Peter Farrell Cup Finals Night recap

Pluvision, developer of a unique eye-wetting solution, took first place at this year’s Peter Farrell Cup Entrepreneurship Competition, held Wednesday 26 October on the UNSW Kensington campus.


Team Pluvision, from L to R: Hye Won Lee, Eric Wei, Noellie Garand,
Dr Wallace Bridge (lecturer), Niklas Olsson, Maurice Chiarello (lecturer)


In addition to going on to compete in the John Heine Entrepreneurial Challenge in December, the Pluvision team is heading to Sweden to compete in the I2P Idea2Product® competition in November.

“We’re really excited about getting selected as one of the top 15 finalists,” says student Niklas Olsson of Pluvision. “But I can’t believe we just won the Peter Farrell Cup. When I first started at UNSW I heard about the Cup but I never dreamed we’d win it!”

Of the 17 business plans submitted, eight were selected to present on the finals night. Each finalist is invited to present their enterprise to NewSouth Innovations Concept Development Meeting.

“It’s great to see students across campus identifying and tackling real-world problems. Their energy and passion was clear to see in the final pitches they delivered,” says Dr Steve Brodie of NewSouth Innovations. “I have no doubt that some of these students will go on to become successful entrepreneurs.”

Further commercialisation services are offered to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners, and to the teams meriting Honourable Mention from the judges. 

RevoSen, developer of a myocardial ischaemic detection method, and Future Surgical Solutions, who have developed a novel bone-healing technology, won Honourable Mentions from the judging panel.

 

Judges, from L to R: Dr Kevin Cullen (NewSouth Innovations),
Anne-Marie Birkell (OneVentures), Peter Davison (Fishburners),
Simon Pinson (BSF), Bryce Summerell (Posse)

"It's clear to me there is no shortage of innovative research and enterprising individuals across a wide range of disciplines at UNSW,” says Peter Davison, one of the judges and a founder of co-working space and entrepreneur community Fisburners. “It’s tremendous to see students learning the basics of entrepreneurship within the university environment…the teamwork between postgraduates, undergraduates and academics to produce plausible business plans was a feature of the competition - innovative and promising in itself. I hope the University continues to make strides towards fostering student entrepreneurship."
This year’s competition featured a People’s Choice Award which was handily won by BioMark, who also placed 3rd overall.


BioMark team members, from L to R: Hayley Cullen, Arjanna Chitranjan,
Dr Wallace Bridge (lecturer), Timothy Couttas,
Maurice Chiarello (lecturer), Sasa Mitric.


Professor Greg Whitwell, Deputy Dean of Programs and Students at the Australian School of Business, remarked on the high levels of collaboration evident in presentations.

“And it’s collaboration of different sorts, between disciplines certainly, but also, remarkably, between undergraduate and postgraduate students, which is extremely rare,” he says. “I commend all the teams who made it to the finals and presented some really quality and high-level ideas.”

NMT (Novel Muscle Technologies), presented their business plan for an enterprise utilizing a unique synthetic gel that, when inserted into the body, can temporarily replace muscle tissue and provide a framework for new cells and muscle fibres to grow on.



Novel Muscle Technologies (NMT) team members, from L to R: Shruthi Hariharan,
Dr Wallace Bridge (lecturer), Scott Jamieson, Maurice Chiarello (lecturer), Anishka Tewari

Based on research done by Scott Jamieson, their business plan and presentation impressed the judges enough to award them second place, with remarks about the sophistication of both the idea and its development into a business. Judge Simon Pinson says,“It really is impressive what we’ve seen here this evening!”










We are pleased to confirm Ernst & Young and RosesOnly as sponsors of the CIE. We would like to thank the Farrell Family Foundation and Gary Zamel for their generous donations. We also acknowlege the continuing support of the Australian School of Business. All of our sponsors help provide the means to host networking events, award prizes, and reimburse our suppliers and service providers. In exchange, these donors receive good karma and public recognition as supporters of innovation and entrepreneurship. To become a sponsor of CIE and support our community engagement activity, please contact us at cie@unsw.edu.au.

Announcing the Peter Farrell Cup competition FINALISTS!!

 After a (ahem) slight delay, we are pleased to announced the finalists in the Peter Farrell Cup Entrepreneurship Competition. 

Of the 17 entrants, EVERY team was picked by at least one judge as a being worthy of further interest.  However, the following eight had the highest and most scores, earning them the right to pitch LIVE to the judging team.

These eight teams will be presenting their ideas and enterprises to our five judges on Wednesday evening, 26 October, in the Ritchie Theatre (Scientia Bldg) on the UNSW Kensington campus, beginning at 6 PM.

Come along to hear the newest and best of UNSW innovation and entrepreneurship!  (If you haven't already done so, please register here so we can get the catering numbers right.)

Abracadaver
BetaMed
Biomark
Future Surgical Solutions
Munchable
NMT
Pluvision
RevoSen

Many thanks to our judges for their hard work in reading, evaluating and scoring the business plans.  We look forward to your assessment and feedback on the live pitches!

Bryce Summerell - CEO at The Entourage, founder of DateRate.com.au, founder at Meet Bryce, and president at ACESUTS
Anne-Marie Birkell - General Partner in OneVentures and non-executive director for RedFlow Technologies Ltd
Simon Pinson – co-founder of BSF Group
Kevin Cullen - CEO NewSouth Innovations Pty Limited
Paul Levins - President Australia and New Zealand, Intellectual Ventures
Peter Davison - founder, Fishburners

For more information, please don't hesitate to contact the CIE (cie@unsw.edu.au)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
We are pleased to confirm Ernst & Young and RosesOnly as sponsors of the CIE. We would like to thank the Farrell Family Foundation and Gary Zamel for their generous donations. We also acknowlege the continuing support of the Australian School of Business. All of our sponsors help provide the means to host networking events, award prizes, and reimburse our suppliers and service providers. In exchange, these donors receive good karma and public recognition as supporters of innovation and entrepreneurship. To become a sponsor of CIE and support our community engagement activity, please contact us at cie@unsw.edu.au.

TiEcon Sydney - Pitch Event

The TiEcon Pitching contest was a fast-paced event with over 15 contestants vying for the chance to pitch to Sydney Angels to win funding for their endeavour.

The event was MC'ed by talented young industrial designer and winner last year's TiEcon Pitching event, Eric Chau. Judging was conducted by an impressive panel featuring Dilip Rao, President & Director of Mentoring at TiE Sydney, Mathias Kopp, Co-Founder of Sydney Angels and Simon Raik-Allen CTO at MYOB.

Due to the overwhelming number of entrants, the planned 2-minute question time following the pitch had to be cut out. Additionally, pitchers were not allowed to read from notes, nor were they allowed any presentation materials. Death by Powerpoint avoided!

There was a really interesting array of pitches including Waterline Foundation (nationwide fitness charity event), Shop2 (social recommendation engine for clothes), CEO hire business,  3d games animation company, Teebii (textbook rentals) and Locongo (community marketplace where people can buy and sell local experiences).

The event attracted entrants from a range of backgrounds, ages and industries. It was interesting to see the energy and passion in these entrepreneurs and how they responded to questions from a discerning panel of judges. The fact that they only had three minutes challenged contestants to be concise and connect with the audience quickly. After 15 rapid-fire pitches, the judges were sent out to deliberate while the audience voted for the people’s choice winner.

Entrants were judged on clarity, the size of the problem, the compelling nature of the pitch and the judge’s belief in the team. Before the winners were announced, the judges gave their thoughts on the pitches and how they chose the winners.

Mathias Kopp from Sydney Angels mentioned that angel investors not only back the idea but the person and team behind the idea. They were looking for a start-up with high growth potential and a strong team.  Similarly, Simon Raik-Allen said that investors don’t just invest in the business, they invest in the person. As such he was looking for passion and drive along with business viability.

The winner of the people’s choice award were UNSW students Zhiyi Tan and Eric Hercog from Teebi.com, student textbook rentals. They also went on to win second prize, two hours of Mentoring by Bill Bartee of Southern Cross Venture Partners.

As for first place, the judges said that the winner had spotted a significant and easily understandable problem, and announced that first prize went to Kevin Truong, also a UNSW student, from Locongo. Locongo is a website where real people can offer local experiences direct to travellers and other locals.

Kevin stated “This is a great way to bring authentic experiences to the masses and is going to solve the problem of what to do when you arrive in a new city and how to truly engage with the local culture.”  Kevin now has just over a month to prepare a pitch to Sydney Angels for funding.  Kevin is also looking for anyone that could provide experiences that others enjoy, anything from small bar crawls to lessons in for just about anything. Check out locongo.com for more information.

We are pleased to confirm Ernst & Young and RosesOnly as sponsors of the CIE. We would like to thank the Farrell Family Foundation and Gary Zamel for their generous donations. We also acknowlege the continuing support of the Australian School of Business. All of our sponsors help provide the means to host networking events, award prizes, and reimburse our suppliers and service providers. In exchange, these donors receive good karma and public recognition as supporters of innovation and entrepreneurship. To become a sponsor of CIE and support our community engagement activity, please contact us at cie@unsw.edu.au.

CIE Competition Season - Kick-Off July 28th

As you may have guessed from the previous blog post, the competition season is upon us.

This year in addition to the long-running Peter Farrell Cup Entrepreneurship Competition, the CIE is working in partnership with the Centre for Social Impact to present the Social Entrepreneurship Prize.

The Social Entrepreneurship Prize competition, sponsored by Peter Kazacos, provides university students with the opportunity to bring their social entrepreneurship idea to life by pitching to a panel of experts from the Sydney social entrepreneurship community.

Both competitions are open to all currently-enrolled students at UNSW or other Australian universities, at either the undergraduate or post-graduate level. 

While each competition has a distinct "flavour" and orientation, the CIE assists students to prepare by offering a series of workshops to build contestants' key foundational skills. 

Teams submit a business plan and finalists are selected to pitch their ideas “live” to the judging panel. Finalists will be ranked on the idea and its market viability and also presentation and skill at answering the judges’ questions.

Students entering any of the competitions are encouraged to attend the workshops and learn in a relaxed and encouraging atmosphere.

The first workshop is the Mix n' Match evening, held from 6-9 PM on July 28 in the ASB Lounge.  Food and drink will be served and registration is required.  Click here to register.

Check out the Events page on the CIE website; we'll be posting upates, information, and FAQs as the workshops come up.

Looking foward to an exciting competition season, and we'll see you on the 28th!

Social Innovation Competition

(from our colleagues at the UNSW Co-op Students Charitable Society)

Want to put your skills and creative knowledge to the test and make a real-life impact on the community? Then the Social Innovation Competition is the project for you!

What is the Social Innovation Competition?
The Social Innovation Competition (SIC) aims to connect university students to a variety of charities and not-for-profit organisations with the purpose of creating awareness of the challenges faced by these organisations and to help generate innovative solutions to these challenges. The competition will allow students to gain first hand contact with charity representatives as well as empowering them through specialized CIE workshops to create unique and “outside the box” ideas.

How can you benefit from participating in this competition? 

• Put your skills and knowledge to the test to come up with creative ways of addressing challenges faced by charities;
• Make a meaningful impact on the community that goes far beyond making a simple donation;
• Learn how to develop and structure a business proposal through a range of CIE workshops;
• Win casg prizes for your allocated charity as well as prizes for yourselves;
• Potentially assist your charity to implement your idea if the charity deems it feasible;
• Develop teamwork, leadership, communication, presentation, problem-solving and analytical skills, which all look great on your resume!

How does the competition work?

The competition will run for 6 weeks. Students compete in teams of 4 for the chance to win prize money for their charity. 

 

Student teams will register their team and outline why they should be chosen to participate in the competition. Selected teams will participate in the information night where charities and students will be given the opportunity to meet and brainstorm with their host charity. 6 weeks later all teams will present their ideas to a panel of judges who will select the prizewinners. 

 

Interested?

Then stay tuned for further updates! For more information, email us on SIC.Project2011@gmail.com

 

Final pitches for STRE2010/5607 this Tuesday

Come one, come all. This Tuesday we are having the final pitches for the students of STRE2010 and STRE5607. Earlier versions of many of the pitches can be seen on youtube, by searching for the course code:  http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=stre2010&aq=f

Last minute changes may apply. With 28 teams, there is only enough time for 3-minute pitches and 2 minutes of Q&A.

Session 1: 1200-1330 in Biomedical Theatre D (just to the right of the entrance off Botany St)

Starting time Randomized Team Order   

12:10 Intro

12:15 Team 8 - Fill N Go    

12:18 Q&A    

12:20 Team 9 - Schmextbooks (Teebii)    

12:23 Q&A    

12:25 Team 11 - Ignite Health    

12:28 Q&A    

12:30 Team 1 - Batter Up!    

12:33 Q&A    

12:35 Team 21 - Etext    

12:38 Q&A    

12:40 Team 7 - Fit Buddy    

12:43 Q&A    

12:45 Team 5 - Social Scene (Easy Shopper)    

12:48 Q&A    

12:50 Team 26 - Q-Hop    

12:53 Q&A    

12:55 Team 20 - Prestige Worldwide    

12:58 Q&A    

13:00 Team 14 - HD    

13:03 Q&A    

13:05 Team 15 - Tramble    

13:08 Q&A    

13:10 Team 27 - SydneyCycle    

13:13 Q&A    

13:15 Team 12 - Headfirst (Smartmouth)    

13:18 Q&A    

13:20 Team 28 - Togethr    

13:23 Q&A    

13:25 Wrap-up Session 1  

Session 2: 1700-1830 in Biomedical Theatre D (just to the right of the entrance off Botany St)

Starting time Randomized Team Order   

17:10 Intro    

17:15 Team 3 - Gamma (Maptic)    

17:18 Q&A    

17:20 Team 18 - Paradigm Breakers    

17:23 Q&A    

17:25 Team 22 - Influx    

17:28 Q&A    

17:30 Team 6 - Blitz Solutions    

17:33 Q&A    

17:35 Team 23 - SocialEyes    

17:37 Q&A    

17:39 Team 25 - Designerama    

17:41 Q&A    

17:43 Team 2 - UniBoard    

17:45 Q&A    

17:47 Team 4 - RayAura    

17:49 Q&A    

17:51 Team 17 - Easy Translator    

17:53 Q&A    

17:55 Team 24 - BarFly    

17:57 Q&A    

17:59 Team 19 - SuperParkTeamWinners    

18:01 Q&A    

18:03 Team 13 - Sleepod    

18:05 Q&A    

18:07 Team 16 - Infinite Loyality Solutions    

18:09 Q&A    

18:11 Team 10 - Glu10 Free    

18:13 Q&A    

18:11 Wrap-up  

Disclaimer:

Most of these students are working on ideas that are only for course credit. However, that shouldn't stop anyone from providing solid business advice that they can learn from to apply to whichever idea they are working on.

Actual projects include:

• Togethr (http://togethr.at/): final pitch in Tuesday evening
• Schmextbooks / Teebii (http://bit.ly/kaOlIH): Pitch #2 in the first session
• Eye dropper (http://bit.ly/lSeWO3): Student in the course, but working on a different idea with his team
• The Entrepreneurial Chase (http://bit.ly/lg9NJ7): Student in the course, but working on a different idea with his team

Other notable outcomes:

• TaxiApps: Winners of the Peter Farrell Cup and JHEC (http://bit.ly/l0vTjn), now looking for beta users (http://bit.ly/kEnHKD)
• Mijura: Presenter at CIE’s 2010 PitchFest, now live (https://mijura.com/company/index)

Coming soon: an update on mentoring and an update on innovative work placements (internships) for Diploma in Innovation Management students

Peter Farrell Cup Competition FINALISTS

Congratulations to everyoone who submitted a business plan for this year's Peter Farrell Cup Business Plan Competition.  The judges had a hard time narrowing the field down to just 10 finalists, and they are (with a VERY brief description):

ACIRO - on-site toxic halogenated waste recycling

Extron - hand-held electrical testing device

Nommm - food-photo-based social network

Osteoplus - osteoporosis medication

Rentech Coatings - medical device coatings

Resaca de Borrachera - hangover cure at the molecular level

Shiftr - online social network for casual workplaces

Shwanki - product wiki and trending website

TaxiApps - mobile phone based taxi booking and fare payment platform

Vogelco - infant heart-rate monitor


We're looking forward to seeing the presentations next Thursday, 18 November!

CIE Newsletter (Spring 2010 edition)

In this issue: :: Entrepreneur's Notebook :: Entrepreneurial Internship Program :: Entrepreneurs' Confidence Barometer :: Diploma in Innovation Management :: Upcoming Events   Welcome to CIE's emergence into the web2 era of communication! In addition to an updated homepage, we now have a more automatic way of subscribing to more frequent updates about news and events: Events: For real-time updates on new event announcements, please subscribe to the "events@cie" RSS feed or email service.  News: For real-time updates on all news, please subscribe to the "news@cie" RSS feed or email service. Since last April, the CIE has continued many of the existing programs with increasing momentum, and pursuing several new programs too. We also have a new Program Manager, Linda Glave, to help with the daily operations so Martin can dedicate a little more time to teaching and researching innovation and entrepreneurship in Australia.

Entrepreneur's Notebook Networks & Networking - Don't waste your time; invest it! by Dr Martin J Bliemel   Networks and networking are pretty hot topics these days. When exploring a new line of business, product, or market, networking is often a quick way to get rich feedback. I ran my own business consulting firm for a couple years, searched for clients and partners, and recently completed my PhD dissertation on the networks of entrepreneurs, so I feel the need to disseminate some of my observations. Setting aside my rant about the differences between networks, social networks, and online social networks, this column reviews two key things to consider before networking: ·   Is this the right network for me? ·   How should I use the opportunity to network? Which network is the right one? Networks (and organizations that facilitate networking events; example) range along a variety of variables. Some are more durable, and others more trendy. Some are more like a market, and others more like a clique. If you are prospecting for customers, why would you spend your time at an industry conference among all your competitors? If your business is relationships based, why would you network at conferences instead of pursuing individual referrals from your existing network? If you are looking to increase sales and want to 'spread the word', then yes, a shotgun approach to networking might be the best one. That might be by handing out more business cards than Darcy Rezac, through to blasting the news out there with all the new social media platforms. However, if you are looking for that needle in the haystack, and can clearly describe that needle to others, a more targeted search is more applicable. With a more targeted approach, you should approach specific people (for specific referrals). Social media platforms can still help, but work better if you prequalify who you contact, and address them directly. Just think of the last time you felt personally compelled to reply back to a "Dear Subscriber" message (ironic that this column should start that way, I know);, asking for something specific, other than selling you a product or service. Learn to think twice about which networking events to go to, and how to leverage them to your advantage (my second point, below). How to network For beginners, networking feels awkward at first, but can quickly become second nature. The basics include (i) having a business card, (ii) offering it somewhere toward the middle or end of your elevator pitch so it doesn't appear like you're liberally giving cards away, (iii) handing it over in a way that can be read easily (e.g. with two hands, card face up and oriented the right way), and (iv) respectfully reading the other person's card. The point I would like to emphasize here though is the elevator pitch. In particular I often see two areas in which networkers fall short of their potential: explicitly stating what value they provide, and what they are looking for. Regarding the value proposition, in addition to clearly stating your name, role, and who you work for, never assume people are familiar with the company or can extrapolate what services the company provides. Don't leave them guessing, and provide a simple, concise example of who a typical (or ideal) client looks like, and how you improve their business/life. A personal story of the impact you have on their business/life is way better than numbing statistics of how many products you sell and how many customers you have. Regarding what you are looking for, everyone is obviously looking for opportunities. Opportunities are ubiquitous, idiosyncratic and ambiguous. The first implication of your networking is that you are looking to drum up business. If however, you have other needs, it is perfectly ok to admit you are growing your business and looking for help. People have a natural tendency to help, IF they know they can and it does not come at a major cost to them. For example, after your elevator pitch, you might invite the other person to assist you in finding a better recruiting agency, or providing you a direct referral to a potential employee. Don't overwhelm them and ask for them to help you with all aspects of your business, just show a little humility and ask for ideas relating to a currently important or urgent issue you are dealing with. You may not get what you ask for, but you also don't get what you don't ask for. 3rd Year for the Entrepreneurial Internship Program   The Meet-and-Match event for CIE's Entrepreneurial Internship Program was our biggest ever!  A "short"-list of 30 Honour's and Dean's List students competed for 12 spots with our industry partners.  But then, the partner companies were so blown away with the quality of students that 5 additional positions were created and offered on the spot! This year's partners are: Anittel Atlassian BMDI Healthcare Homestar Finance IPScape NICTA Pet Barn ResMed Telcoinabox Our congratulations to the students and to our partners for their efforts, and we can't wait to see the reports and posters at the March Wrap-Up event!  Entrepreneurs' Confidence Barometer  Entrepreneurs lead the way back to growth   A recent survey of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni has found that 74% of respondents defied the market and grew their businesses in 2009, with 60% expecting to achieve double digit growth in calendar 2010. The Ernst & Young survey found that the respondents - some of Australia's most successful entrepreneurs - are increasingly confident about their business growth prospects, with 72% confident about the Australian economy in 2010 and 67% believing the availability of capital will improve in 2011. Seventy one percent expect to employ more people in the next 12 months, 62% plan to raise funds in the next 12 months and 68% plan to expand operations overseas. In addition, the entrepreneurs surveyed overwhelmingly agreed that passion, determination and vision are the key ingredients for success, with 80% believing that this has not changed in the past 10 years and will not change in the future. The survey respondents had started on average four businesses each, creating their first business at the average age of 25 and were motivated primarily by the desire to create a business, with wealth creation as a secondary driver. These are a few of the many findings contained in the 2010 Entrepreneurs' Confidence Barometer, a survey conducted to mark the 10th anniversary of the Entrepreneur Of The Year program in Australia. Ernst & Young partner Greg Logue says the responses illustrate that successful entrepreneurs are more than simply higher achievers. "They are the ones who seek out opportunities and turn their vision into reality, creating a flow-on success for those around them through employment, export growth and social contributions," says Logue. "The confidence and focus of these entrepreneurs is both inspiring and heartening - these are the people who continue to drive the economy forward and create the future." The survey findings also suggest that there is a greater appreciation of the contribution entrepreneurs make to our economy and communities. Fifty six percent of respondents believe the Australian culture supports entrepreneurship - a significant shift in attitude compared to a similar 2004 survey that found that only 38% of respondents held the same view. Diploma in Innovation Management  Now open to ALL UNSW undergraduate students!   The Diploma in Innovation Management has been successfully migrated from the Faculty of Science to the Australian School of Business. The Diploma is a unique undergraduate offering that is open to students of any Faculty, AND is taught by academics from various faculties, further supplemented by presentations and lectures from industry experts and government officials. Course material covers areas such as creativity in enterprises, business principles, business planning for new ventures, funding, management and commercialisation of intellectual property, and valuation and assessment of innovative businesses. Students engage in exercises to set up and run their own new ventures and participate in case studies with Australian and international entrepreneurs. The lectures, workshops, case studies and tutorials in each of the program's courses are delivered by a well-balanced mixture of university academics and expert industry and government professionals. Upcoming Events Meet the Entrepreneur: Ernst & Young   When:    Thursday 23 September Meet the Entrepreneur is a semi-annual event; this session's topic is CleanTech, and will be moderated by Dr Marc Newson, Partner Oceania Cleantech Leader, Ernst & Young. Click here to register by Thursday, 16 September Peter Farrell Cup - NEW website!! www.pfcup.com.au  The Peter Farrell Cup provides students with the opportunity to bring their innovative business idea to life by pitching to a panel of experts from the Sydney entrepreneurial community.  The competition is open to teams containing at least one currently-enrolled UNSW student.  Teams submit a business plan and finalists are selected to pitch their ideas live to the judging panel. Want to team up with a student to help you represent in the competition? Meet-Mix-Match Event - Tues 21 Sept Click here for details. Entrepreneur of the Year Award Join us to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year program in Australia!  This is the world's most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs and celebrates building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognising them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 135 cities in 50 countries.  Over the last decade, Ernst & Young has recognised the achievements of over 800 extraordinary business leaders in this country. Click here for details.

Sponsors We are currently seeking sponsors for Diploma Scholarships, internship opportunities, and the Peter Farrell Cup. If you are interested in being associated with these innovative initiatives in our newsletters, press releases, website, and at the event, please contact us. Sponsorship may be in the form of general sponsorship for the event (cash or in-kind), or by sponsoring a student intern at your organization. We are pleased to confirm AusIndustry, Ernst & Young, NewSouth Innovations and RosesOnly as sponsors of the CIE.  Likewise, we would like to thank Peter Farrell and Gary Zamel for their generous donations. Their continued support helps provide the means to host networking events, award prizes, and reimburse our suppliers and service providers. In exchange, our sponsors receive good karma and public recognition as supporters of innovation and entrepreneurship. If your firm is keen to engage with UNSW students, faculty and alumni, and our members from industry, please contact us.

2009 Peter Farrell Cup Winners (repost)

(reposted here as part of a de-cluttering of the CIE website. Stay tuned for announcements of the winners of the PitchFe$t earlier this week. Registration for the 2010 Peter Farrell Cup is now open)

2009 Press Release

'Ad-a-Bottle', a business concept that provides advertising directly on bottled water distributed exclusively to office building food courts, has won first place in an Australian School of Business competition to encourage student entrepreneurism.

The Peter Farrell Challenge Cup entrepreneurship competition offers students the opportunity to bring innovative business ideas to life.
“The Peter Farrell Cup was a catalyst for me to write a business plan and now I'm poised to implement it, and hopefully people will be drinking Ad-a-Bottle by next April,” said winning team member Iris Qi.

Some of the enterprising ideas in this year's Finals included a Wi-Fi based paperless receipt system, an online rental service where parents can order equipment and toys for their children when on holidays, and an electronic display system to eliminate changing price tags.

More than 45 teams from the University of New South Wales and other participating universities entered the competition, hosted by the Innovation, Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship (ICE) Club at the Australian School of Business, with eight teams participating in the Finals held on November 19, 2009.

The finalists presented their business plans to a panel of four judges including high profile business founders and venture capitalists.
Teams were judged on criteria including sound risk analysis, financial attractiveness to potential investors and a clear identification of current market need. The written business plan, oral presentation and responses to judge’s questions helped determine the overall winners.

Christopher Witt, Director of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at the Australian School of Business, said the aim of the Peter Farrell Cup is to foster entrepreneurship and instill a passion for research and innovation. More than $40,000 in prizes and scholarships was on offer to the finalists to pursue their business ideas.

“The Peter Farrell Cup strives to link research projects and businesses with student teams to produce credible business plans that help all parties. It frames the time period and requirements, and rewards excellence through prizes and scholarships," said Mr Witt.

“Amongst the partners of the CIE is the NSW Enterprise Workshop. This outstanding organisation offers finalists a scholarship to continue into the Enterprise Workshop three month long business planning program, enabling students to take their business ideas to the next level,” he said.

Ramanan Krishnamoorthy, President of the ICE Club, said the Peter Farrell Cup promoted the reality of business innovation as a real option for graduating MBA students.

“The life of an entrepreneur can be extremely rewarding; you are working for yourself on something that you are passionate about, and there is the opportunity to excel to your fullest potential,” said Mr Krishnamoorthy.

2009 Finalist Team Synopsis

Humanity Life Sciences: provides predictive medicine services via DNA analysis of genetic predisposition to inherited conditions in Greater China. The Tag Team: use of electronic display systems to eliminate the manual process of changing price tags via a wireless, centrally controlled system. Tiny Travel: a retail and rental service whereby parents can order equipment, toys and necessities for their children online to be picked up at the holiday destination, lowering baggage necessities. Mercurius Ltd.: a device to estimate the fouling propensity of a given feed water prior to reverse osmosis membrane filtration to predict how frequently a filter must be cleaned or replaced. Ad-a-Bottle: provides advertising on bottled water distributed to food-outlets in office building food courts via exclusive distribution channels. Viva Blu: a chemical-free, cost and energy effective water-purification technology using a photocatalysis reaction. Wildcard: a Wi-Fi based paperless receipt system whereby the receipts are stored in an online personal account. Equigreen: a rechargeable lithium-ion battery designed to power electric vehicles.

Peter Farrell Cup Business Plan Competition - REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN - register your team before 5 PM on 24 September 2010!

Now in its 10th year, the Peter Farrell Cup Competition provides students with the opportunity to bring their innovative business idea to life by pitching to a panel of experts from the Sydney entrepreneurial community. The competition is open to all currently-enrolled UNSW students, and to teams containing at least one currently-enrolled UNSW student. Teams submit a business plan and finalists are selected to pitch their ideas "live" to the judging panel.

Cash prizes are awarded as follows:

• 1st place - $5,000
• 2nd place - $2,500
• 3rd place - $1,000
• 4th place - $500
• 5th place - $500

Details
Open to all AGSM, UNSW,MBS, UTS, University of Sydney and Macquarie University students in two formats:

• Student Teams  
• Start-ups & Existing Businesses

Student Team criteria

• **Must have at least one currently-enrolled UNSW student in the team**
• Students from any of the above universities allowed.  

Start-ups and Existing Businesses criteria

• **Must have at least one currently-enrolled UNSW student in the team**
• Must not have received external funding  
• Must not have revenue exceeding $500k pa  
• Must be less than 2 years old  
• Must be a registered Australian business  
• Must be original work  
• Look for due dates in the new CIE Google Calendar 

Key Dates

1. Team Registration due - 5 pm, Friday 24th September
2. 1-page Synopsis due - 5 pm, Friday 1st October
3. Business Plans due - 5 pm, Friday 29th October
   
4. Finalists Announced - Friday 5th November

Finalists will be pitching their idea to the judges and a live audience on Thursday 18 November

Business Planning Seminar - Tuesday, 5th October 

presented by Dr Martin Bliemel (time & location TBA)

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN - register your team before 5 PM on 24 September 2010!

PitchFest 2010

1 stellar idea
1 chance encounter
3 minutes to sell your proposition…

PITCHFE$T 2010

You know the adage, at random you catch the lift with the CEO – you have that one ride to sell your best idea. Can you make the pitch? Pitchfe$t is your chance to hone your skills for when the moment comes!

3 leading entrepreneurs & business professionals from Sydney will listen and evaluate your ability to pitch. They will assess you on your creativity, presentation skills, and the commercial viability of your idea.

Register with the AGSM ICE Club - the first 25 to register will compete live at 5:30pm (sharp) on Aug 26th for the top prize of $250 AUD.
Open to any team with at least one UNSW student.