[Update] Meet the South African finalists for TNW’s Startup World

[Update] Congratulations to Pashash for winning the South African leg of the competition in Cape Town last night. Good luck in San Francisco!

Here we go Africa. The African leg of the The Next Web‘s Startup World competition kicks off in Cape Town today.

The startup scene has been abuzz with the announcement that four African cities have been included in Startup World’s inaugural tour. The competition will be held in 36 countries across the globe with the specific aim of shining “a light on entrepreneurs in emerging markets.” The winners in each of the countries will fly to Silicon Valley to “battle it out in front of a panel of expert judges, to be crowned the world’s best startup.”

Prizes up for grabs include:

• a three month incubation period worth US$30,000 at i/o Ventures
• one year of Rackspace hosting worth up to US$24,000
• five million Echo real-time streams per month for 1 year worth US$30,000
• international media coverage

Here are the South African finalists pitching in Cape Town, today:

• 5 Ounces
• Snapplify
• Dream Mobile
• Pashash
• Every1mobile
• Calibre Apps
• Myows
• Hiring Bounty
• MyDorpie
• Business Optics
• Super Simple Survey

Startup World will be coming to the following African cities next:

• Nairobi, Kenya on the 7th of September
• Kigali, Rwanda on the 12th of September
• Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania on the 14th of September

Check out this page for information on registering.