An integral part of the Asia Pacific Cooperative Youth Summit (APCYS), Coop Pitch Competition is designed to find new and sustainable enterprise ideas on cooperatives. Participants get the opportunity to pitch cooperative business solutions to cater to the needs and aspirations of the youth and community in their country to a panel of judges. The winners are chosen based on a pre-determined evaluation criterion. Some of the innovative ideas which have come out of the Coop Pitch are:
- Youth Engagement in Organic Farm Tourism: Justine Limocon and Kevin Palson from Lamac Multipurpose Co-operative won the first prize at the Coop Pitch in APCYS 1.0. Taking it forward, they created thriving organic farming facilities including cacao production, coir products, rice plantations etc. The Lamac’s Hidden Valley Mountain Resort was the venue for the APCYS 2.0!
- Solar Energy Production and Direct Distribution to Individual Households: Ng Jun Long from Singapore representing Skyla Energy Cooperative won the first prize with this idea at the Coop Pitch in APCYS 2.0.
- Experiential Tourism at the Herbal Cooperative: Trinh Thi Ly of the Sinh Duoc Herbal Cooperative, Vietnam pitched to develop the cooperative ecosystem around their herbal cooperative by adding experiential tourism (herb, place, living).
- Green Drone-enabled Agriculture Network: Mifly Airline Cooperative from China pitched to build an agriculture network using drones for multiple purposes including crop-dusting and spraying seeds.
Competition Format
To Pitch (verb): Make a bid to obtain a contract or other business! A Pitch typically takes the form of an entrepreneur or group of entrepreneurs presenting or describing their ideas to prospective investors. An elevator pitch is a very short pitch that distils the idea into a summary that takes only as long as a short elevator ride.
- Thumb rule: One organization– One pitch
- Communicate to participants from your organization/country and build a team of two to five members.
- All ideas must be driven by cooperative identity. In 1995, the ICA adopted the revised Statement on the Cooperative Identity containing the definition of a cooperative, the values of cooperatives, and the seven cooperative principles. For more information, read here.
- Self Help & Mutual Benefit should be the driving force of the ideas being pitched and should include youth.
- Impact analysis: The Pitch must be able to ascertain at least one innovative element of socio-economic and cultural impact in the enterprise model.
- Participants will be judged based on the simplicity of the coop enterprise model as well as the method of structuring and management of members and staff in a principle- based enterprise.
What do Coop Pitch winners get?
The top 3 winning teams will receive cash prizes worth USD 3,000, organizational support and direct access to key partners to further develop, validate and implement coop models developed.
1st prize
USD 1,500
USD 1,000
USD 500
Guiding questions that may help in firming up the idea.
- How do you see this Youth Summit as a platform to initiate conversations around building youth-led sustainable co-operatives?
- How can your cooperative support youth who have been most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic?
- How can your cooperative address the needs of young freelancers and entrepreneurs in the short and long term?
- How can your cooperative promote sustainable development goals? Like SDG -11 SDG-13: Climate Action, SDG-8: Decent work, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & communities, Responsible Consumption and Production etc?
- How can your business idea be relevant in addressing today’s global challenges?
- How do cooperatives address new ways to ensure production in food systems? How does this contribute to building sustainable, ethical, and inclusive value chains?
- How can your idea help build independent and self-reliant communities?
- Our open democratic system helps us face and overcome health, social and economic crises. What have cooperatives done to emerge from this crisis?
- How can your cooperative help preserve endangered cultures, art forms and other intangible culture heritage?
- How can your cooperative help preserve traditional community values?
Tentative Agenda
| Day | Item |
|---|---|
| 18 July, Sunday | Applications Close |
| 20 July, Tuesday | Notification to shortlisted teams on selection for Coop Pitch and connection with mentors |
| 23 July, Friday | Coop Pitch orientation session of 30 shortlisted teams with mentors |
| 25 July, Sunday | Coop Pitch mentoring sessions |
| 27 July, Tuesday | Coop Pitch submission |
| 28 July Wednesday | Coop Pitch Finalists shortlisting |
| 29 July Thursday | Coop Pitch Finale |
Frequently Asked Questions
To participate in the Coop Pitch, APCYS 3.0 registration is mandatory.
After registering for APCYS 3.0, the participants are advised to read all the competition details, prepare their answers offline and then apply online for the competition before the deadline. Please do not wait till the last date and apply well in advance.
30 teams of two to five members each are expected to apply for the coop pitch competition. The group can comprise of young cooperators, college students, representatives of ICA members, civil society organisations, and social entrepreneurs. The groups are not limited to these and participants having diverse professional and academic backgrounds and skillsets are welcome. What matters the most is your commitment to making an impact and your willingness to collaborate.
Yes, if you do not have a team yet, we would encourage you to apply individually.
Top 3 winners will receive prize money of USD 3,000 (1st – USD 1,500; 2nd – USD 1,000; 3rd – USD 500), organizational support and direct access to key partners to further develop, validate and implement coop models developed.
Feel free to email us at contact@apyouthsummit.coop if you have any questions or concerns!