Startups in the Ivory Coast can now apply to the Abidjan leg of global competition Seedstars World, with 10 startups to be selected to pitch head-to-head in the regional event.
Startups selected to participate in the Ivorian event will pitch their businesses live, in the hope of winning a place at the global finals to be held in Switzerland, where regional winners from around the world will compete for up to US$1 million in prizes and funding.
Seedstars World has already picked winning startups in Egypt, Tunisia, South Africa, Mozambique, and Angola; with the Ghanaian event next on the competition’s African tour.
The competition comes to the Ivory Coast on August 29, and will be held at Co-Labs Abidjan.
Startups hoping to take part must be less than two years old; have raised less than US$500,000 in funding; have a minimum viable product; and be regionally and globally scalable.
“We see that Abidjan is become more and more vibrant, with a lot of startup activity going on. We have also noticed that more entrepreneurship support organizations are becoming interested in entrepreneurial activity. We are very excited to come back and see how the entrepreneurial ecosystem has grown since our list visit,” says Claudia Makadristo, associate for Seedstars World.
For the Ivorian event, Seedstars World is partnering with TRECC – “Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities” – an Abidjan-based coalition of public and private stakeholders focused on improving the quality of education in the country.
TRECC is sponsoring the US$50,000 Transforming Education Prize, which will be awarded to the best startup in the education space with the goal to enhance education for communities in rural areas.
Applications to Seedstars Abidjan can be made here.
