The sixth edition of the annual Global Seedstars Summit is currently being held in Lausanne, Switzerland from April 2 - 5, 2019. Hosted by Seedstars, this premier event for discovering the top startups in the world's emerging and fastest-growing economies. As the final stage of the 2018 Seedstars World Competition, the Seedstars Summit is showcasing the 64 most promising startups from emerging economies in Africa, Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, who will compete for the title of Seedstars Global Winner and up to $500K in equity investment.

More than 1000 participants are on hand at the Swiss Tech Convention Center (EPFL campus) to strategically devise innovative solutions in five key sectors: healthcare, finance, education, agriculture and energy. The primary goal of this event & the selected pioneer startups is to create a positive global impact. Seedstars vows to be the vehicle to equip them with financial support and most importantly nurturing, mentoring and connecting them with a network of experts.

Among the many sessions during the Summit will be a private bootcamp on April 2nd and 3nd. Pre-selected startups will refine their growth strategy and participate in one-on-one meetings with mentors from the world’s top companies like Merck, Microsoft, Nestle, Standard Bank and many more. Khaled Ismail (Board Member, Feather Invest), Kim Neel Wyong (Senior Partner, Optiteam), Martin Johnson (Board Member, Sophia Business Angels) will be among those sharing their knowledge on emerging market investment opportunities, precisely in Africa, India and Latin America.

The Investor Forum on April 4th will be a platform for well-known investors to connect with Seedstars World startups for 1:1 meetings and 1-minute pitches. Later that day, Fabio Cannavale, CEO of lastminute.com, and Géraldine Fasnacht, the elite basejumper, snowboard freerider & entrepreneur, will talk about risk taking and share personal experience in entrepreneurship and investment to inspire and guide the startup teams and investors in the room.

The Summit’s final day on April 5th will be engineered around three main spaces - Workshop Rooms, the Main Stage, and the Breakout stage.

Startups will take Main Stage to pitch during the Agritech, HealthTech, Fintech and EdTech hours, with more keynote speeches, including Freddy Vega (CEO, Platzi), Noah Kadima (CEO, Africa Farmers Club), Tania Douglas (Professor, University of Cape Town).

Simultaneously on the Breakout Stage, smaller groups will focus on shorter sessions discussing the latest trends around #innovation, #impact, and #investment. Topics discussed are mainly focused around Industry 4.0, learning about the current technological breakthroughs, specifically in Emerging markets; Millennials Shift of the Mindset, Peace Innovation & Conflict Resolution via Technology; and Fundraising in Emerging Market and Beyond.

Among the companies and institutions that help make the Seedstars Summit 2019 possible are SPEI, School of Management Fribourg (HEG Fribourg), TRECC (Jacobs Foundation), TAG Heuer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rising Tide Foundation, EPFL (École Polytéchnique de Lausanne), CVCI (Chambre Vaudoise du Commerce et de l’Industrie), Lausanne Région and Ville de Lausanne, Nespresso.

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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 group with a mission to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through a variety of worldwide events, acceleration programs and competitions, including the largest startup competition in emerging markets (Seedstars World Competition), Seedstars aims at fostering impact investing and impact entrepreneurship over the world.

Source: Press release

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Binu Cherian

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