Seedstars World is looking for the best startup in Botswana

Global pitching competition, Seedstars World heads to Botswana on 4 November 2016 in search for the best startup the country has to offer.

Selected startups from the Botswana round of participants stand a chance to receive an all-inclusive trip to the regional summit in Rwanda as well as a spot in the finals in April 2017.

Startups wishing to enter will need to be under two years old, have raised less than US$50 000 in funding, be scalable, and have a minimum viable product.

The Botswana leg of the tour is carried out by local partner Stanbic Bank Botswana as well as local ambassador Thabo Theron. Further support is also offered by Microsoft, Intel and Botswana Innovation Hub as well as VC4Africa.

“SMEs are a big creator of employment in many developing economies. Thus, our support of innovation through this partnership talks directly to dedication towards helping ensure further job creation,” said head of enterprise banking at Stanbic Bank Botswana, Onkabetse Morapedi.

“We are interested in helping transform ideas into realities, into real, thriving businesses. This partnership is indeed a manifestation of this as we hope to see business success stories from sole proprietors growing into multinationals and even beyond,” he continues.

Seedstars World is travelling through over 60 countries in search of the best tech-based startups to represent their respective countries. Startups who are chosen for the finals in Switzerland stand a chance to win up to US$1-million in equity. They’ll also have the opportunity to network with interested investors as well as industry mentors.

“Seedstars World is a platform connecting investors to the next generation of start-up entrepreneurs, pulling the spotlight from Silicon Valley and Western Europe,” explained CEO of Seedstars World, Claudia Makadristo.

“After four years of our existence, we have definitely confirmed our initial hypothesis that the best way to have an impact in emerging countries is by investing and promoting entrepreneurship,” she concluded.

More information can be found on the Seedstars World website.