A round of applause for student entrepreneurship, please, Ōtepoti. We know that The University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic students have the edge but it’s always the best time of the year, seeing it in action.
This week, Startup Dunedin sat down with our wider ecosystem together for drinks, nibbles, and a big group-congratulations. We’ve watched all the hard mahi our Audacious students have put in over the last months, and it’s been quite the adventure. Some have pivoted, some have re-worked, some have validated, some have started all over again from scratch; but all of them have something to be seriously proud of.
Awards & Startups:
Audacious Explorer: First Minute - Maria Sokolova
Audacious Entrepreneur: Kinecty - Scott Clifford
Audacious Vision : Money Neko - Eva Maya Lloyd
Audacious Impact: Climate Anxiety - Olivia Mirams and Kreafoam - Fasya Setiawan.
People's Choice Award: Climate Anxiety - Olivia Mirams.
Polson Higgs Premiere Award : Roast - Josh Wynne & Liam Bartlett
The Student Startups
Who crossed the stage? What impact were they looking to make? What’s their big hairy goal? All great questions. Let's delve into the projects that captured the stage at the 2023 Audacious Showcase, and what their pitches were all about!
First Minute (Maria Sokolova): Maria, who is studying Data Science and Philosophy unveiled First Minute; an alcohol-free night-owl lounge to enhance student well-being and foster a sense of community. The idea will start with a study reward card system to gauge demand for a physical study space - from there, watch this space! (Pun intended.)
First Minute’s Maria won our Audacious Explorer award, which was awarded to the student or team who had thoroughly proved their commitment to entrepreneurial exploration.
Kinecty (Scott Clifford): Scott Clifford, a PhD Candidate in Virology at Otago University, introduced Kinecty. This new creation provides users with a slick social media platform emphasizing events and cool stuff happening around the user. Their ethos is bringing back the social aspect to social media.
Scott won the Audacious Entrepreneur award - this one goes out to the student who really embodies the spirit of entrepreneurship. Well done Scott!
Money Neko (Eva Maya Lloyd): Eva, a student of Neuroscience, presented Money Neko. This startup focused on building a free investment learning app for low-to-moderate-income individuals in New Zealand. The app aimed to provide accessible resources for long-term stock market investment, empowering individuals to navigate the world of investing effectively.
Eva’s startup Money Neko took out the Audacious Vision award for their dedication to building a scalable business model, and capacity for growth!
Climate Anxiety (Olivia Mirams): Olivia, a student of Management and HR & Gender Studies, founded Climate Anxiety. After experiencing frustration and powerlessness regarding the state of our climate, she conceptualized a collective initiative towards positive change. The aim was to help people with climate anxiety feel more validated and less overwhelmed.
Climate Anxiety’s potential for good saw Olivia be awarded one of our big prizes - the Audacious Impact award! Not only that, her idea clearly struck a chord with the audience, because she ended up winning Peoples’ Choice, too.
Kreafoam (Fasya Setiawan): Fasya, a student pursuing a Masters of Entrepreneurship, introduced Kreafoam. Her innovation offered an eco-friendly alternative to traditional floral foam in Indonesia, addressing environmental concerns associated with nonbiodegradable floral foam commonly used in the country.
Kreafoam has a real potential for some tangible eco-friendly changes to the flower foam industry in Indonesia. For this, we were stoked to award Fasya with a well-deserved Audacious Impact award!
Roast (Josh Wynne & Liam Bartlett): Josh & Liam are two Philosophy, Politics, and Economics students who met during Audacious! They introduced their startup, Roast. Their venture presented a ready-to-drink iced coffee infused with oat milk, tailored to the preferences of coffee enthusiasts seeking dairy-free alternatives, with sustainability and rich flavors at the heart of their mahi.
With such a strong business case and so much hard work behind the scenes, we’re delighted to announce that Roast took out the top prize at our showcase - the Polson Higgs Premiere Award! Not only do they take home a cash injection to allow them to test their product in the market, but they’ll also be supported by the Business Advisory skills and oversight of the Polson Higgs team.
So, that’s a wrap, folks! The 2023 Audacious Showcase provided a platform for student entrepreneurs to exhibit their can-do attitude, their commitment to their ideas, and the progress they’ve made over the course of the programme this year. It is always so satisfying to see their hard work culminating in a night filled with celebration, excitement, community-support, and of course, well-deserved prizes.
A huge thank you is due to our amazing community, too. This wouldn’t happen without the long-term commitment from Dunedin City Council, Otago University, and Otago Polytechnic. You also don’t get to see the hours poured in by alumni, guest speakers and Dunedin founders sharing their wisdom and stories.
To our judges, Pete Lead from Startup Dunedin, Amie Taua from Dunedin City Council (and the Startup Dunedin Board), Laura Bradley from Skillzea (who was also our fabulous MC!), and Sally Rae from the Otago Daily Times - thank you all so much for supporting these students with their pitches and providing valuable feedback and guidance.
And of course, a massive thank you to the team at Polson Higgs for sponsoring the best business case and making such a difference to student entrepreneurship in our awesome city.
For those of you who managed to come along - either in person or online - you’re the reason we can keep doing this. Your support is what keeps us going.
So, cheers for that, Dunners.