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Polish runner-up in the best student startup competition

In the photo, the Zaklepuje.To team, second-place winners of the Enactus Poland National Competition

Zaklepuje.To team, the runners-up in the Enactus Poland National Competition

The Zaklepuje.to project won second place in the competition for the best business project at the Enactus Poland National Competition. The kayaking trip search and booking system was created by students of the Warsaw University of Technology. The final of the competition took place on June 5 at the Kinoteka in Warsaw.

The runner-up team consists of WUT students: Jakub Jażdżyk, Magdalena Leymańczyk, Szymon Mażulis, Eryk Sidor, and Róża Rowicka.  Zaklepuje.To, which they jointly created, helps automate the booking of sports and tourism activities. It is a convenient search engine and booking system for kayaking trips throughout Poland. The offer is constantly expanding, currently including bicycles and paintball. This year, the project started operating commercially and acquired its first paying customers. The goal of the team is to lower the entry barrier for clients who want to spend their time actively, as well as to save time and facilitate organization and logistics for companies offering sports and tourism activities. Zaklepuje.To offers a transparent system for managing a company, where one can easily manage an order calendar, client contact, contracts, and reports. The system is integrated with convenient everyday tools such as messengers or Google Calendar.

In the photo, the members of the Zaklepuje.to team, the runners-up in the Enactus Poland National Competition

Members of the Zaklepuje.To team, runners-up in the Enactus Poland National Competition

One of the challenges the team faced was preparing a good competition presentation. However, the authors could count on tremendous help from the Enactus WUT team, especially Wojciech Kowalczyk (Enactus alumnus), who already have experience in such events. With their help, they managed to create an excellent presentation that made a great impression on the judges and audience. The jury appreciated the fit of the offer to the needs of clients.

– The main factor that distinguishes our project is that from the very beginning we base it on the real needs of our clients – kayak rental companies, and we continuously develop our system based on their feedback and constant experimentation – emphasizes Jakub Jażdżyk, co-founder of Zaklepuje.To. – We have contact with all rental companies in Poland, and this season we acquired the first paying companies. We also have built relationships with many who are willing to implement our system next season. We also have great potential for scaling the project.

During the national final of the Enactus Poland National Competition, students from the top four Enactus teams from all over Poland presented the results of their socio-business projects to the jury. They were evaluated by jurors – business practitioners, representatives of leading enterprises from Poland and abroad. The evaluation criteria included, among others: entrepreneurship, intuitiveness, or the use of business principles and sustainable impact. This year's winner was the Plantro project created by a team from the University of Economics in Poznań. The national stage winner will represent Poland at the Enactus World Cup 2024, which will be held in Kazakhstan this time.

So what are the plans for the near future for the Zaklepuje.To team?

– Currently, after the start of the summer season, we have a moment of respite as companies have started operating, some already using our application, and the period of intense sales has ended – adds Jażdżyk. – We are now focusing on expanding our system into new industries – bike rentals and paintball event companies. We already have the first rentals ready to test as early users, and we plan to build the first MVP versions for these industries based on their feedback.

After the summer season, the team plans to return to scaling the project and enter these two markets, which are currently still without competition. Then, in cooperation with partners, they want to build a marketplace, a search engine for individuals who want to spend their time actively and are looking for such attractions in the area.