KUCHING: Out of the six teams that participated in the Startup Weekend Kota Samarahan Unimas (#SWKSUNIMAS) recently, Borneo Food Fighters wowed the judges with its business pitch to emerge champion.
The team’s social enterprise venture focused on turning food waste, namely, unsold vegetables into fermented food products, which were then sold to generate funds to run activities by The Society of Kuching Urban Poor.
The runners-up were Eggcited, a food selling and delivery portal that aimed to help student entrepreneurs while providing convenience to food lovers, and ServeMe, an online marketplace for various cleaning services.
Each of the winning teams received a month’s complimentary access to iCube Innovation to continue working on their projects at the co-working space.
On top of that, they will also be provided continued mentorship by leaders of industry.
#SWKSUNIMAS was held at the Student Pavilion of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (Unimas). It was organised by the alumni of Startup Weekend Kuching and students of Unimas in collaboration with iCube Innovation and Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, Unimas.
The event, which is part of a global startup movement in over 100 countries, has the ultimate goal of equipping potential entrepreneurs with the fundamental tools of the startup ecosystem as well as uncovering some of the brightest entrepreneurial ideas among the undergraduates.
#SWKSUNIMAS, like other Startup Weekends all over the world, was an intensive 54-hour event that helped teams to focus on ideas and turn them into reality while being guided and mentored by successful entrepreneurs, startup founders and experienced Unimas academics.
The event was also participated by four digital nomads from United States and Netherlands, who were part of the LiveWorkFit programme currently based in iCube Innovation here.
The digital nomads spent time mentoring the students, providing valuable insights in opening up the students’ minds to the rapidly evolving global startup trends.
One of them, Laura Latimer (CEO of Nomadicare) applauded the students for their bold ideas and willingness to venture into something beyond their comfort zones.
#SWKSUNIMAS attracted about 40 participants from Unimas who were eager to spark their entrepreneurial skill sets.
Working in teams, the participants brainstormed and developed their ideas, tested the business models, carried out market validations and tweaked them until the final day.
The teams presented their final prototypes in front of a panel of expert judges, including Charles Liew, founder and CEO of Shine Pharmacy, John Hii Ing Kieng, a lecturer from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak and Sharifah Sakinah, Senior Programme Executive from MaGIC.
Like a lot of the events organised by iCube Innovation, Startup Weekend Sarawak (SWSWK) aimed to build a robust technological and entrepreneurial ecosystem in Sarawak.
iCube is one of the leaders in this field, and works together with public and corporate sectors, including several tertiary educational institutions, to achieve this goal.
For more details about Startup Weekend Sarawak, and to find out about upcoming events organised by iCube Innovation, visit www.icubeinnovation.com.my or contact admin@icubeinnovation.com.my or 082-266868.
