Over a 3-day period, we saw the energy of over 30 budding entrepreneurs light up the second Techstars Startup Weekend at Moreton Bay, located within the vibrant facilities of the UniSC Moreton Bay campus.
Spanning from 26th to 28th May, a dynamic mix of visionaries came together, united by their shared goal of bringing their startup concepts to life and creating their own enterprises.
Collaboration was key as the weekend came to a close and diverse teams, consisting of 1 to 4 members each, engaged with mentors, investors, and sponsors. They journeyed through the process of shaping their business idea into a feasible business model, testing the viability of the idea with potential customers, and presenting their business plan to our respected panel of judges.
Throughout this power-packed weekend, the participants were privileged to receive expert insights from our top-notch mentors, participate in insightful Masterclasses, receive cool swag, and partake in an impressive prize pool valued at over $20,000+
Across the weekend, six great businesses ideas were developed over the weekend:
Friend in My Pocket (1st Place)
An application that pulls from developmental psychology and mental health research to promote confidence and wellbeing in children.
SignalSense (2nd Place)
A new approach to managing traffic lights, reducing carbon emissions, traffic, and road accidents at a lower price point than existing solutions.
CarbonK (3rd Place)
A startup looking to industrialise the founder's research to convert food waste into activated carbon based fertiliser, reducing Australia's dependence on foreign producers, increasing agricultural productivity, and turning excess waste into exportable goods.
Wediate
A platform that reduces uncertainty in construction outcomes by working with builders and customers to mediate disputes manage milestone payments, and ensure all parties are on the same page.
IntrepidUS
A platform for freelancers in marketing, advertising, and other creative fields to come together as a team to work on large client projects all while addressing growing concerns in the changing workforce and common problems facing women and immigrants in these fields.
D4: Fourth Dimension
A new way of looking at housing and property ownership that opens doors for many while helping to address the projected housing shortages facing Australia by moving away from the "one-size-fits-all' model currently in place.
Congratulations to our winners Friend in my Pocket and all our teams for their incredible ideas and participation all weekend! And congratulations to Reece from Wediate and Vivianna from IntrepidUS for winning the Spirit of the Weekend award!
Our teams pitched their ideas to the room and judges on Sunday afternoon. Our esteemed panel of judges for 2022 were:
Prof. Karen Becker
Head of Campus, UniSC Moreton Bay
Cr Tony Latter
Councillor, Moreton Bay Regional Council
Mark Gustowski
Managing Director, Innovation Architects
The judges were marketing the groups on their ability to demonstrate:
1. Develop a sustainable business model:
How does the team plan on making this a successful business?
2. Customer validation:
Are teams building something that people actually want?
3. Execution & Design:
Have they established an MVP — the minimum set of product features to be able to start collecting data?
4. Impact:
Is it the startup's intention to make the world a better place?
In addition to gaining new skills, connections and preparing to launch their own startup, there was also a range of amazing prizes on offer at 2023's Techstars Startup Weekend Moreton Bay.
Here's what was up for grabs thanks to our sponsors:
And through Techstars, participating startups were offered:
Additionally, a big thank you to our Swag Bag sponsors, who donated Swag to include alongside our Innovate Moreton Bay and Techstars Startup Weekend swag:
The 2023 Techstars Startup Weekend Moreton Bay was proudly brought to you by Moreton Bay Regional Council, delivered by Innovate Moreton Bay and hosted by UniSC Moreton Bay.
Additionally, the event was sponsored by, Startup Onramp, Moreton Daily, Tropical Innovation Festival, Impact Boom, Telstra, SRJ Walker Wayland, SBIM, Hunter Promotional Products, and Askable.
The Techstars Startup Weekend is part of a suite of innovative programs being delivered via Innovate Moreton Bay, as part of Moreton Bay Regional Council’s commitment to the Regional Economic Development Strategy (REDS) which includes the objective of becoming a top ten regional innovation hub.
For more information about Council’s innovation programs see: www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/innovation