Peter Farrell Cup 2020

PFC 2020

Celebrating its 20-year anniversary the Peter Farrell Cup (PFC) is UNSW’s longest-running student-led and teams-based competitive ideas program designed to fast-track the next generation of entrepreneurs.  

In 2020, from a pool of 79 applications, 46 student teams were selected to participate in a series of experiential workshops to help build the skills and mindset necessary to test, integrate, pitch and potentially launch a real business. Each team was also matched with an industry mentor to enhance their personal growth and knowledge.  

After pitching their ideas in a first-round competition, 10 top teams have been chosen to compete for a share in $20,000 at Finals Night. This year’s finalists are incredibly inspiring and represent a great cross-section of faculties including Business, Engineering, Science, Medicine, with one team from UNSW Canberra. 

Generously supported by the Farrell Family Foundation.

2020 Journey Video

1st Place - $10,000: Team ALTEN

Guiding doctors to provide the best healthcare for cancer patients by developing personalised treatment strategies. We believe that everyone deserves a healthy future. 

2nd Place - $5,000: Team Negotium

Empowering local entrepreneurs with the tools they need to buy and sell their businesses without upfront fees or legalese.

3rd Place - $3,000: Team Freighto

Building Australia’s largest network of independent trucks.  

People’s Choice Award - $2,000: Team ZELK

Developing a buffet spread dispenser to replace single-use plastic packaging and the food waste associated with it.

“It was a relief to discover that my engineering mindset could be applied to startups! I learned all of this during the Peter Farrell Cup, UNSW's largest entrepreneurship competition. As part of the program, teams receive extensive training and are matched with industry mentors. My team learned the hidden algorithms for identifying markets, developing our product, delivering investment pitches, and so much more."

Donna Zhou, 2020 participant

“Facing tough circumstances, we didn't move past the first round of judging. That’s not to say that we wasted our time in the [PFC] competition. We gained skills unlearnable in a classroom setting. I gained the best study-abroad souvenirs in the world: Innovation and empathy.”

Jaden Lee, 2020 participant

“Great to join Natasha Rawlings, Pierre de Villecourt and Hemang Shah on the judging panel for one of the pitchfests at this year's Peter Farrell Cup, run virtually this year. Such a great display of UNSW student entrepreneurial talent. Well done to all the teams and to the UNSW Founders crew for pivoting so quickly to keep this competition going in these challenging times. Looking forward to the finals on May 20th. The future is in good hands.”

Nick Wailes, 2020 judge

  • Harvey Liu |  AWS - Amazon Web Services
  • James McGregor | The Blue Tribe Company
  • Adam Callender | www.adamcallender.com
  • Kerry-Anne Rye | Journal of Lipid Research
  • Minjie Shi | Minjie Does Design
  • David Nguyen | UNSW IT
  • Kurt Walkom | Pearler
  • Christopher Kommatas | Health Roundtable
  • Mandi Gunsberger | Slingshot Practice
  • Miles Williams | In The Background
  • Mark Velik | EVP
  • Hamid Samani | UNSW IT
  • Jadranka Cook | Torrens University
  • Fehad Bilgrami | NBN CO Limited
  • Karnig Momdjian | Virtualcoo
  • Aurora Voss | ClaimSpace
  • Lochie Burke | Bouddi
  • Vino Rajandran | Hort Innovation
  • Brent Clark | Wattblock
  • Matt Chandler | Virtual CFO
  • Katherine Kawecki | Respia Technologies Pty Ltd
  • Fi Tschaut | MCIC Foundations Senior Manager
  • Myron Anthony Godinho | UNSW Phd Candidate
  • Kate Dunn | UNSW Senior Lecturer Built Environment
  • Soumi Paul Mukhopadhyay | NSW Department of Primary Industries
  • Wallace Bridge | Honorary Associate Professor at UNSW Faculty of Science
  • Soumi Paul Mukhopadhyay | NSW Department of Primary Industries
  • Robert Georges | AFBA
  • Maz Zaman | Macrovue
  • Nathan Coed | Gelion
  • Gary Cobain | PokitPal Pty Ltd
  • Daniel Thompson | Corrs Chambers Westgarth
  • Sheridan Gho | Cenofex Innovations
  • Mike Biagio | Baxter IP
  • Vito Grigorov | Polibloc
  • Jerome Moulin | Qantas
  • Karl Vaupel | People&Things
  • Minh Lee | Flynk
  • Graham Clarkson | Graham Clarkson Design
  • Terry Hilsberg | Innohub Capital (Shenzhen)
  • Natalie Chapman | ANZi
  • Ankita Mehta | Tot Tok
  • Stella Xu | Main Sequence Ventures
  • Chetan Shah | Raiscient PKC
  • Vinoaj Vijeyakumaar | Google
  • Sumeer Pai | Fintech Compliance Pty. Ltd.
  • David Garberg | Nielsen Design Pty Ltd

Pitch Fest Judges

  • James Smith |  Lambent Light Pty Ltd
  • Shahe Momdjian | Metamorph Marketing
  • Petr Adamek | Canberra Innovation Network
  • Courtney Brown| The Millennial Group
  • Christina Chun | NSW Department of Education
  • Peter Mayne | CiTC Australia
  • Natasha Rawlings | Uniseed
  • Nick Wailes | Director, AGSM and Deputy Dean
  • Hemang Shah | JONES DAY
  • Pierre de Villecourt | ICM Limited

Final Pitch Night Judges

  • Chris Baxter | Baxter IP Patent & Trademark Attorneys
  • Melanie Hogan | The Hogan Group
  • Andrew Rubio | Throgmorton UK Limited

Finals Teams

Click on the team logo below to watch their pitch. 

We are ZELK, a team of four young female engineers developing a buffet spread dispenser to replace single-use plastic packaging and the food waste associated with it. After learning that one quarter of our landfill is made up of plastic waste, we were driven to develop a sustainable solution that supports Australian made goods. 

Waru is here to protect what matters. Our firefighter grade system is designed to defend people from bushfires across the world, whether it be the Australian bush, or across the globe in California.

PlantAid reduces pesticide environmental contamination. Our nanoparticle encapsulation enables safer and more effective delivery of pesticides to their intended pest.

Negotium empowers local entrepreneurs with the tools they need to buy and sell their businesses without upfront fees or legalese. At Negotium, we believe in fairness.

With Freighto, we’re building Australia’s largest network of independent trucks. Think uber for trucks.

Elenta is a learning reinforcement platform that allows companies to embed learning at scale. We strive to create lasting impact by changing how learners learn and behave.

ALTEN guides doctors to provide the best healthcare for cancer patients by developing personalised treatment strategies. We believe that everyone deserves a healthy future.

Airshuffler is helping airports move into a more digitized, low-touch world. Our platform puts airport services and information you need right at your fingertips, so you can travel with confidence.