Startups Awards 2011: Deadline extended

The UK’s newest, hottest and most innovative businesses have been given an extra two weeks to enter the Startups Awards 2011. Due to a surge in last-minute entries, entrepreneurs now have until 7 October 2011 to get their applications in. Now in its eighth year, the Startups Awards has earned a reputation for recognising the UK’s brightest new businesses – and the entrepreneurial talent behind them. Previous winners include some of the UK’s finest business success stories, such as BeatThatQuote.com, Wonga, The Book Depository, Glasses Direct, Ella’s Kitchen and Naked Wines, along with many other UK start-ups which have gone on to achieve outstanding success. There are 14 categories to enter, in celebration of all different types of entrepreneurship, including Online Business of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Social Enterprise of the Year, Home or Craft-based Business of the Year, Service Business of the Year and Green Business of the Year. So whether you’re running an eBay business from your bedroom or a venture-capital backed technology business, there’s a category for you. The winners will be selected by an esteemed panel of judges, including Joe Cohen, founder of secondary ticketing success story Seatwave, Mitesh Soma, founder of Chemist Direct, and Colin Wilkinson, co-founder of 360 Entertainment, the Startups Business of the Year 2009. David Lester, founder of Startups.co.uk, said: “Each year we unearth a whole set of innovative, disruptive new businesses and entrepreneurs that continue to make people sit up and pay attention to the start-up market. “I’m confident we’ll have another fantastic pick of companies to choose from in 2011 because we’ve seen the impressive scale of UK talent out there today.” Richard Smith, founder of Dig It project, which scooped the Innovative Business of the Year award in 2010, added: “It feels unbelievable to get recognised at a ceremony like this. Winning an award is great, and gives the business a lot of credibility. It’s fantastic not just for me, but for the staff.” All finalists will be invited to the awards ceremony, which will take place at London’s Kensington Roof Gardens on 2 December 2011. For full details of the categories, criteria and to enter, visit Startups.co.uk/startups-awards. All businesses must be under three years old and privately owned.