Virgin Mobile’s Pitch to Rich competition invites startups to compete with each other to win a share of more than £1,000,000 in prizes. Currently, more than 2,000 entrants have pitched their startups. LazyPay, a Bitcoin payment processing platform, is the only Bitcoin startup to enter.
LazyPay allows online merchants and local shops to accept payments in bitcoin and other digital currencies. The startup aims to help merchants through cheaper transaction fees, zero chargebacks and funds wired faster to bank accounts.
Their goal is to gather at least 100 pre-registered merchants before their official launch this summer. Currently, the platform has 17 pre-registered merchants, one of them is an independent retailer in Long Ditton, Surrey.
Branson’s Continued Support of Bitcoin
While the Pitch to Rich competition is not focused on Bitcoin, Sir Richard Branson — founder of the Virgin Group, which partners with Virgin Mobile wireless entities — has offered continued support to the cryptocurrency.
Since 2013, Branson has showed his support for Bitcoin by completing a US$30 million funding round with other investors for BitPay, one of the largest Bitcoin payment processors in the world. Later, Branson implemented the payment processing platform to accept bitcoin for Virgin Galactic, a company under Virgin Group.
Billionaire entrepreneur Branson recently showed his strong passion for Bitcoin by hosting a coming Blockchain Summit between May 25 and 28 on his private island in the Caribbean, Necker Island. The event will be attended by the “top thinkers in the world of blockchain, digital currency and Bitcoin.”
Invites have been sent for respected figures in the cryptocurrency and tech industry, including Lars Rasmussen (inventor of Google Maps) and Young Sohn, the president and CSO of Samsung Electronics.
The Blockchain Summit is co-hosted by Valery Vavilov, the CEO of Bitfury (Bitcoin blockchain infrastructure provider), the co-founders of MaiTai Global (a group of extraordinary entrepreneurs, innovators and athletes) and George Kikvadze, managing director of the Georgian Co-Investment Fund.
Branson has continuously supported digital currency conferences, summits and meetups, as he explained how bitcoin will disrupt traditional payment systems:
“It’s important to note that while the established online payment systems will be disrupted by bitcoin, it also has a lot to gain from bitcoin’s presence. Services will be given the opportunity to make themselves more responsive and price competitive, who wouldn’t want to offer that to their customers?”
You can vote for LazyPay via their Pitch to Rich page. They could gain the attention of Branson, who will sit on the panel of judges for the live finale that will take place on June 26 in London.