Royal Caribbean has announced it is running a Dragons’ Den-style competition for a second year and has increased its investment pot to £300,000.
Agents can enter the Royal Pitch by submitting a business idea to the cruise giant in the hope of being shortlisted and invited to a pitch day at Royal’s head office in Weybridge, Surrey.
They will then pitch their plan to a panel who will decide which business ideas they will invest in, giving them the chance to walk away with a share of £300,000 investment.
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The competition launches on April 3 and agents can enter by submitting at three minute video explaining the premise of their business.
There will be four pitch days over the year, with the first scheduled for June 26.
Last year, the cruise giant invested £200,000 in 16 businesses, but has this year increased its investment pot to £300,000 to give more agents the opportunity to secure funding.
The competition is only open to agents in the UK and Ireland who are members of a consortium.
Entrepreneur Levi Roots, who rose to fame on Dragons’ Den in 2007 with his Reggae Reggae Sauce, will once again take his seat on the panel, deciding which businesses are successful.
Returning for a second year alongside Roots will be Ben Bouldin, Royal Caribbean’s vice president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Stuart Byron, director of sales for UK, Ireland and Spain.
Byron said last year’s competition was “epic”, and he is excited to see the ideas agents come up with this year.
“We saw some amazing business ideas last year such as store makeovers, consumer events and community partnerships, and across the board we’ve seen our shared businesses really accelerate which is the ultimate goal of the competition.
“The pitch days are the best days of the year, I really look forward to them.
“Every time you think the bar has been raised too high for anyone else to top it someone comes in with an even better idea and we are blown away.
“We can’t wait to hear all the amazing ideas agents have got in the coming year.”
Agents invited to Royal’s HQ are given 20 minutes to pitch their idea, but can stay in the office all day to meet with staff from the business.
“The main event for agents is doing their pitch, but while they are with us they get time with lots of our teams, including our trade marketing, loyalty, club rewards, sales support and IT teams which gives them the opportunity to connect with people across our entire business,” Byron said.
“While virtual meetings have become the new normal, there really is no substitute for face-to-face contact and agents coming in and meeting our staff has paid big dividends in unlocking other ways we can support them on the idea they are pitching, as well as finding new ways to support the trade.”
Pictured from left: Stuart Byron, Ben Bouldin, Levi roots