Getting young people off the couch is just one of the great ideas to come out of today's Start Up Weekend says lead organiser Pascale Hyboug-Peron.

About 45 entrepreneurs ranging from a 12-year-old to grandparents took part in the annual event which is geared towards creating new jobs and wealth for people of our city.

Some of the participants taking part in the Start-Up Weekend. Photos: Cameron Avery.

Tauranga Startup Weekend which wrapped up today was a 54-hour journey towards creating new successful business people and to creative business opportunities. Designers, website developers, marketing and ideas people, investors, along with sort after business mentors from across New Zealand took part in the event.

Pascale says there were some fantastic ideas coming from those taking part.

'There is a wide range of ideas that are born. We have a range of products as well as services. So some of them are tech components for instances. We have an idea around carpooling for students. We have an idea about getting teenagers off the couch. We also had another idea about streaming of personal events like weddings, funerals and so on.”

The participants came up with eight ideas and they will be put before a judging panel this afternoon at the Tauranga Art Gallery where the best ideas will be awarded start-up prizes of up to $5000.

Pascale the event was in its fourth year and she was impressed with the diverse ideas a people who took part.

She says the judges will make their decision on three criteria.

'It's based on validation; Yes we have a customer and he's ready to pay for a product and they are solving a problem for somebody. They are also judging against a business model, who's paying for it? And how am I going to make money out of that? And they get another stream of points for the execution and design.

Today teams got to demo their products and receive valuable feedback from a panel of experts and win valuable business start-up prizes.

Pascale says the real value of a Startup Weekend is the learning and getting connected. Through active participation in the act of creation participants, mentors, sponsors and judges develop deeper relationships than a typical networking event.

She says people find potential co-founders, key partners, mentors, validate ideas and experiment with business ideas in a risk-free, fun environment.