Techtars Startup Weekend Douglas is a finalist at the Media Isle of Man Awards for Excellence 2026 for Education and Learning Initiative of the Year

The Island's first Techstars Startup Weekend joins the finalists for the Media Isle of Man Awards for Excellence 2026.

Techstars Startup Weekend Douglas is among the finalists for this year's Media Isle of Man Awards for Excellence, shortlisted in the Education and Learning Initiative of the Year category. It shares the shortlist with Code Club, Culture Vannin and Hopes & Dreams Childcare Group.

Media Isle of Man will name the winners at the Royal Hall, Villa Marina, on Thursday 19 November.

LIBT, which supported the weekend as Title Sponsor, offers its warm congratulations to the volunteer committee who made it happen, and to everyone who gave their weekend to it.

A first for the Island

In July, Launchpad in Douglas played host to the first Techstars Startup Weekend held on the Isle of Man, and the first anywhere in the Crown Dependencies.

Over three days, from 10 to 12 July, twenty-four people arrived with ideas, formed five teams and spent the better part of 54 hours turning those ideas into something they could stand behind.

They came from fourteen nations. Two travelled from Denmark and Essex for the occasion. By Sunday evening, all five teams stood before the judges, who weighed each pitch on customer validation, execution and design, and the strength of its business model.

ProfitM8, an app that helps businesses price with confidence, took first place, along with six months of pro membership at Launchpad. Biosphere Beacons and WhyPost followed as runners-up.

Learning by other means

A startup weekend may seem an unusual entry in an education category. Spend an hour in the room, though, and the fit becomes plain.

In the space of a weekend, participants speak to would-be customers, test their assumptions, build a working model and learn to make their case before a critical audience. Mentors from the Island's business and technology community stayed close throughout, offering counsel where it was needed.

It is learning of the most practical kind, and much of it travels well beyond the weekend itself.

Why is LIBT part of it?

LIBT exists to create affordable pathways to high-quality education for working adults. Startup Weekend Douglas, open to anyone with an idea and the resolve to test it, sits comfortably within that purpose.

The weekend also gave quiet expression to the values LIBT holds: curiosity in the ideas pitched on Friday evening, diversity in a room of fourteen nationalities, and collaboration among people who were strangers until the first night.

That support extends beyond a single weekend. LIBT operates Launchpad, the event's official venue, in partnership with the Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce and the Department for Enterprise. It gives founders, freelancers and growing teams a place to work and to meet throughout the year.

With thanks

The weekend was the work of a volunteer organising committee, led by Chamara Peiris, Head of Startup Ecosystem at Launchpad.

LIBT extends its thanks to every volunteer, mentor, judge, sponsor and partner who gave their time so generously, and to each participant who arrived on Friday with an idea and saw it through to Sunday.

We wish all the finalists well for the evening of 19 November.

Should you have an idea of your own, or be looking for somewhere to build it, you will find a warm welcome at Launchpad on Prospect Hill. discoverlaunchpad.com

The full list of finalists is available to read on IOM Today.