Techstars Startup Weekend Douglas is a finalist for Education and Learning Initiative of the Year at the Media Isle of Man Awards for Excellence 2026

Techstars Startup Weekend Douglas has made the final shortlist for Education and Learning Initiative of the Year at the Media Isle of Man Awards for Excellence 2026 (Isle of Man Today).

We hosted all 54 hours of it here at Launchpad in July.

The category is what makes this one special for us. Education and learning is exactly what we want Launchpad to be known for. The place on the island where you learn to start a business by starting one.

The winners will be announced at the Royal Hall, Villa Marina, on Thursday 19 November (Isle of Man Today).

The first Startup Weekend in the Crown Dependencies

Startup Weekend is a Techstars format run in cities around the world. You turn up on Friday evening with an idea, or with none. By Sunday night you've joined a team, tested an idea and pitched it to a panel of judges.

Until this July, no one had run one in the Isle of Man. Jersey and Guernsey hadn't either (Startup Weekend Douglas).

Here's what 10 to 12 July looked like (Startup Weekend Douglas):

• 24 participants registered

• 5 startup teams formed on Friday night

• 5 out of 5 teams pitched on Sunday

• 70+ people came through Launchpad across the weekend

• 14 nationalities in one room

• Participants flew in from Denmark and Essex to take part

A ticket cost £15. That paid for seven meals, cloud credits from Google for Startups, Brex and AWS, a Vodafone IoT SIM card and an event T-shirt (Startup Weekend Douglas).

How the weekend taught

Each day had a clear job, and a lesson attached to it (Startup Weekend Douglas).

Friday: present an idea. A certified Techstars facilitator opened the weekend, followed by talks from LIBT and Vodafone. Then anyone with an idea got 60 seconds to pitch it. The room voted, and five teams formed. Ever wondered whether your idea makes sense to strangers? A 60-second pitch tells you fast.

Saturday: build and validate. Morning talks, then a Lean Canvas masterclass on customer validation. After that, each team sat down with mentors one-on-one, speed-dating style, to test their thinking.

Sunday: pitch. Mindset and pitch coaching in the morning, final deck polish, then live demos and five-minute pitches in front of the judging panel.

Twenty facilitators, speakers, mentors and judges gave up their weekend to make this happen. They included tech founders, investors, a fractional CTO, a business lecturer from University College Isle of Man and the Tech Educator of the Year 2025 (Startup Weekend Douglas).

What participants said they learnt

We surveyed participants anonymously, with no email capture, so the answers would be honest. Here's what came back (Startup Weekend Douglas):

• Startup knowledge (Lean Canvas and MVP): 4.4 out of 5

• Founder confidence: 4.4 out of 5

• Mentor sessions: 4.4 out of 5

• Facilitator: 4.6 out of 5

• Net Promoter Score: 80

• 80% are continuing with their idea

• 60% plan to come to the next edition

One participant put it simply: "Loved the experience. I got to meet important people in the industry and network."

Four in five people kept working on their idea after the weekend ended. That's the number we're proudest of. A weekend is short. An idea that keeps going after it is the result that counts.

Where the ideas went next

Three teams won prizes, each designed to keep them learning after Sunday (Startup Weekend Douglas):

• ProfitM8 (winner): an app that helps small and medium businesses price products on verified unit margins instead of guesswork. Prize: six months of Launchpad Pro membership and six months of marketing coaching from Launch Experiments.

• Biosphere Beacons (first runner-up): a free public directory that gives organisations a Biosphere scorecard, based on the Isle of Man Government's Climate Impact Assessment method and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Prize: six months of Launchpad Flex membership and marketing coaching from Launch Experiments.

• WhyPost (second runner-up): a social media and generative marketing tool that gives small local businesses the reach of companies ten times their size. Prize: three months of Launchpad Flex membership and marketing coaching from Launch Experiments.

Every winning team left with a reason to keep coming back to Launchpad. That was the point.

LIBT's part in it

Launchpad is owned and run by the London Institute of Business and Technology (LIBT).

LIBT was title sponsor of Startup Weekend Douglas. Every participant received a verified digital completion certificate and a 25% scholarship on LIBT's academic courses. LIBT's CEO spoke on the Friday and sat on the judging panel. Its Director of Learning and Development mentored teams across the weekend (Startup Weekend Douglas).

For an education provider, backing a weekend where people learn by building made sense.

Organised by volunteers

Startup Weekend Douglas is a non-profit community initiative (Startup Weekend Douglas). A volunteer organising committee, led by Launchpad's Head of Startup Ecosystem, spent months putting it together.

Thank you to everyone who made it happen. The committee, the facilitator, speakers, mentors and judges. Our sponsors and partners. The local food businesses who kept everyone fed for 54 hours. And every person who came through the door.

The weekend reached well beyond the room too, with coverage from BBC News, Manx Radio, Isle of Man Today, Gallery Magazine and EU Startups (Startup Weekend Douglas).

Come and see where it happened

Launchpad is at Hillary House, Prospect Hill, Douglas. You'll find desks, meeting rooms, coffee, fast WiFi and a programme of events that are mostly free (Launchpad).

Got an idea you've been sitting on? Come and see the room where five startups formed in a weekend. Meet the people who work here. Ask us anything.

Email launchpad@libt.co.uk or call +44 7624 373400 to arrange a visit (Launchpad contact).