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Programme

Summer Startup Programme

16 September 2023

The UCE Summer Startup Programme is your opportunity to explore your ideas, transforming your passions into action, and launching your impact in the world. We help fast-track your ideas into action, helping you launch commercial ventures and social enterprises that create value in the world.

Over 10 action-packed weeks, we create a supportive environment that will help you to build and develop your entrepreneurial mindset, while providing with the capabilities and support to explore, validate, and launch your venture.

Providing you with the opportunity to build value and create impact in the world.

HOW TO APPLY

Register for your tickets to Summer Startup Showcase 2025

The 2024/25 Summer Startup Programme features a diverse range of 26 participants, whose venture ideas range from a bespoke series of a cold-brew coffee that alleviates the negative effects of caffeine, a phone that reduces doom-scrolling and enhances well-being, a range of shampoo and conditioner tablets that reduce packaging and waste for travellers, an automated bowling machine for aspiring cricket players, enhanced headgear protection for junior rugby players, and a device for making livestock vaccinations quicker, faster, and safer.

Find out more about the cohort here

Unleash your Ideas:Launch your Impact

About the Summer Startup Programme

The Programme provides you with a dedicated workspace and a community of founders at the UC Centre for Entrepreneurship. We’ll immerse you in an action-packed series of interactive workshops, inspiring speakers and industry experts, alongside connecting you with experienced mentors to accelerate and launch your venture.

Topics covered during the Programme include: 

  • Problem definition and market validation 

  • Customer value propositions and journey mapping

  • Business Fundamentals, revenue and cost models, Intellectual property, ... 

  • Minimum viable product development 

  • Pathways to market and commercialisation

  • Team building and time management 

  • Pitching 

At the culmination of the Summer Startup Programme, 10 ventures will be selected to pitch and showcase their venture ideas to a room-packed full of investors, startup advisors, mentors, and industry experts. Providing an opportunity for you to propel your idea into the world.

Key Dates for Summer Startup Programme 2024/25

The Summer Startup Programme kicks-off on Monday 11th November and runs through to until Wednesday 5th February 2024, with our acclaimed Summer Startup Showcase event.

Applications are open from Tuesday, 20th August, until midnight, Sunday, 22nd September 2024. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to turn your dreams into reality…

Key DatesActivity
Tuesday 20th August, 2024Applications Open
Sunday 22nd September,2024Applications close
Monday 30th September – Friday 4th October, 2024Applicant Interviews
Friday 11th October, 2024Successful Applicants notified
Monday 11th November, 2024SummerStartupProgramme starts
Friday 15th November, 2024Show Day (Public Holiday)
Saturday 14th December, 2024 – Sunday 5th January, 2025Christmas / New Year break
Monday 6th January, 2025SummerStartupprogramme re-starts
Wednesday 5th February, 2025SummerStartupShowcase event

What are we looking for in a Summer Startup Candidate?

  • A diversity of ideas 
  • Innovative concepts
  • Desirability, Viability, and Feasibility of ideas, alongside their potential to generate value in the world. 
  • How much impact the SummerStartupProgramme will have on youand your future! 

  • 18-20 ventures selected 

  • Any UC student with an idea, enrolled at least until the 18th of October 2024 can apply! 

  • Individuals or teams are welcome to apply to participate.

  • Selected participants are expected to be able to commit full-time to the development of their venture during the duration of the Summer Startup Programme. With the exception of the Christmas/New Year break, each weekday will feature an action-packed series of workshops, inspiring and industry expert speakers, and mentoring.

  • Any scholarships awarded are for ventures (not individuals), and teams will need to split scholarships between members at their own discretion. At-least one member from each team will be expected to participate full-time.

  • The Summer Startup Programme runs 9am – 3pm each weekday (with the exception of public holidays) between Monday 11th November – Friday 13th December 2024 and Monday 6th January – Wednesday 5th February 2025. Participants are expected to attend all speaker sessions and workshops where possible and to commit to working on the development of their venture outside of these times.

During the application process you will be asked questions relating to:

  • Your personal details including student id, area of study, and contact information.
  • Idea/Venture Name
  • Idea Summarye.g.overview of problem, solution, and unique value proposition and how it would be delivered/channels (500 words)
  • Who your idea serves?e.g.who will it benefit and create value for?(500 words)
  • Current statusof your idea?e.g.what progress have you made to date? Is your idea in ideation stage, product development/commercialisation stage?
  • Any IP considerations/ownership related to your venture? (itis fine if youdon’tknow yet)
  • Whatwould you personally like to gain fromparticipatingin the SummerStartupProgramme?(500 words)
  • Your career aspirations? (500 words)

*Note:If you have a team (ie. more than one person), you each need to apply separately but can reuse the answers to idea/venture specific questions. 

In conjunction with the programme, UCE has a limited number of Summer Startup Scholarships to offer students and to assist them with working on their ventures over the summer period.

Exact scholarship amounts are to be confirmed but are generally $5,000 - $6,000 for individual ventures and $8,000 - $9,000 for team-based ventures (2 or more participants).

Scholarship recipients must agree to 2024/25 Summer Startup Scholarship criteria and be present for at least 90% of the programme.

All applications for the Summer Startup Programme are automatically considered for the Scholarship. 

In 2023/2024, we supported a diverse range of 15 student ventures participating in the Summer Startup Programme. You can follow their journey on UCE social media channels and .

See our Summer Startup Programme 2023/24 Cohort Page for more information on our ventures.

If you want to find out more about the Summer Startup Programme, contact uce@canterbury.ac.nz 

or feel free to pop up and see us at UCE, Level 6, Rehua Building, سԹ.

Learn practical gems from local experts in weekly workshops and presentations. Examples of speakers include Rachel Alexander, owner of , who shared examples on how segmenting your audience enables you to understand and reach different audiences effectively. She talked about how to get insights to tailor messages activities to maximise conversion.

Our Alumni:

Over thelast 12 years the SummerStartupprogramme has been thestarting pointfor a host impact making entrepreneurs and ventures. Past alumni include:

  • Hannah Duder – co-founder of Indigo & Iris / Little Yellow Bird
  • Ben Scales and William Murrell –KiwiFibre
  • Chris Bacon & Jack Wood – Komodo Wellbeing
  • Luke Campbell & Lucy Turner–VXT
  • Monique Lau – Endosoothe
  • Emma Arvidson & Renee Tauwhare – Teiny

If you want to find out more about the Summer Startup Programme, contact uce@canterbury.ac.nz 

or feel free to pop up and see us at UCE, Level 6, Rehua Building, سԹ.

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