Wellington is to host a marathon start up event in November this year, following a similar Auckland event coming next month.

In a similar fashion to the 48-hour film project, Startup Weekend gathers entrepreneurs, software developers, graphic designers and others and challenges them to prepare a pitch for a new mobile or web start up in 54 hours. Hosted by WebFund, BizDojo and Creative HQ, the event begins on Friday evening, with entrepreneurs pitching their ideas to the group.

Attendees vote for the best ideas, and form teams to implement them. On Saturday, the teams must lay their concept out on paper, perform market validations, develop mock-ups, and write code for their concepts. All this is done with the help of business mentors. Finally, on Sunday the teams prepare to pitch their work to investors.

WebFund chairman and event co-ordinator, Dave Moskovitz, says the event is an opportunity for ambitious people to network with others with different skill sets. "Some will drop out along the way, some will end up in a very different place from where they thought they were going, and some will really shine,” Moskovitz says.

"Everyone will gain from learning more about themselves, their peers, their markets and their concepts.

The event is based on a blueprint that has been run in over 100 cities in 30 countries since its launch in the US in 2007.  The Auckland event will take place from September 23-25, with the Wellington event happening November 4-6.