Upstart jumpstarts young business ideas

A REMOTE showcase event celebrating the entrepreneurial and enterprising young people in 2020’s Upstart Challenge was held last week.

Loreto College year 10, Beth Wright is the city’s latest Upstart Young Entrepreneur of the Year; one of eight students from the region between grade 6 and year 10 who took part in four teams, developing business ideas.

The young people pitched their concepts to an expert judging panel online, including Sovereign Hill’s Sofia Fiusco and Buninyong and District Community Bank’s Ian Corcoran, as an audience from the community, their family, school and friends watched on.

Upstart founders and directors, Heather Kelly and Jenny Perks were also part of the decision-making, impressed by the participants “stepping up.”

“The challenge is normally teacher-led, but this year they handed a lot of that off to students to really run with it on their own, with their support where possible,” Ms Kelly said.

“We were thrilled to see the outputs of that. It’s quite a process that they’ve been working on throughout the year, and they adapted to the methodology well.

“In the global situation we have, innovation is key to a better future for everybody. We have to be resilient and adaptable; the things we try and impart to the young people.”

Ecolo was Beth’s idea, an app-based business which helps consumers of beauty brands understand how environmentally conscious and impactful particular products are.

Mount Rowan Secondary College year 10s, Mia Flynn and Zari Collin developed Sports4Kids, a program making school facilities more accessible to the community to encourage family activity and fitness.

Ballarat Grammar grade 6s, Eleanor Justin and Olivia Beechey created Team Rescue Watch, a wearable safety GPS for surfers and ocean swimmers.

Ms Perks said the students’ positivity and adaptability is to be admired.

“Critical thinking skills have never been more important. We all know how quickly the pace of change is accelerated, so to have students who have that thinking process and that resilience is important,” she said.