Startup Weekend Global: Inspiring stories from our global winners
On 20th November, we held a final pitch session for Startup Weekend Global 2021 where the top 12 teams pitched their ideas in front of our panel of judges!
Over 9 days, 1000+ hustlers, designers, and developers from 80+ countries came together to learn, hack and build ideas that can change the world.
This year, teams were working on sustainability ideas, redefining the future of work in a post-COVID era, finding inclusive ways to contribute to women’s development, and protecting vulnerable communities.
It is amazing to see how Startup Weekend brought together the wildest and craziest startups and tech enthusiasts in one place to develop, launch, test, and validate their ideas to create an impact.
We interviewed our four winning teams to get more insights into their Startup Weekend digital journey. They came from all across the globe — including UAE, Singapore, Italy, Indonesia, Kenya, Australia, Nepal, UK, India, Canada, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and more, to have their ideas heard by the rest of the world.
Meet Ferticlay (Grand Champions), Teach80 (Second Prize), Rimo (Third Prize) and Tawi Space (Impact Prize):
What do you think of the whole Startup Weekend experience?
Rimo: I think that Startup Weekend really pushed us to do what we have not done before and simply learn by doing. I might have had one of the biggest transformative experiences because I came in as a high school student and I have no knowledge at all in business or design, or marketing. But through a very, very supportive team, and through a lot of self-exploration, I managed to learn a lot. There was a lot of support for us and also a lot of room for creativity..
Ferticlay: Honestly, I came in and I didn’t really expect to win. I just wanted to learn, because it’s my first time coming to this kind of event. I managed to meet people that I can learn a lot from, my team members, mentors, and facilitators. As I didn’t come from a business background, such experience pushed me to try new things. So I think it was a very insightful and rounded experience.
Tawi Space: I think that’s the whole point about such a hackathon is to give a try to you and your ideas. You meet cool products, cool people, and really find out what exactly can be can be good business ideas that you can actually bring to life. In the mentorship sessions, you are taught to validate all the time. We all have lots of ideas, but most of them are not feasible and such events give us a chance to test our ideas.
What did you like most about your Startup Weekend digital journey?
Rimo: I think that this Startup Weekend is great, because it’s so accessible for everyone, especially for me, as there are no Startup Weekends here available in the Philippines, as far as I know. So participants from anywhere can join since it’s easily accessible, and it’s also free. And also by bringing all the people together with different backgrounds, from different parts of the world we can actually see the problem from different angles and find better solutions.
Tawi Space: What I liked most was the way things were organized. That’s like the most efficient system that I’ve ever seen which goes from day one to the last day. You’ll see all the information there you can click and find recordings. I also appreciate the help from mentors. I asked around 100 questions and they really helped me to clarify all my ideas before going out.
How did you come up with your idea?
Teach80: A while ago, my sister and I taught coding classes on a Facebook Livestream, and during this event, we realized that children from lower-income families weren’t able to afford to pay for additional courses for their children. So we were wondering what we could do to help them get a more supplemented education. Thus we want to provide affordable professional-level tutoring for everybody, regardless of how much their family earns.
Ferticlay: I’ve already always been interested in sustainability and I was raised with a mindset that instead of buying things you need to find better ways for its second use. We wanted to explore how we can actually scale up the idea of reusing things, but also make it easily accessible for everyone.
Tawi Space: My main inspiration essentially comes from my personal experience. Recently there was an Early Mental Health Awareness Month here in Kenya and I’ve been thinking about some project on mental health. I also lost my friend due to mental health issues and it was really devastating for me. Thus I came with a thought that this should be a challenge for me to solve.
Rimo: So originally, the idea came from when I was back in South Africa. There’s a lot of students who have to study for their finals, but sometimes there could be an electricity shutdown and no Wi-Fi. And I thought that we need spaces that are easily accessible, always open, work late hours, and meet personal requirements and preferences. Thus we created an app that allows people to find working spaces.
What advice would you give to other Startup Weekend participants or people who are interested in participating in the weekend?
Teach80: I think that it is not so much about the idea but rather about the problem statement. You need to be really passionate about that problem that you’re trying to solve and find a solution that fits that problem really well. Your idea needs to be real and implementable to life.
Ferticlay: I think it’s good to find a very, very good problem that you’re really passionate about. A lot of times we didn’t want to do several things as it seemed not sustainable enough for us. Thus it’s good to create ideas that keep the entire value alignment in the team itself, which I think it’s very good to have.
Tawi Space: Just being open-minded, nimble, and flexible. Imagine you’re like an empty cup and you’re filling yourself with knowledge through multiple experiences. Be also open to understanding other people. There could be some communication challenges, because we are all from different places, have different backgrounds, but you have to learn how to work with different people. So be open-minded and learn.
We at Startup Weekend believe that teamwork and collaboration drives innovation. We hope that you will continue to develop tomorrow’s future beyond your Startup Weekend journey. Show some love to your community by supporting your local Startup Weekend initiatives in your country!
