Circular startups take centre stage at [Re]Launch Pitch Night

Delivered through RMIT Activator, the entrepreneurial arm of RMIT, the [Re]Launch Showcase Pitch Night was held at Storey Hall in early June.

It was the final showcase for the two-year program partnership with LaunchVic.

RMIT Industrial Design Honours student Shan D’Cruz was one of the night’s winners, receiving the People’s Choice Award for Grounds for Grounds. Her circular design venture transforms spent coffee grounds into biodegradable golf tees.

Hosted by Ky Snyder, Entrepreneurial and Innovation Program Lead at RMIT Activator, the evening brought together founders, judges, mentors, partners and supporters to celebrate the progress of the cohort.

Ky said the program showed how entrepreneurship can be used to tackle real-world challenges.

“Business can be a force for good,” Ky said.

Celebrating the final cohort

Over two years, [Re]Launch has supported more than 100 entrepreneurs through two incubators and two pre-accelerators, with $150,000 provided in grant funding.

Delivered with support from LaunchVic as the program sponsor, the program was also undertaken in partnership with Boomerang Labs and Lifecycles. Participants gained access to funding, weekly growth sessions, coaching, accountability stand-ups and ongoing residency support.

Pitch Night award winners were:

Most Investible Award: Circular Kitchen Core - Tobie Puttock, for a kitchen waste tracking and food cost intelligence platform for global hospitality
People’s Choice Award: Grounds for Grounds - Shan D’Cruz, for transforming spent coffee grounds into biodegradable golf tees
Circular Excellence Award: No Offence Wines - Lorraine Tighe and Lucan Creamer, for a wine-on-tap model designed to reduce waste.

Guest judges included Elle Phillips from LaunchVic, Cameron Kaufman from Coreo, and Dr Timothy Hor from RMIT’s College of Business and Law, who teaches RMIT MBA Entrepreneurship students.

Part of RMIT’s City North innovation ecosystem

RMIT Activator plays an ongoing role in the City North Social Innovation Precinct, where RMIT is bringing together talent, technology and shared solutions.

Tom Bentley, RMIT Vice-President Strategy and Community Impact, congratulated the founders and acknowledged LaunchVic and the partners, mentors and experts involved in delivering the program.

He said it was exciting to see the program happening “at the heart of City North, this precinct where RMIT has cultivated a unique mix of talent, technology and shared solutions.”

“It's wonderful to see that diverse talents, backgrounds and technologies coming together into this determined focus on creating circular economy solutions, which will no doubt make our economy more resilient as climate change impacts the way that we all function, and also our communities more regenerative and hopefully more collaborative and inclusive,” Bentley said.

What comes next

The journey does not end with Pitch Night.

Selected startups will next be invited to pitch to the RMIT Activator Capital Fund board on 24 June, with the chance to receive up to $20,000 in equity-free and interest-free funding.

LaunchHUB applications are also now open for eligible early-stage founders who want to build a startup that contributes to a better future via LaunchHUB.

Learn more about how RMIT Activator supports founders, ventures and partners to create meaningful change through entrepreneurship in the RMIT Activator section.