Circular Lifestyle Hackathon
Startup Weekend Global edition | June 14–16, 2019
In collaboration with TechStars, Explorium Hong Kong hosted it’s first ever Startup Weekend for the Global edition — Circular Lifestyle.
The event saw 45 participants coming from various backgrounds, such as education, design, business management, sustainability and data analytics. More than 50% of the participants attended to learn a new skill such as Entrepreneurship, while 30% of participants attended to build a startup of their own.
Day 1 saw individual pitches of attendees, where they bought forth their ideas in hopes of making it a reality. The top 6 ideas were then voted, to be taken forward and executed over the weekend. One of them being our very own In-Resident, Celine Russell, with an idea to start an e-commerce fashion brand.
1. EcoRating — A sustainability rating agency that create ESG ratings for corporate and investors
2. House of Rebirth — An upcycling startup that wants to create a circular fashion lifestyle
3. FoodXpire — A e-commerce platform for soon-to-expire produce
4. Go Flow — A retro-fit that goes into kayaks and canoes that aims to clean the river while doing water activities
5. Ecosmart — A community-based waste collection project
6. Synerge — A system that creates clean energy, enhances human health and promotes sustainability. Human Kinetic energy is converted into electricity, rewarding people for their efforts.
From testing with customers, to conducting filed research and rapidly prototyping their ideas, teams went through constantly catering to a ‘Circular’ mindset and impact on the eco-system.
To truly make this an impactful event and be more aware of the waste that we create, the team created a “waste jar” under the guidance of Eco-preneur Aigul Safiullina. The waste jar was a transparent jar where participants could collectively see the waste that the group created throughout the 3 days, serving as a reminder for participants to take action and minimize waste. Workshop exercises were also created on a digital platform so use of post-its and paper were kept to a minimum.
“Organizing a green event in Hong Kong is still a challenge. We were lucky to collaborate with Explorium HK to make this event a green event and leave only great memories, not just footprints. The Explorium space was also a great enabler for keeping in line with sustainability best practices, to recycle and reuse. We look forward to collaborating with Explorium HK in the future and continue to champion this great cause in our community. ” — Aigul Safiullina, Eco-preneur
The team also made a conscious effort to sort trash separating paper, food waste, cans and bottles in different trash bins over the weekend. The workshop exercises were also created for digital application so use of post-its and paper were kept to a minimum. Each day started with yoga and breathing exercises to promote a healthy mind and body.
Sunday saw final pitches of teams, overlooked by a panel of 4 judges — Jonathan Salmon, Senior Sustainability Manager, Li & Fung; Lionel Gommery, Manager, Veolia; Aigul Safiullina, Eco-preneur
“The pitch presentations at Startup Weekend were very good — the teams had brilliant ideas, some that could actually make a difference. It was also interesting to meet the Hong Kong community exploring ideas such as circularity to create a better future. I hope to see more sustainability related events at the Explorium!” — Jonathan Salmon, Senior Sustainability Manager
The emerging winning team was Synerge — A system that creates clean energy, enhances human health and promotes sustainability. Human Kinetic energy is converted into electricity, rewarding people for their efforts. Thereafter, they can purchase sustainable goods at discounted prices. Thus, creating a sustainable circular lifestyle.
As part of the Global edition, the winners of this Startup Weekend have a chance to compete online globally where each local winner pitch their idea in a one minute video. The best projects elected by the public and the jury will get special prizes to help them launch their startups in real life.
Synerge is currently in conversation to be in-residence at Explorium Hong Kong for the next few weeks to work on their winning prototype. They will be representing Hong Kong’s winner at the Global Pitches and have currently 129 votes. If you would like to vote for them, and see their startup being actualized, you can vote for them here: https://global-sustainable-revolution.com/
For more information on this event or to learn about other sustainable programs at Explorium, please contact hello@explorium.hk
