Seedstars World has named the 11 startups selected to pitch at the Addis Ababa leg of the world-touring competition; in the first time the global event hosts a regional heat in Ethiopia.
This year’s Seedstars World sees regional events take place in 52 countries – up from 36 countries in the 2014 edition. 12 African cities were due to host competition legs, but this has since been increased to 16.
This year marks the first time Seedstars World has visited a number of countries participating in the 2015 competition, including Ethiopia.
Disrupt Africa reported last month applications opened for the Ethiopian competition, with Marcello Schermer, regional manager for Africa at Seedstars World, saying the organisation hoped to “div[e]into the local ecosystem and help elevate it to a global stage.”
11 startups have now been selected to compete head-to-head at the Addis Ababa event to be held on October 8, for the chance to progress to the global finals and win up to US$500,000 in investment.
The successful startups are custom mobile game and app developer Brain Up Software Technology; Addis Ababa event listing app Enhid; Aer – claiming to be the world’s first item based crowdfunding platform to enable non-profits to campaign for various items; peer-to-peer courier service Besew; and Locally – an alternative marketing platform for small businesses.
Also selected to compete are EthioInfoDesk – an Ethiopian online news and media provider; solar powered mobile charger for Ethiopian farmers Winsol Green Power Engineering; Addiscan – a mobile based Enterprise Operation Management Platform; GeoArt – a digital atlas to re-discover less known natural places and promote the eco-tourism business; payment platform Sabacards; and AhadooTec Fidel, which enables African students to access to curriculum mapped content both online and offline on PCs, mobile phones and tablets.
The event will be hosted by local incubator iceaddis, and those interested in attending as the audience can register here.
Following the Ethiopian event, the next competition will take place in Angola. Applications for the Angolan event are open until tomorrow, October 2.
African heats have already taken place in Mozambique, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Rwanda and Uganda. The Kenyan competition takes place tomorrow, October 2.
