Fearing the pandemic may be deterring entrepreneurs from founding companies, the regional tech accelerator Propel has announced a new pitch contest that will award $10,000 in cash to a pre-revenue startup.

The Startup Summer Showdown’s winning company will also receive in-kind services that Propel said in a statement are worth about $40,000. These include coaching services, free advertising and free legal services from LaBarge Weinstein LLP.

Half of the cash prize will be provided by Innovacorp and half by the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation.

Startups will submit a video pitch and a panel of judges will choose an unspecified number of finalists. The chosen ventures will be listed on Propel’s Facebook page, where visitors will vote on their favourites.

“We wanted to find a way to encourage the bright minds of Atlantic Canada to look at the pandemic as an opportunity to take a leap and  launch their new venture,” said Propel CEO Barry Bisson in a statement. “What’s even more special is that the public will be tasked with helping to determine which company they feel is best positioned to succeed through their votes.”

Entrepreneurs can enter their companies here until Aug. 6, with the winner being announced in September.

Propel previously announced in April that its Incite virtual accelerator would operate on a continuous intake model, rather than a more traditional cohort system. In June, it began allowing Atlantic Canadian brick-and-mortar accelerators and incubators to offer their participating companies free access to its online curriculum for assessing product-market fit.

You can find more information here.