Meet South Africa’s 12 selected startups for Seedstars World 2015

After rounding up Cape Town’s top five tech startups earlier this month, global startup competition Seedstars World will host a total of 12 exciting tech companies from around the country.

The event will take place on 17 July and the companies will pitch for a chance to travel to Switzerland, where they will compete for up to US$500 000 in equity investments at the Seedstars World final event.

South Africa is the only country where Seedstars World is hosted in two cities. Gregory Pepper who’s the initiative’s regional manager for Africa explains why:

After identifying the best entrepreneurs from the Western Cape, we are very excited to see the finest startups from Gauteng and Durban, and we’re curious to find out who will walk away with the national title. We sincerely think the country has exceptional talent and we really look forward to presenting the national winner back in Switzerland, in March 2016.

“We need more platforms like the Seedstarts competition that inspire entrepreneurs and motivate them to succeed. Good luck to everyone participating may the best company win,” explains Jayshree Naidoo, the head of Standard Bank’s Incubator.

Naidoo will be one of the judges alongside Simodisa‘s managing director Matsi Modise, Pontsho Maruping from Innovation Funding at Technology Innovation Agency and the regional manager for Seedstars World, Marcello Schermer.

Below are the seven startups that will represent Johannesburg and Durban:

Causal Nexus: brings data together in a simplified manner, for employees who don’t have all the information needed to make the best decisions.

Giraffe: a revolutionary new mobile recruitment tool that aims to reduce unemployment in South Africa.

Modular Innobox: designs and pilots modular social businesses inside shipping containers in rural and low income communities.

Fitkey: provides unlimited access to all types of gym/fitness classes with one unique key.

Tastemakers Africa:  a mobile app and content platform revolutionizing what the world thinks about travel to African destinations.

Dronescan:  provides time, energy and safety savings in large warehouses by using drones to do inventory counting 300 times faster than humans.

Quainted Consulting: measures and improves corporate employees’ performance, to the benefit of both the corporate and employee.

The following startups will represent Cape Town:

Azimuth: Azimuth provides mining companies with frequent, accurate maps of unstable areas to minimise loss of life and damage to infrastructure.

mySOS: mySOS is a free, lifesaving tool for all South Africans. It offers clients access to appropriate emergency assistance.

NicheStreem: As the name suggests, NicheStreem builds specialist music streaming services for passionate fans of niche music.

Custos Media Technologies: Custos uses the Bitcoin blockchain to help media owners protect their content against piracy, by detecting the original infringer.

The RedFish group: RedFish is a platform that connects customers and tradesmen. People can use it to find anything from builders, architects and any other service provider for home improvement jobs.

Read more: These are the 5 winners from the Seedstars World Cape Town event