EmptyTrips, InvoiceWorx, Muzi & Commuscore will advance to the Seedstars Grand Final after winning the pre-selection round of Seedstars World.
The four will advance to the South Africa grand final to compete with the best startups in the country on the 29th of June, in Johannesburg, at the Standard Bank Incubator in Rosebank.
“Our congratulations to the first round of finalists. We are proud to be partnering on an initiative that recognises the innovativeness of entrepreneurs across South Africa and we are thrilled with the quality of submissions, the pitches of the Entrepreneurs and the winners of the 1st leg. We look forward to welcoming our second group of finalists in Cape Town on the 8 June.” says Jayshree Naidoo, Head of Incubator at Standard Bank.
The top three startups from Gauteng that advance to the grand finale are Invoiceworx, an inventory financing platform that gives small retailers access to lines of credit from suppliers, Empty Trips Pty Ltd, Africa’s first online smart transport marketplace connecting transporters, brokers and shippers, CommuScore, an alternative credit scoring model focusing on the savings schemes and loan repayments that happen in the informal market.
Muzi, which came in fourth, aims to improve accuracy and create valuable epidemiology data for HIV screening by the use of a smartphone. The other startups invited to pitch were Arcus Capital, BeaconWorx, Powershare, WiPo Wireless Power, Easy equities, Lenoma Legal.
The top four startups will be invited to the Johannesburg final where they will compete with the best startups from all parts of the country, of which one will be crowned the most promising seed-stage startup of Seedstars World South Africa 2017.
“We are heading to Cape Town now, and I believe it will be a tough choice this year to pick the winner as we have so many good ones already.!” says Claudia Makadristo, Regional Manager of Africa.
Applications are still open and startups can apply here: https://seedsta.rs/capetown2017
