Dragon Kevin O’Leary to give 10 prizes of $5,000 to future entrepreneurs in grades 11 and 12
DRAGONS’ DEN star and entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary is on the hunt for the next generation of “Dragons.” The Future Dragon Fund Contest, will award 10 ambitious grade 11 and 12 students who show promise as current or future entrepreneurs. Each successful student will each be awarded $5,000 to fund and pursue entrepreneurial projects of their choice.
Outspoken business and television personality O’Leary will announce the Future Dragon Fund Contest at the launch of his first-ever photo exhibit, Kevin O’Leary 40 Years of Photography, at First Canadian Place in Toronto on Tuesday, October 8, 2013. Funds raised from the sale of his photographs will go toward the Future Dragon Fund Contest prizes, with the goal of encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in our future generations.
”DRAGONS’ DEN has been a lightning rod for entrepreneurial culture in this country, and I’m lucky to be a part of that,” said O’Leary. “Every day I meet bright, motivated, young people who want to become entrepreneurs. With this contest, I hope to encourage them, and help them get a head start on their future.”
The Future Dragon Fund Contest portal opens October 23; details and regulations can be found online at cbc.ca/dragonsden/futuredragon. Current grade 11 and 12 students can apply by submitting videos pitching why they deserve to win one of the $5,000 prizes and what they would do with the money. The winners will be announced each week until mid-March, 2014, with the first prize announced the same day as the student edition of DRAGONS’ DEN on November 13 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC Television.
Kevin O’Leary is an entrepreneur, investor and one of the stars of CBC’s DRAGONS’ DEN, as well as a contributor on CBC News Network’s Lang & O’Leary Exchange. He is chairman of O’Leary Funds and O’Leary Mortgages, as well as the founder of O’Leary Fine Wines. Previously, O’Leary founded and was president of SoftKey (later called The Learning Company), a global educational software company.
DRAGONS’ DEN is the highest-rated Canadian unscripted program on during the regular television season, with an average audience of more than 1.2 million Canadians each week. In addition to its success on-air, DRAGONS’ DEN is also a hit online, boasting an active and engaged online community averaging more than 650,000 page views per month. Full episodes and exclusive behind-the-scenes content can be viewed at cbc.ca/dragonsden. DRAGONS’ DEN is filmed at CBC Headquarters in Toronto, ON and airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) and Sundays at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC Television. Tracie Tighe is executive producer and Molly Middleton is senior producer. Dianne Buckner hosts.
Find the show online at:
@cbcdragon #cbcdragonsden
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