Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes brought its Uganda round to a successful close during Seedstars Kampala. The event took place this Friday in Outbox Hub, and 11 selected startups were invited to present their ideas in front of the local jury panel.
The local winner, Akiba, that aims to transform finance by making it collective, granting people the tools for practical and transparent management of their finance, was selected the best startup in Uganda. “We started this company because my mom was having difficulties trying to make a difference in her community. We are very happy to see that this has transformed into a business,” explains Ivan Mworozi of Akiba. DusuPay Ltd, a platform that wants streamline how African businesses are paid online, came second and Panya, a business that leverages chatbot technology to enable local firms to market and transact products and services directly within Facebook Messenger took the last spot in the top three.
As a part of the prize, Akiba will be participating at Seedstars Summit, taking place in Switzerland in April 2017, a weeklong training program with the opportunity to meet the other 60 winners, as well as investors and mentors from around the world. Traditionally, the final day of the Summit will be dedicated to pitching in front of audience of 1000 attendees, with the possibility of winning up to the USD 1 million equity investment. The Ugandan competition was carried out with the support of local lead partner, Stanbic Bank Uganda and local ambassador Outbox Hub. Additional support is provided by Microsoft, Brussels Airlines, IAfrica, Open Capital Advisors, VC4Africa and Lionesses of Africa.
The other startups that pitched were Aloyo Electronics Co. Ltd, Soundbooklet Ltd, DusuPay UK Ltd, / E-Savings Club Uganda, MamboPay Limited, GarageMobi, Solar Freedom Africa Limited, Xeno Technologies, Panya, Kwiksy, Kazzi Corp Technology.
Wayne Cook, Head of Business Banking at Stanbic Bank said, “Stanbic is pleased to be the lead partner in this amazing initiative. We are very excited that Akiba will represent Uganda in Geneva in 2017. They have the potential to not only win at the finals but also to become key players in the national and international marketplace. We are committed to nurturing young businesses like this and supporting the growth of startup companies because we recognise the vital role they play in the transformation of the economy. As Stanbic Bank, we shall continue to support the development of small businesses that bring innovation that can change our communities.”
“Our collaboration with seedstars has gone beyond just putting Ugandan startups on the global stage. The relationships built from the network and exposure from seedstars is one of the best benefits I did not foresee. This has placed us in a unique position within the local market to extend these relations beyond seedstars participants to the general local ecosystem.” says Richard Zulu, co-founder at Outbox Hub.
The 11 startups pitched in front of a prestigious jury, including – Wayne Cook – Head of business Banking at Stanbic Bank , Ham Namakajjo Co-founder at FEZAH, James Makumbi Owner /Software Developer at Billable Ltd, Patricia Russ Associate Programme Adviser at UN WTO | International Trade Center, Angela Kerubo Senior Analyst at Open Capital Advisors, Selam Kebede Associate for Africa at Seedstars world.
SeedstarsKampala also featured speaker and last year’s winner Bonny Madrawi and Nielsimms Sangho Co-founder & CFO InterShip Uganda.
Continuing on its world tour of startup scenes in emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, Seedstars World’s next stop is Nairobi at PAWA254 to select the best startup in Uganda. Seedstars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and/or develop profitable products for the global market.
Seedstars World has partnered with TRECC to bring the “Transforming Education Prize” which will award the best startup in the education space from around the world with a prize of over USD 50,000. Along with PayU, Seedstars World is also looking for the best fintech startup, which will be awarded the “FinTech Prize” at the Seedstars Summit.In addition to the TRECC, “Transforming Education Prize”, Seedstars World and Intel are collaborating on the “Intel Solutions Challenge” to find the best startups in Hardware, IoT, Cloud and Analytics with the goal of inviting them to a prestigious Demo Day with internal and external partners who will give access to market and funding for the best startups.