The City of Joondalup Startup Weekend took place this past weekend at ECU Campus and was nothing short of exhilarating, marking a successful gathering of aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators. Throughout the weekend, this event brought together a diverse group of over 25 individuals eager to turn their business concepts into reality in just 54-hours.
The weekend kicked off on Friday evening, with event facilitator Jeremy Chetty, Co-Founder of Student Edge giving an inspirational speech on the importance of an idea, before diving into what the weekend will entail. Following this, participants got straight into pitching their ideas to an audience of fellow entrepreneurs. From these pitches emerged five dynamic teams - Real Dates, Co Opify, Developers & Disasters, Eco Innovate and Direct Your Way, each eager to embark on the journey of transforming their vision into a viable startup.
Throughout the weekend, fuelled by caffeine and guided by experienced mentors, the teams delved into the intricacies of business model development and prototype creation. With the support of our amazing mentors, Cema Santos, Malcolm Gordon, Julia Snabl, Allan Connolly and Jonathan Weinberg, the teams were able to gain invaluable insights and advice through a founders panel before taking to the streets to conduct extensive customer validation interviews, ensuring their startups addressed real market needs.
On Sunday evening we held the Startup Weekend Pitch Night, where friends and family of the teams gathered to witness their final pitches and presentation. Here each team had just three minutes to present their refined business concepts to a panel of judges, including Isis Nair, Ophelie Cutier, Matt Ainsworth and Kieran Hutcheson.
After much deliberation, the winning teams were crowned, with Direct Your Way taking home first place. This team has won entry into the City of Joondalup Plus Eight Pre-Accelerator program, six month coworking membership at Spacecubed, $150 Bar Voucher and exclusive Startup Weekend merchandise.
Find out more about the winning teams below!
Direct Your Way - 1st Place
Direct Your Way is a subscription-based platform offering an effortless, reliable, one-stop-shop for navigation. Their purpose is to help individuals in making their decisions for time easier to do the things they love. Visit the website here.
Real Dates - 2nd Place
Real Dates aims to solve the problems often encountered with modern dating, including conversations not going anywhere and the troubles that come with scheduling a date. Their solution to this is their app, which allows individuals to be matched based on their interests, what restaurants they like and their availability.
Eco Innovate Leadership Program - 3rd Place
Eco Innovate aims to solve the problem of too much rubbish going to landfill by stepping back from the belief that recycling right is the answer. The solution is to embrace the 7R’s of sustainability through the Eco Innovate Leadership Program for primary and secondary school students designed to inspire, engage, connect and educate our future-leaders.
Spacecubed is proud to run Startup Weekend each and every year, which serves as a catalyst for new ventures, partnerships, and opportunities for growth, helping to propel our local innovation landscape forward.
Thank you to the City of Joondalup and Student Edge for their support in making this event possible.
If you’re interested in taking part in our next Startup Weekend, coming up sooner than you think, express your interest here and you will be the first to know when we announce our next event!
