iDEAStarter winners show impressive business ideas
iDEAStarter winners show impressive business
ideas
RELEASE
SUMMARY
• Winners of the iDEAStarter
competition have been praised for their strong business
plans which rival those from established companies.
•
Almost 200 15-24 year olds entered the competition with
Polynesian Art Workshop and Aspire announced as winners in
two age categories.
• iDEAStarter is designed
to enable a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, with
winners receiving up to $10,000 in business start-up
support.
Young Auckland entrepreneurs have been
recognised and rewarded winning iDEAStarter, a competition
which encourages young people to turn their energy and ideas
into action.
Almost 200 entries were received this year,
a record number in the competition’s three year
history.
iDEAStarter is sponsored by the Tindall
Foundation and delivered by Auckland Tourism, Events and
Economic Development (ATEED). iDEAStarter winners for 2017
were:
• Polynesian Art
Workshop – Central Auckland (15
– 18 year old category) – a social enterprise which aims
to sustain pacific cultures through holding art workshop
sessions focusing on the performing arts, dance and visual
arts for 5-14 year olds.
• Aspire –
East Auckland (19-24 year old category) - a
web-based digital community which supports high school
students by providing an online portal to help with
NCEA.
iDEAStarter judge and AUT Business School, Director
of Executive Education Programmes and Business Relations,
Sarah Trotman, describes the winning entries as impressive
saying business plans were very well considered and rivalled
those of established companies operating in the commercial
world.
“We are seeing a real ‘step-change’ in the
popularity and calibre of youth entrepreneurial competitions
such as iDEAStarter. It is a credit to all those involved in
the ecosystem who are working collaboratively to truly
engage with young people and teach them such important
skills.”
ATEED General Manager, Business, Innovation
and Skills, Patrick McVeigh, commends all those who entered
iDEAStarter and congratulates the winners.
“Polynesian
Art Workshop and Aspire really went the extra mile,
presenting with confidence and we look forward to watching
these business ideas progress,” he says.
iDEAStarter
winners each receive up to $10,000 in business start-up
support, which includes:
• A nine-week
entrepreneur programme with CO.STARTERS@AUT
• Shared
workspace for three months at ColabNZ
• $1000 scholarship
from Massey University
• Equity
mentoring from PledgeMe
• Marketing
production Mentoring from ATEED
• Accounting
mentoring from Chartered Accountants Australia & New
Zealand
• Accounting software from Xero
• A technology
package.