Sweden claims victory over SA in startup pitch battle

A group of Swedish startups won the first ever international ‘city versus city’ pitch battle on web TV series This Week in Startups, beating out a group of South African startups in doing so.

The show, which is hosted by US angel investor Jason Calacanis and Skweal (a real-time customer review service) CEO Tyler Crowley lays claim to 100 000 viewers every episode. The show saw three top Swedish startups competing against three Cape Town-based South African startups.

The three Cape Town-based startups were chosen from a group of 10 or so who pitched to a small local audience at an event hosted by an independent member of the area’s entrepreneurial community.

The three South African startups were financial management tool Moneysmart, tax education service TaxTim, and Idea Bounty — a place for crowdsourcing ideas and creatives.

The Swedish sites meanwhile were social knowledge network Planeto, Desmo, an online fundraising platform for non-profits that runs through ecommerce sites, and Wantr — a Pinterest style ecommerce site.

After judging by Calacanis and Crowley, Idea Bountry and Planeto came out tied for first place. Because third place went to a Swedish startup, it won the overall prize.