Phnom Penh, Cambodia, August 21st 2019 – Seedstars, the leading emerging market startup community, and investor, is officially announcing its 4th Asia Regional Summit. The event will take place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from November 27th to 29th.
As a catalyst to facilitate the best business and investment opportunities in the region, the Seedstars Summit will gather its network of startups, investors, mentors, ambassadors, partners, and over 300 key stakeholders in Asia.
A three-day event, the Seedstars Summit Asia will launch with a bootcamp training session, 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 is the Investor Forum and Mentorship day, where one-minute pitches from the Seedstars World startups will be followed by one-on-one meetings between key investors, mentors, and entrepreneurs.
Beyond meeting the startups, it will also be an opportunity for top investors in the region to get connected with government officials, corporate partners, and key international media outlets, during dedicated VIP networking sessions.
On the 29th, the main conference day will feature dedicated networking sessions and industry themed 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 Asia is a top priority for Seedstars. This year alone, for example, Seedstars and Mekong Strategic Partners launched Smartscale, an acceleration program to strengthen the Cambodian ecosystem by backing eleven startups through an early stage acceleration program supported by Development Innovations and Smart Axiata.
Meanwhile, the Investment Readiness Program (IRP), an innovative program challenging the traditional acceleration model by creating a customized program per startup for them to tackle their specific weaknesses that prevent them from raising funding. The next batch of the IRP starts September 2nd and application are open on the website.
“It’s been an incredibly exciting year for Seedstars in Asia, with the launch of our first Academy and Seedspace in Myanmar, the acceleration program in Cambodia, the launch of the virtual Investment Readiness Program, and the addition of three Pacific Island countries to the Seedstars World Tour – we can’t wait to bring the network together to keep making connections and inspiring one another!” says Rosie Keller, Regional Manager for Seedstars.
To provide the Asian ecosystem with these opportunities and to deliver the best possible event, the Seedstars Summit Asia 2019 is brought to you by NIPTICT, and supported by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Industry and Handicraft, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training. It is also funded by the CBRD Fund, with contributions from Smart Axiata.
H.E. Tram Iv Tek, Minister of Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications acknowledged that “Hosting the Seedstars Summit Asia in Cambodia marks the readiness of our country to expand further beyond our physical boundary. Both Cambodian youth and entrepreneurs have always brought pride to the nation by creating very competitive businesses in different fields. Despite this, they are very capable and innovative; it is our commitment as a government to open up more opportunities for them to scale up, build network and get more investments. The Seedstars Summit Asia is one of the potential platforms to achieve our goals.”
Leading up to that grand regional finale, the 7th Asian Seedstars World Tour, the largest early-stage startup competition for emerging markets, is coming to Singapore on August 22nd, Jakarta on September 5th and Phnom Penh on October 10th. For over six months, hundreds of the brightest seed-stage startups from more than 17 cities 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 Asia Summit in November 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.
