CINETPAY NAMED COTE D’IVOIRE’S BEST STARTUP AT SEEDSTARS ABIDJAN

On September 8th during Seedstars Abidjan, Cinetpay won the Côte d’Ivoire round of Seedstars World and will represent the country at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland to compete for up to USD 1 million in equity investment and other prizes.

Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes brought its Côte d’Ivoire round to a successful close during Seedstars Abidjan. With the support of the main sponsor Trecc, the event took place last Friday at  African Development Bank, and 8 selected startups were invited to present their ideas in front of the local jury panel.

The local winner,  Cinetpay  was selected the best startup in Côte d'Ivoire for its mobile money payment gateway that enables e-merchants and merchants to accept mobile money and card payments, online or offline. As a part of the prize, Cinetpay will be participating at Seedstars Summit, taking place in Switzerland in April 2018, a weeklong training program with the opportunity to meet the other 75 winners, as well as investors and mentors from around the world. Traditionally, the final day of the Summit will be dedicated to pitching in front of audience of 1000 attendees, with the possibility of winning up to the USD 1 million equity investment and other prizes.

WeFly Agri, with it drone that enables farmers to get updated information on the state of their crops and fields with analytics to help them make better decisions came second and Educas, an education platform that allows anyone to learn independently and access additional support resources, grabbed the last spot in the top 3. In addition,  AYNID, a search engine for products made and sold by Africans, won the public vote.  The other startups invited to pitch were AGATHA ,GRAINOTHEQUE, YOUNG POWER , EDUCAS CONSULTING, ISCHOOL.

The ten startups pitched in front of a prestigious jury: Parfait Ouattara from Taxijet, Cyriac Gbogou from OVillage, Ismael Cisse from Sirius Capital for Africa, Issa Sidibe from Comoe Capital and Claudia Makadristo from Seedstars World.

At the same time, Seedstars World is also working very closely with Enel Green Power to source the most innovative business models in the energy sectors and ones that are fostering socio-economic development in rural villages in Africa. Up to 5 best startups in this sector will be invited for an exclusive RES4Africa networking event taking place later this November in Nairobi and compete for an Africa Energy Prize which consists of a financial contribution and a three-month acceleration programme for a total value of up to $50,000.

Further support was provided by our regional Partners Orange and Microsoft, our local partners Ifid, the Swiss Embassy and the Andrew YoungCenter for Entrepreneurship.

Continuing on its world tour of startup scenes in emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, Seedstars World’s next stop is Dakar to select the best startup in Senegal. Seedstars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and/or develop profitable products for the global market.