CNBC, the business and financial news network, today announced it has teamed up with an expert in small and medium business e-commerce, Alibaba.com and award winning London video agency Hub to create a brand new business entertainment show, Pop Up Start Up, which debuts on December 16th.
The series will follow 12 aspiring manufacturing entrepreneurs who go head to head to win a £20,000 cash prize. In each episode, two candidates are given seed money and challenged to mass produce and sell their products in a pop up shop.
Expert mentors and judges including branding guru Rita Clifton CBE, pop up pioneer Roger Wade and Pete Wild from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, provide guidance and advice to the contestants on how to manufacture, import, market and sell the products. The contestant who makes the most profit each week wins the £20,000 prize.
Sophie Wu, president of wholesale marketplaces at Alibaba Group comments, ‘We really see Pop Up Start Up as a great illustration of how to do business in today’s dynamic environment. We look forward to showcasing the huge talent of the contestants and hope to provide inspiration to UK startups and small businesses around the world on how to join in the new digital economy.’
Martin Conroy, executive producer at CNBC International, says, ‘Pop Up Start Up speaks to the network’s entrepreneurial spirt and also fits well amongst our evening programming slate. We know our audience has a real appetite for business programming with personality and Pop Up Start Up delivers just that.’
David Hunstone, managing director at Hub concludes, ‘Business entertainment programming has been hugely popular over the past few decades. With Pop Up Start Up we wanted to show real world stories in an authentic way, through a business accelerator format, whilst reflecting the organisational values of Alibaba.com.
‘Working together with CNBC and Alibaba has been fantastic and we’re hopeful that the public will enjoy the programming as much as we have enjoyed creating it. ‘
The six part series debuts on CNBC International (Sky Channel 505, Free Sat 201, Virgin Media 613) on 16th December at 22.00 GMT.
Further reading on starting a business
