Seedstars , the leading emerging market startup community and investor, is officially a nnouncing its 5th Afric a Regional Summit, in partnership with HYBR . The event will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa from December 3rd to 5th.

As a catalyst to facilitate the best business and investment opportunities in the region, the Seedstars Summit Africa will gather its network of startups, investors, mentors, ambassadors, partners and over 300 key stakeholders in the heart of the continent.

A three-day event, Seedstars Summit Africa will launch with Bootcamps, where startups will receive a mix of theoretical and practical content, with input provided by the Seedstars investment team on growth models and acquisition channels. The following day, one-minute pitches from the Seedstars World startups will be followed by one-on-one meetings between key investors, mentors, and entrepreneurs, which will take place during the Investor Forum.

On the 5th, the main conference day will feature dedicated networking sessions and potential industry themed pitch sessions and/or workshops in the morning. During the afternoon, the mainstage will feature startup pitches, keynotes from industry leaders and Seedstars alumni, as well as prize announcements.

To top it off, there will be a closing cocktail where all attendees will be able to connect and celebrate entrepreneurship in the region.

Building a strong network for innovation and technology in Africa is a top priority for Seedstars. This year,the group launched several initiatives to bring in-depth support to the ecosystem. Seedstars is partnering with First Growth Ventures and announced the launch of the Seedstars Africa Ventures in April, a sub-Saharan Africa fund targeting $100mn to make early-stage minority investments from USD 250,000 to USD 5 million in the most promising and innovative ventures across sectors and countries. Meanwhile, the Investment Readiness Program (IRP), a hybrid program challenging the traditional acceleration model by creating a unique mix was created to improve startups performance and get them ready to secure investment. Next batch of the IRP starts September 2nd and application are open on the website.

“We are extremely excited to bring the Seedstars Summit Africa to South Africa. The event aims to address non-conventional and highly relevant entrepreneurship topics and putting the startups at the center. We also believe that after supporting entrepreneurs for over 5+ years on the continent and globally in emerging markets, it is time to bring the summit to one of the most vibrant startup nations on the continent," says Claudia Makadristo, Regional Manager for Seedstars.

To provide the African ecosystem with these opportunities and to deliver the best possible event, the Seedstars Summit Africa 2019 is brought to you by Hybr and supported by the Swiss Embassy to South Africa, the Technology Innovation Agency of South Africa and DOEN.

“South Africa is Africa's leading ecosystem for innovation and technology. By bringing the Seedstars Africa Regional Summit, we hope to catalyze the entrepreneurial spirit of our youth, by bringing Africa's most innovative companies to our shores," comments Vuyisa Qabaka, Partner at HYBR Group.

Leading up to that grand regional finale, the 7th African Seedstars World Tour, the largest early-stage startup competition for emerging markets, is coming to Accra on August 8th and Zanzibar on August 15th.

For over six months, hundreds of the brightest seed-stage startups from more than 25 countries have an opportunity to participate in local bootcamps and pitch competitions; with the chance to represent their country at the regional finale that will take place during the Africa Summit in December 2019. The most promising ventures will then be selected to participate in the Seedstars Summit 2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland and compete for the title of the Seedstars Global Winner.

The participating teams will get a chance to pitch their idea on the main stage along with 60+ startups from all over the world and win up to USD 500 000 in equity investments.

This year, Seedstars is looking for technology-based startups with an MVP and a resilient and determined funding team that, to date, has raised less than USD 500 000 in investments.