'Meet the Drapers' Season 5 World Premiere Showcases 35 Startups Competing for the Grand Prize of $1M (USD)

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Aug 04, 2022, 09:41 ET

Latest season includes the audience voting for their favorite entrepreneurs

SILICON VALLEY, Calif, Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Meet the Drapers, an international pitch competition reality television series for entrepreneurs, today announced the show's Season 5 premiere, airing globally across several domestic and international television networks. Hosted by the esteemed Draper Family, judges for the show include Tim Draper, Polly Draper, and Bill Draper along with a different special guest judge each week.

The latest season, produced and directed by Sarika Batra, will highlight four startups each week from different regions across the world, giving viewers the opportunity to root for entrepreneurs from their hometown. The startups were selected from pre-pitch events that were hosted in major regions across the globe including India, Taiwan, Portugal, Brazil, Singapore, Canada, and the United States.

Thousands of startups competed to be part of season 5 and 35 entrepreneurs were selected to pitch their ideas to a live audience in hopes of moving on to the semi-finals. Guest judges this season include successful entrepreneurs including Kai Huang, co-founder of Guitar Hero, Sabeer Bhatia, founder of Hotmail, Joe Montana, former American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, and investor and entrepreneur, Randi Zuckerberg.

The semi-finalists will participate in a pitch challenge and the top three will be selected by the judges to move onto the finale. In addition, viewers have the chance to vote for their favorite entrepreneur on MeettheDrapers.com and the top three startups with the most votes will be featured in the finale. The first place winner will receive a $1million (USD) investment from Tim Draper, which will be one of the largest single investments made on reality television.

"Meet The Drapers gives viewers around the world a unique opportunity to be entertained while learning about entrepreneurship and venture capital. The entrepreneurs that pitch us are unique and extraordinary, and our show has provided them a global stage from which many of them have received funding and grown their sales. The show is a lot of fun, and our viewers have seen many brilliant ideas come to life," said Tim Draper, founding partner of Draper Associates and host of Meet the Drapers. "Season 5 showcases some of the brightest young entrepreneurs we've ever seen from around the globe and I hope that Meet The Drapers will continue to inspire and teach people to build and grow their own companies."

This season's partners include Brand Capital, Know How Club, Data Charter Group (DCG), iDEA Spaces, Web Summit, Draper X, Draper Startup House and Draper University. Sponsors include Startup Island Taiwan, BDM Digital, and Taiwan Tech Arena.

To date, Meet the Drapers has featured over 100 startups, raising more than four million (USD) from Tim Draper. The series airs weekly on Times Now and ET NOW in India, TechStorm in Pan-Asia, Record TV in Brazil, Sony Entertainment Television and on DraperTV in the US. Check your local listings for airtimes.

About Meet the Drapers

Meet The Drapers is an international pitch competition reality television series where entrepreneurs from around the globe compete against one another for a $1 million dollar investment in their game-changing ideas from billionaire venture capitalist, Tim Draper. Every episode features entrepreneurs from a different region of the globe pitching their business ideas to Mr. Draper, his family, and one VIP guest judge. Tim Draper is a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley known for investing in several "unicorns" such as Coinbase, Skype, Tesla, and Hotmail.

SOURCE Meet the Drapers