The Velocity $100k Challenge has helped start-ups find success on a global stage, and this year, six ventures scored a kick-start that could see ideas burgeon into businesses.
A cutting-edge agritech solution designed to benefit the health of cows scored a supersized cheque worth $25,000 and took out first place in the University of Auckland’s Velocity $100k Challenge on Wednesday 16 October 2024.
Liggins Institute research technician Elizabeth (Liz) Cunningham and her teammates, academic staff from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, Faculty of Engineering and the Liggins Institute, say their start-up idea, QuickMas, is about helping in the fight against antibiotic resistance in dairy cattle.
Cunningham was a dairy farmer based in Rotorua who had lost cows to mastitis and has a very personal connection to the problem. She currently works at the University’s Ngapouri Research Farm, which has facilitated world-class research and collaboration with scientists, academics and commercial partners.
She says QuickMas will help determine whether a cow has mastitis, what kind of infection it has, and whether it has responded to treatment.
“QuickMas delivers those answers in less than an hour.”
On top of their cheques, the team behind QuickMas, and all the winners, will also benefit from receiving a place in the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s incubator Venture Lab.
The six-month programme provides a unique opportunity for the teams to advance their start-up ideas, offering mentorship from industry leaders, meetings with entrepreneurial legends, free desk space, a stipend, and a paid student intern.
Meanwhile, second place and a $15,000 cheque went to the team behind ROSS, an AI-powered troubleshooting platform designed for the food and beverage manufacturing industry.
The platform enables engineers to efficiently resolve equipment breakdowns by accessing a global knowledge base, improving knowledge sharing, reducing downtime, and cutting operational costs without disrupting existing workflows.
Four teams tied for third, with each awarded $5,000 seed capital:
MoveInsight: An AI-powered badminton training app providing real-time motion analysis, personalised feedback and equipment recommendations. It helps badminton enthusiasts maintain consistent training quality and supports self-directed training. By using wearable devices and video, the app enhances skills, prevents injuries, and fills the gap in accessible sports technology worldwide.
Align: An AI digital tool designed for GPs. Using Gen-AI, it talks to the patient to gather information and produce a summary of the patient’s expectations and concerns for the consult, as well as a visualised summary of symptoms - enabling GPs to make the most of consultation time.
Harnessing Ocean Wave Energy for Sustainable Aquafarming: Aquaculture is a rapidly growing industry in New Zealand and globally, but clean energy supplies are lacking. The team propose using wave energy to provide small-scale power to aquafarms, enabling innovative and efficiency-increasing practices. Their ocean-tested wave energy converter offers a scalable and reliable solution for aquafarms.
RAPIDOSE: Despite medical advancements, clinicians still need to perform complex weight-based dosing during paediatric resuscitations, which can be prone to errors at a critical time. A study found three in 10 children were overdosed. RAPIDOSE offers a simple, effective solution to reduce errors, revolutionising paediatric emergency care and enhancing safety for clinicians and patients globally.
