THE GOLD COAST 'STARTS UP' THIS WEEKEND

STARTUP Weekend will take place this weekend at Varsity Lakes, an event where participants have the opportunity to build a business in 54 hours.

This is the sixth time the Gold Coast has played host to Startup Weekend, which is designed to provide experiential education to technical and non-technical entrepreneurs of any age.

The event, held at WOTSO WorkSpace, has been timed to coincide with the Global Startup Battle, giving the Gold Coast an opportunity to compete against 250 cities in 85 countries in the world's largest startup competition.

Lead organiser Aaron Birkby, who is the co-founder of Gold Coast startup incubator Silicon Lakes, says everyone is welcome to take part or observe the experience. Pitches begin Friday night and the event concludes with demos and presentations on Sunday night.

"It doesn't matter if you are 8 or 80, if you have idea that you would like to bring to life, we encourage you to come along and pitch it on Friday night," says Birkby.

"All attendees vote for their favourite ideas and working teams are formed around those with the most votes.  These teams then spend the weekend validating and launching the business."

Wunderwalk, Parkfit and Distractless are just a few of the businesses launched at Startup Weekend that have gone on to have local and international success.

Ian Dukta, Founder of Distractless, says Startup Weekend turned his seed idea into a business two years ago, when he recruited a team from the event's audience.

He has just gone to market with Distractless, a product that disables the driver's phone when the car is operating. 

"Without the wonderful people and the mentors I met at start up weekend none of it would have been possible, it would have just been an idea that never went anywhere," says Dukta.

For more information visit: http://www.up.co/communities/australia/queensland/startup-weekend/7273