Alibaba.com and CNBC join forces to launch new series, Pop Up Start Up
London, 1st December 2016 - CNBC, the world's leading business and financial news network, today announced it has teamed up with an expert in small and medium business e-commerce, Alibaba.com and award winning London video agency Hub to create a brand new business entertainment show, Pop Up Start Up which debuts on December 16th.
The series will follow twelve aspiring manufacturing entrepreneurs who go head to head to win a £20,000 cash prize. In each episode, two candidates are given seed money and challenged to mass produce and sell their products in a pop up shop. Expert mentors and judges including branding guru Rita Clifton CBE, pop up pioneer Roger Wade and Pete Wild from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, provide guidance and advice to the contestants on how to manufacture, import, market and sell the products. The contestant who makes the most profit each week wins the £20,000 prize.
Sophie Wu, President of Wholesale Marketplaces at Alibaba Group said, "We really see Pop Up Start Up as a great illustration of how to do business in today's dynamic environment. We look forward to showcasing the huge talent of the contestants and hope to provide inspiration to UK startups and small businesses around the world on how to join in the new digital economy."
Martin Conroy, Executive Producer at CNBC International, said: "Pop Up Start Up speaks to the network's entrepreneurial spirt and also fits well amongst our evening programming slate. We know our audience has a real appetite for business programming with personality and Pop Up Start Up delivers just that."
David Hunstone, managing director at Hub said, "Business entertainment programming has been hugely popular over the past few decades. With Pop Up Start Up we wanted to show real world stories in an authentic way, through a business accelerator format, whilst reflecting the organisational values of Alibaba.com. Working together with CNBC and Alibaba has been fantastic and we're hopeful that the public will enjoy the programming as much as we have enjoyed creating it. "
The six part series debuts on CNBC International (Sky Channel 505, Free Sat 201, Virgin Media 613) on 16th December at 22.00 GMT.
To learn more about Pop Up Start Up, it's contestants and the mentors guiding them through the process visit http://www.cnbc.com/pop-up-start-up/ or follow @CNBCiPR on Twitter.
ENDS
For more information contact:
Sarah Whiteacre, CNBC
+44 (0)20 7653 9363 / Sarah.Whiteacre@CNBC.com
Molly Morgan, Alibaba Group
+44 (0)20 7395 8329 / mollymorgan@alibaba-inc.com
Lisa Williams for Hub:
+44 (0)20 612 1155 / hub@themediafoundry.com
Notes to Editors:
Download the season one air times, here.
Download the mentor bios, here.
Download the show logo, here.
About CNBC:
CNBC is the leading global broadcaster of live business and financial news and information, reporting directly from the major financial markets around the globe with three regional networks including CNBC in Asia, CNBC in EMEA and CNBC in the US. CNBC.com is the preeminent financial news source on the web, featuring an unprecedented amount of video, real-time market analysis, web-exclusive live video and analytical financial tools. CNBC is dedicated to CEOs, senior corporate executives; the financial services industry and private investors. The channel is available in more than 385 million homes worldwide. CNBC is a division of NBCUniversal. For more information, please visit www.cnbc.com.
About Alibaba.com:
The first business of Alibaba Group, Alibaba.com (www.alibaba.com) is a leading English-language wholesale marketplace for global trade. Buyers on Alibaba.com, who are located in more than 200 countries and regions all over the world, are typically trade agents, wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers and SMEs engaged in the import and export business.
About Hub:
Hub is an insight-led video strategy and production agency that is focused on helping brands to create compelling content as an integral part of their communications strategy.
Based out of London the 15-strong team has delivered global campaigns for clients including Alibaba, Henderson Global Investors and Thomson Reuters that have transformed their content/engagement strategies.
Working from concept to screen, the agency's innovative approach is exclusively designed to give brands return on attention as well as investment.