On September 14th, up to 10 of Mali’s best seed stage startups will compete to represent the country at the Seedstars Summit and win up to USD 1,000,000 in equity investment and other prizes.
The companies selected to pitch at Seedstars Bamako need to be less than 2 years old, have raised less than USD 500 000 in funding and have built a minimum viable product, ideally with existing traction. The Seedstars World team is searching for one additional criterion – the startup’s regional and global scalability. With a strong network of international partners such as Enel, BBVA, Merck, TRECC and Standard Bank, Seedstars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and develop profitable products for the global market to support their regional businesses and growth.
In order to provide local entrepreneurs with this opportunity and deliver the best possible event, Seedstars World is closely working with Impact Hub Bamako, who is representing the initiative throughout the year.
“The Seedstars experience has been very enriching for participants and for us at Impact Hub Bamako. The entrepreneurs selected to pitch learned to get out of their comfort zone and present their projects with more conviction and passion,” explains Mohamed Keita, CEO of Impact Hub Bamako.”The local winner, Aikio Corp, had the opportunity to connect with a global emerging network. We have followed its remarkable progress over just one year since Seedstars 2016.”
“Seedstars World is a platform connecting investors to the next generation of startup entrepreneurs, giving them an opportunity to scale their solutions regionally and globally,” says Anis Kallel, Associate at Seedstars World. “This will be our second time to organize our event in Bamako, and we look forward to meeting talented entrepreneurs and adding more startups from Mali to our map.”
Up to 10 of the best seed stage startups in Mali will be invited to pitch for the opportunity to compete at the Seedstars Summit, that annually takes place in Switzerland.
Reba Chemicals Wins Eskom’s 2017 Business Investment Competition
The Eskom Development Foundation announced Johannesburg-based Reba Chemicals Pty Ltd as the overall national prize winner of the 2017 Business Investment Competition (BIC) at an awards evening held on Wednesday, August 30 in Fourways, Johannesburg.
As a manufacturer of industrial chemicals, Reba Chemicals has built a substantial customer base – including the manufacturing of water treatment chemicals for customers like RandWater and industrial chemicals for CureChem; while providing water treatment for AquaTrait and Automotive chemicals for Hankel. The business which was created to replace imported chemicals from Europe and the USA, has created 19 permanent jobs over the years while awarding 10 learnerships.
R1.3 million, worth of prizes was at stake, over 100 registered companies competed as finalists in the competition’s four categories; manufacturing, trade and services, agriculture and agri-processing as well as construction and engineering.
As part of their prizes, all BIC finalists will exhibit their enterprises at the Small Business Expo (SBE) from 31 August to 2 September 2017 at the Ticketpro Dome in Northriding, alongside the Buy a Business Expo. The expo helps small and medium enterprises to grow by giving them an opportunity to market themselves and interact with same 7000 corporates, investors and potential clients over three days. Benefits of participating at the expo are that entrepreneurs can meet face to face with a qualified target audience, get access to pre-arranged meetings, which pro-actively connect participants to help them achieve their business goals.
“Small businesses really are the backbone of our country. To make them sustainable, we need to continue to support these businesses in our communities and recognise and reward them for the hard work and dedication they put in,” says Cecil Ramonotsi, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Eskom Development Foundation.
The winners in the four categories are:
Manufacturing
- Winner – IKIM Solutions (King Williams Town, Eastern Cape)
- First runner-up – Ductile Plastics & Extruders (Pty) Ltd (Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape)
- Second runner-up – Purechem (Johannesburg, Gauteng)
Trade and Services
- Winner – EWASTE Africa (Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal)
- First runner-up – GlobeScope Security Solutions (Cape Town, Western Cape)
- Second runner-up – Your Transport (Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape)
Construction and Engineering
- Winner – Oakantswe Construction and Projects (Pretoria, Gauteng)
- First runner-up – Brimis Engineering Pty (Middelburg, Mpumalanga)
- Second runner-up – Lighthouse Engineering Services (Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal)
Agriculture and Agro-processing
- Winner – Eden All Natural (Cape Town, Western Cape)
- First runner-up – Living Harvest (East London, Eastern Cape)
- Second runner-up – Vegetable Growers and Agricultural Development Organization (Alice, Eastern Cape)
Entrepreneurs Can Win $100,000 In Kwesé Competition
Econet Group chairman, Strive Masiyiwa, has unveiled a $100,000 competition for entrepreneurs across the world. Masiyiwa kicked off the official Kwesé Inc competition called #GoGettaz.
The competition offers investment of $100,000 USD towards a lucky entrepreneur’s venture – both for profit or non-profit – and the trip of a lifetime to spend two weeks with the man himself as “Kwesé Entrepreneur Fellows” at the Kwesé offices in South Africa. Two deserving entrepreneurs – one male and one female – from anywhere in the world stand a chance to win.
Contestants do not need to run an already-registered business or non-profit to qualify – all they need to have is an ongoing venture, for which they have clear intentions to formally register should they win the grand prize. They can even be working part-time on their venture!
Contestants will need to successfully complete four quizzes in order to remain in the running and stand a chance to win the grand prize. A new quiz will be up each Friday at 12pm (Noon CAT) for the next four weeks.
All the questions in the quizzes can be answered by visiting Kwesé’s websites: kwese.com, kwese.espn.com, kwesefied.com, downloading the Kwesé App, or reading Masiyiwa’s Facebook posts.
Contestants with the highest overall scores for all four quizzes will be entered into a prize pool, and 10 contestants will progress to Stage Two of the competition, where they will get a chance to pitch their ventures on video and compete for the grand prize.
