UC entrepreneurial hothouse to celebrate ten years

UC entrepreneurial hothouse to celebrate ten years of success

Innovative University of Canterbury entrepreneurial hothouse, entré, will celebrate its 10th anniversary next week with the return of one of its biggest success stories.

Entré is a not–for-profit organisation which encourages entrepreneurship and innovation amongst students in Canterbury with a series of annual competitions.

A function to celebrate entré’s anniversary milestone and the naming of its 2014 competition winners will be held nextWednesday, October 8.

US-based entrepreneur Guy Horrocks will be the guest speaker at the event. Horrocks won entré’s premier award in 2007 and is now CEO and co – founder of Carnival, a mobile marketing platform for brands to manage their mobile apps.

Carnival recently raised a US$2.4m investment from a range of international investors – including Google – and Horrocks was named the 2014 New Zealand Young Achiever of the Year at the NZ Hi- Tech Awards.

Dr. Rod Carr, Vice Chancellor of the University of Canterbury, noted that his association with entré pre-dated his appointment as Vice-Chancellor.

“I was a business mentor to the team “Thinking Cactus” which entered the competition in its first year – and went on to win the grand prize,” he said.

“Successive boards of student executives have taken on, built on and passed on a successful student led organisation for a decade. It is a privilege to be associated with innovation and inspiration, to see the contribution entre makes to promoting a world class learning environment and to see that contribution and success institutionalised for the benefit of future students. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of all those who have led and participated in entre over a decade,” he said.

The annual awards announcement is the pinnacle of the entré events calendar, according to Stew Whitehead, CEO of entré.

“This evening is really what the year comes down to, it is a great time to reflect on and reward all the successes that have been reached throughout the year,” he said.

“We are very excited and fortunate to have a number of VIPs attending, particularly, Guy Horrocks, who is making the trip over from the US especially for this event. It will be fantastic to have him back to where it all started for him."

Entré competition participants, alumni and key stakeholders will celebrate the success of students who have entered their various entré competitions throughout 2014 at the dinner. This will include the announcement of the winners of entré’s premier competition, the $85KChallenge. This offers entrants a chance to develop a business or start up venture, with the assistance of experienced mentors to help refine their ideas before pitching to entré’s panel of judges for a share of $85,000 worth of prizes.

ENDS

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