StartUp Weekend recap
Photo: Contributed
It’s been a busy month for the Okanagan tech community. From the Regional Innovation Opportunities Tour, to Entrepreneurs Unplugged, to the official opening of the new Okanagan Centre for Innovation later this month, there’s no end in sight for the amount of tech-based fun you can have in the Okanagan.
StartUp Weekend, which took place earlier this month, was no exception.
On March 12, 2017, 10 teams competed in the Startup challenge where developers, designers, marketers, product managers, and startup enthusiasts alike came together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startups!
Startup Weekend Okanagan is a 54-hour event where individuals from all parts of the Okanagan experience the highs, lows, fun, and pressure that make up startup life. Over the course of the weekend, participants learn how to build a real company from idea to execution, and have their pitches critiqued by technology leaders in the community.
Sunday’s demo night event was held at the Okanagan Centre for Innovation and featured the weekend’s participants pitching their ideas to local startup heavyweights. The judges picked three startups to receive a prize package from local service providers.
The first award of the night went to mySoundbite, an app created with the goal of recording 10 second sound bites than can be used as a convenient alternative for note-taking. The team was awarded Co+Lab office space and a Top Search Result package.
The second award of the night went to Giftery, a platform that allows you to pre-order gifts, ensuring that you never forget the days that mean the most. Giftery was awarded the second prize package of the night includes 1Space office space, Martketer marketing package and access to an Accelerate Okanagan mentor.
The third award of the night went to Skill Garden, a networking application that allows potential mentors to connect with potential students for in-demand skills and hobbies. Skill Garden was awarded the third prize package which includes Metabridge tickets and a Thuy Tran photography package.
Other participants included:
Character – a platform that helps film studios address diversity issues and be wildly profitable by including more individuals in the script writing process. Character won the crowd favourite award of the evening;
WineTourConnect – a platform that connects the customer to the wine tour companies allowing for an improved customer experience;
B Happy – an app that allows you to measure of your levels of happiness by tracking activities that make you happy;
Moola – a platform that simulates a CFO for startup companies that need the advice and lack the resources to execute their finances on their own;
My Bucket List – a social networking platform that acts like a travel journal, allowing for interaction between those who’ve travelled and those yet to go;
rentbettr – a platform that helps connect trustworthy tenants with reliable landlords;
Local Reads – an app that allows users to sell their used books to one another fostering a community of book-lovers.
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