Three startups secure wildcard spot for Seedstars World South Africa event

Global entrepreneurial competition Seedstars World announced the winners of the wildcard draw to compete at the Seedstars World South Africa regional final this Thursday (29 June) at the Standard Bank Auditorium.

The three startups from the Western Cape, Gauteng and Johannesburg will go on to compete against those startups chosen at a Johannesburg pitching event on 26 May (EMG Technologies, GreenFingers Mobile, and mbora) and those selected at a Cape Town pitching event on 8 June (CommuScore, Empty Trips Pty Ltd, Muzi and Invoiceworx) for their chance to represent SA at the finals in Switzerland next year.

The winning startup will compete against startups from 79 other countries for a chance at winning $500 000 in equity investments.

The SA leg of Seedstars World is being held in partnership with Standard Bank and other local partners such as Enel, Microsoft4Afrika, Orange, Merck, TRECC and Deloitte. Other local partners include Entrepreneur Traction, PayU, Seedspace, Simodisa and Startup Grind.

The wildcard winners are a validation of the potential that exists in Africa

“These partnerships allow us to help change the narrative of the potential that exists on the continent and helps us recognise and create access to market opportunities for those businesses that make it to the regional finals and the finals,” said Jayshree Naidoo, head of the Standard Bank Incubator in a press release to Ventureburn.

The three wildcard winners are:

• Lenoma Legal — a female-founded legal e-commerce startup which allows its corporate customers to download legal documentation instantaneously
• Zlto — a digital rewards platform which rewards its users for “positive behaviour”
• Home Farm — a home green-farming system which allows its users to grow leafy greens from the comfort of their home

“The quality of startups is validation of the abundance of talent in South Africa,” said Vuyisa Qabaka, a partner at Entrepreneur Traction. “We are seeing the impact Seedstars World has on the growth of the local ecosystem, as more founders are thinking global,” he continued.

Claudia Makadristo, the regional manager for Seedstars World Africa also commented on how pleased she was at the quality of startups emerging from Johannesburg and Cape Town.