A University of Auckland team whose app has the "potential to be genuinely disruptive to the food industry" has won this year's Imagine Cup.
Clove, made by Hayley Yu, Edwin Tsang and Duoyi Xu, connects chefs with hungry people looking for home-cooked meals.
"Team Clove showed us a professionally orchestrated idea from start to finish," says Michael Brick, one of the seven judges.
The win has brought the trio $5000 and the opportunity to compete in the Asia-Pacific regional finals. If they're successful there, a trip to Seattle to compete in the world finals of the Imagine Cup beckons.
There were seven teams in last night's final, held in Auckland. The aim of the game is to create apps or software that meets a "genuine human need", and fit the theme of innovation or "world citizenship".
Second place went to team That's It, who created an app called ZeroQ, which lets customers jump queues by using QR codes and barcodes.
Team Free Will won third place with HoloDesign, an app that projects 3D images of furniture into the users' lounge through augmented reality, so they can see how it fits their home before buying.
A junior competition for high school students was won by 14-year old Long Bay College student Max Crawford, who made a game called The Adventures of Lumo.
The Imagine Cup is organised by Microsoft as a part of its Student Accelerator programme to give young people experience in technological innovation.
"The issue for students is that they need experience to get jobs, but they can't get jobs without experience, and this is most pertinent in IT," says Microsoft NZ director of developer experience Nigel Parker.
The Imagine Cup world finals will be held in Seattle in July.
Newshub.
