Got a $15,000 idea? Only two more days to enter REV Birmingham's Shark Tank-style contest and compete to have the best original idea for Birmingham business.
REV Birmingham's Big Pitch contest stops accepting entries Friday. You can enter here.
Each entry is eligible for two cash prizes. PNC Bank will award $10,000 to the winner of a three-day intensive from Thursday Nov. 6-Saturday Nov. 8 culminating in a Shark Tank style pitch round to a five-member panel.. The pitch round is open to the public.
The winner of the People's Choice Award will earn $5,000. Alabama Media Group, the parent company of AL.com and The Birmingham News, is sponsoring this prize. The finalists will be featured on AL.com and the public will vote on which business plan they like best. Polling will take place beginning October 24 on AL.com's Facebook page.
"Interest has been great. It's been pretty much what we expected," said Atticus Rominger, chief public and investor relations officer for REV Birmingham. "Ten-thousand dollars is a lot of money, and we thought it would generate a lot of interest, and it certainly has."
Rominger declined to say how many people have entered the Big Pitch because he said he didn't want to sway anyone's decision to enter. But he said he expects the final days of entry to get the most applications.
"They're pouring in over the last few days," Rominger said.
Rominger said entries have included innovative food or tech concepts.
"We've seen one or two things that I think are completely out of the realm of what we've been expecting, and that's what's exciting to us," Rominger said. "A business idea we never would have thought of in a million years - that's what we want to see more of."
If you want to enter, your plan should meet the following criteria:
• New business concepts or an existing businesses poised for growth
• Proposals with a dazzling concept and well-developed business plan
• Business located in, or intending to locate in, the City of Birmingham
• Retail, restaurant, art or neighborhood service concepts or other businesses that will generate significant foot traffic
• Businesses that will result in job and tax growth in Birmingham
Protective Life, Royal Cup Coffee and Public Radio WBHM 90.3 FM are also sponsoring The Big Pitch.