Ten South African startups are preparing to pitch at the local Seedstars World final in Johannesburg on June 30 for the chance to represent the country at the global final early next year and compete for up to US$1 million in equity investment.
Seedstars World, which was won last year by South African mobile recruitment startup Giraffe, this year held a number of pre-selection events in South Africa ahead of the national final.
A total of nine winners were chosen from events in Cape Town, Durban and Soweto, while Seedstars World has also decided to introduce a wildcard, with one additional startup to be invited to compete in Johannesburg.
The selected startups from the local pre-selection events are online crew booking service Crew Pencil, e-courier service Pargo, logistics startup WumDrop, safety tracking device Guardian Angel Safety Solution, online parenting platform You, Baby and I, wearable medical device Vitls, communication-centric organiser Sortd, free calls provider UmoyAir Communications, and micro-insurer Riovic.
Seedstars World is working with Standard Bank for the event, which will be hosted at the bank’s incubator in Rosebank.
“Last year’s South Africa winner Giraffe proudly won Seedstars global final in Geneva earlier this year and we are hoping this year South Africa is able to produce another global contender. This competition highlights the amazing talent we have not just in South Africa but on the continent and we will continue to grow and nurture entrepreneurs through our incubators,” said Jayshree Naidoo, head at Standard Bank Incubator.
