Startup stars head for Seedstars

After a year of roaming the world and analysing startup ecosystems in fast growing economies, Seedstars is poised to announce the winners of the largest emerging markets startup competition. 

The Seedstars Summit, taking place in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 12 April, will host more than 60 handpicked startups from Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and Africa. Spanning a wide variety of verticals, from Fintech and Insuretech to Edtech, Med/Biotech and Agri-tech to Cleantech and High/Nano-tech, they will meet in the SwissTech Convention Center to compete for up to $1M in equity investment.

The 2018 edition is expected to attract startups enthusiasts, investors, business angels, government officials, incubators, NGOs and journalists from around the world.

According to Seedstars, 84% of the world’s population is located in emerging markets and 59% of global GDP comes from these markets, suggesting emerging markets are the future. By 2025, it is expected, annual consumption in emerging markets will reach $30-trillion? And two-thirds of the global growth is coming from emerging markets.

Consequently, Seedstars has been connecting with the digital change makers of the emerging world, to provide them with access to high growth opportunities. The fifth edition of Seedstars Summit will address crucial questions: where do we want to be five years from now regarding technology and innovation? How will the entrepreneurship from fast-growing markets impact the world economy?

The event is being hosted with the help of partners like Innovaud, City of Lausanne, Enel, School of Management Fribourg (HEG Fribourg) & TRECC (Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities program, part of the Jacobs Foundation), BBVA, Tag Heuer, Merck KGaA and CVCI (Chambre Vaudoise du Commerce et de l’Industrie).

The 2017 Seedstars Summit saw more than 1 000 attendees, around 60 startup finalists and 116 investors, who took part in more than 450 one-on-one meetings. Speakers included Bob Collymore , CEO of Safaricom, and Alexander Galitsky , Managing Partner of Almaz Capital. The Best Woman Entrepreneur prize was awarded to Monica Abarca, from qAIRa, an air-pollution monitoring drone from Peru, while the most Innovative Startup prize was presented to PiQuant , a South Korean hardware startup dedicated to decreasing the harmful impact of chemicals in food. Mario Jordan Fetalino III, CEO of Acudeen Technologies in Philippines, was named the Seedstars Global winner .

Over 70 experts from world renowned companies spent the first two days of this week mentoring the selected entrepreneurs, providing them with in-depth insights and business mentorship. An Investor Forum will happen on Wednesday, when the startups will present their one minute pitches, and attend the one-on-one meetings with Swiss and international investors, curated by Seedstars.

Keynote speakers include Gwendolyn Regina , who most recently spearheaded Mashable’s global expansion into Asia; CEO of AppsTech Rebecca Enonchong , representing Africa; Tallis Gomes , one of the most outstanding references for entrepreneurship in Latin America. A fish-farmer-turned-agriculture-tech-entrepreneur, Gibran Huzaifah, founder of eFishery in Indonesia, will also speak.

Investors include Ace & Company, Omidyar Network , Index Ventures and 500 startups.