In the former Starbucks at Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel, Marriott wants you to open your dream restaurant. The hotel is offering $50,000 in start-up funds and six months of free rent to prove your concept.
Just pitch your big idea through Canvas, Marriott’s new in-house concept lab before Friday, Jan. 16, and you could be selected to incubate your idea for two months and test out your entrepreneurial chops.
The 1,400-square-foot former Starbucks on the ground floor is a completely blank canvas, allowing the winner to design and create a brand new food or beverage concept from the ground up.
In the online application form, entrepreneurs must submit a business and marketing plan, along with a short video showcasing their passion, creativity and skills. Things like financial viability will also be evaluated.
The selected entrepreneurs must be available for in-person interviews Wednesday, Jan. 28 and Thursday, Jan. 29.
The goal of the Canvas program is to reimagine under-utilized hotel spaces around the world. In the first-of-its-kind hotel industry global incubator, Marriott aims to develop destination hot spots that will attract the millennial market and harness the vision of hungry entrepreneurs.
For more information and to submit an application, please visit the Canvas website. The program launched Dec. 2014 with a project at the JW Marriott Shenzhen in China and the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown. Over the next six months, the number of participating locations will grow to about a dozen hotels around the world.