Fintech startup Franc has been named the winner of the South African leg of the Seedstars competition, booking a place at the global final in Switzerland in April and the chance to pitch for up to US$1 million in equity investment.
Global early-stage startups competition Seedstars has already picked African winners in Egypt, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Ghana, Rwanda, Libya, Uganda, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Angola, Nigeria, Cameroon and Botswana, and held its South African final in Cape Town yesterday (November 14).
The winning startup was Franc, a self-insurance platform that offers customers the opportunity to grow their wealth and manage their personal risk. Launched earlier this year, the Franc app aims to make investing simple and affordable, giving stokvel members access to the money market and an exchange-traded fund via their mobile phones.
Franc will now head to Switzerland for the Seedstars Summit in April, where it will take part in a week-long bootcamp along with the other winners from across the world. At the event, it stands the chance of being selected to pitch for up to US$1 million in equity investment and other prizes.
Seven startups pitched at the South African final of the competition, after sub-events in Cape Town and Johannesburg each saw three startups selected.
Property startup HouseME, payments solution Slide Financial and B2B platform Kuba were the Cape Town startups pitching, with Franc representing Johannesburg alongside language learning platform Uthini and payments startup Maxicash. Stellenbosch-based on-demand storage startup Sxuirrel was the wildcard entry.
