Yesterday at Seedstars Accra, Asoriba won the Ghanaian round of Seedstars World and will represent Ghana at the Seedstars World Final to compete for up to USD 500,000 in equity investment.
Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes brought its Ghanaian round to a successful close during Seedstars Accra, which was hosted at the Impact Hub Accra. 12 startups were invited to compete and the regional winner, Asoriba, a web and mobile application that enables effective church administration for leaders, and seamless engagement with members, was selected the best startup in Ghana.
Asoriba will be going to Switzerland in February 2016 for the final pitching round, potentially winning the USD 500’000 equity investment. Other investments and prizes such as the Travel Investment track powered by lastminute.com group, a USD 500k equity investment for the best travel startup and the USD 50k grant for the best space startup are also up for grabs.
The 12 startups pitched in front of a prestigious jury including Eric Osiakwan, the Managing Partner at Chanzo Capital who said “The program does a great job of unearthing startups that are interesting, to the point and game changers, may the best win…”. The other Jury members were:
- Todd Holcombe: Senior Faculty at MEST Ghana
- Wayne Miranda: CEO Growth Mosaic
- Samuel Yeboah: Managing Director at Servled Africa
- Marcello Schermer: Regional Manager for Africa at Seedstars World
The regional winner, Nana Opoku, was named Ghana’s best startup for its relevant and intuitive solution in a currently underserved market. Nana Opoku, the CEO of Asoriba, talked to us about winning the title and what it means to him and his company. “This is completely unexpected for us. We are going to work even harder now to grow our business and impress in Geneva.”
Flippy Campus with its app that helps students get timely access to information related to the academic and social life on campus came second and Enyinam Tech, a clean tech solution to minimize external energy inputs in our power generation systems by removing all mechanical rotating devices, grabbed the last spot in the top 3.
The other startups invited to pitch were:
Booomers International: Booomers addresses the quadruple problems rural youth unemployment, rural-urban migration, climate change and sustainable transport.
Beep: Beep is a fun, safe way to meet new people through friends. It is a casual way to discover and meet cool new people just like in real life.
Ahwenepa Fashion: Ahwenepa is a Customisable Online global Marketplace for strictly African fashion and lifestyle products.Package+Delivery services available
OnToday: OnToday is a full service platform that provides a start-to-finish approach for businesses to attracting, keeping and managing customers.
Afrishopen: Afrishopen is the solution for Africa SMEs Business to have Online shop and make more sale at low cost on mobile device & Web.Agbona Saheed.
CustOpinion: CustOpinion is a messaging platform that enables businesses to relate, interact and engage their customers in a very personal way.
Farmable: Farmable online platform that allows online investors to make returns and help small holder farmers raise capital to run their farms.
LendingSquare: An online credit marketplace connecting investors directly with borrowers on their own terms and rates.
Tro Tro Diaries: An application to help you find the right Tro Tro at the right time
Continuing on its world tour of startup scenes in emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, Seedstars World’s next stop is Abidjan on August 12th, where the event to select the best startup in Ivory Coast will be held at the Orange Technocentre in Abidjan. Seedstars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and/or develop profitable products for the global market.
