Best in show: Pup fetches first prize in the Term 3 Ideas Challenge🐶🤩

On Thursday 26 September, we farewelled Term 3 with an exhilarating night of student startup pitches and creativity. We had 10 teams, representing 5 schools, who had successfully completed the T3 Ideas Challenge and made the Top-10 according to our judging panel. They competed for $1,000 in cash prizes on the night and all benefited from valuable real-world feedback. It was an absolute blast for everyone involved! Keep scrolling to see all the prize winners who joined Pup at the head of the pack👇

The T3 Ideas Challenge was a free, 6-week (part self-paced, part instructor-led) online skills-building program for emerging innovators and entrepreneurs. It involved three extension tasks, which were assessed and each resulted in a digital certificate if passed.

A large number of teams (35-40) passed each assessment task, meaning many individual micro-credentials will be issued in the coming weeks to recognise everyone's efforts! Considering this significant achievement by so many students, the Pitch Night was not just for the Top-10, but an end-of-term celebration. A number of students and teams attended just to support their peers and enjoy the pitches, which shows a great attitude and community spirit on their part, which we love to see.

Big shout-outs also go out to our student emcees, Mahi and Eddie, for keeping the event running smoothly, as well as Benjamin from Watergate Labs for being our inspirational student keynote speaker. Mahi, Eddie and Benjamin are all prior program participants and we look forward to keeping in touch as they keep exploring and building their entrepreneurial ventures!

Here's a quick video (provided by MQ Incubator resident video production startup, SoCreative) summarising the program and the pitch night event:

Now, let's introduce you to the finalists!

• Cover Quest: Setting out to get more people reading for fun, with an interesting combination of digital and physical products.
• Cretion: Seeking to gamify the experience of keeping fit and healthy, making it easier to stay disciplined and build positive habits.
• Ketchup: Exploring ways to give high school students a much deeper understanding of what university studies and life will be like.
• Peer Square: Proposing a peer-to-peer alternative to regular tutoring services, where older students step in and gain work experience.
• Petask: Imagining a world where young people keep a digital pet alive and thriving by completing real-world tasks and goals.
• Pickers’ Patch: Aiming to address loneliness in Sydney’s elderly populations by creating specialised community gardens with local partners.
• Pods: Visualising a future where we can utilise convenient quiet spaces in bustling public spaces for a moment of calm.
• Protective Shells: Finding ways for students and adults to have a constant supply of power to stay productive in class or at work.
• Pup: Making it easier and cheaper to access quality puppy training wherever you are, for the best pawsible start in life.
• Sew A Sapling: Sowing the seeds of a more sustainable future for fashion, with clothes that have a second purpose once used.

Here's a bit more of a look at the composition of the finalist teams:

And just a reminder about how the broader cohort looked:

And now... 🥁our prize winners!

Huge congratulations to our prize winners, finalists and all program participants for such an awesome effort throughout Term 3 in the Ideas Challenge!

The Ideas Challenge will be back in Term 1, 2025 - so for any students who will be in Years 7-11 next year, stay tuned for our application link that will go live in Term 4. 

In the meantime, any interested teachers, parents and students can subscribe to receive our email updates to make sure you get all the latest info straight to your inbox!

About the Secondary Schools Program  

Macquarie University Incubator and Young Wisdom have teamed up to create a range of entrepreneurial skills-building opportunities for young innovators and their supporters in 2024.

Macquarie University Incubator is a leading community of innovators being supported with facilities, mentorship, events and programming designed to help them launch and scale their groundbreaking ventures globally.

Young Wisdom is a Sydney-based social enterprise offering entrepreneurial upskilling opportunities and support services on a mission to help young founders launch and grow their new ventures with confidence.

See you next time!✌️

From Shahe and the Ideas Challenge team