If you actively follow the startup ecosystem, then the name Seedstars will be a familiar one. The largest startup community and investor in emerging markets, it’s known to invest over $1 million in startups across the world. Over the years, it has been active in Sri Lanka as well. Promising local startups have been able to leverage its competition to go regional and in some cases, global.
Just a month ago, it concluded the latest edition of Seedstars Colombo. After an intense battle of pitches, the most promising startups were identified. Furthermore, the winner advances to the next stage of the competition. Happening in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, it’ll be at the 4th Seedstars Asia Summit, where we’ll see the finals of the Seedstars World Competition in Asia.
Over 3 days, the summit will be a gathering of over 300 key stakeholders from over 20 countries. Among them are more than 17 promising startups across Asia that’ll be pitching to investors and industry experts. Happening by invitation only, the Seedstars Summit will be held at The Factory from the 27th to the 29th of November, in partnership with the National Institute of Posts, Telecoms & ICT of Cambodia.
What to expect at the Seedstars Asia Summit
The very 1st day, before the main event is when the journey begins for the startups. Kicking things off on the 1st day will be an intensive private growth bootcamp for the startups. At this bootcamp, the entrepreneurs will learn strategies to grow and scale their business. On the 2nd day, the Investor Forum by Seedstars will be taking place. Its focus will be towards connecting the startups with regional mentors and investors.
The morning of the Investor Forum will see over 20 experts and founders mentoring the participating startups. Among the mentors are Paul Ark – Managing Director of Digital Ventures, Monthida McCoole – Investor at Ardagh Investments, Mangala Karunaratne – CEO of Calcey Technologies, and many more. Afterwards, in the afternoon, the startups will have 1:1 meetings with influential investors looking to invest in promising ideas. These investors include the likes of Digital Ventures, 500 Startups, Gobi Partners, Insitor Partners, Wavemaker Partners, and more.
Finally, on the third day, the Seedstars Asia Summit welcomes everyone. On this day, it’s a place for anyone curious to learn about the latest trends in technology and looking to meet inspiring entrepreneurs. Among the speakers this year are Micheal Blakey – Managing Partner, Cocoon Capital, Benjamin Quinlan – CEO & Managing Partner, Quinlan & Associates, and Shazia Khan – CEO & Co-Founder, Eco Energy Finance.
What comes afterwards
Alongside the summit, attendees will also witness the Seedstars World Competition in Asia. Representing Sri Lanka, we have iLoan. Through its platform, the fintech startup offers working capital for Micro-SMEs in frontier markets. Competing alongside them are some of the most promising startups in Asia. They are as follows:
- Morakot Technology, YouAdMe, SALA from Cambodia
- DataCue from Thailand
- Resync from Singapore
- AN VUI from Vietnam
- Duithape from Indonesia
- Wonderkin Limited from Hong Kong
- Niunet from Papua New Guinea
- Probus Smart Things Private Limited from India
- Recyglo Co. Ltd from Myanmar
- Cropital from the Philippines
- Traseable from Fiji
- Smart Pei from Samoa
- iFarmer from Bangladesh
The most promising startups in this competition will move onto the final stage. This will be at the Seedstars Summit 2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland and it’s where they’ll all compete for the title of the Seedstars Global Winner. Of course, the startups that gets here will face intense competition from 60+ promising startups across the world, where $500,000 in equity investments is up for grabs.
Ultimately, even as its journey for 2019 winds down, Seedstars has much to offer startups. Poised to be a place of great learning, the upcoming Seedstars Asia Summit serves as a great example of this. Elaborating on the aims of the event, Giovanni Corradini – the Summit Manager said, “Bringing value to our attendees has always been at the forefront of what we do. We want all our hand-picked attendees to take away something useful from the Summit — whether that would be through insights and learnings from our workshops and main stage content, or new meaningful connections made during the event.”