The local winners of the Seedstars World Competition (SSW) 2020 have been announced with 17 startups from CEE 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. For more information about the competition, visit the Seedstars website: https://seedsta.rs/38BbeDW 

“During this unusual year for everyone, I am proud to say that we managed to identify the most promising startups in 94 emerging markets. The online format of the competition allowed us to dream and go bigger as we reached a larger audience and invited more startups from all the cities of each country to apply. Now, we can’t wait for our local winners to represent their countries in the webisodes of the regional stage of the competition. I’d like to invite everyone to follow their journey and root for their favorite startup from the different corners of the world,” shares Eugenia Shevchenko, Lead of the Seedstars World Competition 2020.

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 CEE region, there are 17 startups moving on to the next stage stage:

• Noomee (Armenia) – Highlights solutions to the main problems that face children with ASD and also guides their parents and therapists.
• ABC Planet (Azerbaijan) – ABC Planet is revolutionizing preschool education with the magic of cartoons and mobile gaming
• PharmBonus (Belarus) – PharmBonus App connects all types of medical professionals in an educational, informational and communicative platform internationally.
• HR Kit (Bulgaria) – HR KIT is a tool for remote employees that includes all jobs wherein the employee does not prioritize computer use.
• BrikkApp (Czech Republic) – BrikkApp is a property investment marketplace that allows individual investors to find the best real estate investment from 100 EUR.
• Zelos (Estonia) – Task management for large horizontal teams.
• Payze (Georgia) – Payment gateway platform allowing online marketplaces to automatically split any number of transactions between any number of actors.
• Okoo (Millenium Education) (Kazakhstan) – Okoo is an educational platform for kids powered with advanced AI and analytics systems that helps to learn how to code.
• Flipful (Latvia) – Flipful helps companies to motivate employees by enabling them to advance their earned salaries whenever it is needed.
• Tomyo (Mongolia) – Tomyo is an edtech platform enabling customers to have affordable access to learn or teach from anywhere.
• Scan and Buy (Poland) – Provides mobile, cashless self-checkout for retailers
• SanoPass (Romania) – SanoPass is the platform that connects, digitizes and customizes the health benefits offered by companies to their employees.
• Alter (Russia) – Alter is a science-based service helping people to find a right and professional psychotherapist with proper method and specialization
• MapMy Apple (Serbia) – Predicts pests and diseases in apple orchards to save money by optimizing the number of spraying activities.
• Elomia (Ukraine) – Elomia is an AI that replaces a psychologist. It listens, understands, and provides psychological support 24/7 while being 40 times cheaper.
• IMAN (Uzbekistan) – IMAN is a marketplace that brings together merchants, shoppers, and investors at the point of sale using the principles of Islamic finance. 

Seedstars CEE Regional Manager Zarina Gabdolova shares, “We are beyond excited to have 17 local winners from CEE and Central Asia at the Regional Stage of the SSW Competition. I believe that participation in the Investment Readiness Program and the pitching competition itself will help our entrepreneurs to boost their knowledge and to grow stronger. I am cheering for our finalists and wish all of them good luck! Once again, I would like to thank all the participants and the partners of the local competitions and hope to see you in next year’s edition.”

Collaborating with partners from all across CEE, Seeedstars would like to thank Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency, Luminate, and Startup Marketing Space for helping make this year’s competition possible.

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.

Online episodes for the regional stage of the competition will be aired at the end of January 2021. Viewers will get to see each local winner pitch in front of the juries and learn more about each of the teams’ startup stories. At the end of each episode, the regional winners moving on to the Global Finale in March 2021 will be announced.

Tune in for the last local winner announcement as Seedstars World Competition 2020 caps off the local stage with its Moldova startup on November 26, 4PM by saving the date here: https://seedsta.rs/38PTNlb. The event is supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Moldova.

ABOUT SEEDSTARS 

Seedstars is a Swiss-based private company with a mission to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship. The groups’ activities cover over 90 emerging ecosystems through a variety of initiatives such as the Online Seedstars World Competition, acceleration programs, physical hubs called Seedspace, venture capital investments and company building activities. Seedstars The Documentary is a feature film featuring the company’s vision to give a voice to the game changers of the developing world.

“They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.” – Mexican proverb 

ABOUT SEEDSTARS WORLD COMPETITION

In 2013, Seedstars started as Seedstars World, an initiative created by founding partners Pierre-Alain Masson and Alisée de Tonnac who, equipped with a backpack and passion to change the world, set on a world tour across 20 entrepreneurial ecosystems to scout for the most promising early-stage startups and build the largest entrepreneurial community in emerging markets. 

The first startup competition in 13 countries was a massive success and gained attention on a global scale. It showed to the world the untapped potential of developing economies, innovative solutions and talented entrepreneurs willing to transform their communities. This led to larger tours for the following six years, bringing together thousands of entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and experts. Today, Seedstars World is the largest startup competition in emerging markets.

However, in 2020, things are taking on a new twist. Reimagining its World Tour online, Seedstars will now digitally travel across the globe for a 9-month world tour to scout for the best early-stage startups in 90+ countries, organizing 100+ online local competitions. One winner will be selected to represent each country and will be invited to attend one of the 5 Regional stage competitions, reuniting all local winners of each region to network with regional investors, mentors and corporates. Regional winners are also awarded the chance to represent their countries at the Grand Finale, the competition’s final happening each year in April, where startups compete for up to $500,000 in investment.