Incubator company Nest gives budding entrepreneurs their big chance

It's Saturday in Sheung Wan and Simon Squibb is explaining the rules of the game for the third time this morning - there will be 15 minutes for the pitch, during which the judges stay silent, followed by a Q&A session and then feedback.

"We don't make a decision today - this isn't a TV show, this is real," says Squibb, CEO of Nest, an incubator company which nurtures start-ups.

Pitch day at Nest may not be a TV show, but it has all the trappings of one. The conference room is decked out in raw concrete and glass, a computer screen the size of a door stands in the corner, and the judging panel, armed with laptops and lattes, are looking effortlessly cool.

But if Mexican entrepreneur Salvador de la Barrera is nervous he doesn't show it. His company, flipter, is out to build the world's largest database of opinions. He has flown in from Mexico to make this pitch, one of seven chosen from 90 applications, and his presentation is well-honed.

"Sit down, have some water," says Squibb before the questions begin.

"Have you trademarked your name? Why not?"

"It's a fantastic product," says Lawrence Morgan, a Nest partner. "You need to lock down as many people as you possibly can."