Wellington Startup Weekend winner “suddenly had a company”
Wedding photo app idea transforms into a business.
Monday, November 07 2011 || Startup Weekend || BY Unlimited
The mobile and web app allows wedding guests to download the software to their phone, take photos and upload them – they are instantly collated and can be used as a live stream.
The startup’s team – Owen Evans, Veronica Pitt, Nick Malcolm, Luke Brown and Jacob Creech – gets a prize including $1000 for their company, a desk at the BizDojo for three months, a marketplace scan from Grow Wellington and the Ministry of Science and Innovation, consulting from Creative HQ and Webfund and a Microsoft Kinect controller.
Evans, CEO of uSnap.Us, said he hadn’t expected the level of energy in the room at the Startup Weekend.
"I've always been into startups but have never had the gumption to try one myself. I basically came along to watch. Then suddenly I had a company on my hands."
Evans’ ‘day job’ is chief architect for Xero. He said he came away with a new appreciation for what goes into turning an idea into a business. The team plans to “take a reality check” after the excitement of the weekend and plan the company’s future over the next week.
ReadWriteWeb founder Richard McManus, a guest judge at the weekend, was impressed by the final pitches that took place last night. "I was excited to see these products that could go big, fast."
Fifteen teams took part in the weekend.
Another to participate was Auti – which is developing an interactive toy for autistic children. The team has developed a fully funcational prototype that was promoted at Startup Weekend, where it set out to develop a business plan and validate its market.
Organiser Dave Moskovitz of Webfund and Hyperstart said the event had changed many participants' outlook on business. "We do this stuff because it's the right thing to do. We want to fertilise the ground and sow the seed for the Wellington early stage ecosystem. I was overwhelmed by the effect [the event] had on people - the collaborative atmosphere really meant a lot to them."
Another Startup Weekend is planned for Christchurch from 24-26 February next year.
"We want to do something for Christchurch and startups could play a key role in creating a new and better Christchurch," says Moskovitz.
The teams:
Budgie Smugglers (honourable mention)
Socks and undies are trivial things that men don’t have time to buy. Now men can buy trivial goods like undies and socks without sacrificing time. BudgieSmugglers is an online site where men can set themselves up to get a pair of undies and a pair of socks delivered every 3 months for $49. They get to choose their preferences, then set and forget about their socks and undies and focus on other important man things.
Classie
Dance teachers are often in the dark ages when it comes to admin. They use excel spreadsheets to enroll their students and send invoices via snail mail. Consequently dance studios have a high ratio of admin staff to dance teachers. Classie solves this problem by provide a web-based service with three key features:
Enrol - single online database to managed enrollment
Manage - taking attendance, record progress, payment
Comminicate - send out info to parents
This product enrolls students in seconds, tracks attendance, integrates with Xero at the backend and reduces paperwork for the dance studio.
Conscious Consumer (Second place)
If you are a committed vegan or vegetarian, it’s very important to know about the products you buy, and it’s very hard to get this information at the point of sale.
Conscious Consumer is a mobile app that enables the user to scan the product, and get confirmation that a product either meets or doesn’t meet your value criteria. For example, the app will confirm that a product is genuinely vegetarian.
Groundfacts.com
Crises are underpinned by insecurity and uncertainty - for example: How do I get across town? What petrol stations are open? When will the power be back on? Groundfacts provides a solution by crowd-sourcing information from social media, then filtering and clustering it and providing the end result to those in need. The product works by automatically filtering of most messages, then using Key people to refine and collate the resulting information.
I Dream of Space
So many people like the idea of going into space, but don’t have $200,000 for the opportunity. Imagine instead, buying a chance to go into space for $10. I Dream of Space is very simply a competition for a chance to win a ticket into space. If you’ve ever dreamed of going into space, or know someone who does, that dream can come true.
Mobile Kombat
Mobile Kombat is an online gaming platform that detects what kind of user you are (e.g iphone, Android) and pitches you against a competitor of your choice from another platform. A variety of games will be available on the platform for free, and you will be able to battle it out with players around the world to prove that your device is the ultimate.
MorePork
Most people feel that grocery shopping and the associated queues and chaos is a chore they would rather avoid. MorePork solves this problem by enabling customers to shop for groceries anywhere, anytime via a mobile app. MorePork is a mobile app that enables a customer to scan products, create lists, and order directly from their chosen supermarket. Groceries are delivered, and wobbly shopping trolleys are a thing of the past.
Rate My Flat
Tenants have to make decisions on what flat to choose, but they are left in the dark in knowing the pitfalls and issues of specific flats- like the shower doesn’t work and it ‘s really damp in winter. Rate My Flat provides a user driven platform enabling users to reduce their risk by checking out the ratings from people that have lived in that flat or house before. Consumers are familiar with rating hotels and restaurants, now is the time for rating flats!
StarStock
A key problem HR departments in larger organisations face is that while factors like culture, values and engagement drive performance, it is very difficult to measure and monitor these things in real time. StarStock is simple web based tool to gift stars to fellow employees to show your appreciation. These stars are linked to the company values, are limited and anonymous. By monitoring the gifting flow, HR departments can monitor “goodwill” flowing across employees in the business, giving them a wealth of insight into how the business culture is performing.
SimpleTrust
One in 18 New Zealanders have a Trust, but over 75% of these Trusts are at risk due to trustee mismanagement. SimpleTrust solves this issue by providing an online service that proactively administers the Trust for you, reducing the compliance risk. The online service includes unique features such as minute taking, and is accessible any time, any where
USnap.US (First place)
Wedding parties are faced with two issues on their wedding day: Photographers cant be everywhere at once and some people cant make the event. USnap.US solves these problems through a simple and innovation solution where, guests upload an app to their smartphones, take photos during the event and upload them. These photos are instantly collated and available in a livesteam. For $200, the bride and groom can run a steaming slideshow of the photos at the wedding, and have a single site that has aggregated all the guests photos.
WeCreate Maker Gym
WeCreate is a creative workshop space, where you can use tools you want without buying them, have skilled people at hand to help. For $39 per month, you will have access to woodworking, metalworking, 3D printing and other workshop essentials, to create anything you like. The great kiwi shed is coming back, and it’s here for everybody.
Well Done (Third place)
Many parents struggle to help their motivate and reward their children to learn new skills like toilet training. Well Done is a Smartphone app to reward and motivate pre schoolers to toilet train. For $4.99, parents can download an App that rewards their child for achieving small steps to bigger milestones, through some instant gratification on the app, and a longer term incentive once they meet the toilet training milestone.
