Gas bottle solution wins over Dragon’s Den
"The Holdsafe team were very well prepared." Jason Driscole, judge
A novel solution to the difficultly of safely moving 100 kilogram gas bottles stuck out at the regional finals of a youth business competition.
The 2017 Young Enterprise Scheme Manawatu Dragon’s Den saw teams of high school pupils from across Manawatu and Horowhenua pitched their ideas for the next big thing to local business leaders last week.
Judge Jason Driscole said the winning team, from Westmount School in Palmerston North, with the Holdsafe Bottle Boost and Bottle Strap, caught the eye of the judges for a variety of reasons.
‘‘The Holdsafe team were very well prepared. From a slick pitch to a very solid business model, the team were very, very impressive.’’
Like many of the 30 teams vying for the prize over the two–day event at Massey, Holdsafe were inspired by a problem, BCC marketing manager Dave Craig said.
‘‘One of their uncles was complaining about having to move those 100kg gas bottles around the factory all day, so they came up with something to make it easier.’’
The team’s Holdsafe Bottle Boost is an engineering trolley with a mechanism that can safety lift bottles on and off welding carts and manouevre them around the workshop.
The Bottle Strap can attach to walls or trolleys to keep the bottles upright.
The surprise standout of the night was a Makoura College pupil with learning disabilities, who had come over from Masterton.
Dalton Toia, 17, was part of UCOL’S Uskills Business Enterprise programme, which takes year 12-13 pupils from around the region through the basics of building a company.
UCOL co-ordinator Drew Ferry said everyone in the programme had grouped into three or four person companies to enter the young enterprise competition.
But when his two team mates withdrew only a few days before the final, Toia was left to face the Dragon’s Den on his own.
Toia was visibly nervous as he stumbled through a presentation missing crucial pieces the others were supposed to bring.
But as the judges began quizzing Toia on his idea, he came alive. The nerves disappeared, and he made his points intelligently and succinctly.
The judges were impressed by his guts, and how he’d handled himself, and he was given the commitment award and a $50 prize.