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Mr Beattie (21) won round one of the competition and will now further develop his business idea during round two.

That was where Audacious got more serious, with workshops covering topics including business plans, finding finance, and legal issues.

Challengers submit a detailed business plan and pitch their idea to the judges in the Dragon's Den.

The final awards will be held in September.

Audacious was not new to the University of Otago student, who first entered in 2013, during his first year at university.

Before that, he started a business with some friends while at Mount Aspiring College, in Wanaka, as part of the Young Enterprise Scheme.

That business, a clothing brand called Volume II, did well in the competition and the natural progression was to take it to the ‘‘next university level'', he said.

But Mr Beattie eventually found it difficult to balance university studies with running a business so he "called it quits''.

When it came to Audacious, he decided to continue his involvement and, last year, he entered with two new ideas.

One, which he likened to a student version of My Food Bag, was born from a trip to the supermarket when he was doing a flat shop for seven students and had to organise seven meals.

The other idea, suggested by his girlfriend, was a sugar-free RTD (ready-to-drink) and he was thrilled when both went through the first round and made the top 20.

Working on the ideas, he began to realise that My Food Bag had really claimed the New Zealand market, so he decided to focus on the RTD idea.

While he did not place in the top three, he got some excellent advice from one of the judges, Nicola McConnell, and they came up with a variation on his idea that targeted a more affluent market.

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