When people talk about the South African startup scene, they tend to mention Cape Town and, more recently, Johannesburg. Ask them about Durban and you’ll most likely get a blank stare. But there’s clearly been enough happening in the coastal city to attract the attention of Seedstars World.
The Swiss-based entrepreneurial conglomerate on Wednesday announced the eight startups that’ll be competing in the Durban leg of its ongoing South African competition.
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“After seeing more and more activity coming up from Durban, we decided to put it on the map of our 2016 tour, and so far we are very impressed with the startups and the ecosystem in general. We can’t wait to see the startups pitching at Seedstars Durban next week,” says Marcello Schermer, Regional Manager for Africa at Seedstars World.
The startups selected to participate at the Seedstars World pitching event are:
An online platform that allows moms to experience brands by matching them to location and interests.
The startup building a revolutionary wearable medical device for homes and hospitals, allowing vitals to be monitored continuously and undisturbed from anywhere.
Guardian Angel Safety Solution
A GPS tracking product that offers an affordable personal safety solution for children, adults, the elderly and even pets.
An on-demand app for concierge services for busy individuals and households, offering personal assistance in anyone’s pocket.
An App that helps women select a hairstyle and book on-demand hairstylist.
UXFoundry Pty. Ltd.
A platform for creating custom and enhanced instant messaging apps for businesses.
A dating app that focuses on engaging conversations.
The startup that is simplifying the process of receiving quotes for home renovations.
As was the case with its Cape Town competition, the top three startups will be invited to Johannesburg, where they will compete with the best startups of Cape Town and Soweto (Gauteng), of which one will be crowned the most promising seed-stage startup of Seedstars World South Africa 2016.
The South African competition is carried out with the support of Standard Bank, which will also provide further support to the startups involved.
“Seedstars has been a great partner in South Africa assisting us to unlock the potential of the startup community,” says Jayshree Naidoo, Standard Bank Incubator Head. “We are extremely proud to be extending the Seedstars competition to include Durban as part of our Virtual Incubator offering. We look forward to the Seedstars event in Durban in June where we select the top 3 to join us at the grand finale at the Standard Bank Business Incubator in Rosebank.”
The event will take place on Wednesday, 8 June from 4:00pm to 9:00pm at Mancosa (attendees can register online) with the startups to pitch to a panel of judges.
