Denis Opudo
Seedstars is a group that has a goal of impacting lives of people in emerging markets. It aims to do that by the use of entrepreneurship and technology. Based in Switzerland, the group focuses mainly on the Sustainable Goals for the Development of the UN. The group links stakeholders, develop companies from nothing with private and public partners. It also invests in high growth startups within the sectors. Furthermore, it aims at leading impact entrepreneurship and impact investing across the globe. Moreover, Seedstars has developed the biggest group of game-changers in emerging markets. Seedstars group is made up of Seedstars World Competition (Emerging markets), Seedstars Summit (Entrepreneurship Forum for Emerging Markets, Seedspace (physical entrepreneurs hubs), Seedstars Growth (acceleration programs), Seddstars Academy (teaching and training programs), and Seedstars Investment (investment entity with a fund and a startup lab).
The group is merging Seedspace with Spin Street House to launch Seedstars’ new hub. This comes one month after the group opened their first Seedspace in the MENA region in Cairo Egypt. The launch will take place on 21st June at 6 pm at Seedspace Cape Town. Furthermore, the event will be under the support of the Payfast and Swiss Embassy. Seedspace is taking a new direction strategically in 2018 making it an outstanding year for the brand. Apart from having a co-working space, the Seedspace entrepreneurs will access the largest community of changemakers in emerging markets globally.
Seedstars have been developing a community over the last five years. The community comprises of different stakeholders from incubators to investors, mentors, government entities, accelerators and many more. Seedspace will offer a platform. The platform will allow Seedstars to deploys the support provided by the community in their different business stages. The centered hubs of startups will increase their training programs. They will also increase their number of events with Seedstars and also other partners. Seedspace’s head of operations Romelu Navarrete said that the group has been active in the Cape Town ecosystem for a long time. They have organized their Seedstars World startup pitch and also engaged with players of the ecosystem. For instance, they have engaged with Spin Street House that played an essential role in their settlement in Cape Town for that time.
Navarrete added that the merging of the two allows the group to scale their activities in South Africa and Cape Town. The move offers the local ecosystem space and great international community. According to him, Spin Street House has been a main player in the sector for quite long. Moreover, it has come up with a strong community around it. The event will bring together great speakers including (H.E.) Mrs. Helene Budliger Artieda Switzerland’s Ambassador to South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, and Mauritius. Also present will be Entrepreneur Traction founding partner Vuyisa Qabaka, EMGuidance founder Dr. Yaseen Khan, Africa at Seedstars’ regional manager Nathan Heller. Spin Street House and Experience Manager at Seedspace co-founder Nathan Heller will also be present. The attendants will receive a live entertainment from musician Jeri Silverman. Furthermore, they will get snacks and refreshments during the evening festival. There are limited tickets available for the event. Those wishing to participate can grab their tickets by registering here.
According to Heller, the new entrepreneurs’ hub comes with a strong platform that will be based on the Seedstars global network of tech experts, startup acceleration, and entrepreneurship. He added that Seedstars was happy to host the growing program of beneficial Seedstars activities and events to increase the value of those who share a community and entrepreneurship passion. By now Seedstars has a total of eight hubs. There are two hubs in Geneva (La Praille and La Chevillarde), one in Lagos, one in Abidjan, One in Cape Town, Two in Colombia (Medellin and Bogot) and one in Cairo that was opened recently. Navarrete said that the group targets to have 15 hubs globally by the end of this year.
