29 August 2009
One hundred and seventy three staff, students and alumni of The University of Auckland will be waiting with bated breath for tomorrow’s’s announcement of successful qualifiers to be considered for this year’s Spark $100k Challenge. At the application deadline last week, a total of 75 entrepreneurial ideas were lodged, involving 11 alumni, 10 staff members, 49 postgraduate students, 77 undergraduate students and 26 others affiliated with the University. Spark chief executive Sonali Nidamarty says the standard of this year’s entries has surpassed that set in the past seven years, and she is confident some interesting and viable future businesses will be produced from the entry haul. “Interest and passion in Spark this year has been exceptionally high, as entrepreneurs realise the true value of a competition like this,” she says. “Winning a share of more than $100,000 in money and business services in these current economic times can be just the boost some entrepreneurs need to get their idea out of their imaginations, onto the drafting board and into the marketplace.” Of the entries this year, 11 originated from the Faculty of Arts, 34 from the Business School, 33 from the Department of Engineering, four from the Law School, five from the Faculty of Medicine and Science, six from NICAI, 24 from the Faculty of Science and nine from other parts of the University. Twelve qualifiers will be selected this week and announced at a Qualifiers’ Ceremony tomorrow, to be addressed by Les Mills International’s Phillip Mills. The Business Plan submission deadline is October 14, the Video Pitch Challenge takes place on October 16, and this year’s overall winners will be announced at the final Prizegiving Ceremony on October 22. Spark, established in 2003, is a student-led initiative in partnership with The University of Auckland Business School and business incubator The ICEHOUSE. Spark is supported by the ASB Bank, Auckland UniServices Ltd, Ernst & Young, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, the Tindall Foundation, Delegate’s Wine Estate New Zealand and Lion Nathan Breweries. |