Kākāpō Crafts placed first out of 31 teams from across the Top of the South with their business pitch late last month to a panel of judges from the Chamber of Commerce.

The team of six Year 13 students, led by Kier Etherington, have created native New Zealand animal 3D flat-pack puzzles made with a laser cutter.

So far, there are five in the range, including kiwi, wētā, kākāpō, Māui dolphin, and tuatara. Each puzzle comes with information to raise awareness about the species.

Kier says he was “quite surprised” they placed first and scored 93 per cent with their pitch.

“Our practice pitch didn’t go so well… but I’m so proud of the team, they did really well.

“We had five minutes where we had to explain our product, values, goals, marketing strategy, and how it’s viable - both financially and environmentally.”

Kier says he came up with the idea for the product last year in hard materials class when he made a kiwi. The idea stuck with him, and he pitched it to his business class group at the beginning of this year.

They have already sold around 100 puzzles, with 75 going to a gift shop in Wellington, and 15 to the Cable Bay Adventure Park.

“And, they have all been made ourselves using the laser cutter at school,” Kier adds.

The team has won $150 for their company and Kier says he plans to grow and expand the business when he leaves school.

Another Nayland College team, Clutch Clothing, also did well at the challenge, coming in fourth equal with their pitch.

The business has designed car-themed clothing with Porsche specs on it.

“It’s all based around the idea that you can’t find clothing with car specs,” group leader Amelie Luton says.

“When I tried to find something similar it was going to cost $150 from the US.”

The group received permission from Porsche New Zealand to go ahead with the idea and now they have a range of unique hoodies and t-shirts.

“There was a bit of trial and error with how we wanted it to look, but they have turned out better than we thought.”

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