Startup hopefuls state their case

52 hopefuls will put forward a business case to a panel of tech-savvy judges. Photo / Thinkstock

Auckland's budding entrepreneurs are seeing if their bright ideas make the cut at the country's inaugural Startup Weekend.

Over the next two days, 52 hopefuls will test, develop and hone their plans for new web-based companies and put forward a business case to a panel of tech-savvy judges.

The event kicked off last night at Karangahape Rd's Ironbank building with guest speakers giving the group advice on how to pitch business ideas and get a solid proposal together. The competitors then voted on the most promising ideas that participants had brought with them and split off into groups to begin the weekend's work.

They will have until 7pm tomorrow to get their concept into the best shape possible before presenting to the judges and other competitors.

Startup Weekend is about giving people with good ideas the experience of putting a business plan into action and confronting and solving the problems that startup firms face, said organiser Jason Armishaw.

"It's a great place for first time [entrepreneurs] or those who have got an idea and don't know where to start to jump into it and see what the realities of a startup business are like. For others it's about networking and working with like-minded individuals."

Startup Weekend was founded in Colorado in 2007 and since then 300 different events have been held in almost 40 countries.

It is also gaining momentum; it received investment last September from the American investors the Kauffman Foundation and Forbes hat-tipped Startup Weekend as a "name you need to know" in 2011.

There has been strong interest in the Auckland event and Armishaw said that others might run in Wellington and Dunedin.