NEWSROOM

Innovation Squad 2018 launched in May. The Innovation Squad programme aims to strengthen female entrepreneurs and their ventures over a five-month programme. This year Innovation Squad will support fifteen female entrepreneurs to:

• Establish the market opportunity for their ventures
• Develop their products/service
• Establish their business model and financial plan
• Understand their impact model (for social enterprises)

The programme will also support female founders to lead their teams and develop their pitches.

Every participant will be matched with an experienced mentor and the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will host speaker sessions and provide networking opportunities to introduce Innovation Squad participants to others in the New Zealand entrepreneurial ecosystem.

In addition, all participants will have an opportunity to pitch their ventures to Arc Angels, a member-based angel investment organisation dedicated to investing in early stage businesses that are led or managed by women across New Zealand.

This year’s cohort of fifteen students come from Business, Creative Arts and Industries, Science and Law.  Ventures are diverse and range from food businesses to artificial intelligence.

Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme Coordinator, Mai Al Sharaf, says she is excited to be leading Innovation Squad this year.

“The programme kicked off on Saturday 19 May with the cohort getting to know each other. The energy and enthusiasm in the room was inspiring.

“Students worked through a process of “finding their why” and understanding the broader picture of themselves and their ventures. They also identified personal values using Lego® Serious Play® and established the role these values play in creating a strong peer support network.

“They worked on their lean canvases and identified key risks and assumptions to validate. Venture goals were discussed, breaking tasks into monthly achievable and measurable milestones.

“I am very excited and honoured to be leading Innovation Squad this year. It is a great opportunity to encourage and support female founders to unleash their potential and create real impact in today’s world. I can’t wait to see how the women grow personally and professionally.”

Volunteers from the entrepreneurial and business communities welcomed

All Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship programmes are a blend of leading academic frameworks and real-life experiences from people who have been there and done it. We need volunteers from the entrepreneurial and business communities to dedicate their time to help bring our programmes to life.

If you are interested in mentoring or gifting your time and expertise in other ways, please register your interest here.