Nine startups have been selected to compete at the Kigali-leg of world-touring startup pitching competition Seedstars World this week, with Rwanda’s top startup to progress to represent the country at the global finals in Switzerland.
Seedstars is back on the road following the culmination of the last edition of the competition in April, which was won by Ghanaian startup AgroCenta. African selection heats have already been held in Egypt, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Morocco and Ghana.
The competition turns to Rwanda on Friday (July 20), when the nine selected startups will pitch head-to-head for the chance to represent their country at the global finals to be held at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland, where up to US$1 million in equity investment is up for grabs.
The startups pitching are student recruitment platform BAG Innovation; BeneFactors Ltd – a Rwandan factoring firm; artificial intelligence solution for the blind, BLAIVA – FABLAB RWANDA; Comparisol, which aims to raise consumer awareness of solar home systems; and freelancing platform eJobu ltd.
The list is completed by bus ticketing app Favouriapps; event ticketing solution Raisin Ltd; the Einstein, which aims to connect donors with schools and students in need; and TIVA Motos, an e-commerce app for motorcycle taxi drivers.
“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. 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,” said Claudia Makadristo, regional manager for Africa at Seedstars.
The event will take place at local hub Westerwelle Startup Haus, with support from kLab.
“We are very excited to host the Seedstars Pitch Competition at the Westerwelle Startup Haus in Kigali this week. Their return to Kigali is a great confirmation of the positive development of the local startup scene and the international interest it attracts. We look forward to meeting the participating startups and entrepreneurs and their pitches,” said Guido von Westerholt, programme manager at Westerwelle Startup Haus Programme.
