After nine months on the road, Seedstars World will be welcoming 36 finalists including seven African startups for the opportunity to claim a $500’000 equity prize. The global startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes final will take place in Geneva on February 4th, 2015.
Seedstars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and/or develop profitable products for the global market. With partners such as MEST, Google for Entrepreneurs, and Microsoft, SSW identifies fast-growing and pioneering startup scenes and is on the mission to support regional businesses and their growth. “Seedstars World is a unique competition because it spots and showcases the most promising startups outside Silicon Valley. It is also a platform connecting investors to the next generation of startup entrepreneurs and offering insights about new startup ecosystems all over the world” explains Alisee de Tonnac, Seedstars World CEO. Among the finalists are seven African startups from Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa.
Startup finalists will take part in a three-day bootcamp organized in partnership with EPFL, the leading European engineering school. International investors & mentors from top accelerators like BBooster, The Founder’s Institute, Chinaccelerator as well as from the business strategy consultancy Galixo will coach them on their business model.
Seedstars World winner will be announced during the Final Event that will be hosted on the first day of Lift Conference. During the final event, several workshops about industry sectors innovation will take place and debate such topics as ‘banking the perfect storm of disruption?’ with experts such as Temenos and Ingenico or ‘air for shares and the new media metamorphosis’ with Seven Ventures, the venture arm of the biggest TV network in Germany.
A discussion panel about emerging markets is also part of the program. Top speakers like Jesse Moore, Co-Founder of M-KOPA Solar, Renaud Visage, Co-Founder of Eventbrite and Jørn Lyseggen, CEO of MEST in Ghana will share their perspectives and insights during the final event. Finally, Seedstars World will present to you for the first time its Crowd Fund: via Seedrs, the first crowdfunding platform for funds in Europe (equity crowdfunding), you have the opportunity to invest in the Seedstars World finalists with a minimum of £100.