Seedstars World, the largest seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, brought its Senegal round to a successful close during Seedstars Dakar. The event took place this Thursday, at Sonatel Headquarters, and 8 selected startups were invited to present their companies in front of the local jury panel.
The local winner, Afrikamart, an agri food tech startup that aims to become the largest quality fresh food supplier in West Africa without owning any farm. Through their solution they tackle the challenges of access to market, logistics and efficient agriculture in the fresh food sector, was named “Best Startup in Senegal” for its innovative sustainable solution.
“We design tools and services to bring farmers closer to processors, wholesalers, restaurants, supermarkets and individuals as well. We create value in addressing three of the biggest challenges in the agri-food sector: effective agriculture, market access and logistics’, explains Albert DIOUF, COO at AfrikaMart.
Besides representing Ghana at the Seedstars Africa Summit, the winner will win an all-inclusive trip to the Seedstars Africa Summit and the chance to win a spot at the Seedstars Global Summit in Switzerland where the winner will take home a 500K USD investment prize In addition, the winner will receive 3 months access to the investment readiness program.
The 8 startups pitched in front of a prestigious jury, including consists of Ndeye Thiaw, Managing Partner, Brightmore Capital; Diabel Ndaw, National Coordinator, ITC, Netherlands Trust Fund 1V; Elhadji Malick Soumare, Investment Manager at Grofin and Claudia Makadristo, Regional Manager for Africa at Seedstars.
The local Ambassador of Seedstars World, Concree, organized the event with Seedstars World’s local partner The Netherlands Trust Fund IV. Further support was provided by Sonatel and Disrupt Africa. The event attracted interest from over 35 startups.
Amalog Afrique, an agri food tech startup that aims to become the largest quality fresh food supplier in West Africa without owning any farm. Through their solution they tackle the challenges of access to market, logistics and efficient agriculture in the fresh food sector, came second and Car Rapide Prestige, a fleet and delivery platform that offers tracking software and localization of the vehicle fleet.
in real time grabbed the last spot in the top 3. The other startups invited to pitch were Beinday, Keys Job, Nima Codes, SenVitale and Niaata.
After this stop at Senegal, Claudia Makadristo, Regional Manager for Africa at Seedstars, says ‘Dakar shows year after year that it able to produce high quality startups and so of course this year the competition was fierce yet again’’
Continuing on its world tour of fast-growing startup scenes in emerging markets, Seedstars World’s next stop is Freetown at Sensi Tech Hub, to select the best startup in Sierra Leone. Seedstars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and/or develop profitable products for the global market. Startups are invited to apply here:https://www.seedstarsworld.com/event/seedstars-freetown-2019
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ABOUT SEEDSTARS
“They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.” – Mexican proverb
Seedstars is a Swiss-based private group of companies with a mission to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship. The groups’ activities cover over 80 emerging ecosystems through a variety of events such as the Seedstars World Competition, acceleration programs, physical hubs called Seedspace, venture capital investments and company building activities.
ABOUT SEEDSTARS WORLD COMPETITION
Seedstars World is the world’s largest startup competition in emerging markets. For the past six years, Seedstars Teams travel around for a 9-month world tour and scout for the best early-stage startups in 65+ countries, organizing 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 also awarded the chance to represent their countries at the Seedstars Summit, the competition’s final happening in Switzerland, where startups compete for up to $500,000 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.
