MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – Is your business registered or operated in the Visayas and Mindanao?
Do you want to accelerate its growth?
Well, this one’s for you!
The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) Philippines South, the local chapter of the EO, the world’s only peer-to-peer network exclusively for entrepreneurs, launched on Friday, September 24, 2021, its first VisMin Accelerator Awards that will recognize the most impactful entrepreneurs in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Haraya Del Rosario Gust, chairperson of the EO Philippines South Accelerator Program, said that anyone can nominate entrepreneurs, including themselves.
Nominees will be screened after which the top 10 and the winner of the Accelerator of the Year award will be announced soon.
Gust said the VisMin Accelerator of the Year will get a chance to participate in the EO Accelerator’s program for a year where he/she will get help on how to grow his/her business for free.
The accelerator of the year, Gust said, will have “access with tools, community and accountability to aggressively grow and master his/her business.”
“EO Accelerator is the catalyst that enables first-stage entrepreneurs to catapult their business to the next level,” she added.
Those who will make it to the Top 10 list will also get to participate in EO’s mentorship program and in select EO events free of charge.
EO Membership
Gust said other entrepreneurs can also become an EO member without having to participate in their annual awards, provided that meet all the qualifications.
Applicants for membership should be the owner or founder of a business with a gross annual revenue of P50 million.
Those who are yet to reach the annual revenue requirement are encourage to join their the annual awards for them get a change to grow their businesses and qualify for EO membership.
Nomination to the awards program is free of charge. But this will be limited to owners or founders of businesses that are registered or operated in the Visayas and Mindanao areas and have been in operation for at least two years.
She said that they would also consider for nomination those entrepreneurs with businesses that are registered in Luzon, but are operating branches the Visayas and Mindanao.
“If the business is registered in Luzon, but you have a branch on operations that you can prove is in the VisMin, we can consider. But this is primarily focused on VisMin registered and operated businesses. The opposite is also true, if you’re registered in Vismin, but you’re supporting a customer based outside the Vismin, [maybe] in Luzon, or may be if you’re an outsourcing company [but] you’re registered in the Vismin, but you’re supporting the US or Canada, or Europe, you are qualified to join the Accelerator Awards,” said Gust.
She said these business must also be generating revenues between P12 million to P50 million per year for the period ending December 31, 2020 and employing at least 10 personnel excluding its owner.
Moreover, candidates should not have been sentenced for any criminal case or do not have a pending criminal case in court.
“Through the VisMin Accelerator Awards, we are hoping to be able to connect with the best, the most promising, and the most impactful entrepreneurs in the VisMin region so we can help them accelerate their businesses and eventually to invite them to join our EO tribe,” she said noting that there are many first stage entrepreneurs in the region who are quietly contributing to nation building.
Accelerator Award
Organizers will be accepting nominations for this year’s Accelerator Award from September 1 until October 31.
Initial screening is scheduled in November to make sure that all nominees are qualified to join while the final screening will be held in December.
The awards night is scheduled in mid January 2022.
“We’re looking for proof of entrepreneurial spirit, their risk-taking and looking for opportunities that are presented by the challenges that they face, financial performance, positive impact, innovation and very precious to us in EO Philippines South — purpose-driven leadership,” said Gust.
Interested participants are encouraged to send a request for a nomination form and the list of requirements by emailing accelerator@eonetwork.org.ph.
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