Program Overview

Introduction to the Summer Startup Programme

The Summer Startup Programme is an initiative of the Centre for Entrepreneurship (UCE) at the University of Canterbury, designed to support students in transforming their ideas into action and launching their impact in the world. This programme provides a supportive environment where participants can build and develop their entrepreneurial mindset, explore, validate, and launch their ventures.

Programme Overview

The Summer Startup Programme is a 10-week programme that kicks off on Monday, 10th November, and runs until Wednesday, 4th February. It includes an action-packed series of interactive workshops, inspiring speakers, and industry experts, alongside connecting participants with experienced mentors to accelerate and launch their ventures.

Topics Covered

Topics covered during the programme include:

• Problem definition and market validation
• Customer value propositions and journey mapping
• Business fundamentals, revenue, and cost models, intellectual property
• Minimum viable product development
• Pathways to market and commercialization
• Team building and time management
• Pitching

Key Dates

Key dates for the Summer Startup Programme 2025/26 are as follows:

• Monday, 9th June 2025: Applications open
• Sunday, 14th September 2025: Applications close
• Friday, 19th September 2025: Short-listed applicants notified
• Monday, 22nd September Friday, 26th September 2025: Applicant interviews
• Tuesday, 30th September 2025: Successful applicants notified
• Monday, 10th November 2025: Summer Startup Programme starts
• Friday, 14th November 2025: Show Day (public holiday)
• Saturday, 13th December 2025 Sunday, 4th January 2026: Christmas/New Year break
• Monday, 5th January 2026: Summer Startup programme re-starts
• Wednesday, 4th February 2026: Summer Startup Showcase event

What We Are Looking For

In a Summer Startup candidate, we are looking for:

• A diversity of ideas
• Innovative concepts
• Desirability, viability, and feasibility of ideas, alongside their potential to generate value in the world
• How much impact the Summer Startup Programme will have on the candidate and their future

Key Information

• 18-20 ventures are selected
• Any UC student with an idea, enrolled until at least the 17th of October 2025, can apply
• Individuals or teams are welcome to apply to participate
• Selected participants are expected to be able to commit full-time to the development of their venture during the duration of the Summer Startup Programme
• With the exception of the Christmas/New Year break, each weekday will feature an action-packed series of workshops, inspiring and industry expert speakers, and mentoring

Preparing Your Application

During the application process, candidates will be asked questions relating to:

• Personal details, including student ID, area of study, and contact information
• Idea/Venture Name
• Idea Summary, e.g., overview of problem, solution, and unique value proposition and how it would be delivered/channels (500 words)
• Who the idea serves, e.g., who will it benefit and create value for? (500 words)
• Current status of the idea, e.g., what progress has been made to date? Is the idea in the ideation stage, product development/commercialization stage?
• Any IP considerations/ownership related to the venture
• What the candidate would personally like to gain from participating in the Summer Startup Programme? (500 words)
• Career aspirations? (500 words)

Scholarships

In conjunction with the programme, UCE has a limited number of Summer Startup Scholarships to offer students to assist them with working on their ventures over the summer period. Exact scholarship amounts are to be confirmed but are generally $5,000 - $6,000 for individual ventures and $8,000 - $9,000 for team-based ventures.

Alumni

Over the last 12 years, the Summer Startup programme has been the starting point for a host of impact-making entrepreneurs and ventures. Past alumni include:

• Hannah Duder co-founder of Indigo & Iris / Little Yellow Bird
• Ben Scales and William Murrell KiwiFibre
• Chris Bacon & Jack Wood Komodo Wellbeing
• Luke Campbell & Lucy Turner VXT
• Monique Lau Endosoothe
• Emma Arvidson & Renee Tauwhare Teiny