MEDIA RELEASE
13 September 2016
Guild congratulates kiwi winners of Australia’s National Student Business Plan Competition
The Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand congratulates the team from the University of Auckland who won the Pharmacy Guild of
Australia’s National Student Business Plan Competition.
The winning team of Akhila Puthigae, Surbhi Patel, Philip Cabasag and Sean Turner won with their fictitious NaturEd
Pharmacy. NaturEd Pharmacy is based in Rotorua, and features a multilingual EduCare program which revolutionises health
literacy and patient education.
The team were declared the competition winners at the 2016 Pharmacy Connect conference in Sydney over the weekend. The
two runners-up were Eye Scream for Eye Screens from the University of Technology Sydney, and One Life Pharmacy from the
University of Sydney.
The three finalists, from a total of 16 entries, successfully progressed through the business plan, quarter-final and
semi-final rounds.
They had to complete financial quizzes, write short answer essays about business finance and operations, and pitch their
business ideas to the judges before being selected to pitch to the Pharmacy Connect conference delegates.
Following the live pitches, each team met with the judging panel to answer some post-pitch questions about their
business.
The National Student Business Plan Competition is an initiative of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia designed to promote
creative entrepreneurship among pharmacy students and encourage the development of viable, innovative, pharmacist-owned
community pharmacies.
The competition is open to all pharmacy schools across Australia and New Zealand and provides $15,000 in cash prizes to
the finalists, a portion of which goes directly to the participating schools of pharmacy who produce the top three teams
each year.
ENDS