Finalists of the $85K Startup Challenge

September 10, 2021
 min read


From left to right; Lucy, Luke, Duncan and Cameron from Vxt.

The $85K Startup Challenge is an annual competition run by Entré for students at Ara Institute of Technology, The University of Canterbury and Lincoln University. The event sees 20 student-led startup businesses compete for a share of $85,000 worth of prizes over the three month long competition.


The team behind Vxt were ecstatic to be announced as a finalist in the competition. From here the remaining 10 companies will further develop their business plans and pitch for the final presentation to the judges in late September.


Alongside Vxt as finalists of the competition are:

  • Bare Minimal Skin Care - Kayla Drummy
  • Forget-Me-Not - Kseniia Zahrai
  • Farm Solutions - James Tyrell & Bradley Wang
  • Foodies - Charlie Kavanagh & Hannah Baker
  • O.N. - Emma Pickup & Mikayla Haycock
  • Player One - David Huang
  • Salty Surf Cams -  Jack Andrews
  • Ticket Ninja - Max Young & Logan Fynn
  • Yo Vocal Mag - Java Katzur

Winners will be announced on October 2nd at the Entré's Annual Awards night which just so happens to be, the CEO of Vxt, Luke's birthday, so cross your fingers.

Finalists of the $85K Challenge 2019 (Kseniia Zahrai not pictured)

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