KUALA LUMPUR: DiGi and local television station ntv7 are working together to produce a new reality TV show aimed at giving entrepreneurs a chance to raise funds for their start-up business.

Called “DiGi The Next Level”, the reality show pits together eight contestants -- an engineer, a youth leader, a workshop owner, a graphic designer, an IT marketing executive, an IT business owner, a corset entrepreneur and an online bicycle seller -- for a chance to win RM50,000 to kick-start his or her dream business, plus 12 months of post-competition support from DiGi.

The contestants, who were chosen through walk-in auditions or video submissions, are Mohd Razi Mohd Yusoff, 28; Cham Chen Siang, 29; Ong Tou, 34; Suren Haris Anwar, 30; Kuah Kok Kheng, 27; Tan Yee Mei, 20; Chan Yuen Fong @ Norman, 26; and Chloe Mok, 23.

The two main judges of the reality show are Khailee Ng, co-founder of Youth Asia, and Dzulkifly Aminuddin, DiGi’s head of enterprise marketing. They would be joined by guest judges who would be assessing the weekly challenges faced by the contestants.

Filmed over a period of two months, contestants would undergo challenges in all areas of creative business, including branding and public relations. For the final challenge, contestants will create and present a detailed proposal based on their training from previous challenges.

Sponsored by DiGi, the reality show is set to air on ntv7, at 8.30 pm, every Wednesday, starting July 7. The final episode would be telecast live in September.