Ten Tauranga students are being given the chance to turn their dreams into reality with the Summer Start-Up Scholarship Programme.
The programme is an enterprise initiative developed in partnership between Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, the University of Waikato and Priority One, enabling studens to experience first-hand what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
The Tauranga project mirrors one that is being delivered in Hamilton by the university.
The Summer Start-Up Scholarship Programme gives students ten weeks of mentoring and $5000 towards developing their project or idea. They will receive the help of an expert "start-up" coach, expert advice and support where required and have access to a shared working space.
The students will work through a series of start-up modules customised to their own ideas, hear inspirational speakers, attend networking events and learn how to apply for seed funding. At the end of the ten-week programme they will pitch their project to a panel of sponsors.
Five students from Bay of Plenty Polytechnic were awarded a scholarship and will begin the programme in late November.
Dr Amanda Torr, academic director at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic said: "the quality of the project ideas presented were amazing and it was a difficult decision to just choose ten."
"We are really looking forward to seeing how the project develop over the ten weeks and helping the students take their ideas through to commercialisation. It is a great project to be involved in and a great example of collaboration between the partners to use our expertise and resources to benefit Tauranga."
At just 19-years-old, Sasha Turfrey is one of the youngest students to be awarded the scholarship. The year two culinary arts student started her studies with the Polytechnic in 2014, completing the Certificate in Cookery (Level 3) is now on her way to completing her NZ Diploma in Cookery (Level 5) in 2016. She was also awarded a silver medal in the prestigious 2015 Nestle Toque d'Or competition.
