Running in hundreds of cities around the world, Startup Weekend is a fast-paced, whirlwind of an event that allows budding entrepreneurs to learn and experience what it's like to build a startup from scratch. With 7,000+ programs held across 150+ countries, and 428,000 total participants worldwide, it's a popular weekend that sparks curiosity and innovation in people from all walks of life. It allows participants to build personal and professional connections, and is a great place to meet mentors, cofounders and even potential investors!
Over the past weekend, Spacecubed hosted the 18th instalment of Startup Weekend here in Perth. This year we had over 60 participants joining us for the weekend, kicking off on Friday evening with the initial pitches.
Throughout the weekend, participants weren't alone in their startup journey, as there were seven volunteer mentors present, allowing participants to learn from the best. Here, the mentors shared key advice, insights, tips and tricks with all of the participants, to help them during their startup journey.
At this particular event, Startup Weekend sponsor, Capricorn, challenged participants to come up with an innovative idea to mitigate risk, where senior leader Adam Kaye acted on the judging panel to decide a winner of this challenge. Capricorn would then invest in the winning team by sponsoring their participation in Plus Eight's Sprint, a six week pre-accelerator program.
After the judges deliberations following the final pitches, the winners were announced, with ScamAlarm coming in first place, winning the Spacecubed sponsorship to participate in Plus Eight Sprint. In second place was CarMatch, winning Capricorn’s challenge and also securing a sponsorship to participate in Plus Eight Sprint.
Coming in third place was Netic, a startup invented by IDEA Academy students, who will win one-on-one mentoring with Startup Weekend and Plus Eight Facilitator, Michael Daisley. These students from IDEA, Jack, Doug and Abdul are only 16 and 17 years old, and are the youngest participants in Startup Weekend history. It was great to see so many young entrepreneurs present and participating in this year's Startup Weekend, and we can’t wait to see where their ideas lead to in the future.
Kicking off later this year, Plus Eight Sprint will connect participants with a community of successful mentors, investors and advisors to help them take their startup idea to the next level and provide the content and environment to grow their skills as a founder. To learn more about Sprint and express your interest in the program,
click here.
Startup Weekend was a blast, and we can’t wait to welcome you to the next one!