BY PATIENCE RADISOENG
Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, returned to Botswana recently, in line with its mission to place the spotlight on entrepreneurs from emerging markets.
The Botswana competition carried out with the support of local lead partner, Stanbic Bank Botswana will have 10 of the best local seed-stage startups take the stage and compete for a chance to represent Botswana at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland.
Stanbic Bank Head of Enterprise Banking, Onkabetse Morapedi said, “as a Bank we have a great interest in supporting the creation and sustainability of a business ecosystem in Botswana to ensure that both potential and established entrepreneurs have access to the resources they need to develop. It is for these reasons why we have sponsored this global platform for the third consecutive year.”
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are a big part of job creation in many developing economies. Thus, the Banks’ support of innovation through this partnership talks directly to their dedication towards helping ensure future employment and is interested in helping transform ideas into realities, into living thriving businesses.
Meanwhile this year’s pitch competition saw food ordering and delivery application, My Foodness, win first place. Music streaming platform Moments was placed second, while artificial intelligence (AI) powered personal assistant Mohiri came third for its solution which helps users get hired by alerting them when there are jobs in their respective areas which match their profile.
In her comment, the Chief Executive Office, Boi Kgathi Rasmussen, on behalf of MyFoodness said, “winning Seedstars has been amazing. An industry nod to the work we are doing on disrupting the ordering world in greenfield markets. We are very thankful to Stanbic for supporting this initiative and making it possible for us to join the other winners from Africa and the rest of the world at the regional and global summits.”
So far, it has been five years now that Seedstars team takes off every year for a 9 month world tour and scouts for the best early-stage startups in more than 65 countries, organizing more than 100 events.
One winner is selected to represent each country visited and is invited to attend one of the 5 Regional Summits, reuniting all local winners of each region to network with regional investors, mentors, and corporates.
Local winners are awarded the chance to represent their countries at the Seedstars Summit, the competition final happening in Switzerland, where startups compete for up to $1 million in investment. The Seedstars Summit is the flagship event of Seedstars, filled with breakout sessions, panel discussions, specialized workshops and the best minds from emerging markets.
