Every year, Dunedinites blow us away with the quality, conscience, scalability, cleverness, and innovation of their ideas. It just keeps getting better, and this is absolutely due to the participants willingness to get outside of their comfort zones, take risks to build their skills, or go out on a limb and launch a startup. Here’s a brief rundown of the results of Startup Weekend 2021 - keep reading to hear who won!
After a turbulent 2020, it felt like a dream to get back in the saddle this year for Techstars Startup Weekend Ōtepoti. Last weekend saw 40 of Dunedin’s brightest innovators and motivated members of the community come together with generous mentors to see what kind of magic they could create in just a weekend.
Unfamiliar? Let us refresh you. Startup Weekends are 54-hour events designed to provide superior experiential education. Participants create working startups during the event and are able to collaborate with like-minded individuals outside of their daily networks. All teams are mentored by industry leaders and receive valuable feedback from local entrepreneurs. The weekend is centered around action, innovation, and education.
One Weekend, hundreds of ideas
We kicked off with a Polson Higgs Pizza Party (cheers for dinner Polson Higgs!) as participants, crew, mentors, and facilitators mingled and got to know each other. From there, 30 second pitches kicked off, and team forming began around the most popular ideas of the night. There aren’t many startup weekends where you have the Economic Development manager for Queenstown drive across to co-facilitating a Startup Weekend in Dunedin!
Once teams had formed, we began to see the first of a few pivots, and then some truly brilliant brain waves began to emerge from the chaos. The next morning, Anderson Lloyd revival station was there to meet everyone with barista-made coffee for everyone, and participants began the next stage of building their businesses, with the caffeine providing a renewed sense of vigor. Not sure how far any of us would have got without that, Anderson Lloyd. It certainly made the crew’s morning easier, too!
Many participants left to hit the streets and validate their ideas, asking questions and getting feedback from the public and their target audiences. Some approached strangers (serious bravery), some called around their networks, some posted surveys and we reconvened regularly in the Otago Polytechnic hub for rapid-fire BNZ updates from all teams. Spark’s Dunedin Business Hub hosted pitch practises, helping everyone refine their ideas and practise being able to communicate them effectively. We came together for dinner thanks to our friends at Firebrand to share some kai and finish the day, followed by one last BNZ update from all teams before the work continued late into the night.
Our Mentors
Our incredible mentors and facilitators gave up their weekends to support innovation in Ōtepoti. These folks provided so much guidance and wisdom for the participants, so it would be remiss not to shout them all out. A huge thank you to:
Peter Harris from Queenstown Lakes District Council
Angus Pauley from Startup Dunedin
Louise Evans from Coin South
Kylie Robinson from Igtimi
Brownyn Coombe from BNZ
Pete Lead from Blue Chilli
Bex Twemlow from Firebrand
Rachel Binnie from Firebrand
Desiree Williamson from Te Puni Kōkiri
Jason Leong and Regan McEntyre from PocketSmith
Wade Pearson from Gallaway Cook Allan
Tom Brownlie from HeyBarn
Once the solutions were finalised, domains were snagged, and the odd team photo was captured, it was time to submit the slides and get ready to pitch. Judges Mike Collins, CEO of Business South, Heidi Renata, Co-founder of Innov8HQ, and Ryan Baker, CEO of Timely had the not-so-easy job of finding our winners this year. We’re incredibly lucky to have these titans of industry on our team because we know there’s no way we could have picked a winner.
Startup Weekend Pitches
Pet Sitters Unlimited are a platform which connects pet sitters with pet owners - an industry which is booming after many lockdown-motivated pet purchases. Pet Sitters Unlimited verify every sitter on their platform to remove the fear and risk around pet sitting.
Cobble address a very topical problem - the pitfalls of being a first home buyer! It’s confusing, weird, scary, and difficult to begin the first home buying process. It’s also legally difficult to purchase property with others who aren’t a spouse or partner. Cobble provides the legal network, helpful information, tips and tricks to make the whole process easier.
Hi Vibes offer a luxury, high-end sauna experience to the Dunedin public. They’re planning to specifically target the “date night” industry, for those who are a little tired of the same bars, restaurants, and activities in the CBD.
07:30 studios provide a calm, cool, hip, happening, and collaborative workspace for creatives in Dunedin. 07:30 studios aim to specifically target fashion students, those working with textiles or on a sewing project, or those in need of a studio in particular.
Barcade took out third place this year, bringing the new phenomenon of blending bars + arcade gaming to Dunedin. Miss playing Pacman? Wish you could smash out some street fighter over a hazy IPA? Turns out, the judges are with you on that.
Coffee Digest came second this year. Food waste, environmental pollution, and the use of toxic or harmful ingredients were top of the list for this group’s problem-solving bright sparks. Coffee Digest utilises coffee grounds to provide a natural and sustainable fertiliser, and the judges loved their social conscience.
Winners of Startup Weekend Uniform Guru are certainly ones to watch. Frustrated with the expense and wastage involved with purchasing school uniforms for multiple school children, this team have carved a niche for themselves with an easy platform for selling second-hand uniforms amongst parents and school-age kids. The judges were blown away by the innovation involved with this idea, and the potential for scale is definitely noteworthy. As well as the glory and prestige, this team takes away two hours free with Anderson Lloyd to look at strategy, IP or any other challenges. Plus they’ve all landed a limited edition startup weekend t-shirt and will each receive a complimentary PocketSmith membership for one year.
Want to build your innovation and problem solving skills?
We would really love to see you next year.
For more information on Startup Weekend, please visit www.startupdunedin.nz/startup-weekend
