Seedstars World names health platform VoLo Senegal’s top startup

Senegalese health platform VoLo has been named the country’s top startup by Seedstars World. This comes after the global startup competition for emerging markets invited ten startups from around the country to pitch in Dakar earlier this week.

VoLo will travel to Switzerland next year where it will stand a chance to win up to US$500 000 in equity investment. Other opportunities available are a US$500 000 equity investment by travel company lastminute.com group and a US$50 000 grant for the best space startup.

VoLo was recognised for its platform that seeks to make healthcare easily accessible and affordable in Africa.

“We are so grateful to be selected as the Senegalese winner. We went through a lot of pressure and stress before the announcement, but now we are so happy and more motivated than ever to work on our dream,” said VoLo’s Rokhaya Diop in a recent press release.

Read more: 10 startups announced to pitch at Seedstars World’s Tanzanian event

Mame Khary Diene from Laboratoires Bioessence, who was part of the competition’s jury, said that she’s impressed with all the startup that pitched:

All the entrepreneurs have incredible projects and hearing them is truly humbling. I believe events like these give hope about the youth and the future of the country, which is in their hands. Thank you to Seedstars World for creating opportunities like these, which have inestimable value for entrepreneurs.

Wutiko, an online recruitment platform, came second while Karangué, an application that improves maternal and infant health care using ICT, grabbed third place.

Read more: Seedstars World names Angolan job, education portal best regional startup

The other startups invited to pitch were:

• Kalanda-App: a mobile and free health service to address problems of sexuality and reproductive health of women living across the sub-Saharan region.
• Walapi: an event announcing and sharing platform.
• Samaskull: a platform of e-learning which supplies educational contents, created by Africans, for the Africans, on the basis of the realities and African courses of study.
• Teachers du Net: a platform providing coding education from beginner to advance level to everyone who need it.
• Tekci: a service that allows its users to buy top-notch consumer electronics at incredibly low prices, through days-long bidding war with no starting price.
• JokkoSanté: the platform incentivises users to exchange unused drugs and receive points that can be used towards the purchase of new drugs.
• Dakar Mode: a fashion social network that brings together designer and potential purchase to enable them to better sold their products.

Seedstars World’s next stop in Africa is Botswana at Gaborone’s Innovation Hub, where it will seek out the country’s best startup come 27 November.