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Entrepreneurs Cut Teeth at Startup Weekend Vancouver

By Lindsey Peacock /

Startup Weekend Vancouver | BCBusiness

Teams go through hardships and heartaches of building a startup in a single weekend

Is it possible to build a startup in just 54 hours?

This past weekend, several dozen young upstarts put that concept to the test at this year’s Startup Weekend, Disruptive Tech event.
 
Starting Friday evening, attendees formed teams and immediately got to work formulating their idea for the perfect startup company.
 
After 54 grueling hours and some guidance from a team of mentors, 12 teams pitched their ideas on Sunday night to an expectant audience.
 
“The real highlight of the whole weekend was the energy and enthusiasm that everyone brought to the weekend,” says Jacob Kojfman,  legal counsel for Abrahams LLP and at hyperWALLET Systems Inc., and one of the event organizers. “Some of the teams were up all night on Friday night—getting their websites launched for first thing Saturday morning.  For these teams, the learning experience is probably what they will most take away.”
 
The pitches covered a range of business ideas, starting with a personalized sex toy from Intiimi to a service to that ensures elderly parents are checking in and taking their meds.
 
The teams included Intiimi, Pitch’n, Clean Dragons, Family Ping, Pingr, Adventure Gear, Second Round, Kurate Style, Lean on Me, Promio, Language XP and Cost Plus.
 
Honourable mentions: 

  • Language XP: Expedia for international students and travellers who want to learn new languages, which won the event;
  • Kurate Style: Songza for fashion. An online style app that recognizes where you are and what your mood is and chooses outfits for you;
  • Second Round: Allows locals to meet up with strangers to play various sports;
  • Adventure Gear: Allows people with outdoor gear (tents, paddle boards, etc.) to rent it to people who don’t want to rent from a store;
  • Clean Dragons: Helps you keep an eye on what possibly harmful chemicals companies are using in their products;
  • Lean on Me: Helps people quit smoking with an accountability check in.
     

Startup Weekend hosts events in more than 300 cities across the globe and has built an alumni network of more than 100,000 over the last several years.