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Global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets Seedstars World is to kick off its latest African tour with events in South Africa, for which applications are now open.

Seedstars World, which offers startups from emerging markets the chance to compete for up to US$500,000 in equity investment, announced recently it was extending the number of African countries involved in its latest edition.

Applications are now open for satellite events in Johannesburg on May 26 and Cape Town on June 8, while the main South Africa finals will be held on June 29.

“South Africa does indeed have world class entrepreneurial talent. Our priority for 2017 is to cast the net event wider and give the opportunity to the whole country to participate and become part of a global journey,” said Claudia Makadristo, regional manager for Africa at Seedstars World.

Since it’s launch, South African startups have had significant success in the Seedstars competition, with jobs startup Giraffe winning the global prize in 2015. Last year’s representative was wildcard winner IDWork, a platform for utilising and reviewing tradesmen for construction needs, which represented South Africa at the Regional Summit in Rwanda and the Global Summit in Switzerland.

“The entire Seedstars World experience has been absolutely amazing. I have been very inspired by the entrepreneurs from all different corners of the world. Together with them, I got to meet investors, mentors and corporates,” said Arjun Khoosal, co-founder of IDWork.

The companies selected to pitch at the Seedstars local events need to be less than two years old, have raised less than US$500,000 in funding, and have built a minimum viable product, ideally with existing traction and regional and global scalability.

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