Seedstars is returning to Kampala next month. The Seedstars Kampala event will crown the Kampala Innovation Week on August 24. It is also likely to take place at Outbox. Seedstars perennial venue partner.
Founded in 2012, Seedstars held its first event in Kampala in 2015. And, over the past 3 years, several startups have participated in the competition with three walking away with the prize.
This has allowed them a trip to Switzerland for the world summit. Unfortunately, none has been fortunate enough to carry the ultimate prize back home.
I am tracing them to find out how far they have gone ever since they participated in the event.
Numida
Numida won last year’s edition of Seedstars Kampala. The lending startup prevailed over 8 other startups. This included Musana Carts, Chap Chap Africa, and ClinicPesa. It went ahead to exhibit at this year’s Seedstars Summit in April.
Last year, Mina Shahid informed me that the company had raised US $200,000 in funding in September 2007. Part - if not all - of this funding could have come from EWB Ventures. They had also interviewed at Y Combinator in May 2017.
Related: Digest Africa Founders Top 10: The top 10 Ugandan tech startups of 2017 as ranked by the founders
Earlier this year, the company was selected - together with Patasente, Ensibuuko, and MRP - to take part in Village Capital’s Fintech Africa 2018 program organized in partnership with Paypal.
The company was registered in Uganda in December 2015 but only commenced operations in March 2016. It basically allows registered users - which are MSMEs - to access loans of $20-$1500.
Akiba
Akiba was the second Ugandan startup to qualify for the Seedstars summit after winning the 2016 edition. Headed by Ivan Mworozi, the startup edged other startups including DusuPay and Panya (now called Sellio).
The startup went ahead to represent Uganda at the 2017 Seedstars Summit in Switzerland.
Yet, Akiba seems to be no more. Given that the website - www.akiba.co.ug - is no more. Plus, since September 2017, Ivan - one of the co-founders - is now focused on Print Boda. A decentralized shop that “enables you to brand your gifts, business cards or promotional materials online and have them delivered in 24 hours.”
Intership
Formerly based at Outbox Hub on Lumumba Avenue, Intership was the first winner of Seedstars Kampala. That is way back in 2015.
An online shopping platform, Intership edged startups like SafeBoda, the now-defunct Yoza, and RoundBob to secure themselves a ticket to Switzerland for the 2016 Seedstars Summit.
This year, the e-commerce company was among the 39 startups for the second African cohort of the Alibaba eFounders Initiative. It was among the only three startups from Uganda. That's online travel agency, RoundBob and fintech startup Xente.