Seedstars World to tour SA

After a careful screening, the Seedstars team will shortlist up to ten of the best seed-stage startups in each city to give a three-minute pitch in English, in front of a jury made up of local startup heavyweights.

The top three from the Cape Town and Johannesburg satellite events will join the other competitors in Cape Town’s main event and compete to be the country winner, who will finally be at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland, being awarded the opportunity to win up to US$1m and network with investors and mentors from around the world.

The companies selected to pitch at any of the events need to be less than two years old, have raised less than US$500,000 in funding and built a minimum viable product, ideally with existing traction. The Seedstars team is searching for one additional criterion: the startup’s regional and global scalability.

“Seedstars World is a platform that connects investors and stakeholders with the next generation of entrepreneurs. Since this will be our fourth time organising Seedstars World events at South Africa, the stakes are high and we are very excited. We have been in this ecosystem for more than three years now and know there are companies in South Africa developing high-quality products. We are looking for the best and will take them with us to Switzerland in 2019!”, says Claudia Makadristo, regional manager for Africa at Seedstars.

In order to provide local entrepreneurs with this opportunity and aiming to deliver the best possible event, Seedstars is closely working with PayFast who is the local supporter for the initiative across all the three events.

It is Seedstars’ goal to place the spotlight on entrepreneurs from emerging markets, especially those targeting solutions that align with UN Sustainable Development Goals. With that in mind, Seedstars World is travelling to more than 65 countries to identify the most innovative seed-stage startups and take them to Seedstars Africa Summit in Dar Es Salaam and global Seedstars Summit in Switzerland. Its previous participants have raised over US$120m collectively, providing employment to more than 2,100 employees worldwide.

With a strong network of international partners, such as Merck, SPECo, Enel or Continental (amongst others) the competition organisers are looking for smart startups that tackle regional issues and develop profitable and sustainable products for the global market.

For more, go to www.seedstarsworld.com