CALLING ALL CREATIVES

QUT Creative Enterprise Australia is on the hunt for the next Canva or Shoes of Prey by calling on creative startups to pitch to early-stage investors.

As the only event of its kind in the country, Creative3 Pitch connects budding entrepreneurs with investors to take their idea to the world stage.

The winner will represent Australia and compete against 63 countries at the Creative Business Cup in Denmark.

QUT Creative Enterprise Australia CEO Anna Rooke says the initiative was launched to boost the local creative startup community by preparing them to scale up.

"For the past two years, the CEA Startup Fund has gone on to invest in one of the finalist companies, so this is potentially a life-changing opportunity for the finalists," Rooke says.

"As Australian hosts for the Creative Business Cup, we're excited to be able to offer our Creative3 Pitch winners a unique opportunity to represent Australia internationally as our best emerging creative entrepreneurs.

"Our creative industries sector employs more people than mining and contributes $35 billion to our GDP. However creative startups struggle to find funding as they are often viewed as high-risk by investors."

As well as having the opportunity to secure funding and gain exposure, the winner will be able to pitch to some of the largest venture capitalists in Europe at the world championships.

The event is held during Global Entrepreneurship Week and an international jury will select winners based on creativity and market potential.

"This will only be the second time Australia has been able to compete on the world stage," Rooke says.

"Denmark has shown international leadership in this area by forming the Creative Business Cup, which profiles creative entrepreneurs on a global stage and highlights the potential for growth, jobs and innovation in this sector."

Previous Creative3 Pitch finalists include custom furniture outlet Handkrafted, time-lapse app Project Tripod and recognition software TrademarkVision.

Now in its sixth year, Creative3 Pitch will be held on September 17 and 18 in Brisbane. Applications close on June 26.