Success Stories

Although the echallenge is only in its fifth year, winners from previous years have done extremely well in further developing their business ideas. Several of last year's finalists are pursuing commercialisation opportunities for their ideas.

Vinetology

Vinetology’s product is a service to replace hand pruning of premium grapes. The product combines proven mobile military grade robotic equipment with proprietary cutting edge computer vision software to provide an automated robotic precision pruning service for premium grape growers.

“We are committed towards commercialisation of our concept which has had exceptional industry acceptance. We aim to bring the Vinetology vision of an automated vine pruning service to a commercial reality within 2 years. We have recently purchased the vision hardware required for the concept (with the funds received from our e-challenge win) and are busy setting about finalising the software. We have been in discussions regarding the partnering of our technology with well known / proven mechanical manufacturers.”

Where are they Now?
Vinetology was created to fill a need in the global wine industry. The global wine surplus and increasingly difficult to source labour requirements have diminished grape growers returns. The Vinetology service will use robotic technology to precisely prune premium grapevines. During the echallenge Vinetology’s mentor Bob Walter introduced the team to the Viticulture and Purchasing Manager at Yalumba, this provided them with exposure to the needs of their future clients.

The media exposure we received from our win at the echallenge provided us with global interest. Shortly after winning we met with the VP of Viticulture for E&J Gallo, the largest producer of wine in America. The publicity has also sparked the interest of several manufactures. We have had positive commercial discussions from a world leader in cutting head technology and are also progressing discussions with a local viticulture outfit in South Australia.

echallenge grand final judge and Director of Playford Capital Peter Williams has given Vinetology some excellent guidance in dealing with potential partners and expressed Playford's interest in their project. Professor Noel Lindsay has provided invaluable mentoring and assistance in developing the business plan. The process of competing in the echallenge has led us to be well researched, prepared and advised as we move to the completition of the software ready to begin building the first prototype.

Enviro Air

Enviro Air has developed an innovative technology which filters and warms air with the result of alleviating respiratory illnesses.

This unique technology will be marketed to people suffering from respiratory and breathing problems, such as asthma. It will be targeted at the elderly and children, in particular.

We propose to license the intellectual property we have developed to a corporation already in the air heating/filtering industry, who would then have either exclusive or non-exclusive rights to manufacture and sell our product concept at the retail level using already established distribution chains.

Where are they Now?
The Enviro Air team is currently pursuing potential investors and manufacturers both on a national and international basis (a member of the team is currently touring the United States of America).

Faibelle

Faibelle is currently a range of skincare and salon treatments, backed by a same-branded undergaraduate beauty college, that have been used and adored for 20 years on a small scale. Faibelle will sell a range of custom-made natural skin-care products and specialised skincare services exclusively in ‘Faibelle’ concept beauty salons.

Faibelle products and the’ Faibelle’ concept take a new approach in the luxury salon skincare market by uniquely combining a number of industry service techniques, sale strategies, staff education and company ideology. Faibelle offers competitive advantages on a number of levels. After a careful , individual scientific skin analysis, each Faibelle skincare products are custom designed to perfectly match an individual client’s skincare needs, while they wait in-store. Faibelle’s competitive advantage also spans into product inventory, costing, staff education, customer relations management and the unique advantage of time, as the products have been developed and tested in the market for the past 20 years.

Where are they now?
Faibelle has a solid outlook to expand nationally and internationally in the future, after consolidating success with a replicable concept in the small and conservative South Australian Market. Faibelle were the winners of the Advertiser ‘Market ready Award’ which has given them $10,000 worth of advertising space in The Advertiser and $2000 cash.

Purely

Purely aim to produce a range of organic cotton, non toxic underwear that uses clean organic cotton and clean processing methodology to produce its Pure Eve labels. The range is free from pesticides residue, harmful carcinogenic dyes and synthetic fabric chemicals used in conventional underwear products, providing individuals with an underwear solution that not only looks good and is good for them, but also good for the environment.