The Ultimate Start Up Entrepreneur

After months of hard canvassing and pitching in a two stage competition, the winner of the Martell V.S.O.P. The Ultimate Start-up Space competition was announced last night. Mr Jeremy Nguee of the business idea “Preparazzi”, was selected by a panel of judges out of 10 finalists.

Preparazzi is a food preparation service that helps one to cook delicious, healthy meals at home with no fuss. They help to plan, prepare and cook the dishes and deliver them to your doorstep like a personal sous chef who does your bidding in the kitchen. This applies for cosy groups of four up to a party of 10. Here’s a video of Jeremy for those keen to find out more about his business idea.

By winning the competition, Jeremy will gain a 1400 sq. ft. of shop space at 29 Boon Tat Street (near Lau Pa Sat in the Central Business District of Singapore), rent-free for a year. He will also receive $20,000 of start-up capital plus an Executive Education programme courtesy of INSEAD. With an advantage like that, I am hopeful that he will succeed in his venture.

Held at the swanky Zirca at Clarke Quay, the announcement party sponsored by Martell was done in a rather glamorous fashion. Contestants/wannabe entrepreneurs walked down a catwalk aisle, accompanied by goth dancers who used props inspired by their business ideas. In other words, anything from Lego to leather!

All is not lost for the other nine finalists however. They would have already benefited from the sagely advice of two experienced entrepreneurs, Mr Jimmy Fong (Chief Executive Officer, EpiCentre) and Mr CK Low (Managing Director, Home-Fix). You can find out some words of wisdom from them here.

Tina Tan and Ng Shi Hui of Cereasley not looking very serious

Let’s hope that the nine finalists will continue to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, even without the start-up funds and free shop space. True entrepreneurship should be driven by passion, energy and a never-say-die attitude that perseveres even in the absence of incentives.

Future billionaire entrepreneur in the making…:)

Here are more photos of the event: