The Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (Yes) Company of the Year awards were held in Wellington on Tuesday night, in which pupil-led companies were recognised for their excellence.
More than 4600 pupils participated in the scheme this year, with over 1000 new companies between them.
The overall winner was Sole Haircare, a company run by Otago Girls’ High School pupils Jenna Willis (18), Morgan Passey (17) and Elsha Bulmer (18).
Jenna said the trio had created a natural colour-matching dry shampoo which provided sun protection to the scalp. The idea had been inspired by the issues they faced at school, as they sometimes left school with a burnt scalp on sunny days.
They did not want to use traditional sunblock, as it made their hair too greasy, she said.
The name Sole was Italian for sun, which the group thought sounded good for the product.
The group marketed their product, which came in two tones, through TikTok, where they had reached an international audience.
At her last count they had shipped 542 orders. More than 100 were from overseas.
Their short videos had even inspired customers in places such as Sweden and Denmark, she said.
The group had "no idea" they would be selected for the grand prize.
"We all sat in shock for a bit."
They won $3000, which they would split evenly, and each was awarded a $5000 scholarship to the Massey University Business School.
However, they had other plans, she said.
She would be studying law at the University of Otago, along with Morgan who would study business, but Elsha was heading to Christchurch to study tourism, Jenna said.
Despite going separate ways, they intended to find a way to keep the business running, as they saw a future for it.
Their next step was to find a way to offer refillable bags to customers to reduce waste.
The school was given $2000 for the award.
