Stanbic Bank Botswana continues to prove that, beyond being a financial services provider, they strive to give back and empower communities by sponsoring the Seedstars Gaborone start up competition.
On Friday November 9th, Seedstars World the largest startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup hosted a dynamic pitch event in Botswana at the Botswana Innovation Hub. Sponsored by Stanbic Bank Botswana the event saw 10 of the best local seed-stage startups take the stage and compete for a chance to represent Botswana at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland.
Said Stanbic Bank Head of Enterprise Banking, Mr. Onkabetse Morapedi, “As a Bank we have a great interest in supporting the creation and sustainability of a business ecosystem in Botswana to ensure that both potential and established entrepreneurs have access to the resources they need to develop. It is for these reasons we have sponsored this global platform for the third consecutive year”.
This year’s pitch competition saw food ordering and delivery app, My Foodness, win first place. Music streaming platform Moments was placed second, while artificial intelligence (AI) powered personal assistant Mohiri came third for its solution which helps users get hired by alerting them when there are jobs in the respective industries which match their profile.
In her comment, the Chief Executive Officer, Ms Boi Kgathi Rasmussen, on behalf of MyFoodness said, “Winning Seedstars has been amazing. An industry nod to the work we are doing on disrupting the ordering world in greenfield markets. We couldn’t be more pleased and humbled. We are very thankful to Stanbic Bank for supporting this initiative and making it possible for us to join the other winners from Africa and the rest of the world at the regional and global summits.”
By winning Seedstars Gaborone, MyFoodness will go onto represent Botswana at the Seedstars Africa summit in Tanzania next month and the global summit in Lausanne, Switzerland in April next year. At the global summit, the startup stands a chance to win up to $1-million in funding. Facilitated by Seedstars Seedspace Cape Town Community Manager Lorraine Davis, the winning startups were selected by a panel of four judges: BES Botswana and Consumer Watchdog’s Richard Harriman, Stanbic Bank Head of Enterprise Banking Onkabetse Morapedi, Botswana Innovation Hub Director of ICT and Marketing Tshepo Tsheko and Hub Manager TNS Botswana (Technoserve), Victor Monngae.
Stanbic Bank Botswana encourages start-ups from across Botswana to apply for this great initiative and to recognise this opportunity for what it is: a chance to change the story of youth business for the better. It is also an opportunity to truly make their mark and move their business forward. Stanbic Bank has played a pivotal role in this area with their support of local entrepreneur activities through platforms such as LEA Incubator at Glen Valley, Botswana Careers Roundtable, Youth Alive and the recently held Lionesses of Africa Lean in Breakfast which provides a networking platform for women entrepreneurs.
“SMEs are a big part of job creation in many developing economies. Thus, our support of innovation through this partnership talks directly to our dedication towards helping ensure future employment. We are interested in helping transform ideas into reality, into living, thriving businesses,” concluded Morapedi.