Startup Weekend Youth - Congratulations! 
April 15-17, 2016
Bravo and felicitations to the 29 student participants in the inaugural Startup Weekend Youth at FASPS!  Over two and a half days, FASPS students, alumni, and guests in Grades 6-9 learned through the act of creating. Starting on Friday night with inspiring talks from our speakers, the students got a quick introduction to startup culture and pitching. But they don't just listen: Saturday morning nearly all of our participants gave a 60-second pitch of their big idea! Students voted on the top ideas and teams were formed. Students spent long hours on Saturday and Sunday thinking through their business models, customer validation, marketing, prototypes, and more, and then developed their final five-minute presentations. Our panel of expert judges gave them a real-world experience with tough questions and solid feedback. 

Nearly 50 guests came to see the final pitches from our four team,s and everyone in the room was so impressed!. We hope that all teams continue to work on these ideas, as they were all interesting and had great potential! The four companies formed last weekend were: 

Fashion for Me: Look Better in Less Time
(This team won first prize: a HoloLens demo with Loook & Sebastien Motte a Skype call with Techstars Team & visit to Seattle office)

Vibr'Wake: an app disabler to help you go to sleep paired with a vibrating device to wake up in the morning
(This team won second prize: free entry to Startup  Weekend Youth 2017)

NOTE: There was no third or fourth place but rather special recognition for the two other teams.

Soleil: a solar charging phone case that's less bulky, more attractive, and cheaper than current options
(This team was recognized for Best Business Model) 

Huddle Up: Sports, friendship, and the greater good!
(This team was recognized for Best Teamwork)


Startup Weekenders received invaluable experience and guidance from local tech and startup leaders who came as facilitator, team leaders, coaches, speakers, and judges. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who made this weekend possible and provided such valuable mentorship to our students!  Merci:
  • Team Leaders: Mauro Ottaviani, Joel Espelien, AG Lambert, Gregorie Clayes, Elisabeth Araujo, Sebastien Motte
  • Coaches: Olivier Ropars, Eric Dillon, Sebastien Motte, Diane Najm, Jeanne Beauregard, Jean-Christophe Pitie,
  • Speakers: Claudia Mitchell and Peter Ham
  • Judges: Brad Husick, Candi McCoy, Anahit Hovhannisyan, and Brian Hall
  • Facilitator: Kacey Wherley
  • Logistics: Anne-Laure Ropars
Look for a save the date soon for Startup Weekend Youth 2017! We hope to see even more students there next year! 
The whole group celebrates a weekend of hard work! 
Speaker Peter Ham
Speaker Claudia Mitchell
Almost all students pitched an idea
Teams worked collaboratively
Mentors and coaches were a huge help!
Mentors helped teams to ask themselves important questions about where they were headed
Team meeting
Finding ways to make team decisions is critical
Team Huddle Up
Team Vibr'Wake
Team Soleil

Team Fashion for Me

Merci to our Sponsors! 

The following businesses have provided support to our event through in-kind donations and discounts. Please support these local establishments in appreciation!