NEWSROOM
2024 Velocity Ideas Challenge winners revealed
The 25 winners of the Velocity Ideas Challenge have been announced, with each team taking home a share of $25,000.
University of Auckland students and staff were invited to submit a 1,000-word idea for a start-up aimed at addressing pressing issues or opportunities, offering a $1,000 prize for the best ideas.
The competition, which is held each year by Velocity, the entrepreneurship development programme administered through the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), encourages participants to explore their entrepreneurial potential through developing ideas, with the opportunity to receive constructive feedback from judges and experts. This year’s winners came up with solutions spanning agritech, bluetech, biomedicine, social services, climate tech, software as a service, consumer products, AI and Web 3 applications and more.
Participants are encouraged to develop their ideas further through the free CIE programme Ignite Innovation and enter the Velocity $100k Challenge later this year for a chance to win a share of $100k in prizes. Winners of the $100k Challenge also get the prestigious opportunity to participate in CIE’s incubator programme, VentureLab, where they are supported for 6 months to get their ideas off the page and out into the world.
CIE alumni have ignited hundreds of ventures, created thousands of jobs, and raised billions in capital. Notable successes include the founders of EdTech company Kami who have previously been named by TIME magazine as one of the world’s top 100 companies, embodied artificial intelligence (AI) for autonomous driving company Wayve, retail crime intelligence and loss prevention company Auror, seismic resilience engineering specialists Tectonus and gastric diagnostics venture Alimetry.
Darsel Keane, CIE Director stated “Our country and the world faces numerous challenges to its economic, environmental, and social well-being, we need innovators who view these challenges as opportunities and develop solutions and take action to solve them. My team are very grateful to have the support of the volunteer judges who have helped bring the Ideas Challenge to life, and for the generosity of sponsors such as UniServices, Momentum, NZ Capital Growth Partners and Hudson Gavin Martin. This year we were able to increase the total prize pool, thanks to the support from the faculties and research institutes who have sponsored prizes to enable their students and staff to have additional opportunities to win.”
2024 winners pitch summaries
Badminton-specific smart wearables with personalised motion analysis service
Ever dreamed of playing badminton with the precision of a professional? Meet our Smart Badminton Wearables: offering professional-level motion analysis directly on your smartphone, helping you break through technical barriers and discover a new you.
Car-sharing alternative to rental cars at airports
Airport parking is expensive, especially when you need to hire a car at your destination. What if you could hire a car that someone else has parked at the airport while they are away, allowing you to rent a car for much cheaper, and saving them on parking fees?
Comic Guard
Comic Guard is a digital platform for artists to upload episodes of their webcomics for others to enjoy. It is designed to be transparent about how it fairly pays casual and professional creators for their work, and will allow readers to easily find, keep up with, and discuss their favourite stories.
FlaxGuard Weed Mat
Harakeke weed mat offers a sustainable and biodegradable alternative to synthetic materials, addressing the global issue of soil pollution from plastic weed mat fabrics. This solution is ideal for those seeking effective eco-friendly weed suppression.
Flexi-SAT
Flexi-SAT offers an innovative solution to minimize risks associated with human spacewalks. Our autonomous Cubesat-compatible robotic arms simulate satellite servicing operations, ensuring efficiency of repairs and safety in low Earth orbit.
JuisenseAI
Introducing a game-changer for New Zealand winemakers! Our handheld sensor device offers real-time, in-field measurement of key components in grape juice, replacing costly laboratory tests. With integrated AI, wineries can optimize the winemaking process for each grape juice type, ensuring top quality and efficiency. Experience precision winemaking with our mobile sensor device.
PnemoDA
Pneumonia kills about 1.4 million children under five years old annually, accounting for 18 % of all deaths worldwide. The primary cause of death is the lack of proper provision of healthcare, disease diagnosis, and treatment. PneumoDA aims to provide a cheaper and more accurate device for diagnosing pneumonia.
R.O.S.S. Troubleshooting Database for F&B Manufacturing Plants
Food manufacturing plants face similar unpredictable equipment failures, yet each site’s resolution time entirely depends on whether their engineers have already experienced a similar problem before. ROSS is a troubleshooting database for F&B engineers that bridges breakdown knowledge across factories, companies, and languages, to reduce downtime, costs and waste industry-wide.
Relayte
Relayte is a SaaS that facilitates the efficient collation, storage and communication of employee domain knowledge. Relayte streamlines the transference of employee knowledge during periods of transition and handover.
Resolving mussel farming inefficiencies
The biggest problem faced by New Zealand’s Greenshell mussel industry is inconsistencies in seed supply that is crucial for the production process. This has not only caused profits to decline, but also limits the industry potential for growth. Our company aims to resolve this problem while generating millions in annual revenue in the process.
Sustainable Smile
We all know the guilt of skipping flossing. Traditional dental floss is time-consuming, uncomfortable and painful on the fingers. Disposable dental picks make this better, but the handles are still unnecessary waste. Sustainable Smile combines the two, providing a more pleasant flossing experience that is better for the environment!
Therapeutic Spatial Planning Platform
Emotionally unconducive spaces unintentionally deprive our mental well-being. Our therapeutic spatial planning platform assists users and designers in consciously creating atmospheres aligned with intended feelings and psychosomatic sensations. Our platform empowers users and designers to influence the emotional experience of their space through curated, personalized material, pattern, and spatial choices.
VistaVision
Over 700,000 Kiwis lack timely access to eye care. VistaVision will provide affordable remote services using telerobotics so that local nurses and medical practitioners can provide timely fundus imaging and diagnosis of common eye conditions within NZ without an ophthalmologist onsite.
Faculty and specialty prize winners
Arts
Uni-Together
Most students quit clubs the first weeks in. That’s why we created Uni-Together, platform that’s revolutionizing clubs and societies at Uni. Earn points as you attend events, know when your friends are going to events, have a say in what events should be held and much more. Let’s do Uni-together.
Auckland Bioengineering Institute
Diving Wearables
Are you stressed underwater, worrying about buoyancy, air consumption, or losing your buddy? Diving Wearables transforms dives into stress-free explorations. Our AI-powered wearable tech ensures safety, unfolding every dive story with confidence.
Business
Codeako
Codeako empowers young learners with coding skills through interactive challenges infused with Māori culture. Our platform blends storytelling and gamification to make coding fun and accessible for all. By fostering creativity and cultural pride, we’re bridging the digital divide and shaping the tech leaders of tomorrow.
Creative Arts and Industries
MyUniClub
MyUniClub: Revolutionizing student club management and social networking in one platform. Empower student groups, foster connections, and enhance campus life effortlessly.
Education and Social Work
On My Way! (OMW!)
On My Way! is an app enabling University of Auckland students and staff to help each other navigate new and unfamiliar campus areas on foot. It’s like ridesharing, but there’s no vehicle and no cost – just people helping people!
Engineering
Wave energy for aquafarms
We have designed a wave energy converter (WEC) to provide electricity to aquafarms. Electricity on aquafarms is typically provided by expensive and environmentally harmful diesel generation. We plan to mount a WEC to existing aquafarming infrastructure to provide cheaper electricity for small aquafarming applications such as lights and sensors.
Medical and Health Sciences
BlooLeadex
Introducing our groundbreaking lead detection sensor: fast, precise, user-friendly, affordable, and hassle-free. With instant results from blood samples and no interference, lead testing becomes accessible to all and has never been easier. Say goodbye to waiting and uncertainty—our sensor puts safety in your hands, effortlessly.
Law
SportConnect
In the fiercely competitive sports-industry, talent and opportunities often remain obscured by geographical and background barriers. SportConnect breaks these down, facilitating connections between athletes, agents, organizations, and more, through a unified platform for career progression, talent acquisition, and opportunity maximisation, to catalyze growth and innovation across the entire sports realm.
Liggins
Without You
An organisation to support bereaved parents and make space for hope again; with special attention to fostering spiritual, cultural and peer support.
Medtech-IQ
Kerato-Fit
Kerato-Fit allows more clinicians to fit contact lenses to patients with Keratoconus, a disease that can cause blindness. Unfortunately, keratoconus is more prevalent in vulnerable communities with less access to eye care. With Kerato-Fit, we can restore life-changing sight to more patients, especially in regions that need it most.
Science
Drink RESCUE – Reusable Electrochemical Sensor for Chemical and Undesired Entities
A novel electrochemical sensor for the rapid, on-site, detection and identification of substances commonly used in drug-facilitated sexual assault (e.g., Rohypnol, GHB, ketamine, and GBL) in biological samples and in adulterated food and drink.
The 25 winners of the Velocity Ideas Challenge have been announced, with each team taking home a share of $25,000.
University of Auckland students and staff were invited to submit a 1,000-word idea for a start-up aimed at addressing pressing issues or opportunities, offering a $1,000 prize for the best ideas.
The competition, which is held each year by Velocity, the entrepreneurship development programme administered through the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), encourages participants to explore their entrepreneurial potential through developing ideas, with the opportunity to receive constructive feedback from judges and experts. This year’s winners came up with solutions spanning agritech, bluetech, biomedicine, social services, climate tech, software as a service, consumer products, AI and Web 3 applications and more.
Participants are encouraged to develop their ideas further through the free CIE programme Ignite Innovation and enter the Velocity $100k Challenge later this year for a chance to win a share of $100k in prizes. Winners of the $100k Challenge also get the prestigious opportunity to participate in CIE’s incubator programme, VentureLab, where they are supported for 6 months to get their ideas off the page and out into the world.
CIE alumni have ignited hundreds of ventures, created thousands of jobs, and raised billions in capital. Notable successes include the founders of EdTech company Kami who have previously been named by TIME magazine as one of the world’s top 100 companies, embodied artificial intelligence (AI) for autonomous driving company Wayve, retail crime intelligence and loss prevention company Auror, seismic resilience engineering specialists Tectonus and gastric diagnostics venture Alimetry.
Darsel Keane, CIE Director stated “Our country and the world faces numerous challenges to its economic, environmental, and social well-being, we need innovators who view these challenges as opportunities and develop solutions and take action to solve them. My team are very grateful to have the support of the volunteer judges who have helped bring the Ideas Challenge to life, and for the generosity of sponsors such as UniServices, Momentum, NZ Capital Growth Partners and Hudson Gavin Martin. This year we were able to increase the total prize pool, thanks to the support from the faculties and research institutes who have sponsored prizes to enable their students and staff to have additional opportunities to win.”
2024 winners pitch summaries
Badminton-specific smart wearables with personalised motion analysis service
Ever dreamed of playing badminton with the precision of a professional? Meet our Smart Badminton Wearables: offering professional-level motion analysis directly on your smartphone, helping you break through technical barriers and discover a new you.
Car-sharing alternative to rental cars at airports
Airport parking is expensive, especially when you need to hire a car at your destination. What if you could hire a car that someone else has parked at the airport while they are away, allowing you to rent a car for much cheaper, and saving them on parking fees?
Comic Guard
Comic Guard is a digital platform for artists to upload episodes of their webcomics for others to enjoy. It is designed to be transparent about how it fairly pays casual and professional creators for their work, and will allow readers to easily find, keep up with, and discuss their favourite stories.
FlaxGuard Weed Mat
Harakeke weed mat offers a sustainable and biodegradable alternative to synthetic materials, addressing the global issue of soil pollution from plastic weed mat fabrics. This solution is ideal for those seeking effective eco-friendly weed suppression.
Flexi-SAT
Flexi-SAT offers an innovative solution to minimize risks associated with human spacewalks. Our autonomous Cubesat-compatible robotic arms simulate satellite servicing operations, ensuring efficiency of repairs and safety in low Earth orbit.
JuisenseAI
Introducing a game-changer for New Zealand winemakers! Our handheld sensor device offers real-time, in-field measurement of key components in grape juice, replacing costly laboratory tests. With integrated AI, wineries can optimize the winemaking process for each grape juice type, ensuring top quality and efficiency. Experience precision winemaking with our mobile sensor device.
PnemoDA
Pneumonia kills about 1.4 million children under five years old annually, accounting for 18 % of all deaths worldwide. The primary cause of death is the lack of proper provision of healthcare, disease diagnosis, and treatment. PneumoDA aims to provide a cheaper and more accurate device for diagnosing pneumonia.
R.O.S.S. Troubleshooting Database for F&B Manufacturing Plants
Food manufacturing plants face similar unpredictable equipment failures, yet each site’s resolution time entirely depends on whether their engineers have already experienced a similar problem before. ROSS is a troubleshooting database for F&B engineers that bridges breakdown knowledge across factories, companies, and languages, to reduce downtime, costs and waste industry-wide.
Relayte
Relayte is a SaaS that facilitates the efficient collation, storage and communication of employee domain knowledge. Relayte streamlines the transference of employee knowledge during periods of transition and handover.
Resolving mussel farming inefficiencies
The biggest problem faced by New Zealand’s Greenshell mussel industry is inconsistencies in seed supply that is crucial for the production process. This has not only caused profits to decline, but also limits the industry potential for growth. Our company aims to resolve this problem while generating millions in annual revenue in the process.
Sustainable Smile
We all know the guilt of skipping flossing. Traditional dental floss is time-consuming, uncomfortable and painful on the fingers. Disposable dental picks make this better, but the handles are still unnecessary waste. Sustainable Smile combines the two, providing a more pleasant flossing experience that is better for the environment!
Therapeutic Spatial Planning Platform
Emotionally unconducive spaces unintentionally deprive our mental well-being. Our therapeutic spatial planning platform assists users and designers in consciously creating atmospheres aligned with intended feelings and psychosomatic sensations. Our platform empowers users and designers to influence the emotional experience of their space through curated, personalized material, pattern, and spatial choices.
VistaVision
Over 700,000 Kiwis lack timely access to eye care. VistaVision will provide affordable remote services using telerobotics so that local nurses and medical practitioners can provide timely fundus imaging and diagnosis of common eye conditions within NZ without an ophthalmologist onsite.
Faculty and specialty prize winners
Arts
Uni-Together
Most students quit clubs the first weeks in. That’s why we created Uni-Together, platform that’s revolutionizing clubs and societies at Uni. Earn points as you attend events, know when your friends are going to events, have a say in what events should be held and much more. Let’s do Uni-together.
Auckland Bioengineering Institute
Diving Wearables
Are you stressed underwater, worrying about buoyancy, air consumption, or losing your buddy? Diving Wearables transforms dives into stress-free explorations. Our AI-powered wearable tech ensures safety, unfolding every dive story with confidence.
Business
Codeako
Codeako empowers young learners with coding skills through interactive challenges infused with Māori culture. Our platform blends storytelling and gamification to make coding fun and accessible for all. By fostering creativity and cultural pride, we’re bridging the digital divide and shaping the tech leaders of tomorrow.
Creative Arts and Industries
MyUniClub
MyUniClub: Revolutionizing student club management and social networking in one platform. Empower student groups, foster connections, and enhance campus life effortlessly.
Education and Social Work
On My Way! (OMW!)
On My Way! is an app enabling University of Auckland students and staff to help each other navigate new and unfamiliar campus areas on foot. It’s like ridesharing, but there’s no vehicle and no cost – just people helping people!
Engineering
Wave energy for aquafarms
We have designed a wave energy converter (WEC) to provide electricity to aquafarms. Electricity on aquafarms is typically provided by expensive and environmentally harmful diesel generation. We plan to mount a WEC to existing aquafarming infrastructure to provide cheaper electricity for small aquafarming applications such as lights and sensors.
Medical and Health Sciences
BlooLeadex
Introducing our groundbreaking lead detection sensor: fast, precise, user-friendly, affordable, and hassle-free. With instant results from blood samples and no interference, lead testing becomes accessible to all and has never been easier. Say goodbye to waiting and uncertainty—our sensor puts safety in your hands, effortlessly.
Law
SportConnect
In the fiercely competitive sports-industry, talent and opportunities often remain obscured by geographical and background barriers. SportConnect breaks these down, facilitating connections between athletes, agents, organizations, and more, through a unified platform for career progression, talent acquisition, and opportunity maximisation, to catalyze growth and innovation across the entire sports realm.
Liggins
Without You
An organisation to support bereaved parents and make space for hope again; with special attention to fostering spiritual, cultural and peer support.
Medtech-IQ
Kerato-Fit
Kerato-Fit allows more clinicians to fit contact lenses to patients with Keratoconus, a disease that can cause blindness. Unfortunately, keratoconus is more prevalent in vulnerable communities with less access to eye care. With Kerato-Fit, we can restore life-changing sight to more patients, especially in regions that need it most.
Science
Drink RESCUE – Reusable Electrochemical Sensor for Chemical and Undesired Entities
A novel electrochemical sensor for the rapid, on-site, detection and identification of substances commonly used in drug-facilitated sexual assault (e.g., Rohypnol, GHB, ketamine, and GBL) in biological samples and in adulterated food and drink.
EMAIL
CIE@AUCKLAND.AC.NZ
POSTAL ADDRESS
THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND BUSINESS SCHOOL
PRIVATE BAG 92019, AUCKLAND
