The latest round of Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup ecosystems, has concluded.
The event took place at the eKasi Labs in Soweto, Johannesburg where 11 selected startups were invited to present their ideas in front of a panel.
The top three startups from the Soweto leg to advance to the grand finale are UmoyAir Communications, who provide free calls from mobile phones to any number without airtime or data; Riovic, a digital and P2P insurance platform backed by a crowdfunded marketplace and; Sortd, a communication-centric organizer that transforms email and instant messaging into a set of organized to-do lists. The other startups invited to pitch were DroneSnap, BOTTLES, Zula Afrika, Masokko, Black Industrialists (Pty) Ltd, Pinard Aéronautique, GEM Payment Services and GoldPay.
The top three startups will be invited to the finale in Johannesburg, which will be held on June 30th at the Standard Bank Incubator, where they will compete with the best startups from Cape Town and Durban, of which one will be crowned the most promising seed-stage startup of Seedstars World South Africa 2016. As a part of the prize, the overall winner of South Africa will be participating at Seedstars Summit, taking place in Switzerland in April 2017, a weeklong training program with the opportunity to meet the other 60+ winners, as well as investors and mentors from around the world. Traditionally, the final day of the Summit will be dedicated to pitching in front of an audience of 1000 attendees, with the possibility of winning up to USD 1 million in equity investment.
An image gallery from the event can be found below.
Photography by Darryl Linington
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