Lyna Mohamad
Team Brunify was not only placed first at the LiveWIRE Hackathon but also won the Special Project Award by Progresif Sdn Bhd as the three-day competition concluded yesterday.
Brunify participated along with five other teams, Bangun, Studapp, Green Tech, SWO Tech and Gene Six selected for the Pitch Day.
The hackathon at the Banquet Hall of the Progresif headquarters building starting on Friday and concluded yesterday with the pitching event. Progresif and DARe (Darussalam Enterprise) supported the event.
Brunify walked home with the BND2,000 and BND1,500 cash prizes while second-placed Studapp won BND1,500 and third-prize winner SWO Tech received BND1,000.
The event’s goal was to encourage participants to collaborate and develop solutions with a focus on six core areas: environment (energy transition and waste management); agrotechnology; Digitalisation; Smart Manufacturing; edutainment (education and arts and culture); and entrepreneurship.
This year’s event drew 25 participants representing Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB), Politeknik Brunei (PB), Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA), and Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE). They were expected to consider softer components such as reshaping business strategies and processes to derive the value of the Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0 prospects.
The participants attended workshops by LiveWIRE Brunei counsellors prior to Pitch Day with the goal to provide the participants with skills and knowledge to be used during the weekend event.
The workshops covered core concepts and theories such as the business model canvas, financing, and pitching. A branding and marketing workshop was also included but conducted separately by a Progresif representative.
Industry experts from DARe, Progresif, and Mindtrex Academy were invited in addition to LiveWIRE Brunei counsellors to mentor participants and help further refine their ideas and validate their business proposals.
This gave them perspectives and second-hand experience, allowing them to learn, network, collaborate, and produce results as part of the process.
The pitches from each team was judged by experts based on feasibility, commercial value, team composition, innovation, financial prospects, and the business’ alignment to the six core areas.
The panel of judges were Communication and External Affairs Manager of Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP) Suriani binti Garip; Deputy CEO of Network Integrity Assurance Technologies Sdn Bhd (NiAT) Siti Nur Aazzah binti Pehin Dato Haji Abdul Aziz; Chief Finance Officer of Progresif Rashid Najeeb and Head of Product Innovation of Progresif Mohammad Haziq bin Haji Mohd Sarip.
Also present during the prize presentation were Corporate Manager of BSP Haji Jaafar bin Haji Bakar, and BSP In-Country Value Manager and Chairperson of Shell LiveWIRE Brunei Hajah Rosita binti Haji Hassan.
The top three winners were presented prizes by Suriani, Siti Nur Aazzah and Rashid while CEO of Progresif Hajah Nurul Haniah binti Haji Md Jaafar presented the Special Award prize.
By the end of the event, participants were expected to be equipped from the experience to generate business ideas and pursue business opportunities with further investment through LiveWIRE programmes such as LiveWIRE Top Ten Innovator and Business Awards.
