An event hosted by the New Venture Institute has celebrated innovation in business and announced the 2015 Flinders Business Plan Competition winners across three categories.

The night included a presentation from one of NVI’s mentors and previous participant in the Venture Dorm powered by Mega program, Abbie Allen.

Professor Phyllis Tharenou, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Science and Interim Dean of Flinders Business School presented the prizes, which this year offered  a cash prize to put towards startup costs as well as services from advisory firm BDO.

The winner of the Undergraduate and TAFE category was Finch Composites. Their product was high-performance carbon fibre disc-brake cycling wheels for enthusiast and professional cyclists. The team was Ben Tripodi and Brodie Syrus.

The winner of the Staff and postgraduate students at Flinders category was Remotele. Remotele is a software platform for medical wearables, designed to detect heart attacks before they happen by employing predictive algorithms. Toms Berzins was a solo entry.

The Alumni of the New Venture Institute category, for those who have been through the lean startup model, Venture Dorm, was won by Park Mate. Park Mate is an app that provides three major functions: a parking information search engine, a mobile payment system and a car park advertising platform. The team comprised Melanie Miller, John Wang, Sarmad Al-Kufiash and Sebastian Roldan.

Special guests at the evening included Mr Nick Begakis, Chair of the New Venture Institute Advisory Council, and Deputy Chancellor Mr Stephen Hains.