CNBC and Alibaba partner up for new business entertainment show

Financial news network CNBC has teamed up with an expert in small and medium business e-commerce, Alibaba.com and London video agency Hub to create a new business entertainment show, Pop Up Start Up which debuts in Asia on 17 December.The series will follow 12 aspiring manufacturing entrepreneurs who go head to head to win a £20,000 cash prize.  In each episode, two candidates are given seed money and challenged to mass produce and sell their products in a pop up shop.Sophie Wu, president of Wholesale Marketplaces at Alibaba Group said, “We really see Pop Up Start Up as a great illustration of how to do business in today’s dynamic environment. We look forward to showcasing the huge talent of the contestants and hope to provide inspiration to UK startups and small businesses around the world on how to join in the new digital economy.”David Hunstone, managing director at Hub said, “Business entertainment programming has been hugely popular over the past few decades. With Pop Up Start Up we wanted to show real world stories in an authentic way, through a business accelerator format, whilst reflecting the organisational values of Alibaba.com. Working together with CNBC and Alibaba has been fantastic and we’re hopeful that the public will enjoy the programming as much as we have enjoyed creating it. ”