Mercedes-Benz Vans invites small businesses, start-ups, product developers, industrial designers, creative technologists, hustlers and hackers to put together a team of like-minded entrepreneurial thinkers and pitch an innovative business idea using the Vito van as the canvas. 

Six teams will be chosen to participate in Hack My Van, a one day hackathon on Saturday 6 August where their creativity will be put to the test.

The teams will complete a series of exercises, working alongside a team from Mercedes-Benz Vans, product experts and industrial designers to bring their idea to life – redesigning a Vito van in an innovative and creative way.  

A panel of thinkers, entrepreneurs and business leaders including Shane Delia (award winning chef and restaurateur), Diane Tarr (managing director, Mercedes-Benz Vans Australia & New Zealand), and Jane Martino (advisor, Unlockd & TRIBE, co-founder Smiling Mind and board member LaunchVic) will assess the ideas and select the winner, who will be awarded with a brand new Mercedes-Benz Vito. 

“We believe that the humble Vito has long been underestimated and has simply been used just to get a job done. When we see a van however, we see something different,” Tarr said.

“We see the potential inside. We are excited by the ideas and possibilities for how the Vito van can be reimagined to transform an existing business, or completely reinvented to create new businesses.”

Entries close at 5pm on 27 July 2016.