Seedstars puts out call to SA startups to take part in three pitching events

One of the largest startup competitions for emerging markets, Seedstars World, is coming to South Africa for the fourth time and will hold three pitch events — with the first scheduled for 19 October in Cape Town, followed by Johannesburg next month.

In a press release last week, Seedstars said the top three startups from the Cape Town and Johannesburg events respectively, will join the other competitors at the main event to be held next month in Cape Town and will compete to become the country winner.

The country winner will get the chance to represent South Africa at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland next year, and the opportunity of winning up to $1-million in equity investment.

The SA winner will represent the country at next year’s Seedstars Summit in Switzerland, and can win up to $1-million in investment

The events will be held as follows:

Cape Town satellite pitch: 19 October, at 4pm with applications open until Thursday (11 October) at https://seedsta.rs/capetown
Johannesburg satellite pitch: 2 November, at 4pm – Johannesburg, with applications open until 22 October at https://seedsta.rs/johannesburg
Cape Town main event: 14 November, at 4pm, with applications open until 3 November at https://seedsta.rs/southafricafinals

After a careful screening, the Seedstars team will shortlist up to 10 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 companies selected to pitch at any of the events need to be less than two years old, have raised less than $500 000 in funding and built a minimum viable product, ideally with existing traction. In addition, the startup must have the possibility of scaling regionally and globally.

Featured image: The Seedstars team at last year’s Seedstars World Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland (Supplied)