20 finalist startups announced for U-Start showcase in Milan

U-Start, the Italian funding platform with a penchant for emerging markets is narrowing its search for six of South Africa’s top startups. The winning teams will be showcased to investors in Milan, Italy from 11 May to 14 May 2013.

U-Start says that it has received entries for its BLOOM Business Plan Competition from over 250 enterprises. 20 finalists have been selected for the South African leg of the business plan competition which will be held at the Bandwidth Barn on 11 April 2013.

Let’s take a look at the finalists.

Chowhub — An online takeaway and food delivery service. Chowhub is also being accelerated through the Seed Engine programme.

Cirqls — “Buy from people you trust, through people you know”. Cirqls is also being accelerated through the Seed Engine programme.

Cyclocor — The company manufactures a variety of products through plastic recycling.

Dream Mobile — Maker of cheap and functional Android smartphones. Read more about Dream Mobile.

Easy 2 Map — The company provides WordPress plugins to create maps and geo-tagged photo galleries.

Nabidi Power Company — No URL provided.

IntelliCred — “Protect your brand, control your affiliates, grow your revenue, on the web.”

Iono.fm — Build your own audio playlist with news, podcasts, radio series and audiobooks.

Medical Diagnostic — The company manufactures lateral flow rapid diagnostic test kits.

MiJSPorts — A “global sports network.”

Mimiboard Umuntu — Umuntu helps communities create and share content. Read our Mimiboard feature.

Mobiflock — The company allows parents to monitor and manage their children’s mobile phone use. Read our Mobiflock feature.

Perk — Earn points, called perks, for walking into brick-and-mortar stores.

Real Time Wine — No-nonsense wine reviews in 140 characters or less. Read more about Real Time Wine.

SpringLeap — Artists’ designs are voted on by the Springleap community and the winning design gets emblazoned on t-shirts which go up for sale.

Tastewise — No URL provided.

Teach Me 2 — A private tutoring network with screened and interviewed tutors.

Tr3dent — The company creates computer-based 3D models.

ValuationUP — Helping people benchmark the financial performance of the ventures they are growing, selling, buying or advising. Read our Valuation Up feature.

Wabona — Instant, on-demand South African movies and TV shows.

U-Start have also revealed the judges for the South African leg of the competition. They are Zachariah George from U-Start South Africa, Alex Fraser from Invenfin, Justin Stanford from 4DICapital, Colin Habberton from GivenGain and Meredith Ryan from ABSA.

The six winners will receive flights and accommodation for two nights in Milan, Italy as well as mentorship, incubation, training and one-on-one introductions to a network of pan-European investors. The winning teams will also be pre-selected for the Cape Town chapter of Seedstars World.