More than 50 students from Curtin and UWA were hosted at the Bentley campus from 22 to 24 March for our annual Curtin x Bloom Student Startup Weekend which provides participants with an exciting entry into the world of startups.

Over an action-packed three days participants were mentored by entrepreneurs from the local tech and startup community. Six teams were formed to brainstorm innovative commercial solutions for real world problems including:

• 💕 Dated: A new dating platform that takes the guess work out of setting that first date.
• 🤖 AI Language Learning: An intuitive AI powered app for learning new languages.
• 💸 SheInvests: A community education program for encouraging an investor mindset in young women.
• ✈️ TravelBuddi: A digital safety companion for travellers.
• 👗 Rephase: A sustainable alternative to fast fashion and fashion pollution.
• 🩸 Femfree: A novel approach to funding free sanitary products for women across the world using advertising.

The weekend culminated in the final pitch competition to judges Humyn.ai founder Holly Bridgwater, She Codes Australia founder and Curtin alumna Kate Kirwin, Integral Chief Product Officer – Director Jeroen van Dalen and MindsDB Head of Growth Iain McIntyre, which saw AI Language Learning, Dated and SheInvests taking the first, second and third prizes respectively.

Thank you to the Curtin Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship’s Anna Lee, Danelle Cross, and Maya Kavanagh, as well as the Bloom team for facilitating such a successful weekend!