Fintech startup Sudpay has been named winner of the Senegal round of the Seedstars World global startup competition, and will now head to the global final in in Switzerland to compete for up to US$1 million in equity investment.
Seedstars, which has already picked African winners in Egypt, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Ghana, Rwanda, Libya and Uganda, held its Senegalese event in Dakar last week at the headquarters of Sonatel, with nine startups pitching in front of a local jury panel.
The local winner was Sudpay, which allows municipalities to mobilise more revenue by digitising collection of local taxes and financially including merchants.
Sudpay will now participate at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland in April of next year, featuring a week-long training programme and the chance to pitch for up to US$1 million in equity investment.
“I’m really happy to have won this edition, I really did not expect it. But it’s also an opportunity for me to represent my country at the Seedstars Summit in Lausanne and deploy my solution,” said Samba Sow, chief executive officer (CEO) of Sudpay.
Lives, with its new ways of exploring African cities, culture and people, came second, while Paps, an urban logistics service, was third. The other startups invited to pitch were Loyset, mTick, MusikBi, OniriQ, Sunubus and Shopkeepers.
