Competition Terms & Conditions

Important information before you enter

Seed27 charges no competition entry fee. The current Tide competition offers a free business-account signup route for eligible founders with a business, or a paid company-formation route that also provides a free business account. Both routes give one entry on identical terms.
Each competition has one winner and permits one entry per founder.
There is no fixed closing date. Winner selection is triggered only after the competition reaches 10,000 valid entries. It may take an indefinite period to reach that threshold, and it may never be reached.
Entries remain open after the threshold is reached and close when the review or draw process starts. All valid entries received before closure are included.
The winner will be selected and notified within 30 days of reaching 10,000 valid entries.
Pitch competitions use random review order followed by scoring, not a purely random draw. Non-pitch competitions use a random draw.
The current £5,000 Seed27 Pitch Competition is UK-only. Future competitions may be open to UK and/or US founders only where their named rules expressly say so.

Current competition: £5,000 Seed27 Pitch Competition

Seed27 Limited organises this competition. Seed27 has an affiliate agreement with Tide and may receive a commission for qualifying referrals through its links. That affiliate agreement does not mean Tide sponsors, endorses, organises or jointly operates this competition, or that Seed27 and Tide have a legal partnership. Tide's services are supplied by Tide under its own terms; competition administration, winner selection and prize payment are Seed27 Limited's responsibility.

This is a pitch competition for eligible UK-resident founders aged 18 or over, whether or not their business is incorporated. There is one cash prize of £5,000 GBP, paid outright with no equity, repayment or spending conditions.

To enter, either open a qualifying free Tide business account (you must have a business and meet Tide's account eligibility requirements), or create a company through Tide's advertised paid company-formation service, which also provides a free business account subject to Tide's eligibility and account-opening requirements. Use the competition links supplied by Seed27 and publish your pitch on Seed27. You must complete the applicable partner signup successfully and meet that partner's eligibility requirements. One founder may enter once; completing both partner actions or publishing multiple pitches does not create additional entries.

Tide company formation is a paid service, not a free signup. Its applicable fees and service terms are set by Tide and must be checked before purchase. You do not need to buy company formation if you qualify through the free business-account route. A founder without a business cannot use that account route unless they first establish an eligible business; do not assume it is available to everyone. Neither route gives additional entries, a higher judging score or improved chances, and completing both still gives only one entry. Optional paid account features or other partner products are not required. The advertised “How to enter” instructions identify the qualifying links and any offer-specific requirements; a signup through an unrelated link does not qualify.

The 10,000-valid-entry threshold, closure procedure and pitch-selection rules below apply. Seed27 will publish the closure notice in this section when review starts. Publishing a pitch alone, or clicking a partner link without completing the required signup, is not a valid entry.

1. Organiser and applicable rules

The organiser is Seed27 Limited. For competition questions, accessibility enquiries or complaints, contact charlie@seed27.com.

These general terms cover multiple competitions, but each competition is separate: its entries, threshold and prize are not shared with another. Named competition rules on this page state its eligible territory, prize amount and currency, selection method and any specific conditions. Advertised “How to enter” instructions state the required entry actions. A pitch is required only where those instructions require one.

Named competition rules take precedence over these general terms where they expressly differ. If an advertisement appears inconsistent with these terms, contact Seed27 for clarification before entering. New competitions will have their named rules published before entry opens.

2. Eligibility

Entrants must be founders aged 18 or over and legally resident in an eligible territory stated for the competition. Eligible territories may be the UK, the US, or both. General references to UK/US founders do not make every competition available in both countries. Incorporated and unincorporated businesses may enter, subject to the named rules.

Seed27 staff, competition judges and their immediate families are excluded. A collaborating partner may participate in judging, but its judges and their immediate families may not enter that competition. Entrants must also satisfy any required partner's signup criteria.

Competitions are unavailable where prohibited by applicable law. Any US competition must specify eligible states and any additional local requirements in its named rules before entry opens.

3. One entry per founder per competition

Complete all advertised entry steps to submit a valid entry. Entries must be accurate, genuine and received before closure. Seed27 charges no competition entry fee, but a qualifying partner service may have a cost expressly identified in the named competition rules. For the current Tide competition, paid company formation is an alternative to qualifying free business-account signup, not a purchase required of every entrant. Choosing a paid route or buying optional products does not confer additional entries, preferential treatment, a higher judging score or improved chances of winning.

One founder may enter each competition once, even if they have multiple businesses, accounts or pitches. Where duplicate entries are submitted, only the first valid entry is counted. Automated entries, impersonation, fraudulent signups and attempts to circumvent the limit may be disqualified. Seed27 may request reasonable evidence of identity, age, residence, founder status and completion of entry steps.

4. Restricted industries and entry content

All competitions exclude businesses whose principal activities involve gambling, alcohol, tobacco or related products, including vaping products. Seed27 reserves the right, acting reasonably, to determine whether an entry falls within these restrictions.

Entries must not promote unlawful activity, contain deliberately false or misleading claims, or infringe another person's intellectual property, privacy or other rights. Seed27 may exclude entries that breach these rules, applying the restrictions consistently. Industry restrictions will not be expanded retrospectively to disqualify otherwise valid entries.

5. Entry threshold, closure and selection timing

Each competition must reach 10,000 valid entries before winner selection starts. Invalid and duplicate entries do not count towards the threshold. There is no fixed closing date and no guaranteed date on which the threshold will be reached. If it is never reached, winner selection will not be triggered under these rules.

Reaching 10,000 valid entries does not itself close entry. Entry closes when Seed27 starts the review process for a pitch competition or the draw process for a non-pitch competition. Seed27 will record the closure time and publish a closure notice in the relevant named competition section on this page. All valid entries received before that closure time are included, including those beyond the first 10,000.

Seed27 will complete selection and notify the selected winner within 30 days of the competition reaching 10,000 valid entries. This deadline runs from the threshold date, not the later closure date.

6. Pitch competition selection and scoring

Eligible pitches are placed in a randomly determined review order using a computer-generated random process. Seed27 staff will judge the entries, and a judge from a collaborating third-party partner may also participate. Judges must not score an entry in which they have a personal or financial conflict of interest.

Each pitch receives a score from 0 to 10 in each of the following eight equally weighted categories, for a maximum of 80 points:

Clarity: how clearly the problem, solution and business proposition are explained.
Passion: the founder's demonstrated enthusiasm and motivation.
Credibility: the reliability of the claims and supporting evidence.
Commitment & resourcefulness: demonstrated effort, initiative and ability to use available resources.
Commerciality: the customer need, market opportunity and viability of the business model.
Ambition: the founder's goals and potential for meaningful business growth.
Presentation: the structure and effectiveness of the pitch.
Financials & traction: the quality of financial assumptions and evidence of progress, assessed in the context of the business's stage.

Judges exercise reasonable discretion in assessing these categories, using the same scoring framework for all entries. Where multiple judges score a pitch, its total is the arithmetic mean of their individual totals, assessed without rounding against the qualifying threshold.

The first eligible pitch in the random review order to score at least 60 out of 80 (75%) is selected as the winner. This is not necessarily the highest-scoring pitch overall; review for the primary award stops when the first qualifying pitch is found.

If no pitch reaches 60/80, all eligible pitches will be reviewed and the highest-scoring eligible pitch wins. If pitches tie for the highest score, the winner is chosen by a computer-generated random draw among those tied pitches. Seed27 will retain a record of the review order, scores and selection outcome. Judging discretion does not permit changing the published criteria or threshold after entry opens.

7. Non-pitch prize draws

Non-pitch competitions select one winner using a computer-generated random draw from all valid entries received before closure. Each eligible founder has one entry and an equal chance in that draw. Seed27 will retain a record of the draw and its outcome. Pitch scoring does not apply to these competitions.

8. Winner notification, acceptance and replacement

Seed27 will notify the selected winner through the email address associated with their entry or Seed27 account. Entrants must keep their contact information current and check their inbox and spam folder. The selected winner has 14 days from notification to respond and provide the reasonably requested eligibility and payment details.

If the winner declines, fails to respond within 14 days, cannot establish eligibility or is disqualified for breaching these rules, Seed27 will select a replacement. For non-pitch competitions, this is a new random draw from the remaining eligible entries. For pitch competitions, review resumes in the recorded random order among remaining eligible pitches, applying the same qualifying threshold and highest-score fallback. Replacement winners have the same acceptance and payment periods.

Seed27 will never require a payment or purchase to release a prize. Eligibility checks do not give Seed27 an unrestricted right to withhold a prize from an eligible winner.

9. Cash prizes and taxes

Each competition's prize amount and currency are stated in its named rules. The prize is paid by bank transfer within 30 days after the winner accepts and supplies valid eligibility and payment details. Cash prizes are paid outright: no equity, repayment, spending restrictions or additional partner purchases are required.

Winners are responsible for applicable taxes and reporting obligations. Seed27 will comply with any withholding or reporting duties required by law and explain any legally required deductions to the winner. The prize is payable to the verified winner and is not transferable to another entrant.

10. Privacy, entry ownership and publicity

Seed27 processes entry and winner information to administer the competition, verify eligibility, judge or draw entries, contact winners and arrange payment, as explained in our Privacy Policy. Judges and delivery partners receive only information reasonably needed for those purposes. Partner signups are also subject to the partner's own privacy notice.

Entrants retain ownership of their pitches and grant permission for Seed27 and the competition judges to review them for competition administration. A pitch published on Seed27 is visible according to the platform's ordinary publication settings and Terms of Use; entering does not make it confidential.

Seed27 will seek separate permission before publicly announcing any winner-identifying details or using their name, business name, image, testimonial or pitch in additional competition marketing. Refusing publicity consent does not affect eligibility or payment. This does not prevent disclosures to regulators or other disclosures required by law, subject to applicable privacy rights.

11. Fair administration and circumstances outside our control

Seed27 may take proportionate steps to address fraud, security incidents, technical failures or legal requirements that materially affect a competition. Any necessary suspension or change will be explained in its named section on this page and will respect entrants' rights under applicable law. This is not an unrestricted right to cancel a prize, change the selection method or alter eligibility retrospectively.

Seed27's decisions on scoring and eligibility are final within the competition's administration, subject to correction of demonstrable errors, complaints and any rights under applicable law. No term excludes liability or limits rights where doing so would be unlawful.

12. Questions and complaints

Contact charlie@seed27.com, identifying the competition and explaining your question or complaint. Do not send passwords, banking credentials or unnecessary identity documents by email. These terms do not prevent you from exercising statutory rights or contacting a competent regulator or court.