A startup to improve the podcast experience takes Most Creative Idea at the Ventures Curiosity program.
Podcast streaming platform, Podlight, aims to help creators and listeners easily discover new and curated content, engage with communities, and store information from your favourite shows.
Mukund Manian believes Podlight fills a gap in the market by providing an all-in-one platform.
“In the current podcast-streaming space, numerous apps exist but their functions mostly mirror popular streaming apps designed for other forms of media, like music or TV, and leave a lot to be desired for the podcast community,” Manian said.
Friends since high school, the co-founder duo, Manian and Shavin Velmurugan, are both studying biomedical science and regularly bounce ideas off each other, trying to come up with innovative solutions to everyday problems.
The team are passionate about podcasts and their platform to help people collect, connect and discover podcasts.
They love podcasts so much, they started their own show, Biriyani for Thought, a podcast where they discuss everything new and interesting from the fields of technology, business, productivity and relationships.
“Just like our favourite dish, Biriyani, our conversations involve a wide range of thought-provoking ingredients (ideas) cooked together in one pot,” Mukund said.
Manian said that creating their own podcast inspired them to focus on creating an inclusive and engaging platform that brings together the community of creators and listeners.
The team were first introduced to the UQ entrepreneurship community after stumbling on a great study spot in the Ventures Global Change Institute space on campus.
“We then found out about the various programs offered at Ventures and were inspired by the opportunity to take our ideas to the next level while learning about the fundamentals of entrepreneurship – leading us to apply for the Curiosity program.”
Manian said the duo thought the Curiosity workshops were great for beginners getting started in entrepreneurship as they were accessible and had a great balance of engaging hands-on team exercises and content delivery.
“Our favourite part of the program was the Pitching event, which was the culmination of the several weeks of our collaboration and innovation at Curiosity.”
“It was our first time going on stage to pitch an idea of ours and we absolutely loved the experience!”
Ventures Curiosity Semester 2 Winners
Most Creative Idea
Mukund Manian and Shavin Vel (in-person)
Podlight – An all-in-one podcasting platform
Isaac Arli, Gregory Chan, Anya Pruangviriya and Wing Yan Lee (online)
Munchymate – An app to support university students to stay on top of healthy eating habits
- Best Pitch Delivery
Ho-se Kim, Mingxuan Zhou and Elly Dai (in-person)
Receipt Buddy – A convenient and user-friendly digital receipt storage app that records all transactions
Suyao Liu, Wentao Yang and Boyang Hu (online)
Better Call Us – Helping international students to navigate the Australian legal system
- Best Business Idea
Katherine Chuang and Sandra Jiang (in-person)
OOTDPal – Discover style inspirations, personalised outfits and find clothing items at your fingertips
Weixin Yang (online)
Smart Hut – Making high-end manicures accessible for rural communities
