Seedstars has opened applications for its event in Kigali, Rwanda, where up to 10 seed-stage startups will compete to represent the country at the Seedstars Summit and win up to US$1 million in equity investment.
Seedstars is back on the road following the culmination of the last edition of the competition in April, with African winners having already been named in Egypt, Tunisia and Zimbabwe.
The competition will return to Rwanda for the fifth time on July 20, with the support of the local hosts Westerwelle Startup Haus Kigali and KLab. Startups can apply here until July 11, after which up to 10 will be picked to pitch. The winner will follow last year’s local winner PikiWash in pitching at the final in Switzerland next year.
“Rwanda’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has shown a lot of progress over the past few years. In many ways, they have shown the example when it comes to lifting up structural barriers for entrepreneurs, putting the ecosystem on the map and creating a favourable environment for businesses,” said Claudia Makadristo, regional manager for Africa at Seedstars.
“We are extremely excited to return to Kigali and hope to witness the results of this reflecting in the quality of the entrepreneurs we will select to participate in the Seedstars World competition.”
Startups applying to pitch need to be less than two years old, have raised less than US$500,000 in funding, and have built a minimum viable product, ideally with existing traction. Seedstars will also look at a startup’s potential regional and global scalability.
