Startup Weekend is a 54-hour event where people come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startups!
Where: Te W’anake The Foundry, Hāwera
When: Friday 01 September 5:30pm to Sunday 03 September 8:00pm
Here’s how it will work…
Pitch an Idea
We will begin with introductions, an overview of the event and some light entertainment. We will then invite those with an idea to pitch to the room - you only have one minute!
Build a Team
Participants will form teams around their favourite ideas ensuring a mix of skills are in the team. You need a team of 3 to move forward.
Learn From the Best
Our amazing team of mentors and event organisers will be available throughout the weekend to help coach you through the hard problems or support in any technical issues.
Work Hard
As always you will have 54 hours to build a product, find customers and work on finances and everything else that comes with it! There are resources and support to help teams quickly form, validate and build their business ideas.
Present to a Panel of Judges
The culmination of the weekend! Each team has five minutes to present their product or service to the audience and a panel of judges.
Celebrate & Have Fun
After presentations it's time to celebrate with new friends and team mates! Startup Weekend is about experiencing what it is like to be in a Startup but it is also about connecting and having fun.
Event Facilitators
Katherine Blaney
A process-oriented problem solver, entrepreneur and lead organiser of Startup Taranaki, Katherine helps businesses to get organised and is all about getting shit done.
Dan Thurston Corw
A consultant, serial entrepreneur and enthusiastic ambassador of Startup Taranaki, Dan has particular expertise in strategic planning with a focus on organisational culture and team performance.
Judges
Kelvin Wright
Kelvin is Chief Executive of Te Puna Umanga / Venture Taranaki. He joined the regional development agency in May 2022 after his role as Deputy Chief Executive at New Plymouth District Council (NPDC). Kelvin had previously served as Chief Operating Officer for NPDC from 2017 to 2020. Before joining local government, Kelvin held roles as General Manager of Operations for Energyworks (New Plymouth) and CEO for Allied Industrial Engineering (Bay of Plenty). Kelvin grew up in Mosgiel, Dunedin, where his career started as a Mechanical Design Engineer. He then established his own mechanical design consultancy business for New Zealand-wide manufacturers and engineering providers, while gaining his Commercial Pilots Licence and flying part-time. Kelvin has largely lived in Taranaki since 2012 with his wife and two children.
Linkedin
More Judges dropping soon.
Gemma Adams
Gemma is a computer graphic designer, dairy farmer, and entrepreneur with a passion for problem-solving.
Growing up with dyslexia, Gemma is a natural visual learner and has come to realise that all communication can benefit from visuals. She founded VizLink in 2017, offering visual communication solutions to farming and commercial businesses alike.
Gemma is also a board member for her local school, a farm owner alongside her husband, and enjoys professional speaking at events where she can share her journey. Most recently she has started DanceLink, a dance fitness class that empowers women and reconnects them to their local community.
Sonia Kiser
A proud Taranaki local, I am very passionate about my family and friends and enjoying the beautiful area we live in. I love to compete in nationwide events, recently completing my first half ironman. Over the years achievements include 2008 Wellington Body Building Champion, 2008 Taranaki Rose of Tralee Winner which I also went on to judge for Taranaki and New Zealand and attended the world final in Ireland, Certificate of Sports and Fitness with Distinction and was the TV presenter for the ‘Vintage New Zealand Machinery Show’ on Sky TV.
Working within the family business, Carac Group in Eltham, starting on the factory floor 23 years ago, now Chief Executive Officer and International Sales Manager. In the last 15 months in North America we have set up 3 manufacturing plants, distribution centres and retailers for one of our products, TrackGrip. TrackGrip is now across 150 locations throughout North America and sold worldwide. Recently we been accepted nto the Global Allied Vendor program for the world’s largest Excavator manufacturer as a preferred supplier. We have also been in Alaska with Todd Hoffman and his crew from Goldrush who have our TrackGrips on their excavators ensuring they have traction, stability and safety in the toughest terrains which will be aired on the TV show ‘Hoffman Family Gold’ on Discovery. I am so grateful to have an amazing, supportive team alongside me which makes all this happen.
Mentors
Mark Dekker
I come with a broad range of experience rooted in full stack development, but also spanning business development, marketing, founding and exiting multiple startups, and consulting to startups.
A founding member and CPO of a SaaS startup based in Spain, which is currently shortlisted for the Techstars accelerator program, and chasing it's first seed round.
I'm also an Estonian E-resident, under their digital nomad residency program, so can offer insight there.
My passion is for problem solving, and seeing good ideas fly!
Eve Kawana-Brown
Eve works at the interface between education/research and real-world applications in her role as Business Development Manager for Massey University. Working in partnership with Venture Taranaki since 2013, Eve has the pleasure and privilege of linking the great resources of Massey and the greater NZ R&D ecosystem with the resourcefulness of Taranaki. And seeing some great results when that happens! Supporting, innovation and entrepreneurship is her day job.
Eve has been a mentor and judge for previous Startup Weekends, a mentor and judge for YES (Young Enterprise in Schools), as well as a judge for the Innovation Excellence Award category of the Taranaki Business Excellence Awards for the past seven years.
Ella Moffat
Ella is a Commercialisation Analyst at Massey Ventures. She is passionate about start-ups. research commercialization, and finding innovative solutions to modern problems.
At Massey Ventures, she works with a team to commercialise ideas taking research to market. Providing support to the development of commercially promising ideas and helping students and staff at Massey access early-stage investment.
Before working for Massey Ventures, Ella worked for a software start-up company based in India and social media marketing for food and fibre businesses, including one of New Zealand's largest Agritech accelerators and investors. In her spare time, she enjoys being outdoors and reading.
Ildika Tamasi
I’m constantly intrigued by human behaviour & communication patterns and solving intricate problems. How the processes, journeys and interfaces we design affect customer behaviour — and how can we do more for them with the power of story telling.
Josh Brown
Hey there, I'm Josh. I'm the executive director of the New Zealand Israel Innovation Hub. The Innovation Hub facilitates innovation transfer, tech scouting and R&D collaboration between Israel and NZ. Before launching the Hub, I was employed at the NZ Treasury. Previous to this, I gained experience working for various fintechs in Wellington, Melbourne and Tel Aviv. I'm originally from Melbourne, and I've returned just recently to develop the Hub's network in Australia. In 2022, I spent the full year studying the Israeli tech ecosystem and working to understand what tools and models can be brought back and adapted for New Zealand's own tech ecosystem needs and context.
Julia Ord
Julia is Customer Experience and Insights professional with over 20 years of experience across a range of industries. Julia enjoys designing agile and strategic solutions for businesses to understand the needs of the consumer and how to better connect with them.
Her experience has helped businesses to understand how to build and enhance customer understanding and ensure that people focus on the customer as well as their teams when making decisions.
Tim Waite
Hi! I've been through many ups and downs in business, and work with business owners with their teams to develop motivational business strategy. Often this means finding out what holds you back and how you can overcome these obstacles.
