The local winners of the Seedstars World Competition (SSW) 2020 have been announced with 18 startups from MENA included in the batch. From over 5,000 applicants, 94 tech startups from emerging markets were selected to advance to the regional stage of the competition. The local winners are set to represent their respective countries as they compete for a spot at the Global Finale, where the grand prize is $500K in funding.
Seedstars, the Swiss-based private company with a mission to impact people’s lives in emerging markets, annually holds the Seedstars World Competition to continuously scout for the most promising startups around the Asia, Africa, CEE, MENA, and LATAM regions. This year, 94 ecosystems were included in the online open call for applications. From there, 1,200 startups participated in the Online Seedstars Academy, a training program for entrepreneurs to accelerate their growth and receive mentorship from industry experts around the world.
The next phase of the competition takes the local winners to the regional stage. From the regionals, 10 startups will receive USD 50K in growth program investment as well as the chance to compete at the Grand Finale for a shot at the Global Winner prize of USD 500K in equity investment.
For the MENA region, there are 18 startups moving on to the next stage:
- StafMedic (Algeria) - A web application that connects private and public medical staff; doctors, paramedics and medical transport.
- AlRawi Media (Bahrain) - AlRawi aims at providing Arabic speakers with interactive audio content that is diverse, engaging and easily accessible through an app.
- Al-Mawwan (Egypt) - Almawwan is the first and biggest digital platform for construction materials in Egypt.
- Paklean (Iran) - Paklean is an online on-demand laundry and dry cleaning platform directly connecting consumers with laundries.
- Fix-it (Iraq) - The first application in Iraq that facilitates the request for maintenance services without the need to wait and waste time and effort.
- Akyas (Jordan) - Akyas aims to revolutionize the concept of the toilet in the modern world, whether it is for an emergency context or for urban sitting
- FinFirst Capital (Kuwait) - Simpler, Faster, Friendlier: that is the banking expeirence FinFirst Capital promises through the use of their super app or website that allows users to reach all banks.
- Mruna (Lebanon) - A startup that harnesses the power of nature and a suite of internet-connected devices to revolutionize the wastewater sector.
- Speetar (Libya) - Telemedicine platform linking medically marginalized patients in the Middle East & North Africa to culture/language matched medical specialists.
- Oriigami (Morocco) - Oriigami aims to provide educational support to students of all levels by connecting them to university students trained by their partners.
- Tanfees (Oman) - Delivers online therapy and matches clients according to their needs with the right counselors using their algorithms at a fixed price.
- Amal (Palestine) - Disrupts the construction industry by bridging workers with contractors, bringing transparency, trust, and culture change.
- Droobi Health Technology (Qatar) - Droobi is the world’s first suite of bilingual (Arabic & English) digital therapeutic programs, using a host of best-in-class technologies.
- IFF (Saudi Arabia) - A local machines supplier with over 900 SKU catalogue, providing a step-by-step guide for starters on how to operate products
- Alphazed (Syria) - A gamified education platform for Arab kids that can consume any school- or country- curriculum and outputs a gamified content
- Fulfillment Bridge (Tunisia) - Cloud-based global e-commerce logistic platform offering warehousing in 4 continents, fulfillment, shipping, return management and more.
- Twin Science & Robotics (Turkey) - Twin is an edtech company developing 21st-century skills and competency among children by providing them STEAM kits and apps.
- Policyhouse (UAE) - Helps customers and SMEs compare & purchase the best, cheapest policy that covers their risk in motor, health and general insurance.
The regional stage of the competition will include a 1-month long Investment Readiness Program, modernized and personalized program helping startups get investment-ready. It will consist of: action-driven webinars on key business metrics; online office hours, where startups can discuss challenges they are facing; domain groups and 1-on-1 mentoring sessions; investor meetings for potential funding opportunities; and peer-to-peer learning and networking sessions.
Source: Press Release
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