Britain's Duke of York has launched a scheme to help young entrepreneurs.
Britain's Duke of York
Prince Andrew has created Pitch@Palace, which invites 42 youngsters to perfect their inventions before a shortlist is invited to pitch a business idea to a large group of investors.
Speaking of the scheme, he said: "It's dead simple. I felt that venture capital was not investing in early stage activity. It comes out of mitigating risk rather than looking at the individual and the idea, and accepting that the idea may change.
"I called in a few people from the venture capital world - yes, quite a few from Cambridge - the idea was for a member of the Royal Family to be an accelerant. Pitch@Palace is an enabling device to bring small businesses and entrepreneurs in contact with these people. I take no cut."
And the 55-year-old royal thinks the United Kingdom is a great place to be a business person.
Comparing the UK to Silicon Valley, he told Cambridge News: "It's a subtle difference, but in the US they think work, sleep work, whereas our entrepreneurs go from work to the pub, go to bed at 3am and get up again at 7, and this eat, sleep, play routine means they are all playing off each other."
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