eChallenge Hall of Fame
eChallenge winners and participants from previous years have done extremely well in further developing their business ideas, with several participants pursuing commercialisation opportunities.
South Australian Biofuels | LEAPIN | Saxony's SMS | eSMART 21 | ProScales | Microbric | Track To Track
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South Australian Biofuels2010 eChallenge First Place, the Vroom Prize, Best Business Plan Prize, People's Choice Award and the Best Technology Commercialisation Prize South Australian Biofuels is a company dedicated to improving the environment by creating technology to produce a cleaner and more renewable fuel which can be used today and years to come. At South Australian Biofuels we have developed and built a portable biodiesel unit called the Bio-Ultra, this unit can produce a renewable fuel which is a direct replacement for diesel from plant oils. The Bio-Ultra is currently being trialled by Yarrock Farms which is located in Kaniva Victoria. They are currently processing 12,000 litres of mustard seed oil into biodiesel. This is the first farm base trial for the Bio-Ultra, these trials will allow us to refine our design and fully calculate how much time and money a farmer is required to spend on producing enough fuel to power their farm. South Australian Biofuels comprise of two directors Morgan Hunter and Paul Field, the founding members of the company. Since December the company has grown to include a Business director Glen Wheatley (former mentor in the eChallenge) and our finance and marketing manager Byron Patterson (eChallenge team member). With the additional team members we are now proficient in all aspects of business from the technical nuts and bolts right through to marketing and finance. From the eChallenge South Australian Biofuels have become a better and more focused company. The eChallenge gave myself (Morgan Hunter) a better understanding on some important features of running a business like marketing, IP protection and selling an idea. It also allowed the company to divert from 100% technical foundation into a more diverse well rounded one, teaming up with Byron who brought a large knowledge of finance and marketing to the table. This extra knowledge allowed us to move from a business plan with a good idea into a fully functioning business. The main benefit from my point of view was that the eChallenge allowed us to interact with our peers and allow us to push our concept and ideas onto the public and able to get feedback from them. From the interest and positive feedback I got from the show case it stirred up more determination to get our product and ideas out to market as soon as possible and that's what we have done. Since the awards night we have been working with farmers and Yarrock Farms to get our first demonstration unit out so people and potential customers can see it. We have been to two field days so far one in Victoria and the other here in South Australia with one latter in the year Paskeville which should be our biggest so far. For the field days we have had some positive feedback and interest in our unit, it also allowed us to see how our unit fits into the big scheme of things on a farm. We found out our unit is to powerful (produces too much fuel) for most farmers so we are currently developing a smaller unit, which can service 1-2 farms not 10-15 like our original unit. We have had some interest from the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) in acquiring a unit so they can process algae oil into biodiesel. Also we are in talks with Flinders Island Council to supply some units to produce biodiesel as a cleaner way of producing the islands power. |
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LEAPIN (formally EASELOCK)2010 Piper Alderman Prize and the John Heine Prize LEAPIN - Remote Access Control Systems, formally EASELOCK, stands for Locks Electronically Actuated with Personal Identification Numbers. LEAPIN provides secure, easy-to-use, instant, limited access, anytime, anywhere, online. Founded in 2007, LEAPIN worked with Kaba Ilco, a global leader in lock manufacturing, to develop its innovative cloud-based property management systems. In 2011, LEAPIN won international awards and recognition, including Australian Government Investment funding. Keep up to date with LEAPIN news. |
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Saxony's SMS2009 eChallenge First Place, the People's Choice Award and the Advertiser "Market Ready" Award Saxony's SMS presents a new advertising medium for surfwear retailers. Advertising messages go straight to the mobile phone screens of surfers, kitesurfers and other sports enthusiasts in fun way. Deciding when to get in the car to go to the beach is often the biggest decision faced when going surfing. Is the surf up? Will I wear my bikini or my wetsuit? Will I waste my petrol money? Rather than check the internet from the office every hour of the day to see when conditions are "on", surfers just let Saxony, a computer-savvy surfer girl who knows everything there is to know about conditions, tell them via a text message. Every surf condition imaginable can be individually tailored and Saxony will only text when these conditions are "on". It's free to sign up to four free texts per month with included ads for surf-wear specials. Advertisers can direct messages to specific demographics and geographies with unmatched ease using the concept. Please email Saxony for more information. Since surfing a wave of success at the eChallenge, the Saxony's team was also the beneficiary of a State Government (Department of Trade and Economic Development) Creative Industries Start Grant. Both the eChallenge and the Grant have played a significant role in helping the business go beyond just a "good idea". The capital has been used successfully in technology development and audience trials in 2010 to refine the concept and build a technology portfolio able to deliver the concept to market. 2011 is seeing the completion of this work. The next move for Saxony is growing an audience base of local beach goers and working closely with local retailers, such as the team at OnBoard Surf, Glenelg, who have been supportive from the early days. Mentoring from eChallenge sponsors will be of great value as Saxony enters commercialisation. The eChallenge has provided the Saxony team with an abundance of good advice. Specifically, the mentor programme and other contacts from the sponsors continue to provide impetus to push the "good idea" from concept to commercial success. |
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eSMART 212009 eChallenge Semi-Finalist eSMART 21 began in July 2009 through its participation in eChallenge. |
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ProScales2008 eChallenge First Place and the Vroom Prize Whilst entrepreneur Stephen Heaney was working in the food industry, he was so frustrated at the lack of quality food labelling systems available on the market; he decided to create his own. Enlisting the help of IT expert, Aaron Green, to design the labelling software, the pair soon had a strong business partnership, a growing list of customers and ProScales Pty Ltd was born. In the hands of two such innate entrepreneurs, the future of food labelling was certain to be headed for a rapid transformation. The two devised an innovation which they named `AdPro’ – a method for printing advertising and contextual information on a label. Believing in the ideas potential, they decided to enter the eChallenge Along with Matthew Welling, Information Technology graduate and Ammi Trainor, Marketing Manager, to round out the team, the four went on to win the competition and never look back. “The whole process from education to pitch made us constantly challenge and finesse our idea,” says Aaron Green. “The feedback from industry experts was invaluable. These are people who have done business on a scale which was initially mind blowing to us, but we now see as being within our reach, thanks to their support,” he says. Also taking out the Vroom Prize for Best Technology Commercialisation, the team believe the eChallenge program is vital in supporting young entrepreneurs fulfil their dream. “A lot of the time we look back and wonder where we would be now if wasn’t for the assistance of the E-Challenge,” says Stephen Heaney. “Adelaide is the one of the world’s best business destinations, and is home to some of the most innovative businesses in the country. The ECIC and the eChallenge program ensure that we are supporting the growth of entrepreneurialism in this state,” he says. With customers throughout Australia now using their LabelPro weighing and labelling software, ProScales recently turned their attention to commercialising the AdPro technology. They have just completed a 3 month trial, testing the technology within a real retail environment of an existing customer. The preliminary results of the study are exciting, showing strong positive trends in key areas such as increased sales, increase in average items per basket, movement of customers towards store cold spots and clearance of fresh food items. The AdPro concept compliments the recent growing focus on fresh food within the grocery industry as well as the rising trend of coupon usage in Australia. The coupons not only capture consumers during the powerful buying phase, but can also be used to encourage return visits by offering a constant visual reminder after purchase. ProScales is currently a tenent at the University of Adelaide's Business Incubator, (ThIncLab) managed by the ECIC. |
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Microbric2004 eChallenge Second Place "eChallenge was a very important part of Microbric’s success", Microbric's founder Brenton O'Brien says. "Through the competition I met Playford Capital, who made an investment in Microbric, as well as Microbric’s largest customer to date, The Adelaide Advertiser. The Adelaide Advertiser and Microbric launched two successful campaigns, the I-BOT and Ai2 collectable robots. In total over 60,000 robots were sold and Microbric received media coverage that was previously inconceivable. Microbric has gone on to launch products into Dick Smith Electronics and collaborate with ‘Revolution Education’ a UK company to produce the Microbot robot, which is currently exported to the UK, Europe and North American markets." "Microbric’s success was made possible through the University of Adelaide's eChallenge and I would encourage anyone with a novel and practical business idea to apply and be part of this fantastic competition." Microbric featured on the ABC television show New Inventors on 12 May 2004. |
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Track To Track2004 eChallenge Third Place Track To Track is Australia's premier racehorse trading magazine founded by an eChallenge participant and young Adelaide entrepreneur, Penny Verco. Penny was able to develop her business idea for Track To Track through her participation in the 2004 eChallenge. Her success in the eChallenge provided Penny with a grant which allowed her to launch her business in 2005. Track To Track has proved immensely successful with an average monthly subscription of 12,000 readers. In May 2010 the magazine launched its 60th issue. For more information about Penny Verco and to find out how how she drew on her experience with eChallenge to develop her business, please see page 46-48 in the 60th edition of Track to Track. |
