Summary

Held on 31st March, the UNSW Startup Launch program celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of UNSW students. Featuring business in a diverse range of industries, this year marked the first time a Fintech startup participated – and won. The exposure of uni students to the Fintech scene speaks volumes for its prevalence and potential. The startups won prizes ranging from $500 cash to cash + services (mentoring and the like from Deloitte Australia) worth $6,000 giving them the tools they need to scale quickly and efficiently.

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What is Startup Launch?

On 31st March, UNSW Innovations (specifically the UNSW SED team) hosted the finals for their flagship program, UNSW Startup Launch (nee UNSW Startup Games).

Developed as an intensive ‘bootcamp’ into what the startup life entails, Startup Launch equips UNSW students and alumni with the skills they need to start and run their own startup. Typically run on weekends (some photos of the event here and here), the program had notable entrepreneurs coming along to give the students their feedback on what startup life entailed, their own experiences, and the things the students should be looking out for before they considered embarking on this journey – probably the hardest of their lives so far.

This journey…. probably the hardest of their lives so far

The strength of the program lay in the fact that it was entirely voluntary – all 70 applications received, and the 25 accepted, were from students who decided to devote their time to build up the skills required to found their own business – or if they decide to enter the corporate world (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), are generally stronger and more motivated, and therefore more willing to persevere….when we compare these individuals and teams to those who have come strictly from for-credit entrepreneur programs. [source]

The many weekends of effort culminated in the finals. Held at UNSW’s Michael Crouch Innovation Centre, and judged by James Smith (Masters Academy), Melissa Ran (China Ambition), Shahe Momjdian (Young Wisdom) and Walta Kazzi, the venue played host to 130 attendees to see the best and brightest of UNSW’s next generation to watch them pitch their businesses and try to win the prizes on offer.

Prizes

1. $3,500 cash + Deloitte Australia workshop
2. $1,000 cash
3. $500 cash
4. FounderLab prize

Deloitte Australia Workshop

The workshop will provide the team with shared experiences from industry leaders on a range of topics including compliance requirements, how to scale, and common pitfalls to look out for when developing a business strategy. [disclaimer]

FounderLab Prize

FounderLab, a new service by UNSW Innovations helps startups identified to have promise to develop their MVP by providing an equity-free developer.

Startups

HangThyme

Billed as a solution to help decide ‘how can I impress my date?’, HangThyme is a solution to suggest date ideas for couples.

StyleFinder

StyleFinder put a different spin on helping you shop for clothes, crowd-sourcing people based on their body shapes to help you see how an outfit would look on you.

Dime

With FinTech becoming a more important sector across the startup scene, Dime uses blockchain to facilitate foreign exchange transactions, initially focussing on Australia/China transfers.

PresSTART

Despite being a startup themselves, presSTART is a technology provider to help other startups develop their MVP so that they can take their own product to market, yesterday. They developed the technology platform for fellow Startup Launch participant, StyleFinder.

Microme

A food startup with a difference, Microme provides calorie-counted meals with ingredients to help promote a healthy gut, reducing incidences of illness and the risks of an unhealthy lifestyle.

Shair

With luggage space being sold at a premium, Shair allows travellers to monetise their unused luggage allowance by shipping goods for third parties to and from their destination.

KeyHub

As the sharing economy becomes more prevalent, the specific logistical issues relevant to the sector become more commonplace. To solve the problem faced by Airbnb landlords, KeyHub offers a solution to leverage the local community to provide a central dropoff point for keys for collection.

WeTheCreatives

While the top end of town would have access to a team of creatives, designers, copywriters (like Deloitte Digital), SMBs don’t have the luxury, nor budget, to access these resources. WeTheCreatives allows vetted students to provide their services to these companies; democratising creativity.

Fresco

While hospital food was never billed as tasty, Fresco seeks to inject variety into the menus offered at hospitals by allowing external providers to access the hospital catering segment. They have already secured an existing hospital provider to their platform.

Winners

1st prize

Dime won first place in Startup Launch, winning a $3,500 cash prize from UNSW, along with a $2,500 workshop with Deloitte Australia’s specialist startup teams.

2nd prize

Fresco won second place, with a $1,000 cash prize

 

3rd prize

KeyHub won third place, winning a $500 cash prize

 

FounderLab prize

HangThyme won the FounderLab prize, gaining access to an experienced developer to help build an MVP to take to market to validate assumptions.

How will the prizes help?

Cash

Cash, being cash, is an invaluable resource. Giving the students the ability to fund their own growth strategies will allow them to explore the best next steps for their business, whether that be in purchasing inventory, contracting developers or investing in infrastructure and technology.

Deloitte mentoring

Deloitte Australia, a professional services firm with international links in a number of sectors, with clients in all sectors imaginable, will give the startups the tools they need to effectively scale their business, if B2B is their target model. Alternatively, the mentors and their respective networks will be able to provide an invaluable intangible asset for the teams to tap into as relevant.

Founderlab

While presSTART is playing in a similar space, access to an established technology development establishment like UNSW will give the students the confidence they need to take their MVP to market. Additionally, the branding of being associated with a flagship program such as this will be a huge differentiator for the startups compared to their competitors.

UNSW Innovations

With access to UNSW’s wide alumni networks and deep industry connections, along with the free services UNSW Innovations provides, the students will have the support they need to tackle issues as they arise, along with getting advice around how best to grow their business.

What’s next

So after all that, you’d be thinking – what’s next? As the students learn more about their given sector, understand the market they’re playing in and how they can start to gain a sustained customer base, they’ll be working on develop a solid pitch to scale and grow. No business works on the first shot – they will have to learn the art of the pivot, and more importantly, where to pivot. While the sectors the startups target may vary, the customer acquisition strategies will be remarkably similar for a number, being two-sided marketplaces. Only once they have thoroughly understood the next steps for their business, and started on the trajectory to get there, will any of the teams know how viable their business is.

They will have to learn the art of the pivot, and more importantly, where to pivot

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