Selling a business idea is never easy, let alone getting an investor to fund your dream project. A bunch of media startups gathered in Germany's Bonn to get an insight on how to make the perfect pitch.
Advertisement
Nehul Jagdish Kumar from India knows all too well how it feels to be rejected. He has been struggling for over a year to convince investors to back his novel project — a website catering to the information needs of farmers.
India has been facing a growing agrarian crisis that has led to a rise in farmer suicides. Low prices for their produce, poor irrigation, absence of advanced technology and a lack of market knowledge are often cited as reasons for the plight of the farmers.
Yet the agriculture sector seldom finds space in the mainstream media, which is obsessed with politics, crime, cricket and cinema. Kumar hopes to change that with his online AgriTimes portal.
"The idea is to create a platform to provide news, information and eventually intelligence to farmers in the language they speak," Kumar told DW. "So that they can make informed decisions and eventually increase their incomes by not falling prey to middlemen."
Kumar's is one of the 12 startups from across the world taking part in a boot camp for media startups organized by DW as part of this year's Global Media Forum (GMF). Kumar, who doubles up as a freelance journalist for several publications to keep his project afloat, expects to learn a trick or two to attract "patient" investors and scale his 5-member firm.
"Investors want quick money. I am not here to make quick money for my investors because I am serving the farmers," Kumar said. "I am here at DW to learn how a media company works, to network and to learn how to ensure that investors see value in our company.
GMF start-up boot camp: the contestants
For the first time, DW's Global Media Forum is running a boot camp for media start-ups. The entries range from online journalism tools to ticket buying platforms. Meet the start-ups that will take part this year.
The winners: Camilla Warrender/Anurag Wakhlu (Newscoop/USA)
Newscoop connects young journalists, university students, and young media activists around the globe for reporting, sharing and collaboration on news and public issues. By leveraging partnerships with universities and issue-driven organizations, Newscoop is rapidly growing a community of young global citizens who are humanizing the news. For their outstanding work, Newscoop won the 2019 boot camp.
Nehul Jagdish Kumar (AgriTimes/India)
AgriTimes's mission is to provide news and information to farmers in India. Currently available in English, they are also working on developing the platform in more than eight regional languages along with an Android app. AgriTimes believes there is a need to bridge the information gap between farmers, users and investors around the globe hoping to invest in India's growing agriculture sector.
Image: Privat
Eugen Gross/Mariel Prange (aiconix/Germany)
Aiconix focuses on online video optimization using artificial intelligence. While content producers create a video, aiconix provides the respective data about viewer perception and receptivity allowing for the assembly of an optimal video within a short time. The use of more relevant content engages users to watch videos for longer, thus maximizing success rates for advertisers.
Caminante professionalises the video production process. The medium has an ecological tone committed with the serious environmental issues that our country is facing, especially given the problems our country is facing and that the mainstream media in Costa Rica tends to neglect.
Sammy Mupfuni (Congo Check/Congo)
Congo Check is the first media outlet dedicated to the fact-checking in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Launched in January 2018 with the aim of fighting misinformation and fake news, Congo Check currently employs 15 journalists across the country. In February 2019, the enterprise launched its mobile application to facilitate access to its content.
Alharaca is a female-led media company that produces digital content about Central America and the Latin American diaspora. The creative power of the company is located at the intersection of journalism, academia, art, literature, and new technologies. The company hopes to strengthen equality, diversity and democracy using both its production methods and finished products.
Christina Quast (Journalisten-Tools/Germany)
Journalisten-Tools.de is a blog on digital tools for journalists. Its purpose is to support journalists with their digital work. The platform includes recommendations for helpful online tools in areas such as investigative work, organization, production and publishing, adapting to the changing needs of journalists in their daily work.
Image: muckphoto
Kouassi Attreman/Tsing Tsing Wu (Musel/Senegal)
Musel is a startup created in an effort to help cultural museums step into the digital age. Dwindling visitor rates and waning relevance among the digitized generation are some of the difficult issues that art museums are increasingly grappling with. In addition to the app, an interactive print magazine regarding digitization trends of museums in Europe, Africa and Asia will be also developed.
Vanessa Otchere (TicketEx/Ghana)
TicketEx is an online platform for the purchase of bus, movies and event tickets. The business has not launched yet but hopes to be operational by the end of the year. The platform aims to be convenient, simple and secure.
Spotlike is an app designed to help people with finding their bearings in different cities, with a firm emphasis on shopping opportunities. "Cities and their different neighborhoods depend on local businesses, not just for social and financial reasons. A city's diversity and attractiveness are also reflected in its local retail space," Spotlike explains.
Ksenia Shirokova (Sarafan Technology/Russia, USA)
Sarafan Technology has developed a machine-learning tool for native ad integration into video content. The technology recognizes products in videos and searches for similar-looking or recommended items from an advertiser's product feed.
The team behind Storystan is comprised of award-winning journalists who want to create compelling content for diverse audiences in under-served markets around the world. The company says that it has particularly identified a significant gap in the podcasting universe when it comes to content from outside North America and Western Europe, and content made by and for non-Western audiences.
12 images1 | 12
Fake news slayers
Rodriguez Katsuva is another participant in the boot camp. The 27-year-old is the co-founder of Congo Check — the first media outlet dedicated to fact-checking in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"In Europe and in the US, fake news can lead to people losing some money but in my country people are literally dying due to fake news," he told DW. "We decided to fight news because we knew we could save lives. We want every Congolese to fight fake news."
Congo Check is run by 15 journalists, who volunteer during their free time to pursue their passion. Katsuva and his co-founders, Sammy Mupfuni and Fiston Mahamba, use their savings to fund their operations. Their hunt for an investor — preferably someone from outside Congo to ensure complete autonomy — is still on, even after more than a year in operation.
"We are journalists, we don't know how to pitch, how to talk to investors. We just know how to tell the truth," Katsuva told DW. "This is our opportunity to get recognition, a great opportunity to learn how to sell our project, to show to people how passionate we are."
The perfect pitch
The three-day training is aimed at giving the participants a broad overview of the startup ecosystem. They will receive tips on how to make the perfect pitch, how to raise funds and how to scale their businesses.
Five finalists will get an opportunity to pitch their ideas in front of a jury, comprising entrepreneurs, representatives from a venture capital firm and a consultancy. The winner will receive a tailor-made training from DW Academy and an opportunity to showcase his or her startup at the GMF.
"Their biggest takeaway will be networking," Paulo Fernandes, a startup consultant at Pricewaterhouse Coopers and a trainer at the startups boot camp, told DW. "All these startups are working in the same field. It will be a great opportunity to network with fellow founders."
