MERCEDES-BENZ Vans has invited Australian and New Zealand-based small businesses to put together a team of like-minded entrepreneurial thinkers and pitch an innovative business idea using the Vito van as the canvas.

The company says the competition is open to “start-ups, product developers, industrial designers, creative technologists, hustlers and hackers”.

There were 50 entries when this contest was first staged last year and somewhere between 50 and 70 teams are expected to enter this time around.

From the wider pool of contestants six teams will be chosen to participate in a final pitch later in August where their creativity will be put to the test.

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The initial rankings will be based on the most innovative and entrepreneurial business use of a Vito and the submissions will be assessed on criteria including:

• Team credentials and experience: what the team has done previously.
• Product or business idea: including the uniqueness of the business problem or need to be solved.
• Van utilisation: how the team plans on realising its vision with the Vito van.
• Viability: how practically and commercially feasible the idea is.
• Innovation and creativity: the creativity employed to reimagine the inside of the van for your idea

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Throughout the process, the teams will work alongside product experts from Mercedes-Benz Vans to bring their idea to life – redesigning the Vito van in an innovative and creative way.

A panel of entrepreneurs and business leaders including Shane Delia (award winning chef and restaurateur), Megan Morton (a leading Australian stylist), Dr Kate Cornick (CEO, LaunchVic), Nick Crocker (Partner, Blackbird Ventures), and Diane Tarr (Managing Director, Mercedes-Benz Vans Australia & New Zealand) will assess the ideas and select the winner.

The main prize is a brand new Mercedes-Benz Vito while $5000 cash will go to second place and $2500 to third. The money has been put up by ​RedZed Lending Solutions​.

The pay off for Mercedes Benz Vans is greater brand awareness – particularly for the Vito – with a new audience, that highlights the potential versatility of the vehicle.

“We ran this event for the first time in 2016 and were so impressed with the diversity and creativity on display from our finalists. This year we are really pleased to open up Hack My Van to New Zealand and can’t wait to see the entries,” Ms Tarr said.

“The versatility of the Vito means if you can dream it, we can do it and so we are excited by the ideas and possibilities for how the Vito van can be reimagined to transform an existing business, or completely reinvented to create new businesses.”

The 2016 contest was won by Code Camp InnoVito by Cobalt who designed a custom fit-out for the Vito that enabled pop-up educational and training sessions on coding to be conducted for students in rural and remote areas.

There is a good chance that the fit-out will see real-world use with Cobalt and Code Camp currently exploring a trial program which will take place later in 2017.

By Daniel Cotterill