Swimming with sharks

Andrea Popova, with contestants Ramiz, and Rueben prior to fronting the sharks. 157433_03 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

WE ASSUME eight Casey young entrepreneurs swam rather than sank after recently floating their business ideas to a ‘shark tank’ of gurus.
Andrea Popovic took out the challenge after pitching her idea of a portal to find beauty services for personal and professional purposes.
It was an idea that must have caused a feeding frenzy for hungry judges Ron Raju, Simon Maselli, Ray Keefe and Mary Agius.
Her prize was a 12-month workspace at the Casey Cardinia Business Hub with personalised business mentoring and access to training and networking opportunities.
The challenge was part of a Tech-Innovation and Entrepreneur forum hosted by Casey Council on 2 August.
The forum’s theme was ‘21st century business – faster, leaner, better?’ with several local innovative, technical and entrepreneurial business leaders presenting insights and advice.
The first presenter was Asyl Haidar, of Pitcher Partners, talking on worldwide trends.
Other topics included advanced manufacturing, digital communications and ‘unpacking’ the national innovation and science agenda.
The speeches followed a Q&A session with the speakers and networking opportunities.The event was held at the City of Casey Civic Centre as part of the Small Business Festival Victoria.