Seedstars World, a global early-stage startups competition in partnership with Standard Bank has announced the 11 startups that will pitch at its Gauteng event in Johannesburg, South Africa on Friday, May 26th at Standard Bank Incubator, with the top startups advancing to the finale on June 29th in Johannesburg.
The South African competition is part of Seedstars World 2017 tour to more than 80 countries to identify the best seed-stage entrepreneurs and provide them with an opportunity to win up to USD 1 million, with the main prize being a 500.000 USD equity investment prize.
The event will take place at Standard Bank Incubator with the startups to pitch to a panel of judges. The top startups will be advance to the grand finale and compete again for the title of most promising seed-stage startup of Seedstars World South Africa 2017.
The 11 startups that are selected to participate at the Seedstars World pitching event are:
Arcus Capital | Digital investment tools to help investors achieve their financial goals while solving advisers practise management and regulatory issues. |
BeaconWorx | Providing a central platform for collaboration between pilots, aircraft owners and training schools |
CommuScore | Alternative credit scoring model focusing on the savings schemes and loan repayments that happen in the informal market. |
Empty Trips Pty Ltd | Africa’s first online smart transport marketplace connecting transporters, brokers and shippers. |
Muzi Tech | Improves accuracy and create valuable epidemiology data for HIV screening by the use of a smartphone. |
powershare | Hand glove that connect to the phone via Bluetooth whereby users can read and respond to their messages without looking at their phones. |
Simplus Innovation | Creates data experience solutions which utilize data to close the gap between the business and technology teams. |
WiPo Wireless Power | WiPo provides wireless power solutions for the use in power line inspection drones |
Invoiceworx | Invoiceworx is an inventory financing platform that gives small retailers access to lines of credit from suppliers. |
Easy equities | EasyEquities allows you to invest in the stock market at a fraction of the cost of traditional stock brokers. |
Lenoma Legal | LenomaLegal is a female founded Legal eCommerce website with instant legal document download capability for business owners. |
“Since we launched the Seedstars World initiative, we have witnessed the growth and acceleration many entrepreneurs that came through the program. This year, we have received a record number of applications this year and we are excited to find the next potential global seedstars world winner.” Explains Claudia Makadrito, Regional Manager for Seedstars World Africa.
The Seedstars World South Africa production has received tremendous support from local ecosystem players such as PayFast, Simodisa, Startup Grind, Sikhulasonke, Principal Matt&Co Advisory, Principal Partners, Edge Growth, and Business Partners amongst others.
In addition, Seedstars World has partnered with the Merck Accelerator on a regional level,, in order to support seed-stage companies with a focus on the fields of healthcare, life science and performance materials. The most promising HealthTech startups will receive office space in the Merck Innovation Center in Kenya or Germany, mentoring and coaching on a regular basis and financial support of up to €50,000. In total, each prize package is worth around €200,000.