Winners of KIWI Challenge announced

This year was the first where university students were able to enter a new category alongside the schools' challenge.  

The winning teams from Petra Christian University and USG Education headed off strong competition from eight other finalists, drawing praise from the judges for their solutions to support youth-led Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).  

Finalists presented to a panel of judges from University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka and Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ), who were cohosting the initiative.  

Both winning teams received a voucher valued at 10,000,000 Indonesian Rupiah (approximately 1,000NZD) as well as virtual internships from the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka commencing in semester one, 2025. 

Tech-led solutions 

A team from Petra Christian University developed an app ‘Partify’ which connects emerging small businesses and keen part-time workers. Businesses post part-time jobs, and workers swipe to find flexible gigs nearby, with AI matching candidates based on skills, location, and availability. 

In the high school category, a team from USG Education took the top prize with ‘LAW4MSME’, a platform allowing small businesses to access legal information and advice.  

Explaining the group’s business idea, team leader for LAW4MSME, David Francis said the students found that Indonesian youth-led SMEs lack knowledge of the laws and regulations needed to run their businesses. 

“To address this, we developed an AI bot that educates SME owners on these regulations, helping them navigate legal requirements more effectively,” David said. 

The KIWI Challenge competition aims to inspire youth across Indonesia to engage in entrepreneurial activities and help resolve societal issues. Over the five years the competition has run, 1000 Indonesian youth have participated. This year, Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ) partnered with University of Otago to co-host the initiative.  

This year’s competition included 49 teams with a total of 221 student participants.  

Mentorship key 

Mentorship is a key element of the competition. The finalists attended a workshop run by Associate Professor Dr Conor O’Kane, Head of the Bachelor of Entrepreneurship programme at Otago Business School. This assisted entrants to develop their ideas and refine business plans.  

ENZ Acting General Manager International Ben Burrowes said he’s delighted to see the continued development of the KIWI Challenge.  

“Inviting university students for the first time has given us the opportunity to include a whole new cohort of talented young entrepreneurs, and we have been very impressed with the quality and creativity of their submissions,” Ben said. 

“The competition has also benefitted from the enthusiasm and expertise of our colleagues at the University of Otago, and we are grateful for their willingness to partner with us for the KIWI challenge’s fifth year.” 

Dr O’Kane said it was inspiring to witness the quality of entrepreneurial thinking among Indonesian students. 

“These students have very bright futures. The concepts and programmes the finalists presented were remarkable and captured the impressive ability of the teams to identify tangible business problems and visualise and communicate a solution to these challenges,” Dr O’Kane said.