Hack your way to a Vito

Got a big small business idea that will fit in the back of a Mercedes-Benz Vito van?

A self-contained sausage factory? Hydroponic mobile vegie patch juice dispenser? Instant 3D printer on the move? The sky’s the limit, well, the space that’s available in the back of a standard wheelbase Vito van actually…

The van division of Australia’s top-selling luxury brand is inviting “small businesses, start-ups, product developers, industrial designers, creative technologists, hustlers and hackers” to devise and pitch ideas that use the Vito as a blank canvas.

From the pitches lodged at hackmyvan.com.au, six teams will be chosen to take part in a one-day hackathon where a cross section of judges will grade their ideas and proposed execution. The winning hack will get their own barnd-new Vito as a prize.

“To prove that our vans have the power to transform small businesses we are asking teams to reimagine the inside of a Vito. The focus for the teams is to demonstrate how the mixture of business ambition and a Vito can help unlock growth and opportunity,” says the Mercedes-Benz Australia brief.

“We're looking for the best way to redesign a van in an innovative and creative way.”

The hackmyvan.com.au judges will include chef and restaurateur Shane Delia, Jane Martino (Advisor, Unlockd & TRIBE, Co-Founder Smiling Mind and board member LaunchVic) and Aussie head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, Diane Tarr.

The event will take place on August 6.

"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. We see the potential inside,” Tarr commented.

“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," she said.