University of Canterbury law student Amber Scott has taken out first place in the 2025 Entre Enterprise Challenge, winning $32,000 in cash and services for her caffeine-enhancing startup, PIQ, a simple add-to-coffee supplement designed to deliver focus without jitters or crash.

What began as a late-night frustration during exam season has turned into a promising new student venture.

Scott said the idea came from her own experience of juggling study, work and caffeine overload.

“I’d have three coffees and a Red Bull in one day,” she said.

“That night I was lying in bed completely exhausted. I remember thinking, there has to be a better way to get energy than this.”

That search led her to L-theanine, a naturally occurring amino acid known to smooth out caffeine's effects.

After experimenting with the combination herself, she began developing a formulation that could be easily added to any coffee.

PIQ, she said, is “about making caffeine work for people, not against them.”

Now preparing for a pilot production run, Scott hopes to make PIQ a staple in cafes and homes, starting with syrup style dispensers for cafes and dropper bottles for consumers.

But she’s also clear about the realities of entrepreneurship.

“People see the wins on social media, but behind that are early mornings, late nights, and self-doubt. It’s not glamourous, its persistence,” she said.

PIQ’s success reflects a winder shift in student entrepreneurship at UC.

Entre Co-CEO Maddie Barrett said more students are seeing startups not as side projects, but as serious career paths.

“Student entrepreneurship has shifted from hobby projects to purposeful, scalable ventures,” Barrett said.

“We’re seeing more focus on health, sustainability, and tech-enabled products, and PIQ fits right into that trend.”

Entre’s flagship Entertainment Challenge gives students nine weeks of mentoring, capability workshops, and a final pitch event, helping them turn early ideas into viable ventures.

For many, it’s their first exposure to real startup culture, customer testing, market validation and building confidence.

“Amber stood out because she started with a genuine pain point and translated that into a simple, user-focused solution,” Barrett said.

“Her passion and clear launch plan made her presentation compelling, it was one of those moments where you could see the idea’s potential instantly.”

Barrett said programmes like Entre’s competitions and the UC Centre for Entrepreneurship (UCE) are creating a connected ecosystem for student founders.

“There’s now a pathway from curiosity to launch. Students can explore ideas in Entre events, refine them through UCE programmes like the Summer Startup and keep building from there.”

Scott, who juggles PIQ with her Bachelor of Laws, said the support from UC’s entrepreneurial community has been essential.

“UCE and Entre gave me structure, mentors and a community of people who get it.”

Winning the challenge, she said, was just the beginning.

“There’s now a pathway from curiosity to launch. Students can explore ideas in Entre events, refine them through UCE programmes like the Summer Startup and keep building from there.”

Scott, who juggles PIQ with her Bachelor of Laws, said the support from UC’s entrepreneurial community has been essential.

“UCE and Entre gave me structure, mentors and a community of people who get it.”

Winning the challenge, she said, was just the beginning.

“It’s validation that what I’m building matters. But the real work starts now, getting PIQ into people’s hands and changing how we experience caffeine.”

As Christchurch continues to position itself as a hub for student-led innovation, PIQ’s success signals more than a good idea. It show’s what’s possible when ambition, mentorship and caffeine combine.

From Coffee Crashes to Caffeine Clarity: UC Student Wins Big with Startup PIQ

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