Starting a new business can be very tough. Keeping it healthy and growing is an even harder challenge. This rings especially true in the technology space where startups seemingly rise and fall like the tides. In fact, according to Forbes, 90 percent of new startups will inevitably fail, leaving a trail of lost capital, damaged careers, and lending little support for the current venture capital business model. The blame, of course, can’t be laid entirely on venture capital firms, as the entrepreneurial space is traditionally perilous. While the old saying that says roughly 50 percent of traditional businesses will fail in five years and 95 percent will fail in ten years isn’t exactly the truth, there is a 100 percent chance you will have to overcome massive hurdles to successfully get a business, online or traditional, off the ground and sustainable. One company that is doing its part to put these trends and rates to rest is Momentum Ventures and their CEO Matt Keezer.
Since launching in 2007, Momentum Ventures, a technology company based out of Montreal, Quebec has successfully launched seven successful businesses in seven attempts, a perfect record that is unmatched in the industry. Beginning first in the online streaming realm, they have a diverse portfolio that has grown to include advertisement serving platforms, affiliate marketing programs, and online travel. Their flagship brand, online travel agent FlightHub, has proven to be their biggest winner, banking over $1.5 billion annually, employing over 400 people worldwide in five global offices, and serving over 1 million Canadians annually. Their most recent online business, another travel site called Alio, launched in October of this year and is building on the online travel foundation FlightHub has pioneered since 2012. Now, they are approaching their next business a little differently, launching the 500K Momentum Ventures Challenge in an attempt to reach out to young and aspiring entrepreneurs.
The Momentum Ventures Challenge is an entrepreneurial outreach project targeted at young professionals and students looking to immerse themselves in the world of business. The goal is to find new business leaders to launch and guide Momentum Ventures’ next online business. In addition to getting a full-time, leadership role at Momentum Ventures as the point man for this new online business, the winner of the challenge will receive access to Momentum Ventures’ network of veteran online talent and business support systems to go with a minimum of 500K towards a new online venture, an amount that Keezer hopes isn’t enough, saying “ideally, once we ready a new business plan, we can find success and justify additional investment to get our new business off the ground with our selected winner,” adding “we are treating this like any other of our previous launches, meaning we are 100 percent committed to making it successful in the online marketplace.”
Those who wish to submit their entry to the Momentum Ventures Challenge can do so by visiting Momentum Ventures’ all-new website. You can also read about Momentum Ventures’ values, leadership team, and past successes there.
