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National | Business

Top Māori entrepreneurs take out inaugural "DigMyIdea" contest

"DigMyIdea" is a new contest which calls for entrepreneurs with great ideas to build digital ideas and businesses with the potential to go global.

The idea was sparked by Ngā Pū Wāea (The National Māori Broadband Working Group) in an effort to build Māori capacity in the digital environment.

This year over 130 people entered the competition, submitting almost 100 fresh new ideas.

There was broad range of proposed ideas from apps and websites, to enhancing traditional businesses by adding a digital element, however only the top 3 ideas were successful.

Ngāi Tahu descendent, Brittany Teei won the mauri tū category (for people 19 years and over), pitching KidsCoin - a software program that teaches successful money management skills to students.

Two ideas were selected as joint winners in the mauri oho category for 15-18 year olds.

The first was an idea pitched by Josh Arnold from Ngāpuhi called “Hang”. Hang is an app which encourages users to socialise with their friends in real life

The second idea pitched by Winirangi Nicolas, Tainakore Tapaiata and Ripeka Nicholas was “Kokiri Digital”, a digital consultancy for small and medium companies.

The winning teams and individuals will receive prizes comprising a business start-up services package and support to the value of $10,000, tailored to their needs in order to help turn their ideas into reality, and technology packages from Dick Smith and 2Degrees.

For more details on the DigMyIdea Māori Innovation Challenge visit www.digmyidea.nz.