Online money lending takes top prize

Media Release
21 September 2007

Online money lending takes top prize at Entrepreneurship Challenge

An online marketplace that sidesteps the banks, allowing people to lend and borrow directly with each other, claimed the top prize at the Spark $40K Challenge at The University of Auckland Business School last night (Thursday, September 20).

‘Nexx’ went home with $20,000 in seed funding and a nine month tenancy at The ICEHOUSE business incubator, valued at $10,000.

The Spark Entrepreneurship Challenge arms University staff and students with the tools to turn promising research and business ideas into commercial ventures. More than $60,000 in cash and prizes was handed out last night.

Nexx applies the social networking concept of websites like MySpace and YouTube to the world of finance. Borrowers list their financial projects online (www.nexx.co.nz), and lenders pledge funds and interest rates via an auction, cutting banks and finance companies out of transactions.

Nexx team members Ben Milsom, Glenn Riddell, James Wallace and Mark Catley are all University of Auckland students.

A record 80 entries were submitted to the $40K Challenge this year. The top twelve qualifiers received intensive mentoring and training to develop their idea before the winner was selected.

Spark $40k runner-up ‘Nerian’ received $10,000 in start-up capital. Nerian is a venture by researchers from the School of Biological Sciences which isolates the healthy antioxidants in red wine and puts them in a range of value-adding products.

The Spark Aspire Challenge winner ‘Dynamic Water Solutions’ received $5000 for an idea to achieve environmental or social change. This team has designed a device to detect the presence of Didymo, an invasive freshwater alga threatening New Zealand waterways.

Spark Chief Executive Darsel Keane says the competition draws out the creative ideas brewing beneath the surface at the University.

“Many of the previous Spark winners have gone on to be great commercial successes. We firmly believe that encouraging brilliant people to think with an entrepreneurial mindset has a flow-on effect into the business community and the New Zealand economy,” Miss Keane says.

Spark is a student-led initiative run in conjunction with The University of Auckland Business School and The ICEHOUSE business incubator. Its major sponsors are ASB Bank, No.8 Ventures, NZTE and UniServices.

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