Beedie alumna wins Global Startup Battle competition
Dec 17, 2014
Shan Shan Fu, Beedie alumna and co-founder of ConceptKicker, pitching at Startup Weekend Vancouver.
Beedie School of Business alumna and co-founder of ConceptKicker, Shan Shan Fu, triumphed over 250 cities, 83 countries, and more than 25,000 entrepreneurs to take first place at the world’s largest business startup competition, Global Startup Battle.
ConceptKicker allows artist to upload their 2D character concept art to an online crowd-funding platform.
Should the art prove popular enough, ConceptKicker turns it into a 3D model, prints it, and ships it to eagerly awaiting fans.
Global Startup Battle is a worldwide event held during Global Entrepreneurship Week sponsored by Google for Entrepreneurs.
The competition consisted of two rounds, with the first round pitting ventures from across the globe against each other in regional Startup Weekends where winners were decided by 50% public votes and 50% regional judges votes.
Competing in the Canada and the US West region in the first round, ConceptKicker beat off strong competition from tech startup hubs San Francisco and Toronto to secure a place in the final.
The second round consisted of the top 12 world finalists, with judges including entrepreneur and television personality Daymond John, recording artist and technology investor Nas, and prominent Canadian entrepreneur Dan Martell.
As the Global Startup Battle winners, the ConceptKicker team received a prize package that includes mentoring, resources, and booths at several global conferences to showcase their products.
Following their success at Startup Weekend Vancouver, ConceptKicker has connected with artists of popular franchises Tomb Raider, Tron, and Assassin’s Cred, to produce models of established fictional characters.
“Startup Weekend Vancouver was $125 and three days, but it has changed my life,” said Fu.
“There is a world of support available to entrepreneurs to help refine and build a profitable business – the risk of failure is actually very low if you surround yourself with great mentors and peers.”