Startup Weekend Sunshine Coast a huge success

Up to 40 budding entrepreneurs took part in the Techstars Startup Weekend Sunshine Coast (SWSC) at WOTSO WorkSpace, Sippy Downs on April 26-28.
The event was a whirlwind 54-hour program which gave budding start-ups an insight into building a business in a weekend, Silicon Valley-style.
It was all about pitching, business model creation, coding, designing and market validation all in a friendly and supportive team environment. ⠀
Seven teams developed their start-ups, with big congrats going to the winners: 51 for Purpose in first place, for its buy one/give one online store business model which directly supported people in need in the community; We Gut It in second place, for its health drink; and special mention to EGO Labs, for its nutrition solutions for gamers.
RDA Sunshine Coast and Bentleys Sunshine Coast were proud to award 51 For Purpose $2000 to further support its business creation.
This year’s sixth annual event followed the same basic model as other Startup Weekend events: anyone was welcome to pitch their startup idea and teams organically form around the top ideas.
Event judges included Saba Karim, Pipeline Manager at Techstars; Paul Fisher, CEO of Regional Development Australia Sunshine Coast; Kelly Lavery, Founder of Strucket; and Hasitha Samaratunga, Innovation Manager Bentleys (QLD) Pty Ltd.
Lead event organiser Renee Coman, Business Development and Marketing Manager, Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast, said experiential learning events like Techstars Startup Weekend were true capacity-building activities for the region, further driving a culture of innovation.
“Learning the process of validating new innovative concepts rapidly can drive a wave of new start-ups and existing businesses discover new revenue streams and compete in a global economy,” Ms Coman said.
“The weekend is a fantastic networking opportunity for the attendees, mentors and judges – individuals who wouldn’t usually connect if it wasn’t for events like these.”
For more information, visit http://startupsunshinecoast.com.au/.

Picture: Lead event organiser Renee Coman, 2018 SWSC facilitator/2019 mentor Daniel Johnsen and 2019 facilitator Phil Cuelan.

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