Meet 3 top winners of Seedstars' Manama round
The Manama round of Seedstars World, one of the largest international seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, was hosted on September 5 with the support of CH9, its local organiser.
8 seed-stage startups shortlisted by the Seedstars team were given the opportunity to pitch their ideas and win for the chance to compete at the Seedstars Summit.
The Seedstars summit is an annual competition that takes place in Switzerland, following the multiple Seedstars World competitions across multiple markets. Seed-stage startups competing at Seedstars Summit stand to win up to USD 500,000 in equity investments and other prizes.
This year's local winners at the Manama round included three startups that had innovative sustainable solutions in various fields. The winners in order of their position were:
1. Hayatech: A B2B SAAS software that aims to build an ecosystem around wellness.
2. Lazy Wait: A 'double-sided-referral programme' with integrated gratification wallet which provides businesses a loyal customer base who acts as marketeers.
3. Envo App: a platform that sets up, manages and discovers events.
The other 5 startup finalists among the shortlisted 8 were: EXPRESSbase, Offerpedia, Supplify S.P.C, Thawani Technology, and WoneSupport Technologies.
“We have worked closely with the local ecosystem and its enablers to select the most promising early-stage tech startups. We were amazed to witness the opportunities the Bahraini ecosystem offers. This was really reflected in the ambition and enthusiasm of the entrepreneurs who pitched.”Francesca Bombassei, Venture Capital Analyst at Seedstars
The list of the jury members included Francesca Bombassei from Seedstars World, Hassan Haider from 500 Startups and Haider Al Mosawi from Sirdab Lab who is also Seedstars Kuwait City Ambassador. Haider in addition to the other Seedstars Ambassadors from KSA, Khalid Al Mahfouz from Badir and Maryam Alsaegh from CH9 spoke on a panel titled “Scaling up in the GCC; Advice for Entrepreneurs”. The event also featured various keynotes from Dr. Simon Galpin, Managing Director of Bahrain EDB and Mohamed Altawash, the Chairman of CH9.
Prior to the pitching event, Seedstars hosted a dynamic training for entrepreneurs. It indulged in the topics around Investment Readiness, the Art of the Pitch, in addition to tailored mentorship sessions with experts from the market. The list of experts included Ali Abussaud and Hussian Almarhoon from Hala VC, Paul Lalley and Marwa Aleskafi from Brinc, Pakiza Abdulrahman from Bahrain EDB, Subah Aljalahma from Ministry of Industry, Commerce & Tourism, in addition to, Trey Goede from Wa’ed.
It is exciting to see sustainability focused tech startups that are only at seed stage, get an opportunity to showcase their ideas and compete on a global platform. After Manama, Seedstars World will be continuing its tour. The next stop in Casablanca which will take place today and tomorrow, i.e. 10 & 11 September.
