For 54 hours between Friday and Sunday, 1-3 November, budding entrepreneurs from the Queenstown Lakes region and beyond, will meet up to learn how to pitch, test and launch their big ideas to the world at its next Techstars Startup Weekend.

Supported and delivered by local charitable trust Startup Queenstown Lakes (SQL), this event offers participants a unique opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge, experience and guidance on bringing a new startup to life.

Marco Dingemans, General Manager of SQL, says the weekend is like a pressure cooker for potential entrepreneurs and is sparking increasing levels of interest, growing its number of participants since launching in 2018.

“Anyone with a big idea, from any background, can attend and pitch their idea to the other participants and get feedback straight away on whether the idea could potentially be a business,” he says.

“The event starts late afternoon on a Friday with a quick introduction, and then goes full-on from that moment, with mentors and other support people on hand to offer coaching and guidance all the way through,” he says.

Dingemans says while participants are mostly local to Queenstown, they come from all cultures, nationalities, walks of life, and ages, while some travel from all corners of New Zealand, and even Australia, to attend.

“Last year we had people from as young as 12 attend - accompanied by a parent - to the oldest who was nearly 70. And the quality of the pitches we heard from participants was just incredible,” he says.

The Queenstown Lakes region has birthed numerous successful startups in recent years, including the likes of First Table, High Performance Academy, Loaded, Teddy, Wherewolf, Kea Outdoors, Scannable and Matchfit. Dingemans says they hope Startup Weekend, along with other SQL programmes offered, will help foster the entrepreneurial spirit for further potential startup success stories.

“If you want to find out what it’s like to be an entrepreneur, while having an amazing experience working with other people who are looking to solve problems with big ideas, you will not find a better way to spend 54 hours than you will at this unique Startup Weekend.”

Early Bird tickets to the event are $119, which pays for all meals over the weekend. The price is intentionally affordable to encourage wide participation. Support funding comes from Queenstown Lake District Council, as well as Callaghan Innovation.

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