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9 Tech Startup Finalists In The Seedstars Dakar Competition

9 Tech Startup Finalists In The Seedstars Dakar Competition

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The Seedstars Dakar Competition served as the Senegalese leg of the global early-stage startups competition for emerging markets.

The competition took place at the end of September, with 9 of the best startups aiming to be the representative from Senegal for the global final event next year, with more African countries taking part than ever before.

Seedstars World, which describes itself as the world’s biggest startup competition in emerging markets, holds these events in over 65 countries before winners are selected to take part in a grand final.

The winner of the Seedstars Dakar Competition will now join other Seedstars country-winners at the final event in Switzerland during April next year, where it will deliver a pitch that could potentially earn the company up to $1 million in equity investments and prizes.

Here are the 9 tech startup finalists that were in consideration for the Seedstars Dakar Competition.

Sources: Seedstars, Ventureburn, Techmoran, Socialnetlink.

Business in Africa is often more sophisticated than some people realise. Photo - Jumpstart
Businesses in Africa need expertise in data analytics, and this is what ADN provides. Photo – Jumpstart

ADN

ADN, which stands for African Digital Native, is an IT consulting company in the Senegalese capital that specializes in data analytics and focuses on providing business analytics solutions for their clients. This is especially useful in a business environment where those skills are lacking.

Tech Is Uplifting The Agricultural Industry In Africa
BAYSEDDO offers a crowdfunding platform for farmers to finance their crop. Photo: textually.org

BAYSEDDO 2.0

Working within the agritech sector, BAYSEDDO 2.0 came second in the Seedstars Dakar competition. The company believes that around 75 percent of African farmers find it difficult to access adequate and non-binding financing, and this is exactly what they aim to provide, with a platform that allows farmers to finance their crop through crowdfunding.

African writers are given a chance to be paid for their work with Carvi Writer. Photo: Thinkstock

Carvi Writer

Carvi Writer is a startup that aims to support writers in Africa, providing a platform from which writers can make money for their works. Carvi Writer not only sells written work, but audiovisual productions too, allowing creatives to self-publish and have the opportunity for some of their works to be transformed into films, documentaries or other audiovisual productions.

Dassur uses Messenger to offer insurance to Africans via their mobile phones. Photo: techmagzine.com

Dassur

Dassur is a pioneering African insurance distributor, using Facebook’s popular messaging app Facebook Messenger to provide insurance services. Insurance uptake in Africa remains low, as premiums and other key information can be difficult to determine, but Dassur aims to change that with Bots in Messenger to inform users seamlessly.

MaTontine is the winner of the Seedstars Dakar competition. Photo - DisruptAfrica
MaTontine is the winner of the Seedstars Dakar competition. Photo – DisruptAfrica

MaTontine

Fintech startup MaTonine was the winner in this year’s Seedstars Dakar competition, thanks to their digital take on a traditional savings tool. MaTontine provides financial services through the digitization of traditional, centuries-old, peer-to-peer savings circles, known as Tontines, which remain a popular way to save money in Senegal.

PayDunya was the third best startup at Seedstars Dakar. Photo - PayDunya
PayDunya was the third best startup at Seedstars Dakar. Photo – PayDunya

PayDunya

Achieving third place in the Seedstars Dakar competition, PayDunya describes itself as a one-stop shop to create, manage and grow sales on social media networks, allowing merchants to get paid via relevant payment methods in Africa through a CRM toolbox. The startup aims to leverage the popularity of social media to assist merchants who do not understand and fully make use of the advantages that an increasingly digital world provides for businesses.

Senegalese company Sanar Soft have developed SenCivilities. Photo - sanarsoft
Senegalese company Sanar Soft have developed SenCivilities. Photo – sanarsoft

SenCivilities

SenCivilities is a tech platform that allows for the management of important information and documents such as civil status and birth certificates. Remote birth certificates can be requested, and undeclared children can be geo-located via mobile.

Internet contribution - The Internet contributes a great deal to Senegal's economy. Photo - African Business Magazine
Senegalese people can find service providers through mobile platform Walam. Photo – African Business Magazine

Walam

Walam is a mobile platform based on the sharing economy principle, allowing people who require a particular service but do not have the money to access the service they need, to access that service through an exchange platform where service providers can be remunerated through a point system instead of cash.

Africa accelerator
Similar to tech startup Andela, SKILLAKE aims to connect IT professionals with international companies who need their skills. (Photo: LIONS@FRICA)

SKILLAKE

SKILLAKE is an online marketplace which is designed to help American and European companies find qualified IT professionals in Africa, matching the searching companies with the ideal IT professional on the ground in Africa. The marketplace uses machine learning and artificial intelligence processes to analyze resumes and validate skills.