Over the weekend of June 7 - 9, 2024, Riff was buzzing with entrepreneurial energy as we hosted the 20th edition of Startup Weekend in Perth—All Stars edition. Seen as Perth’s leading startup event each year, and with Spacecubed's rich history of nurturing startups since 2012, this special edition brought together past winners, mentors, and aspiring entrepreneurs, all vying for the ultimate Startup Weekend crown.
The weekend kicked off on Friday evening with our dedicated facilitator, Nate Sturcke, setting the stage for an unforgettable experience. Participants were welcomed alongside an inspiring lineup of mentors, including Malcolm Gordon, Deepak Daniel, Cema Santos, Jason Balchand, Lauren Quinn, Ming Johanson, Marcus Holmes, James Manning, Jasmin Ward, Cam Sinclair, and Charles Knight. 27 innovative ideas were pitched on night one, resulting in the formation of 10 dynamic teams, each ready to transform their concepts into viable startups within just 54 hours.
Saturday was packed with intense learning and development sessions. Teams engaged in customer validation and prototyping masterclasses led by experts Nate Sturcke and Jasmin Ward. They also took to the streets to validate their ideas, conducting numerous interviews to ensure their startups had a solid market fit.
On Sunday, anticipation was high as teams fine-tuned their pitches during a masterclass with Marcus Holmes. By 4PM, guests began to arrive, and the Pitch Night drew a sold-out crowd of like-minded entrepreneurs, supporters, mentors, and a distinguished panel of judges, including Jo Hawkins, Charlie Gunningham, Ophelie Cutier, and Poe Chen.
Each team had three minutes to pitch, followed by a Q&A session with our judging panel. Here's an overview of Perth startups who pitched:
SkillShed -
Subscription to workshop space for parents and kids to work on projects and learn life skills.
GNAN -
AI-powered robot nanny for supporting aged family members at home.
Fun Fin -
Financial micro-learning for children to build saving habits through gaming and social media.
Club Club -
Directory for nightclubs to post discounts and attract new patrons to attend earlier.
Code Switch -
Reducing website development coding time from 10 hours to 1 hour.
Talented Mums -
Support for women to grow their careers and return to work after maternity leave.
BitHub.lol -
Booking platform connecting stand-up comedians, showrunners, and comedy venues.
Traysir -
Accurate, live GPS package tracking for e-commerce purchases globally.
Melting Pot -
One-stop shop of support resources for new immigrants to Australia.
BananaSplit.me -
Automated group bill splitting.
After tough deliberation by the judges, the winners were announced. Club Club took home the ClickSend prize, winning $1,000 worth of ClickSend credits, tacos at ClickSend Towers, and a strategy session with their senior leadership team.
In third place, winning a $100 bar voucher at the Como Treasury and three months of coworking at Riff, was Code Switch. In second place was Banana Split, who won a $200 bar voucher at the Como Treasury and four months of coworking at Riff.
The first-place winner was BitHub, earning entry into the Plus Eight Pre-Accelerator program (valued at $3,500 per founder), a $300 bar voucher at the Como Treasury, and six months of coworking at Riff.
Congratulations to all the teams who participated in Startup Weekend All Stars. Witnessing their dedication, creativity, innovation and teamwork has been truly inspiring, and we can't wait to follow their ventures' progress.
Thank you to our supporters the City of Perth and ClickSend, for making this weekend possible.
If you're interested in joining our next Startup Weekend event or business growth programs, express your interest here to be the first to know when these opportunities arise.
