Aspiring young Canadian entrepreneurs are invited to apply for an upcoming Startup Weekend hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa from June 13–15, 2014.

The Embassy will fund travel, accommodation and meals for participation in the Startup Weekend for about 50 selected nominees, Marcia R. Seitz-Ehler of the  U.S. Consulate General in Halifax said in a release.  

The nominees will be Canadians aged 18 to 30 with a strong interest in entrepreneurship and a clearly defined idea for a new business. However, they may be lacking in concrete business development skills, or have limited access to the expertise, tools, and technologies. Their ideas should be in “seed” stage.

Startup Weekend is a global movement of entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It offered over 800 events in 2013 in more than 100 countries around the world.

This event will occur at Ben Franklin Place in Ottawa and will provide participants with the standard Startup weekend experience. They will be invited to pitch their ideas and receive feedback from their peers. Teams will form round the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then there will be a 54-hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekend will culminate with presentations before entrepreneurial leaders, offering another opportunity for critical feedback. Funding for the startups will not be provided.

Anyone interested can register here by April 6.