit

The Isle of Man will host its first "startup weekend" next month, with organisers saying it could "help spark new businesses" and "strengthen the island's entrepreneurial ecosystem".

The 10-12 July event in Douglas will see participants pitch ideas, form teams and build early-stage business concepts over a single weekend.

Chamara Peiris, who is organising the non-profit event, said: "Competitions like this are successfully run around the world, with great success stories emerging from them. But when I moved from Sri Lanka I struggled to find those opportunities."

Volunteers, with varying business experience, agreed startup events were a "necessary pillar" to a healthy entrepreneurial system.

The weekend begins with participants delivering 60-second Dragons Den-style pitches before judges and fellow competitors.

Attendees vote on which ideas they want to develop and teams are formed to take forward the most popular concepts.

Over the following two days, participants will build prototypes, discuss their ideas with members of the public and refine business models before presenting to a judging panel.

Chris Kissack said participants did not need any technical or business background to take part, only big ideas and passion.

"It's not just for developers and techies," stressed Kissack.

"You might have a marketer, a graphic designer, an accountant, somebody from HR, all coming together in one team to help you build your idea. All you need is an idea."

Organisers of the event believe the Isle of Man is well-placed to support new businesses because of its size and accessibility, and pro-business approach.

Nick Preskey, who has previously been within the Department for Enterprise, said the island was an incredibly unique place to run a business.

"When you're here, and you run your business on the Isle of Man, you can have a meeting with your bank manager, your investor, the head of insurance and a government representative all in one morning."

Sarah Ennett, head of business development at Business Isle of Man, said the island's size also made it a useful place to test new ideas.

"We're a bit of a microcosm. There's really lots of good advantages to trying out new things in this environment."

Peiris, who has helped to organise similar events in Sri Lanka, said he had seen how they could boost startup communities and give business owners new opportunities and contacts.

"We should look at at least one successful startup out of this," he said of July's event on the Isle of Man.

Organisers hope the event will become a regular fixture on the Isle of Man's business calendar, helping to encourage more people to explore entrepreneurship and creating a stronger pipeline of new businesses in the years ahead.