Insurtech startup Oko Finance has been named winner of the Malian leg of the global Seedstars World competition, booking a place at the global final and the chance to pitch for US$500,000 in equity investment.
Seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets Seedstars World is selecting national winners from all over the world, including around 30 African countries, and will bring them together at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland next year to compete for funding and a host of other prizes.
It has already chosen winners in Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Angola, The Gambia, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cape Verde, Tunisia, Malawi, Cameroon, Mauritius, Uganda, Libya, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Mozambique and Zambia, and held its Malian event last week at Impact Hub Bamako.
Eight seed-stage startups pitched in front of a local jury panel for a place in the final, with Oko Finance, which has developed a turnkey crop insurance platform for emerging markets, named overall winner.
The startup will now take part in the global final in Switzerland, where it will have the chance of winning the equity funding, but will also represent Mali at the Seedstars Africa regional summit in Johannesburg in December and gain access to a three-month investment readiness programme.
E-health startup Denko came second, while agri-tech startup Sanzara was third. The rest of the startups that pitched were transport platform Woyo, web service company Ibraci Links, legal-tech startup Droit Direct, energy company Soro-Lakanali, and e-health startup Vital.
