Techstars Startup Weekend Douglas - Sponsored by the London Institute of Business and Technology

The first ever Techstars Startup Weekend in the Isle of Man and the Crown Dependencies wrapped up on Sunday evening at Launchpad, Hillary House, and we were proud to back it as Title Sponsor.

Launchpad is our startup ecosystem arm in Douglas. We opened it because founders on the Island needed what founders everywhere need: workspace, community and a straight path from idea to business. Hosting the Island's first Startup Weekend is exactly the kind of thing it exists to do.

Over the weekend of 10 to 12 July, more than 70 people passed through Launchpad each day, including participants, mentors, judges, speakers, volunteers and guests. Participants represented 14 countries, with two travelling from Denmark and Essex specifically for the event. The rest live and work on the Island.

The format is simple and brutal. Arrive Friday evening with an idea, form a team that night, then spend the next two days validating, building and rehearsing with the help of mentors. On Sunday evening, each team gets five minutes on stage in front of a judging panel, followed by questions.

Five teams pitched on Sunday. ProfitM8, a pricing for profit app, took first place. Biosphere Beacons came second with an open directory that scores organisations against the Isle of Man Government's Climate Impact Assessment methodology and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. WHYPOST, a social media management tool for small businesses, took third.

Our CEO Sesiri Pathirane sat on the judging panel alongside Dale Taylor (Head of Global Specialist IoT, Vodafone), Shelley Langan-Newton (SQR), Sharon McCulloch (Lecturer in Business, UCM) and Natalie Gallagher (Co-Founder and COO, LEMA Logic).

"We backed this event because the Isle of Man deserves a place where anyone can test an idea, fail fast and try again. Watching everyone go from a pitch on Friday night to a working product with teams on Sunday proved the appetite is here. LIBT will keep investing in that." - Sesiri Pathirane

The winning team received a six-month Launchpad Pro membership, with Flex memberships for second and third place. All three placed teams also received six months of marketing coaching from Launch Experiments. Every participant left with Google Cloud credits, a 25 per cent scholarship on all LIBT courses, and a package of perks from the event's global and local sponsors.

The event was organised by a volunteer team led by Chamara Peiris, our Head of Startup Ecosystem at Launchpad, and made possible by more than 25 sponsors and community partners from across the Island and beyond. The weekend drew coverage from BBC News, Manx Radio and Isle of Man Today.

Techstars Startup Weekend is a global programme that has run in more than 150 countries, giving anyone the chance to test a business idea in a single weekend. This was the Island's first. On the evidence of the weekend, it won't be the last.