Gathering marries business and brains
An app that helps take the stress out of weddings was the winner when the Epic innovation centre in Christchurch hosted Startup Weekend.
About 120 innovation enthusiasts gathered to conceptualise, test, and build foundations for new businesses in just 54 hours.
Startup Weekend is an international brand relying on volunteers, mentors and facilitators such as the Ministry of Awesome, a local entity funded by grants.
In Christchurch, the winner was a group called Binder who created a digital planner for weddings.
Binder co-founder Fionna Fraser said the organisers and mentors at Startup made everyone feel comfortable about what they were doing.
‘‘I wasn’t even going to pitch the idea on Friday night, but my colleagues forced me into it.
‘‘I’ve learnt so much in such a short amount of time. I can’t believe my idea actually lasted the whole way through. It’s definitely something I’d recommend doing.’’
Her startup hopes to capitalise on the lucrative wedding market. Fraser said annual spending on weddings in New Zealand was about $700 million.
Binder was awarded first place out of 12 startup teams whose numbers varied from four to eight.
The team won a month of free co-working office space.
Fraser said her team planned to get together again soon and decide if they would take the idea further.
Runner-up was Buzz Keeper, an anti-theft alarm system for beekeepers, and in third place was Freeze My Glass Off with its wireless car defrosting and heating system concept.
Student Ollie Brakenridge from Christ’s College pitched his business idea called GapFinder, to allow greater public engagement with local councils through social media.
Startup Weekends last year spawned companies such as financial education software Banquer, and automation software company Zapier.
Another is edible-insect supplier Anteater which provides huhu grubs, cricket powder, and native grass-fed restaurants.
Startup Weekend is run entirely by volunteers and is open to developers, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts.
One of its trustees, Geoff Brash, said the calibre of this year’s contestants locusts to was the best he had seen in Christchurch.
‘‘After half a decade of Startup Weekends here, the ideas and execution of the teams always astounds me,’’ he said.
Brash is the founder of GBJ Innovations, was a co-founder of SLI Systems and is closely involved in the technology sector in the city.
‘‘Innovation is at an all-time high and we had proof of that here over the weekend.
‘‘Some of these people will lead the economic growth in the city in coming years with smart uses of technology.’’