Summer Sprint Launch. Photo by Liam Kennedy.
Fourteen startups will be sprinting to secure as many customers and as much revenue as they can over the next few months, as the UTS Startups Summer Sprint program gets off to a flying start this week.
Receiving $5000 each, the teams will be working through the summer in a two-month collaborative program, with the sole goal of securing their first or next customers.
The initiative, coordinated by UTS Director of Entrepreneurship Murray Hurps and Executive Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Margaret Maile Petty, is aimed at helping early-stage ventures grow their customer base.
“Startups live or die by their ability to secure paying customers, and often securing these customers can rely on skills, networks and resources that are currently outside the startup. 14 incredible startups working collaboratively over two months in aid of this singular goal will definitely make for an exciting summer,” Murray said.
From a long list of applicants for the program, successful startups were chosen based on the size of their target market, the likelihood of them securing customers and scalability of their approach.
Each week they’ll be setting goals, sharing learnings, and helping each other as a group focused on building up a base of clientele.
The startup making the most progress towards that goal by the time the inaugural program concludes in February 2019 will be named the winners of the sprint however, the main prize of course will be the revenue each startup secures.
“Please reach out if you are interested in being a customer, or know someone else who might be,” Murray added.
Check out the list below to learn more about the teams taking part in this Summer’s Sprint:
- Arlula - Allows customers to purchase access to under-utilised satellites and spacecraft in orbit through a marketplace. Contact: sebastian@arlula.com
- BrillUp - Helps individuals take control of their professional development and develop the career skills needed to thrive in the new economy. Contact: cat@brillup.com
- BuzzBox - Provides an enterprise grade platform that enables businesses to execute marketing initiatives, giving them with powerful engagement analytics. Contact: boris@buzzboxgifts.com
- Clipboard - Allows schools to manage their extracurricular programs, ensuring they are upholding their duty of care. Contact: team@clipboard.app
- Compass IOT – New solutions for deploying sensor networks for farming. Contact: angus.mcdonald@airbike.network
- innerCIRCLE6 - Empowers women join the world of business by delivering accessible business education. Contact: helloradiatecoaching@gmail.com
- Kindershare - Connects owners and renters of children's equipment. Contact: vanouhi@kindershare.com
- Never Farm – A new approach to automated mushroom farming. Contact: luke.coffey@neverfarm.com
- Resolution123 - Provides quick, simple and affordable employment law advice for employees. Contact: carly@resolution123.com.au
- Subchat - Allows fans to chat directly with their favourite content creators. Contact: peter@sub.chat
- Tech Gym – Robotic-enhancement for physiotherapy. Contact: rowan.j.smith@student.uts.edu.au
- Tekuma - One-handed, six-degrees of freedom, force-based controls for robots and other devices. Contact: team@tekuma.tech
- The Change Hub – A new approach to change management for organisations, using a platform developed from PhD research. Contact: lydia@thechangehub.com.au
- Monda Pins (Formerly Travelbug) – Creating new kinds of viral effects for collectible items in the travel market.
UTS Startups is a community inspiring and supporting student-founded startups at UTS. If you have a scalable idea you would like to explore, apply here.
By Lourdes Millare and Liam Kennedy, UTS Startups.