Cream Ease and LendingKiwi at Young Enterprise Regionals for College

Two student groups from the College were recognised at the recent Young Enterprise Scheme Regional Finals held in Auckland in October for excellence in various aspects of setting up and running a Young Enterprise Company during the 2025 academic year. 

Cream Ease consisting of Siwoo Baik, Micah Chen, Aidan Chu, Ann Huang, Cynthia Liu, and Preston Tee were awarded Excellence in Finance for their product. They designed a dehydrated powdered cream in various flavours which is rehydrated by adding water for use in food production. 

At the Auckland Regional Awards, they took part in a Business Expo, introducing their product to the wider Auckland community through a pitch outlining their business idea and success they had achieved this year. In what the organisers described “as one of the most competitive and most difficult to judge of Young Enterprise regions,” they secured runner-up for the second year running, narrowly missing out on an automatic spot at the National Finals in Wellington in December. 

“Through networking, we had the privilege of meeting prominent entrepreneurial figures in the community, who familiarised us with the sales and regulatory climate in New Zealand. This information was vital in helping us understand the food and export industries” Aidan commented. 

LendingKiwi consisting of Lucas Alward, Alex Blong, Aydan Hawken, Ben Thorburn, and Reilly Turner were also recognised for their online peer-to-peer rental platform at the Auckland Regional Awards, winning Excellence in Technology. This is the also the second year running LendingKiwi have been recognised by Young Enterprise, after they qualified for the 2024 National Finals as Auckland Regional winners.  They were “motivated by the cost of living and environmental crises,” and, “created LendingKiwi to help with these important issues.”

Congratulations to all staff and students involved in the programme this year. Whilst not every team was recognised at the Regional Awards, there have been some fantastic business ideas and plenty of hands-on learning taking place throughout the year. Special mention to teachers Edmund Aldiss, Tina Ramakers, and Susie Rock for facilitating the programme and supporting the students through this process. 

The Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES), is an experiential programme where students set up and run a real business. It is an opportunity for students to unleash their inner entrepreneur and experience the start-up world first-hand.  Nearly 2000 students are involved across the country setting up and running businesses for the full year. Our College offers this programme as part of its NCEA Level 3 Business Studies course, as well as a co-curricular opportunity for student not enrolled on this course.