Seedstars World announces 20-country African tour

Seedstars World, the global seed stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup ecosystems, has announced an African tour that will see it travel through 20 countries looking for promising entrepreneurs.

The African tour is part of a global effort, comprising bootcamps and pitching competitions in 65 countries around the globe.

Alongside bootcamps, each country visited will host a pitching competition with prizes including the opportunity to compete at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland with the possibility of walking away with up to US$1-million in equity investment and additional prizes.

This is the fourth time the organisation is embarking on such a tour, with countries such as Mali, Zimbabwe and Sudan added to the list this time around.

In last years’ edition, South African startup Giraffe was crowned Global winner of 2015 and received the equity investment prize. With hopes of repeating this success for African startups in the upcoming summit, Seedstars World is kicking off this year’s tour on the 13th of May with the first event being held in Maputo, Mozambique.

“After three years of identifying incredible entrepreneurs across the continent we have seen over and over again that African startups are competitive on a global level. This is why we are expanding the number of countries we are targeting this year while also offering a more structured support and acceleration program for all winners at the end of the tour” says Marcello Schermer, Regional Manager for Africa at Seedstars World.

Starting from today, Seedstars World will accept applications from startups in Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Angola, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia through the Seedstars website. The companies applying need to be less than 2 years old, have received less than US$500 000 in funding, have an available MVP and the potential to scale regionally and globally.

“We are incredibly excited about this year’s Seedstars World tour and how it ties into our other initiatives such as Seedspace and the Seedstars Academy in Lagos. Our goal is to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through the use of technology and we will have a very strong focus on expanding our impact around the world and on the African continent in particular.” Says Alisee De Tonnac, CEO of Seedstars World.