The Rising Startup Ecosystems | Seedstars World

IMPACTING PEOPLE'S LIVES
THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
& ENTREPRENEURSHIP
THE
RISING STARTUP
ECOSYSTEMS*
seedstars.com

*They tried to bury us.
They didn’t know we were seeds.
- Mexican Proverb
An idea born in Switzerland
THE RISING
STARTUP
ECOSYSTEMS
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MESSAGE
FROM
ALISEE
Alisée de Tonnac,
CEO of Seedstars World,
the exclusive startup
competition of
Seedstars
*
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STARTUP
ECOSYSTEMS
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Ittooktheworldover100yearstogetto
a billion telephone users, but less than 10
years to get to a billion smartphone users.
SoifyouaskmewhyIbelieveinthepower
of technology, I’d say because technology
elevates the lives of those who had no
chanceofaccessingthebasichumanneeds
and does this at an unprecedented speed.
It provides access to education, health,
jobs, and endless opportunities that can
elevate these people’s lives, and those of
their families and communities.
In emerging markets today, people
live without telephone poles and
desktop computers, because mobile
phones allowed them to leapfrog these
technologies, thus allowing them to
directly access modern and more efficient
solutions. For developing economies, this
is not only more cost efficient, but also
more productive. Increasingly, more and
more people are able to run most of their
everyday tasks using mobile phones. They
useSMStopayforpublictransport,world-
class education or to receive vital health
information, all of which can drastically
improve the quality of their lives. And I
can’t wait to see the leapfrogs that will
emerge in the sectors of energy and food,
for example.
Intheemergingeconomiesthatwehave
visited, this is not an unusual story. Again
and again, success does not always come
from disruptive technology, but in the
way we tap into consumer habits. This is
what is driving technology innovation in
Africa, Latin America and Asia right now.
You see, the future of innovation can also
lie in low tech.
The year 2015 may well be the year that
emerging markets took half of the global
GDP, as Zhu Min, the Deputy Managing
Director of the IMF claimed. However,
looking beyond GDP figures, what you
see today is that over 4 billion people do
not have access to the Internet, which
in my language means 4 billion potential
consumers, opportunities and connected
citizens. In the next 4 years alone, nearly
halfabillionpeoplewillcomeonlineforthe
first time. Venturing a bit further into the
future, by 2020, 8 out of 10 smartphones
will be located in emerging markets. And
by 2030, nearly 9 out of 10 people will be
living in those markets.
When you think of emerging markets,
what do you see? Most people still imagine
them as hubs of low cost manufacturing
and unskilled labor. But this perception is
changing. Emerging markets are already
transforming into centres of innovation.
Nigeria, Colombia and Indonesia are no
longer symbols of corruption, drug wars
or diseases. Without ignoring the impact
of these uncomfortable realities, it is
unfair to judge them by this lens alone.
By doing so, we miss the bigger story
of how these countries are turning into
incubators where talented entrepreneurs
and innovators grow. You see, there are
always two sides to the same story...
This is why, at Seedstars, we are based in
allcornersoftheworld,toliveandactively
engage in some of the biggest, upcoming
tech hubs on the planet and learn from
innovativeandlike-mindedentrepreneurs.
Join us?
JOIN US?*
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THE
SEEDSTARS
MANIFESTO
It has taken us three years of
groundwork in over 60 cities
to get here today.
We have worked with over
200 partners, organised over
120 events and programs,
sourced over 6000 startup
applications, and heard more
than 1200 pitches.
*
THE RISING
STARTUP
ECOSYSTEMS
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1ST
2ND
3RD
We CONNECT
stakeholders in
over 60 emerging
ecosystems
We BUILD
companies to
solve local pain
points
We INVEST
in driven
entrepreneurs
THE SEEDSTARS ENGINE
CONSISTS OF THREE GEARS:
WE BELIEVE THAT TECHNOLOGY
AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ARE THE BEST WAY
TO IMPACT PEOPLE’S LIVES
IN EMERGING MARKETS
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*
21.
C NNECT
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STARTUP
ECOSYSTEMS
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A major focus
of our work so
far is to build
the first gear
of our engine;
to connect
with the right
partners all
over the globe.
Our exclusive startup competition,
called Seedstars World, is our major tool
to connect all stakeholders from the
ecosystem. We work hard on building a
world brand that people identify with
professionalism,quality,andgettingthings
done. We are tireless in expanding to all
corners of the globe and we seek to build
a foundation of trust and collaboration
with local players everywhere we go. We
take the time to understand the problems
in their local context, and come up with
specific solutions that can solve the
local pains and scale. Finally, we strive to
become a go-to reference in the world
of innovation, emerging markets and
entrepreneurship.
Yes, our team that grew from 4 to 40
people today is working hard to keep the
Seedstars Engine running.
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2. 31.
BUILD
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ECOSYSTEMS
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After
connecting the
ecosystems
stakeholders,
the second gear
of the engine
is to build
companies with
an impact. We
walk the talk.
We are entrepreneurs ourselves. Based
on all our interactions and experience,
we know now better than ever how to
processandsystemizeventurebuilding,i.e.
bringinganideatoacompany,solvingareal
pain with profitable unit economics (from
zerotoone)andgrowthoracceleration,i.e.
accompanying driven entrepreneurs like
our Seedstars World competition winners
to find the recipe for repeatable growth
(from one to n). More than a global brand,
Seedstars provides methods and
expertise to build solutions that solve
local pains. Because we are all about “pain
killers,” rather than “vitamins”.
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ECOSYSTEMS
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INVEST
Finally,
2. 3.1.
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ECOSYSTEMS
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2.
IMPACT GOESwith getting
your hands dirty
- BUILD !
1.
IMPACT
STARTSwith understanding
your market, its pain
points & potential
3.
IMPACT
MEANSbeing ready
TO INVEST
& take risks !
TABLE
OF CONTENT
Invest, the
last gear in our
engine, comes
into play once
we have taken
our ventures
from concept
to a repeatable
growth. We
build the right
structure to
support our
rising stars
during their
growth stage.
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“In the middle
of every
difficulty lies
opportunity.”
—Albert Einstein

THE WORLD AS WE SEE IT
OVER 4 BILLION PEOPLE STILL DO NOT HAVE
ACCESS TO THE INTERNET.
% PEOPLE
WITH NO
INTERNETsource: Internet Live Stats
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WHAT AN
OPPORTUNITY!
>80% <40%60-80% 40-60%
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China United
States
India Japan Brazil Russia Germany Nigeria United
Kingdom
France
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Inmillions
Inmillions
India China United
States
Nigeria Japan Russia Brazil Egypt Indonesia South
Korea
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Inmillions
The world as we see it
TOP 10 COUNTRIES BY NUMBER OF INTERNET USERS (2014)
TOP 10 COUNTRIES BY INTERNET USER GROWTH (2013-2014)
source: Internet Live Stats
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ECOSYSTEMS
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79,943,920,456,238
emails were sent…
1,634,261,088,749
Google searches were made…
9,882,371,236
photos were uploaded…
1,127,532,401 MWh
electricity was used for the Internet…
3,571,750,020,982
videos were watched on YouTube…
21,192,513
websites were hacked...
2,039,133,860
smartphones were sold…
and 4,460 startup
applications were submitted
to Seedstars World.
The Earth needed 365.25 days
in 2015 to travel around the
sun. In the same time...
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ECOSYSTEMS
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Social
Networking
Finance,
Payments
Consumer
Services Education
Travel and
Transport
10
30
50
70
NUMBEROFSTARTUPS
SEEDSTARS WORLD STARTUP STATS
WHO DID WE FIND ALONG
THE WAY IN 2015?
LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK...
TOP 5 INDUSTRY SECTORS
SECTORS
MOST POPULAR
TRAVEL & TRANSPORT
Overall the startups operated
in 24 different sectors54countries in
2015
4,460APPLICATIONS
630PITCHING
STARTUPS
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LatAm Asia CEE Africa MENA
10000
30000
50000
70000
90000
USD
total average
CEE
total average
LatAm MENA Asia Africa
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
USD
EMPLOYESS
CEE Asia LatAm Africa MENA
1
2
3
4
5
6
total average
MENA LatAm CEE Africa Asia
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
FUNDING
RAISED
USD 35,713,928
HIGHEST ECOSYSTEM AVERAGE
USD 260,000 (TAIWAN)
WOMEN
(CO)-FOUNDERS
12.5%ON AVERAGE
17% (ASIA) pitched at our events
EMPLOYEES
TOTAL
2,427
10 PEOPLE (UKRAINE)
AVERAGE FUNDING PER STARTUPGENDER SPLIT PER STARTUP
AVERAGE REVENUE PER STARTUP AVERAGE EMPLOYEES PER STARTUP
MONTHLY REVENUE
AVERAGE REVENUE
$4,017
(monthly revenue)
$30,500 (HONG KONG)
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Airshop (Côte d’Ivoire)
AlemHealth (United Arab Emirates)
Asoriba (Ghana)
BitNexo (China)
BoxBike (Bolivia)
Cinemad.tv (Chile)
Couper (Singapore)
Cuestionarix.com (Ecuador)
Diseclar SAS (Colombia)
doctHERs (Pakistan)
Dronee (Azerbaijan)
Easy Carros (Brazil)
Ecoisme (Ukraine)
Eggbun Education (South Korea)
Eora 3D (Australia)
Evreka (Turkey)
Eye Care Plus (Armenia)
ezCloud (Vietnam)
Farrow Ventures (Mexico)
Fidel (Ethiopia)
Fliiby (Serbia)
Flimper (Argentina)
Giraffe (South Africa)
Good Meal Hunting (Philippines)
GPSGAY (Uruguay)
IKNEWIT (Malaysia)
Illuminum Greenhouses (Kenya)
InterShip UG (Uganda)
ioGrow (Algeria)
Jobartis (Angola)
Juabar (Tanzania)
Madvisor (Bangladesh)
MapTasking (Panama)
Mergims (Rwanda)
Mashvisor (Palestine)
Merchandiser (Lebanon)
Modisar (Botswana)
Moovi (Mozambique)
MyQ (Nigeria)
Omniup (Morocco)
ProSehat (Indonesia)
Slidebean (Costa Rica)
Smart X Lab (Taiwan)
SmartBeen (Iran)
SolarizEgypt (Egypt)
Strike (India)
Talkpush (Hong Kong)
Texel (Russia)
TICKEY (Bulgaria)
TopDocs (Thailand)
U.M.S ‘Queen’ (Myanmar)
Urbaner (Peru)
VoLo (Senegal)
Yaqut (Jordan)
The Finalists of
2015
SEEDSTARS WORLD STARTUP STATS
54FINALISTS
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6degrees (Singapore)
AidBits (Palestine)
Beam (Ghana)
Busportal (Peru)
Channelkit (Russia)
eFishery (Indonesia)
Feesheh (Jordan)
FirstJob (Chile)
GoFar (Australia)
Green Energy (Nigeria)
KinTrans (UAE)
Krowdpop (South Korea)
Lumkani (South Africa)
Machina (Mexico)
Manads (Azerbaijan)
myVLE (Morocco)
Myki (Lebanon)
OkHi (Kenya)
OnePay Pte. Ltd. (Japan)
Ploog (Brazil)
Prisync (Turkey)
QSearch (Taiwan)
Remit (Uganda)
Rumarocket (China)
Salarium (Philippines)
Scandid (India)
SoloLearn (Armenia)
Spectator (Serbia)
SOMTOU (Senegal)
Tapway (Malaysia)
The Other Guys (Argentina)
TorQue (Rwanda)
Triip.me (Vietnam)
USETIME (Colombia)
VDecoration (Iran)
WashBox (Thailand)
The Finalists of
2014
The Finalists of
2013
36FINALISTS
20FINALISTS
Chilindo (Thailand)
dockPHP (Singapore)
Flitto (South Korea)
FoYo (Rwanda)
GUST Pay (South Africa)
HackerEarth (India)
Jayride (Australia)
Jooist (Kenya)
JXJ Tech (China)
Kudo (Brazil)
Locarise (Japan)
NeWo (Azerbaijan)
PingStamp (Mexico)
Retail Tower (Ghana)
SimplePay (Nigeria)
Totus Power (Chile)
TourBud (UAE)
Vimantra (China)
WayRay (Russia)
Wideo (Argentina)
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JUN 2013 DEC 2013 JUN 2014 DEC 2014 JUN 2015
0
2,000,000
4,000,000
6,000,000
8,000,000
10,000,000
TOTAL REVENUES 2013 + 2014TOTAL REVENUES 2013
2013 2014
Average funding $14,594,700.00 $8,435,675.00
Average valuation $69,766,254.00 $54,636,147.00
REVENUES
SSW
ALUMNI
STATISTICS
2013 AND 2014
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0
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
3,000,000
CUSTOMER ACQUISITION 2013 + 2014CUSTOMER ACQUISITION 13
TOTAL EMPLOYEES 2013 + 2014TOTAL EMPLOYEES 2013
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
EMPLOYEES
CUSTOMER ACQUISTION
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Regional trends
and characteristics
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INTERNET
PENETRATION
SMARTPHONE
PENETRATION
ONLINE
SHOPPERS
GDP GROWTHPOPULATION
Latin America is...
URBAN
Latin America
is the most
urbanized
region in the
world with
approximately
80% of its
600 million
inhabitants
living in cities
CONNECTED
Latin
Americans
spend on
average 24
hours online
every month
SOCIAL
LatinAmerica’s
social
networks
penetration
rate on mobile
phones is 94%
SHOPPING
The region
will have
the fastest
crossborder
online
purchasing
growth, with
expected
purchasing to
increase more
than 40%
annually from
2015 to 2020
RAISING
Latin America
was Seedstars
World’s
region with
the highest
average
funding per
startup of
USD 80,000
in 2015
617mn -0.3% 57% 40% 36%
Brazil
204mn
Panama
5.8%
Chile
67%
Chile
56%
Argentina
49%
Uruguay
3.3mn
Brazil
-3.0%
Bolivia
39%
Bolivia
13%
Bolivia
<10%
Sources: United Nations, World Bank, Internet World Stats, eMarketer, Statista, FocusEconomics, IMF.
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INTERNET
PENETRATION
SMARTPHONE
PENETRATION
ONLINE
SHOPPERS
Asia is...
BIG
More than
4.2 billion
people live in
Asia, which
represents
roughly
60% of the
world’s total
population
SUPER(CITIES)
7 of the
world’s 10
largest cities
by population
can be found
in Asia,
namely:
Tokyo,
Jakarta,
Seoul, Delhi,
Shanghai,
Manila and
Karachi
WELLFUNDED
Didi Kuaidi,
Chinese car
hailing app,
raised over
USD 3 billion
in funding
and at least 15
web and tech
startups in
Asia became
unicorns in
2015
CONNECTED
The most
popular region
for chat apps
is Asia, with
the Chinese
messenger
app WeChat
being the
world’s most
popular one,
followed by
WhatsApp
and Facebook
Messenger
DIVERSE
Out of the
2015 startups
pitching at
Seedstars
World, Asia
comes first
when it comes
to having a
female (co-)
founder. In
total, 1 out
of 5 startups
which pitched
had at least
one female
co-founder
Sources: United Nations,World Bank, Internet World Stats, eMarketer, Statista
4.4bn 6.3% 41% 28% 47%
China
1.4bn
Myanmar
8.5%
South
Korea
93%
Singapore
88%
South
Korea
62%
Singapore
5.5mn
Australia
0.7%
Pakistan
15%
India
15%
India
14%
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INTERNET
PENETRATION
SMARTPHONE
PENETRATION
ONLINE
SHOPPERS
Africa is...
GROWING
Africa will be
home to 40%
of the world’s
population
under 18
by 2050. In
addition, the
UN estimates
that the
whole
population
will double to
2.5 billion by
2050
DIVERSE
Africa is home
to 15% of
the world’s
population,
and to a
quarter of
the world’s
languages
TALKING
17% of Africa’s
population
own a
smartphone
and 65%
a feature
phone.
Africa’s
mobile phone
penetration
rate will raise
to 79% in
2020
LEADING
Approximately
50% of all
global mobile
money
services are
in Africa,
bringing the
continent to
the top spot
DARING
In 2015,
Seedstars
World got
the most
applications
from African
startups
1.2bn 3.7% 29% 17% 34%
Nigeria
183mn
Ethiopia
8.5%
Morocco
61%
South
Africa
47%
South
Africa
75%
Botswana
2.1mn
South
Africa
1.5%
Ethiopia
3%
Ethiopia
<5%
Ethiopia
<10%
Note: Only SSW countries are taken into account for high and low comparison
Sources: United Nations,World Bank, Internet World Stats, eMarketer, Statista
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INTERNET
PENETRATION
SMARTPHONE
PENETRATION
ONLINE
SHOPPERS
Middle East
& North Africa are...
YOUNG
Approximately
30% of
the MENA
population
is aged
between 15
and 29
DRY
Water is more
scarce in the
MENA region
than in any
other region.
Fresh water
availability is
expected to
drop by 50%
by the year
2050
COMPACT
3% of MENA’s
surface area
is home
to 92% of
its whole
population
EXITING
More than
USD 300
milion were
paid in 2015
for startup
exits in the
MENA region.
Talabat.com
takes the
lead, with an
exit valued
at USD 170
million
ATTRACTING
The Seedstars
World MENA
startups had
an average
traction of
30,000 users/
clients, far
ahead of the
number two
region, CEE
with only
16,000 users/
clients
381mn 2.8% 36% 21% 35%
Egypt
90mn
Morocco
4.5%
United Arab
Emirates
94%
United Arab
Emirates
65%
United Arab
Emirates
52%
Lebanon
4.5mn
Lebanon
2.0%
Algeria
16%
Iran
10%
Egypt
7%
Sources: United Nations, World Bank, Internet World Stats, eMarketer, Statista, MasterCard Online Shopping Behavior
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INTERNET
PENETRATION
SMARTPHONE
PENETRATION
ONLINE
SHOPPERS
Sources: United Nations, World Bank, Internet World Stats, eMarketer, Statista, McKinsey Global Institute, KKR Global Institute
* Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Russia are included
Central & Eastern
Europe and Caucasus...
INVENTIVE
Insulin,
parachutes,
Skype and the
Rubik´s Cube,
to name
just a few
examples,
all have their
origins in CEE
SUCCESSFUL
Socialbakers,
a social media
analytics
platform,
is one of
the hottest
startups in
the region
and is used
by half the
Fortune 500
companies
EDUCATED
The share of
labor force
with tertiary
education is
approximately
4 times
higher
compared
to China
CYBERSAFE
The region
is at the
forefront
of antivirus
protection
technology.
Avast and
AVG account
for roughly
25% of the
global market
share
EMPLOYING
The Seedstars
World
startups
from CEE
& Caucasus
ranked
number one
by average
number of
employees
per startup,
with slightly
above 5
people per
team
344mn* 2.4%* 54%* 50%* 44%
Russia
144mn
Czech
Republic
4.3%
Slovakia
83%
Czech
Republic
59%
Czech
Republic
46%
Armenia
3.0mn
Ukraine
-12.0%
Ukraine
38%
Bulgaria
25%
Bulgaria
<20%
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IF YOU WANT TO GO
IF YOU WANT TO GO
- African Proverb
Seedstars Africa team,
Marcello and Gregory,
jumping with the Maasai in
Kenya: The higher you jump,
the less cows you pay for
your wife.
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FAST, GO ALONE.
FAR, GO TOGETHER.
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V
1.KISKIL:
KEEP IT SIMPLE, KEEP IT LEAN
2.KEEP IT SWISS:
QUALITY, WHAT WE DO, WE DO WELL
3.ZERO BULLSHIT:
MORE MVP, LESS PPT
4.THINK BIG:
LET'S BUILD SOMETHING BIG TOGETHER
5.BE PASSIONATE:
IN HEART AND MIND
6.INDEPENDENTLY TOGETHER:
BELIEVE IN TEAM EFFORT AND ACT RESPONSIBLY
7.DIVERSITY:
OUR DNA
8.OUTSIDE THE COMFORT ZONE:
THRIVE FOR CHALLENGES & NEW OPPORTUNITIES
9.BE RESILIENT:
NO PAIN, NO GAIN
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It is impressive to see how such a small
team can feel connected by the same
values even when spread around
the world. Whether we are snacking
on tacos in Mexico, exploring the dusty
streets of Dakar or swooshing on
mototaxis across Jakarta, we all look at
the world around us through the same
eyes, welcoming its diversity and willing
to do the impossible to improve people’s
lives through technology.
OUR
VALUES
OUR
VALUES
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SO WHO IS THE TEAM SCOUTING
FOR THE BEST STARTUPS?
A bit more
about the
2015 Seedstars
World Team
that scouts
for the best
entrepreneurs
in all continents.
NUMB3RS
IGOR
CAME CLOSE WITH
70 CENTSIN EASTERN EUROPE,
WHILE
LORENA
SPLURGED A
WHOPPING
$2
TO TREAT HERSELF
TO A 3 COURSE MEAL
IN LATAM.
ENRIQUE
GOT THE CHEAPEST
HAIRCUT, COSTING
ONLY
$2.5IN LATAM.
GREGORY & MARCELLO
SPENT THE
MOST NIGHTS
OF ANY TEAM
COUCHSURFING AT
101NIGHTSONLY TO BE TOPPED
BY
ALISEE’S
RECORD-SETTING
120NIGHTS!
LORENA & ENRIQUE
VISITED
29CO-WORKING
SPACES ALL OVER
LATAM.
MARCELLO
AND ALISEE
COVERED THE MOST
KILOMETERS AT
180KEACHTRAVELING MOSTLY
BETWEEN AFRICA
AND EUROPE.
KAREN AND KATARINA
HAD THE CHEAPEST
MEAL OF THE TOUR
FOR JUST
20 CENTSON STREET FOOD
IN VIETNAM.
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WE ARE A TEAM OF 10COMING FROM
11 COUNTRIES AND 4 CONTINENTS
AROUND THE WORLD:
UNITED STATES, AUSTRIA, FRANCE, LEBANON, MEXICO,
SLOVAKIA, SOUTH AFRICA, SWITZERLAND, PHILIPPINES,
UNITED KINGDOM, UKRAINE.
DID YOU KNOW?
CHARLIE
PICKS UP LOCAL
ACCENTSEXPRESSIONS AND HEAD
BOBS WAY TOO QUICKLY,
BUT HE’S NOT EASILY
IMPRESSED BY LOCAL
DELICACIES.
ENRIQUE
ONCE
JUMPEDA THREE METER FENCE
TO STOP A MASON FROM
DOING NOISY REPAIR
WORK ON A WALL
NEXT TO OUR EVENT
IN ARGENTINA. AND HE
LOST A SHOE ON THE
WAY BACK.
ALISEE
USED TO TAKE PART IN
HIP HOPCOMPETITIONS. AND
THOUGH SHE’S FRENCH
ON HER PASSPORT,
ALISEE FEELS SHE’S
EVERYTHING ELSE AND
IN BETWEEN.
MARCELLO
WAS NAMED
“STARTUP
JESUS”BECAUSE OF THE LONG
BEARD HE GREW ON
HIS TRAVELS THROUGH
AFRICA.
IGOR
ONCE HAD DINNER
WITH THE HEAD OF
BULGARIAN
INTELLIGENCE
SERVICESAFTER ALMOST
ACCIDENTALLY GETTING
SHOT IN SOFIA.
LORENA
ONCE STAYED AT A
HOSTEL RUN BY AN EX-
GEORGIAN
MAFIAGUY WHO HAD CANCER
AND WHO WANTED TO
MARRY HER.
EVEN THOUGH
GREGORY
WAS BORN IN
SWITZERLAND, HE HAS A
SOUTH AFRICAN ACCENT,
AND IS KNOWN AS A
BAJAAJ (TUC-TUC)
DJIN TANZANIA.
NO ONE IN MENA COULD
BELIEVE THAT
JOHN
IS FROM LEBANON
BECAUSE OF THE
ENGLISH NAME. IT DIDN’T
HELP THAT ON PAPER HIS
LEGAL
NAME WAS
FRENCH - JEAN.
KAREN
KNOWS THE AIRPORT
IN SINGAPORE LIKE THE
BACK OF HER HAND;
WHERE TO GET
THE BEST KAYA
TOAST, TEH, FOOT
MASSAGE, OR NAP.
PEOPLE ACROSS ASIA
AGREE THAT NO ONE
CAN PRONOUNCE
KATARINA’S
FAMILY NAME. SHE
WASHES THE PAIN
DOWN WITH HER
FAVORITE CUP OF
MILK TEA AND
RED BEANS.
s
s.
THE RISING
STARTUP
ECOSYSTEMS
seedstars.com 39

THE RISING
STARTUP
ECOSYSTEMS
40 seedstars.com

THE RISING
STARTUP
ECOSYSTEMS
seedstars.com 41

LATAM
4 HUBS(MEXICO, COLOMBIA,
PERU & ARGENTINA)
& 10+ EVENTS
AFRICA
4 HUBS(MOROCCO, EGYPT,
NIGERIA & SOUTH AFRICA)
& 15+ EVENTS
MIDDLE EAST
1 HUB(TURKEY)
& 10+ EVENTS
CEE
1 HUB(UKRAINE)
& 10+ EVENTS
ASIA
4 HUBS(THAILAND, VIETNAM,
PHILIPPINES & INDONESIA)
& 15+ EVENTS
THE RISING
STARTUP
ECOSYSTEMS
42 seedstars.com

Hubs with Seedspace
(planned and current)
Yearly local “Seedstars World”
events and network
SEEDSTARS
MAP
THE RISING
STARTUP
ECOSYSTEMS
seedstars.com 43

SUCCESS
CULTURE OPPORTUNITY
ENVIRONMENT
ENTREPRENEURIAL
ECOSYSTEMS
Most would agree that all
entrepreneurial ecosystems are
unique and none should try to
simply emulate Silicon Valley but
rather play to specific strengths.
That said, there are traits and
elements that are required in
any ecosystem for it to function.
SEEDSTARS
INDEX
FRAMEWORK
We developed the Seedstars
Index (SSI) to measure the
quality, maturity and future
potential of the 54 ecosystems
we interacted with in 2015 with
one thing in mind... generating
SUCCESS.
THE RISING
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44 seedstars.com

Followingthedevelopmentandpositive
feedback of the first version of SSI in 2014,
werevisitedthefactorsandarenowproud
topresentversion#2.Theindexismadeup
ofthreepillarswebelievearefundamental
in building a successful entrepreneurial
ecosystem: Culture, Environment and
Opportunity. Success is both the desired
output and the catalyst.
If the right culture does not exist, no
one will even consider entrepreneurship
as an option and new ventures will not
take shape. An entrepreneurial mindset
is critical, while a fear of failure can be
crippling.
Without a conducive environment,
new ventures will be suffocated by harsh
business conditions. If administration and
legal systems are not facilitative, business
and investment will suffer. Most of us
take reliable internet and electricity for
granted, but imagine the difficulty added
to a new venture when this is not the case.
And no venture can thrive without an
opportunity to grow in local and foreign
markets which requires talented team
members, expert mentoring and venture
capital.
Su cce ss f ul b usin e ss e s p rov i d e
employment opportunities and economic
growth, and therefore should be the
targeted output for any ecosystem.
Success is also the catalyst of an
ecosystem as triumphant entrepreneurs
lead by example, become role models,
invest, mentor and lobby for change.
Successful entrepreneurs can impact all
three elements in the SSI and accelerate
change. Success breeds success.
The Seedstars Index is
made up of three pillars,
Culture, Environment
and Opportunity and 15
underlying factors. Each
factor is benchmarked
against the United States or
Silicon Valley that receives
100 points.
Scores range from non
existant ecosystem to 100
(comparable with USA /
Sillicon Valley) and can go
above 100 implying a more
favourable situation than
USA/Sillicon Valley.
10 FACTORS
are quantitative and taken
from existing indices and
ratings.
5 PROPRIETARY
SSWfactorsarequalitative
and based on over
300 MEETINGS
and interactions with our
network of more than
1,500
ENTREPRENEURS
& INVESTORS
in2015.Thepillars,factors,
sources and weights are
listed in the table.
factors
& weights
#SSI
THE RISING
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ECOSYSTEMS
seedstars.com 45

PILLARS FACTORS HOW WE MEASURE
CULTURE
Weight = 33.33%
MINDSET
LinkedIn
keyword “Startup”
SSW
Mindset score
EVENTS & NETWORKS
SSW
Event score
MEDIA
SSW
Media score
ENVIRONMENT
Weight = 33.33%
INFRASTRUCTURE
WEF GCI
Technological readiness
WEF GCI
Infrastructure
INSTITUTIONS
WEF GCI
Institutions
World Bank
“Doing Business”
OPPORTUNITY
Weight = 33.33%
TALENT
WEF GCI Higher
Education and Training
WEF Innovation
FUNDING
WEF GCI Financial
Market development
SSW Access
to funding score
TRAINING&MENTORING
SSW Training
& Mentoring score
MARKET
WEF Goods
market efficiency
WEF Market Size
THE RISING
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46 seedstars.com

WHAT IS MEASURED
Quantity of the keyword “startup” & “start up” on LinkedIn
divided by the LinkedIn population, to measure how many
people are involved with entrepreneurship
The attractiveness of entrepreneurship as a career choice and
the level of fear of failure
The frequency of tech/startup events in each ecosystem
The general and specialised media interest and coverage of
local startups and the topic of innovation in general
Technological readiness as major driver of productivity and
prosperity: Internet bandwidth and subscriptions, active mobile
subscriptions, % of internet users
The quality and availability of transport, electricity and
communications infrastructure.
The efficiency and transparency of public administration,
independanceofthejudiciary,propertyrights,physicalsecurity,
business ethics
Ease of starting a business, paying taxes, enforcing contracts,
dealing with construction permits, registering property,
resolving insolvency, etc.
Quality and quantity of graduate students and quality and
availability of on-the-job training
CompanyandUniversityspendingonR&D, availabilityofscience
and engineers, patent application, government procurement
of advanced technologies, capacity for innovation
Ease of access to loans, Venture Capital availability, efficiency,
stabilityandtrustworthinessofthefinancialandbankingsystem
Presence of investor chain: local & regional VCs, seed funds,
angels, crowdfunding, accelerators, government
Quality of governmental training schemes, accelerators and
incubators
Domestic and foreign competition, prevalence of trade barriers
and demand conditions
Domestic and foreign market size
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ECOSYSTEMS
seedstars.com 47

SiliconValley
Benchmark
HongKong
HongKong
Seoul
SouthKorea
Sydney
Australia
Dubai
UnitedArab
Emirates
SSWHome
Switzerland
Taipei
Taiwan
Singapore
Singapore
0
20
40
60
80
100
17,3 -8,5 0,5 7,9 0,9 -10,4 -6,4 -4,9
SSI SCORE 2015
OVER UNDER PERFORMANCE CULTURE ENVIRONMENT OPPORTUNITY
From the countries we visited in 2015,
the ranking reveals that Singapore has the
highestentrepreneurialecosystemquality,
followed by Hong Kong and South Korea.
We included our home of Switzerland to
see how it ranks as we are often asked if it
really is the most innovative country in the
world (according to the Global Innovation
Ranking). The numbers on top of every
country indicate how many points each
ecosystem is over/under performing in
theSSIgiventheireconomicdevelopment.
Check out page 54 for the regression
analysis.
We are often asked why we cover
places like Sydney, Singapore or
Seoul when we are supposed to
be “emerging market focused”.
Following the definition of the IMF,
Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore,
Korea, UAE and Taiwan are defined
as developed countries. While
the countries are considered
‘developed’, their startup
ecosystems are still young and
emerging and often a good route
to access surrounding developing
marketsthatwecover.
Developed
countries
SEEDSTARS
INDEX
In need of a
entrepreneurial
cultural injection!
R&D, as share of
GDP, is currently
at the same level
as Mexico or
Romania! More
investment could
help develop tech
talents here.
The lowest
cultural score
of all the
developed
economies.
But so much
potential!
The most
connected
country in the
world with 95%
internet access -
we’re expecting
more big things
from Korea!
All the
ingredients but in
need of a few
more global
success stories to
foster the
startup scene.
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48 seedstars.com

With limited natural commodities,
Singapore understood that economic
growth required world class institutions
and innovation.
To be at the forefront of innovation, the
government supports business migration
of skilled foreign talents and is ranked
as one of the least corrupt economies in
the world.
As such, Singapore comes top of the
index in the Environment pillar, indicating
an excellent attractive location to set up
a company.
IntheOpportunitypillar,Singaporelacks
the domestic market size and startups
havetoquicklygrowabroadtoreachscale.
ExpandingoutofSingaporecanbeavery
hardjobduetothefactthattheneighboring
countries are so economically different.
Thinking big from the start and tackling
regional expansion early does pay off in
the long term though.
Where Singapore scores the lowest of
all is in the Culture pillar especially under
the factor Mindset.
There is still a cultural fear of failure
and preference for talent to pursue job
opportunities at large corporations and
institutions.
Given that many corporates have their
Asia headquarters located in Singapore,
the choice between the startup world and
a more stable corporate or government
career can be quite hard for top talent.
However, this is likely to change as
more success stories start to come out
of Singapore’s entrepreneurial scene.
The two main unicorns born and raised
so far are: Lazada, an online shopping
mall, and Garena, an online and media
entertainment provider.
Other promising startups on the rise
include:
1. PROPERTY GURU - property discovery
marketplace - which has raised $183
million thus far;
2. ICARSCLUB - peer to peer rental
platform-whichhasraised$71million;and
3. REDMART - online grocery store -
which has raised $59 million.
SINGAPORE
Look at‘em grow!
Singapore is already one of the world’s
greatest economic success stories. Only 50
years ago, the GDP/Capita (ppp) was around
USD 3,000 but this has now grown to an
outstanding USD 83,000! As one of the most
advanced economies on our list, it comes
as no big surprise that it is top of our index
as we found economic development and
entrepreneurial ecosystem development is
highly correlated (0.78 by our numbers).
USD 3,000
to USD 83,000!
50 YEARS
GDP/CAPITA [PPP]
THE RISING
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seedstars.com 49

Out of all countries we ranked,
Switzerlandwouldcomeinjustseventh.
We talked with Rico Baldegger of
the Haute Ecole de Gestion, Fribourg,
about the general state of Swiss
startup ecosystem and what factors
can account for this. Looking at the
Environment pillar, Switzerland does
well as expected thanks to the stable,
efficientandactiveengagementofthe
government.
Whetherithasbeenforitsneutrality
throughouthistory,orgenerallysmart
government initiatives, Switzerland is
currently one of the most prosperous
countries in the world, and has the
necessary resources and willingness
to provide continuous support to the
local startup scene.
“Overthepasttenyears,Switzerland
heavilyinvestedintoentrepreneurship,”
remarks Mr. Baldegger.
“Parliamentalsodevelopeda‘Startup
Agenda’, the aim of which is to provide
a clear stack of services aimed to
incentivise startups and facilitate their
work.
Thiscanrangefromtaxbreaks,start-
up capital or incentives for foreign
investors to come into the country.
Ingeneral,weseegreatsophistication
in Switzerland’s links between
government, the private sector and
universities – the fundamental ties in
the domain of innovation.” The ease
of doing business is still something
that needs to be boosted by lowering
bureaucratic hurdles, but in general,
the country is on a good path.
SO HOWABOUT
SWITZERLAND
AND STARTUPS?
For the past 5 years, Switzerland
has been topping the charts of
the World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO) study as
the world leader in innovation,
performingparticularlywellinthree
areas:creativeoutputs,knowledge
and technology outputs, and
businesssophistication.Andforthe
past5years,noothercountrycame
even close to overthrowing it. But
how does Switzerland perform on
our SSI scale?
“Over the past ten years,
Switzerland heavily invested
into entrepreneurship.”
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HOW ABOUT OPPORTUNITY?
While the country comes in second, it
still excels in the R&D spending and the
quality of scientific research institutions
providing an abundance of talent and a
capacity to innovate.
Switzerlandalsopridesitselfwithadense
presence of exceptional universities, such
as HEC Lausanne, EPFL or University of
Fribourg, which are steadfastly deploying
armies of fresh graduates, skilled in
business, finances or engineering. As
Mr. Baldegger explains, “we believe that
universities should provide a platform
for connecting entrepreneurship and
technology.
That is why, at campuses, you can easily
find innovation labs, providing students
a place to explore and experiment with
interdisciplinary projects.” Like Singapore,
Switzerlandlacksinmarketsize,whichcan
be seen as a challenge, but also becomes
a strength for companies who pass the
first hurdle and have an ingrained “think
global” mentality. The convenience of
the geographical location is not to be
neglected either. Being located in the
center of Europe, the market is a perfect
testing ground for anyone aiming to
expand in the region.
“We are seeing a lot of companies from
countries such as Mexico and Brazil
looking in our direction. The multicultural
environment allows you to test your
product within different demographics,
and give you a better sense which market
would make sense for future expansion,”
says Mr. Baldegger. In addition to that,
despite the highest number of millionaires
per capita in the world (13.5%), the funding
scene for startups isn’t yet active enough
and deals are few and far between.
Dedicated government suppor t ,
convenient geographical location,
colourfuldemographiccharacteristicsand
exceptional education all put Switzerland
on the top position as a launchpad for new
startups.
SO WHICH INDUSTRIES RESONATE
THE MOST WITH THE LOCAL STARTUP
SCENE?
Itshouldcomeasnosurprisethathightech
alwaystopsthecharts.WhetheritisFintech,
MedTech or CleanTech, the traditional
industries have left a deep footprint in the
minds of Swiss entrepreneurs. According
to Mr. Baldegger, it might have something
to do with the typical profile of the local
entrepreneur, who is “usually someone in
their mid-thirties, who has considerable
expertiseinaspecificindustry,anddecides
to launch his own company. We see this
profile appearing especially in the FinTech
industry, where the majority of the newly
started FinTech companies are lead by
former bankers.
MedTech and CleanTech are also good
examples, since it takes a significant level
of expertise and industry experience to
launch a successful high tech company.”
Ranking only on 31th position, culture
remains Switzerland’s largest challenge.
The Swiss are traditionally risk averse,
which can also be demonstrated by them
having one of the lowest rates of home
ownership, which inherently requires
borrowing and risk. Failure is definitely
not something the Swiss are comfortable
with,butalsothatisslowlychanging.From
whatwehaveseen,itallboilsdowntowhat
entrepreneurs can do with the resources
thatareavailabletothemandtheirpersonal
motivation. Switzerland has more than
enough to offer in terms of environment.
AND IN TERMS OF PERSONAL
MOTIVATION?
As Mr. Baldegger concludes: “At Fribourg,
we often say that we are not here to
educate people. We are here to inspire
them. Because at the end, it is not the
question of money or who you know, but
of self-motivation, self-improvement and
personal enrichment. And that is what we
are striving to provide.”
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seedstars.com 51

SSW: What makes Switzerland uniquely
positioned to provide assistance in
education, research and technology?
MDA: Switzerland is a small country, in
factverysmall.Weliveinahighlyfragmented
and highly decentralized system, with a
diversified industry structure and an
inclusivesocietyoffournationallanguages
and many more cultures. In order to be
fast and smart, we are largely building on
formalandinformalnetworks.Atthesame
time, our system is politically stable and
it produces outstanding results. Thus, we
have always been an attractive partner to
talk to and we are probably one of the
most internationally exposed countries.
Theeducationsystemisalsoquitespecific,
being based on the dual-track modality,
offeringbothacademicaswellasvocational
training paths with high permeability. In
science and innovation, Switzerland also
hasexcellentinstitutionsandworld-renown
companies.
Since competitivity is a “must” when
those institutions ask for public funding,
we can report our experience on how to
judge quality, how to efficiently set up
public funding regimes and how to define
a subsidiary role of a government body.
SSW: As a small country, Switzerland
has always bet on exporting its
innovations and know-how. Is there a
large demand of Swiss companies to
explore emerging economies?
MDA: Switzerland is an export nation.
Forourcompanies,theword“homemarket”
Taking
international
knowledge
exchange
one step further
SEEDSTARS WORLD INTERVIEW
Diggingdeeper
intotheinnovative
ecosystemof
Switzerlandand
thesupportive
government
structures,we
approachedMauro
Dell’Ambrogio,the
StateSecretary
forEducation,
Researchand
Innovationof
Switzerland
todiscussthe
potentialofthe
countryinthese
aspectsandits
collaborationwith
emergingmarkets.
“We are probably
one of the most
internationally
exposed countries.”
THE RISING
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ECOSYSTEMS
52 seedstars.com

isbasicallynotevenknown.Asaconsequence,
our companies have always been exposed
to two key elements in order to survive:
internationalization and specialization. A
business partner who does not constantly
focus on those two elements will not stay
in business for long. Especially not if you
are technology driven. There is a large
demand of Swiss companies to export and
to explore all kinds of partnerships and
markets, also in emerging economies. Our
industries have established partnerships
with the BRICS countries long ago. They
are supported by the federal government
indifferentways,e.g.weofferareinsurance
warrantyonexportationinordertominimize
risks, we have several agencies that help
them for import and export and we offer
ouruniquenetworkinscience,technology
and innovation. However, we fully respect
the companies’ autonomy and their self-
responsibility. All in all, I would judge the
system being both efficient and effective.
SSW: One of SERI’s initiatives is the
network of swissnex offices around the
world. What are the main learnings
from this projects?
MDA:Oneofthekeyelementsinconnecting
people and ideas between Switzerland
andglobalknowledgehubsistheimportance
of interdisciplinarity. We bring students,
researchers, entrepreneurs and policy-
makers together. The resulting diverse
communities built by swissnex create
unexpected connections across sectors
and may produce novel ideas. People start
to think differently and discuss out of the
box. However, just “talking to each other”
is not enough – the way of communication
is constantly changing. Thus, another key
learning is that swissnex has to reinvent
itself and adapt its way of “connecting the
dots” according to the cultural context,
for example in the BRICS countries.
SSW: How does the startup exchange
program within swissnex works?
MDA: Several swissnex locations, as well
as the Science and Technology Office in
London, offer a platform to connect Swiss
startupstogetherwithpotentialpartners,
explore opportunities and learn about the
locations’ own innovation system. This is
doneinclosecollaborationwithourfederal
CommissionforTechnologyandInnovation
CTI. They need to achieve very concrete
milestones and outcomes, such as finding
innovation partners, hiring talented staff
orfindinginvestors.Forinstance,Faceshift,
a spin-off of the two Federal Institutes of
Technology, was a resident of the CTI
MarketEntryCampatswissnexSanFrancisco
in 2013, which helped them over the last
two years to strengthen its presence in
the Silicon Valley.
Recently, Faceshift was acquired by
Apple, though its R&D team will remain in
Switzerland. We certainly hope that our
programs will continue to support such
aspiring entrepreneurs and provide them
with all the resources needed to succeed.
Mauro Dell’Ambrogio,
State Secretary for Education,
Research and Innovation
“People start to
think differently and
discuss out of the
box. However, just
talking to each other
is not enough.”
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seedstars.com 53

0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
GDP based on purchasing-power-parity per capita 2014 (source IMF)
SSIscore2015
Singapore Singapore
Dubai United Arab Emirates
SSW Home Switzerland
Hong Kong China
Silicon Valley
Benchmark
SydneyAustralia
Taipei Taiwan
Seoul South Korea
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Moscow
Russia
SantiagoChile
Buenos Aires Argentina
Montevideo Uruguay
Istanbul
Turkey
PanamaPanama
Beirut Lebanon
Mexico City Mexico
Sofia Bulgaria
Baku Azerbaijan
Tehran Iran
GaboroneBotswana
Sao Paulo
BrazilBangkokThailand
San Jose Costa Rica
Algiers Algeria
Bogota Colombia
BelgradeSerbia
Shanghai China
Cape Town
South Africa
AmmanJordan
Lima
Peru
Cairo
Egypt
Jakarta Indonesia
KievUkraine
Yerevan Armenia
Casablanca Morocco
LuandaAngola
ManilaPhilippines
Santa Cruz Bolivia
Lagos Nigeria
Bangalore India
Hanoi Vietnam
Yangon Myanmar
Karachi Pakistan
AccraGhana
DhakaBangladesh
NairobiKenya
Dar Es Salaam Tanzania
Dakar Senegal
KampalaUganda
AbidjanCote d'Ivoire
KigaliRwanda
Addis AbabaEthiopia
Maputo Mozambique
results
for all
countries
SEEDSTARS
INDEX
THE GRAPH SHOWS THE OVER AND
UNDER PERFORMANCE OF ALL 56
STARTUP ECOSYSTEMS IN RELATION
TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
THE RISING
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54 seedstars.com

In developed countries,
the Silicon Valley, USA
stands out as a clear
outperformerwhileDubai,
UAE and Taipei, Taiwan
appeartobefallingbehind
given their economic
development levels.
Dubai has made strides
in the last 2 decades to
reinventitselfasabusiness-
friendlyenvironment.
Today more than ever,
there’s a pressing need to
modernize the country’s
bankruptcy law to create
a level playing field for
entrepreneurs.
In addition, Dubai has
the potential to lead the
MENA region in IP-based
innovation.
Thecountryhasalready
attracted the world’s
leading universities to
set up shop in Dubai and
Abu Dhabi.
Its startup ecosystem
would benefit greatly
from higher research
a n d d e v e l o p m e n t
e x p e n d i t u r e a s a
percentage of GDP.
On a related note,
the country attracts
engineering talent from
all over the world.
The country starts
to harness this talent
by investing more into
hardware acceleration
programs, with an eye on
export markets in MENA,
Asia, Europe, and Africa.
OVER
&UNDERPERFORMERS
For Taipei,
Taiwan, we
would suggest
focusing on two
key pillars of a
thriving startup
ecosystem:
1. Supportive
legal and regulatory
measures: Taiwan
will need to develop
clear and supportive
policies for online
payments and P2P
transactions to enable
growth of online
businesses.
Currently P2P
transactions are
considered illegal.
2. Shift cultural
mindset: the
ecosystem is still
dominated by
traditional and
conservative business
approach, which
makes it challenging
for startups to work
with corporates
and raise funding
domestically.
If the ecosystem
aspires to keep its
top tech talent in the
country, government,
corporates,
accelerators, and
communities need to
work synchronously
to support the path of
startups.
Economic development is highly
correlated with entrepreneurial
ecosystem development (0.78).
By plotting the index scores against
GDP per capita it is possible
to emphasize outliers.
Countries falling above the line
indicated an ecosystem that is over
performing expectations, below
the line means it’s underperforming.
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seedstars.com 55

KualaLumpur-Malaysia
CapeTown-SouthAfrica
Santiago-Chile
Istanbul-Turkey
SaoPaulo-Brazil
Shanghai-China
Moscow-Russia
Bangalore-India
Bangkok-Thailand
MexicoCity-Mexico
Panama-Panama
Kiev-Ukraine
Cairo-Egypt
Jakarta-Indonesia
BuenosAires-Argentina
Bogota-Colombia
Manila-Philippines
Montevideo-Uruguay
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
The country gave birth to
the first unicorn in 2015:
the e-hailing app GrabTaxi
South African tech startups
raised the lion’s share
of almost ⅓ of the total
funding raised by African
startups in 2015
(186 million USD)²
Chilecon Valley is at the
forefront with Startup Chile
Startup stepping stone to
both the European and Arab
world
SSI
REGIONAL
AVERAGES:
LatAm - 63.8
CEE - 63.3
Asia - 59.6
MENA - 56.1
Africa- 52.4
results for
developing
countries
SEEDSTARS
INDEX
THE RISING
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56 seedstars.com

Sofia-Bulgaria
Tehran-Iran
SanJose-CostaRica
Yerevan-Armenia
Nairobi-Kenya
Belgrade-Serbia
Hanoi-Vietnam
Beirut-Lebanon
Kigali-Rwanda
Lima-Peru
Lagos-Nigeria
Accra-Ghana
Baku-Azerbaijan
Casablanca-Morocco
Amman-Jordan
Kampala-Uganda
Dakar-Senegal
Gaborone-Botswana
Abidjan-Coted'Ivoire
DarEsSalaam-Tanzania
Karachi-Pakistan
Dhaka-Bangladesh
SantaCruz-Bolivia
AddisAbaba-Ethiopia
Algiers-Algeria
Maputo-Mozambique
Luanda-Angola
Yangon-Myanmar
SSI SCORE 2015
CULTURE ENVIRONMENT OPPORTUNITY
32 1
¹ Unfortunately we had to leave out two countries - Ecuador and West Bank & Gaza - as we didn’t have enough data points.
² Source: Forbes
Egypt has a mass of young,
educated and motivated
people who are hungry for
new ventures
Bottom of the index:
Conflict, civil war,
dictatorship, famine and
extreme poverty are often
associated with some of
the countries propping up
the bottom of index. But
when you are on the ground
interacting with these
ecosystems and witnessing
the atmosphere of change,
you can not help but be
optimistic.
South Africa
Chile
Malaysia
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From all the regions, Asia is the
one with the largest disparity,
with Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at
the top of our list and Yangon,
Myanmar at the bottom of all 46
countries. With the addition of
Singapore and Hong Kong in our
developed nations list, Asia has a
number of hotspots to offer.
One of the most appealing aspects
of Asia is the sheer size of the market
opportunityduetotheexponentialgrowth
in smartphone ownership and consumer
buying power, led by the predominantly
youth population in countries like
Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. In fact,
Asia is expected to account for over 50%
ofglobalonlinepaymentsrevenuegrowth
over the next five years.
China has proven itself to be a
powerhouse innovator on its own, with
Facebook taking notes from WeChat’s
extraordinarily success in making chat the
center of mobile communications. India is
being wooed by the likes of Amazon and
Uber as it presents not only a large market
opportunitybutalsoexpectedrobustGDP
growth up to 7% in the years to come.
The Developing Ecosystems*ASIA
results for
developing
countries
SEEDSTARS
INDEX
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ECOSYSTEMS
58 seedstars.com

KualaLumpur
Malaysia
Shanghai
China
Bangalore
India
Bangkok
Thailand
Jakarta
Indonesia
Manila
Philippines
Hanoi
Vietnam
Karachi
Pakistan
Dhaka
Bangladesh
Yangon
Myanmar
0
20
40
60
80
100
9,1 9,6 13,4 7,3 7,3 6,9 2,0 -5,1 -7,2 -21,2
SSI SCORE 2015
OVER / UNDER PERFORMANCE CULTURE ENVIRONMENT OPPORTUNITY
ASIA
MENA
7 countries in Asia are outperformers
and 3 are underperformers
BANGALORE, INDIA
The 4th largest startup ecosystem in
termsofITanddigitalstartupsintheworld
is as dynamic as the economic reforms
planned by Prime Minister Modi. Notably,
the ecosystem is far above the trend
line which should give an index score in
the range of 50-55 points, instead of 69.
What is Bangalore doing so right? Well,
opportunity stands out as the strongest
pillar with market size and access to
funding as the two best indicators. Even
more interesting, Bangalore achieved the
highestculturalscoreofallAsiancountries
by being open-minded and having a strong
media coverage.
YANGON, MYANMAR
In contrast to Bangalore, Yangon is far
below the trend line due to a very weak
cultural score. Even worse, in four out of
five SSW scores, namely: media, mindset,
accesstofundingandtraining&mentoring,
Myanmar achieved the lowest possible
results. Of course, just a few years ago the
country was trapped in dictatorship and
economic stagnation. Today, the economy
is fueled by strong growth momentum
with an expected growth rate of 8.5% in
2016 and an energy we are expecting to
spill over to the startup scene.
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seedstars.com 59

KUALA LUMPUR,
MALAYSIA
...takes the golden crown of all 46
developing markets we covered in
the index. Catalysts for Malaysia are
the good market efficiency, quality
of institutions and financial market
development. In retrospect, one
major cornerstone for the Kuala
Lumpur ecosystem was the launch
of a special economic zone called
Multimedia Super Corridor in 1996,
which created a vibrant level playing
field for entrepreneurs.
FOR YANGON,
MYANMAR
...all three pillars are below 50%.
Overall, the startup ecosystem
faces some huge hurdles as it really
is just being born. A great number
of these challenges come from the
country’s very weak infrastructure,
inherited from 50 years of military
dictatorship. When the economy
began to open up in 2011, less than
1% of Burmese had an access to the
internet. Today, the government
forecasts that by the end of 2016,
80% of its citizens will have a mobile
phone and 69% will use the internet.
ADVANTAGES
→ Multicultural environment
→ Good testing market when aiming
to scale regionally
→ Good level of English
→ High internet penetration and
developed infrastructure
→ Good opportunities if you
understand the ecosystem
→ High potential for growth, many big
problems in health, transportation,
education for entrepreneurs to
address
DISADVANTAGES
→ High level of corruption
→ Strong preference to support
Malays in government-supported
programs
→ Highly intransparent country
→ Lack of technical talent and talent
development opportunities
→ Lack of funding
→ Foreign entities must establish
joint venture with local Myanmar
company to operate
SUCCESS / OPPORTUNITIES
Successes:
→ Successful regional expansion
of Grabtaxi
→ Piktochart
Opportunity:
→ Developing core transportation,
payments, ICT, and logistics
infrastructure
RECOMMENDATION
Find a better balance between
governmental grants and private
funding (status quo: inflated
ecosystem)
Improve the legal and technology
infrastructure
TOP ECOSYSTEM INITIATIVES
→ MaGIC Accelerator
→ Malaysia Venture Capital
Management
→ Global Entrepreneurship Week
→ Project Hub Yangon
→ Asia Frontier Capital
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In Sub-Saharan Africa, we saw
a large disparity between
Cape Town, South Africa with
the highest African score (and
second best globally) and
Luanda, Angola that scored the
lowest in Africa (and second
lowest globally).
T h e g row in g m i d dl e cl ass a n d
opportunitytoreinventhowkeyindustries
such as health, education, agriculture and
finance can operate more successfully by
leveraging new technologies is a massive
opportunity for the African startup
landscape.
Ourteamalsoobservedthatmanyofthe
diaspora who studied and lived abroad are
coming back to their home countries to
help accelerate the startup ecosystems
by mentoring, investing and building
companies.
The Developing Ecosystems*AFRICA
results for
developing
countries
SEEDSTARS
INDEX
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seedstars.com 61

AFRICA
0
20
40
60
80
100
15,3 6,5 3,6 0,3 0,8 0,4 -2,4 -11,2 -2,8 -4,0 -7,8 -10,9 -18,9
CapeTown
SouthAfrica
Nairobi
Kenya
Kigali
Rwanda
Lagos
Nigeria
Accra
Ghana
Kampala
Uganda
Dakar
Senegal
Gaborone
Botswana
Abidjan
Coted'Ivoire
DarEsSalaam
Tanzania
AddisAbaba
Ethiopia
Maputo
Mozambique
Luanda
Angola
SSI SCORE 2015
3 ecosystems in Africa are outperformers,
7 are underperformers
and 3 are in line with expectations
CAPE TOWN,SOUTH AFRICA
Thecountryhaswithoutdoubtthemost
vibrant startup ecosystem in Africa. But
even more remarkably, Cape Town is the
strongest outperformer in terms of the
gapbetweentheindexscoreandthetrend
line. The most notably outperforming
factors are the quality of institutions and
ease of doing business.
LUANDA, ANGOLA
In terms of GDP per capita, Angola is
doing much better compared to other
African countries. Nevertheless, it has
achieved the lowest index score. How
come? Insufficient funding opportunities,
a low media coverage and a missing
startup DNA are the biggest obstacles
the country has to overcome. Private
and public institutions, corporations and
entrepreneurs have to work together to
close the gap in the following years.
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CAPE TOWN,
SOUTH AFRICA
...is not only positioned first in Africa, but
also our global number two with a very
dynamic startup culture. The country is
culturally and economically well connected
to Europe and the US and very well
positioned for regional expansion across
Africa. The government spends more
on education than on any other sector,
creating a relatively high educational level.
LUANDA,
ANGOLA’S
...single worst indicator is the SSW
mindset score highlighting the missing
entrepreneurial culture. It seems like
Angola is taking the issue seriously.
Angola’s sovereign wealth fund is
supporting the development of a number
of entrepreneurship projects such as
Fábrica de Sabão culture Hub and Cabinda
Port Tech Hub & Prototyping Lab. In
addition KiandaHub, a private initiative
building a coworking space, made headlines
recently to seek funding to become
Angola’s main startup center.
ADVANTAGES
→ Two startup hubs with Cape Town &
Johannesburg
→ Good entry point for pan-African
expansion
→ Cheap and excellent quality of life
→ Availability of basic angel and seed
capital
→ You can succeed with a “copycat”
strategy
→ Share the same language & cultural
mindset with Brazil and Mozambique
DISADVANTAGES
→ High income inequality
(Gini coefficient: 63.4)
→ Small domestic market
→ Available VC money is not enough to
scale globally
→ Very young startup culture
→ High cost of living
→ Strong focus on oil & gas and
undiversified economy
Successes:
→ WeChat launched a $3 million
investment fund
→ Silvertree Capital raised $10 million fund
→ Investment of $3 million in AzarGen
→ Woothemes, a Word Press design
platform, was acquired by Wordpress in
early 2015
Opportunities:
→ Jobartis has built an online job portal
that has over 200,000 users
→ Build products in Angola that can scale
across the Portuguese speaking world
RECOMMENDATION
Create incentives for easier and more
convenient investments from within and
outside of the country
Build a hub to bring the entire ecosystem
together
→ TheHookupDinner
→ Entrepreneur Traction
→ Silicon Cape
→ KiandaHub
→ Fundo Activo de Capital de Risco
Angolano (FARCA)
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Europe and Caucasus is the
region with the smallest
gap between the strongest
ecosystem Istanbul, Turkey,
and the weakest ecosystem
Baku, Azerbaijan. The gap
between Istanbul and Moscow
is only marginal, with a weak
Environment score that weights
Moscow down.
The Developing Ecosystems
*Europeand
Caucasus
results for
developing
countries
SEEDSTARS
INDEX
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64 seedstars.com

AFRICA
Istanbul
Turkey
Moscow
Russia
Kiev
Ukraine
Sofia
Bulgaria
Yerevan
Armenia
Belgrade
Serbia
Baku
Azerbaijan
0
20
40
60
80
100
7,6 3,0 8,7 0,4 3,8 0,4 -7,0
SSI SCORE 2015
4 countries in Europe and Caucasus
are outperformers, 1 is underperforming
KIEV, UKRAINE
Neither the political turmoil, nor the low
GDP per capita is an insuperable hurdle
for the entrepreneurially driven mindset
and the strong startup community. Under
the current circumstances, it is even
more impressive that Kiev is the highest
outperformerintheregion.Theweightsof
all three pillars are very equally distributed
and above the expected average.
BAKU, AZERBAIJAN
The country is the only underperformer
in the region, as its wealth has not yet
been channeled into the startup sector
to implement a quality playing field for
entrepreneurs.Bulgariaforinstance,which
has almost the same GDP per capita, has a
muchhigherqualityofeducation&training,
as well as funding opportunities.
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ISTANBUL,
TURKEY
...is strategically located between three
major markets, namely the European
Union, Middle East and Russia. In addition,
the young and well educated workforce
is eager to start new ventures. After the
first wave of successful entrepreneurs
established a level playing field, a lot of
investors started to fund Turkish startups.
We wouldn’t be surprised if the first
unicorn was born in 2016!
IN BAKU,
AZERBAIJAN
...it is not the environment which lags
behind the other ecosystems. It is the
cultural attitude towards startups, as
online businesses are still not valued
as high as those offline. However, this
attitude is starting to change, as we can
see by the impressive number of 8 new
government incubators that opened in the
last two years.
ADVANTAGES
→ Big consumer market
→ High mobile phone penetration rate
→ Moderate competition
→ Strong governmental support
→ Full cycle of investment opportunities
→ Role models and successful exits
→ Involvement of local success stories in
developing the ecosystem
→ Good infrastructure (e.g. internet
connection)
→ Almost no competition
→ Global thinking from day one
DISADVANTAGES
→ Geopolitical instability
→ Low level of English
→ Difference in development of different
regions inside the country
→ Small economy
→ Brain drain
→ Lack of investment interest from wealthy
people
→ Dependency on oil export in economy
Successes:
→ Exits: Yemeksepeti $589MM,
Pozitron $100MM, Markafoni $200MM
→ Very active business angels
(around 200 people)
→ Special taxation for business angels
Opportunities:
→ Using 80mn Turkish market as a first
go-to place in terms of growth, since
they share almost the same language and
culture
→ Strong community of Azeri diaspora, that
return to country after getting education
in US or Europe
RECOMMENDATION
Improving levels of English for
internationalisation
Common culture with neighbouring
country should be used as a catalyst
→ Entrepreneurship foundation (Girişimcilik)
→ ITU Teknokent
→ Founder’s Institute
→ Startup Istanbul, Startup Turkey,
Webrazzi Summit
→ Etohum Accelerator
→ Barama Incubator
→ Sup.az accelerator
→ Khazar Ventures
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Looking at the developing
countries in MENA, our
index covers the region
from Casablanca, Morocco
to Dubai, UAE. Dubai ranked
highly but is included in our
developed markets analysis and
unfortunately we didn’t have
enough data to score the West
Bank & Gaza.
Overall demographic trends in MENA,
such as 70% of the population under 30
and a mobile penetration rate of 44.3%
in 2015 qualify as a big opportunity for
the region.
In contrast, the region remains held
back by strong cultural barriers and fear
of failure.
N o n et h e l e ss , t h e su p p o r t a n d
investmentenvironmentintechstartupsis
on the rise in the region. Recent exits from
Egypt, Kuwait and Lebanon also add to the
excitement about the coming few years.
*MIDDLEEAST
ANDNORTH
AFRICA
results for
developing
countries
SEEDSTARS
INDEX
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seedstars.com 67

MENA
Cairo
Egypt
Tehran
Iran
Beirut
Lebanon
Casablanca
Morocco
Amman
Jordan
Algiers
Algeria0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
7,2 -0,2 -5,5 -1,5 -4,0 -16,3
SSI SCORE 2015
CAIRO, EGYPT
The only outperforming ecosystem
in MENA does a better job in linking its
young and well educated population
to opportunities in the startup sector.
Especially in cultural aspects, like media
attention and mindset, the population
is more open minded than the other 5
countries.
ALGIERS, ALGERIA
Using GDP per capita as a benchmark,
Algiers should achieve a better SSI
score than the actual number implies.
Unfortunately, the key elements, such as
high innovation capability, easy access to
capital and technological readiness, are
missing and need to be improved to create
a more startup friendly environment.
Only 1 country in MENA is an outperformer
while 4 are underperformers
and 1 in line with expectations
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CAIRO,
EGYPT
The startup scene in Cairo, Egypt is
the fastest growing in the Arab world,
despite the political upheavals reigning
the country since 2011. Overall, the
market is attractive in terms of size (87
million, 50% internet penetration) and
the educational background, but raising
sufficient amount of money continues
to be a challenge for the entrepreneurs.
ALGIERS,
ALGERIA
...is taking its first steps in creating an
active startup scene. The government
is investing into creating a network of
Cyberparks spread around the country.
In parallel, the first private co-working
space launched in 2015, and new events
are starting to bring together the small
but growing tech community in Algeria.
ADVANTAGES
→ Large market size (50% of Egyptians
are under 30)
→ Big talent pool of engineers and
executives
→ Hiring is inexpensive
→ Bilingual: Courses are offered in
Arabic and French
→ Large population under 30 (70% of 37
million)
→ Involved expat community in France
→ Low tax rates
DISADVANTAGES
→ Weak on internationalization
→ Poor infrastructure
→ Access to finance is still complicated
by red tape
→ High levels of corruption and red tape
→ Regulations that discourage foreign
investment outside of oil and gas
→ Cash economy. Debit and Credit card
penetration of 4% and 1% respectively
Successes:
→ Instabug (launched 2013) has 25
million users worldwide and moved
to Silicon Valley.
→ Cleantech is growing
→ The ecosystem has an active pool of
angels, seed stage support, and VCs
Opportunity:
→ Algiers presents an inexpensive
location to operate and provide
support services close to Europe
RECOMMENDATION
→ Focus on internationalization → Increase the involvement of the
expat community in France in the
tech startup scene
→ Facilitate access to finance by
opening up to foreign investment &
set up a free economic zone where
100% ownership is allowed
→ Flat6Labs startup accelerator
→ The GrEEK Campus tech park
→ RiseUp Summit
→ CairoAngels
→ Public sector’s ANTP
→ ANTP’s network of Cyberparks
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Santiago, Chile is our regional
winner in Latin America
and came in third overall.
The continent faces three
major drawbacks: quality of
infrastructure, a low level of
security and time consuming
business administration
proceedures.
Governmental willingness to create
startup hubs and programs, as well as the
positive attitude of the people towards
risk, are clear factors that will drive the
LatAm startup ecosystems forward.
*Latin
America
results for
developing
countries
SEEDSTARS
INDEX
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ECOSYSTEMS
70 seedstars.com

MENA
Santiago
Chile
SãoPaulo
Brazil
MexicoCity
Mexico
Panama
Panama
BuenosAires
Argentina
Bogota
Colombia
Montevideo
Uruguay
SanJose
CostaRica
Lima
Peru
SantaCruz
Bolivia
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
7,5 9,3 5,4 2,7 -0,5 3,6 -1,2 0,5 -2,2 -9,4
SSI SCORE 2015
SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL
Thanks to a strong Environment
pillar, São Paulo is the ecosystem with
the strongest outperformance in Latin
America. In comparison to San Jose, Costa
Rica, which lies directly on the trend line,
startups in São Paulo have an easier access
to funding opportunities, a bigger national
market and the entrepreneurial culture is
ranked the highest in LatAm. The current
economic turbulence is not to be taken
lightly, however these short term cycles
do not impact the SSI.
SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA
Bolivia’s main challenges are the
lowest GDP per capita and the lowest
ecosystem score. The lag in core areas like
technological readiness, access to funding
and innovation have to be improved to
provide a better launchpad for startup
activities on the ground.
4 ecosystems in LATAM are outperformers,
4 are underperformers
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SANTIAGO,
CHILE
There is no magic formula to build a vibrant
and dynamic startup ecosystem. If there
were one, Chile would be a good place to
start looking, because the government
did remarkably well with creating Startup
Chile five years ago. While Startup Chile
community significantly contributed to
changing of the cultural mindset, there is
still room for improvement, especially
from the wider population.
SANTA CRUZ,
BOLIVIA
... is an ecosystem which lags far behind the
average in all factors we used to create the
index. Therefore, it comes as no surprise
that the whole ecosystem is at a very early
stage. Nevertheless, the government
is now working on a plan to boost the
technology integration in the country,
so we are curious to see what the next
years are going to bring.
ADVANTAGES
→ Startup Chile as a seed accelerator
created by the Chilean Government
→ Stable economy
→ Strong retail sector
→ Close to Argentina and other big markets
→ Universities started to realise the
potential of startups as a catalyst for the
economy
DISADVANTAGES
→ Small market
→ Principally government funded initiatives
→ Weak transportation system
→ Weak internet connection
→ No incubators or accelerators
Successes:
→ Snapp got funded 400k
→ Startup Chile has invested in over 1,200
companies in 4 years.
Opportunity:
→ Anything to improve logistics
RECOMMENDATION
Incentivise the startups to stay in Chile
even after the end of the Startup Chile
program
Attract incubators and accelerators
→ Startup Chile
→ Fiis
None at the national level, but the
government is planning to support a
creation of a city of software
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“The best way
to predict the
future is to
create it.”- Peter Drucker
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seedstars.com 73

0
20
40
60
80
100
Singapore-Singapore
HongKong-China
SSWHome-Switzerland
Dubai-UnitedArabEmirates
Sydney-Australia
SiliconValley-Benchmark
Taipei-Taiwan
Seoul-SouthKorea
Santiago-Chile
Montevideo-Uruguay
Panama-Panama
Istanbul-Turkey
Bangkok-Thailand
Shanghai-China
Jakarta-Indonesia
MexicoCity-Mexico
SaoPaulo-Brazil
Bogota-Colombia
Moscow-Russia
Nairobi-Kenya
Cairo-Egypt
Bangalore-India
Beirut-Lebanon
OPPORTUNITY
Opportunity boils down to talent,
funding, training & mentoring and the
market size. The local market size is
part of the overall score but does not
automatically guarantee you a top spot.
For example, Indonesia is 4th in our list
of countries in terms of population but
comes in 23nd in the ranking due to
weaker talent and funding scores. Here
is how the markets look side by side.
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SanJose-CostaRica
Sofia-Bulgaria
Casablanca-Morocco
Baku-Azerbaijan
Kigali-Rwanda
Amman-Jordan
Yerevan-Armenia
Gaborone-Botswana
Belgrade-Serbia
Manila-Philippines
Lima-Peru
Hanoi-Vietnam
Kiev-Ukraine
Accra-Ghana
Tehran-Iran
Dakar-Senegal
SantaCruz-Bolivia
Algiers-Algeria
Karachi-Pakistan
AddisAbaba-Ethiopia
Maputo-Mozambique
Kampala-Uganda
Dhaka-Bangladesh
Lagos-Nigeria
Yangon-Myanmar
Luanda-Angola
Case Study Opportunity - Accra, Ghana
Just how can you influence the
Opportunity in an ecosystem? Funding
will only come when there are good
investments to be made. Mentors and
experts generally have a previous success
story and aren’t common in a young
ecosystem. And you cannot change the
market size easily, except perhaps by
removingsometradebarriers.Sowheredo
you start? The Meltwater Entrepreneurial
School of Technology (MEST) in Ghana
is the perfect example of an initiative
tackling this problem hands on. Aiming
to increase the number of experienced
and skilled entrepreneurs in the market,
they are bringing in external mentors to
provide experience and guidance to their
students and also positively impacting the
fundingwiththeirownequityinvestments.
With such a complete solution to boost
an ecosystem’s Opportunity, we decided
to talk in-depth with MEST to learn more.
A deeper dive into
the 3 pillars
THE RISING
STARTUP
ECOSYSTEMS
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SSW: Hi Katie. MEST is fully backed by
TheMeltwaterFoundation,anotforprofit
armoftheMeltwaterGroup.Whatmotivated
Meltwatertoopenaschoolforentrepreneurs
in the middle of Africa?
KS: As you know, Meltwater itself is a
hugely successful startup. It is the fourth
company of our CEO, Jorn Lyseggen, and
at that time, he is the kind of person who
really wanted to do something and to give
back. He is a big believer in the fact that
talent is everywhere, but resources are
not. Since entrepreneurship and software
is something that Jorn is inherently
passionate about, he wanted to make it
the key focus of the school and prove that
youcanstartasoftwarecompanyanywhere
in the world, as long as you have a decent
internet connection.
“We believe
that talent is
everywhere.
Unfortunately,
resources
are not.”
The Meltwater Entrepreneurial
School for Technology, also
known as MEST, has been our
partner in Ghana for more than
three years. While in many of
the African countries access
to general education is still a
challenge, MEST provides training,
mentoring, and investment in
world-class tech entrepreneurs,
with the goal of creating globally
successful companies.
WespokewithKatieSarro,theirDirector
for Business Development, about what it
takes to be a successful entrepreneur and
how the technology landscape in Africa
is changing.
Walk into the
Meltwater
Entrepreneurial
School for
Technology on a
Friday afternoon
and you’ll
see Ghanaian
students
hunched over
laptops and
Android phones.
The buzz of the
room has an
energy of its
own, and you
cannot help but
wonder where all
of this has come
from.
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SSW: Why did he decide to focus on
Ghana?
KS: We landed on Africa, because it was
a continent that was really scarce on
resources. There was a strong need for a
programme like this, and since Ghana is
English speaking and the political situation
was relatively stable, it seemed like a
perfect fit. What is even more exciting is
thatthisyearwearepreparinganexpansion
intothreedifferentcountries,whichwould
make us the very first incubator with a
pan african presence.
SSW: What is the one thing that all your
students have in common?
KS: During the recruitment process, we
often hear reasons, such as “I want to turn
Nigeria into a better Nigeria”, “I want a
better livelihood for my family”. There are
somewhoaspiretobeagloballysuccessful
entrepreneur. At the end of the day, they
are all passionate about software and
about creating meaningful software that
can solve the world’s biggest problems.
SSW: Do you think formal education is
a crucial component for becoming a
successful entrepreneur?
KS: Let’s say there is a big pothole on
the road that you pass by every day. What
differentiates you from the others is that
you actually stop by and say, “Hey, I want
tofixthisandIknowhow.”Thisissomething
we cannot teach. You either have that
entrepreneurial drive or you don’t. But
there are things that you can teach, such
as reading a P&L and how to manage a tech
team. There is a proper training that
definitely needs to take place before you
can become an entrepreneur. We are not
saying you cannot learn it on the go, but
you are in a much better place if you have
a year of formal training before you start
your entrepreneurial journey.
SSW: Are there any notable trends in
technologythatyouobserved?
KS: The skill level of developers in Africa
has completely risen over the past 5 years.
Somethingthathasnotbeenpopularisnow
completely commonplace. Young people
aregrowingupbeingmobilegamersortech
entrepreneurs.Wearealsowitnessingarise
oftechhubs,suchasiHuborNairobiGarage.
Peoplearegravitatingtotheseplaces,which
are becoming learning centers and places
forthetechcommunitytomeet.Thanksto
this,peoplearegettingexposedtotechnology
much sooner than they ever have.
SSW:Whatiscausingthesechanges?
KS: It is the need to leapfrog technology.
Africahasbeenknownasthelaggerintechnology,
buttheriseofmobileischangingthiswithan
unprecedentedspeed.Literallyeverybodyhas
amobilephone,andonceyouputsomething
thatis accessibleintheirhands,yougivethem
power.Andwecirclebacktowherewestarted.
Theresourceisthere.Thetalentisthere.The
know-howisthere.Thebrillianceisthere.All
theyweremissingwasanaccesstotechnology,
oranexposuretoalaptop.Theriseofmobile
has been an absolute gamechanger, making
technology easily accessible to masses. It
became more popular and it became part of
theculture.Withtheseresourcesbeingnow
widely available, there is no limit to what
entrepreneursfromAfricacanachieve
Katie Sarro,
Director for Business
Development
“The skill level of
developers in Africa
has completely risen
over the past 5 years”
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Singapore-Singapore
HongKong-China
SSWHome-Switzerland
Sydney-Australia
Taipei-Taiwan
Seoul-SouthKorea
Santiago-Chile
Montevideo-Uruguay
Panama-Panama
SanJose-CostaRica
Istanbul-Turkey
Bangkok-Thailand
Sofia-Bulgaria
Shanghai-China
Casablanca-Morocco
Baku-Azerbaijan
Kigali-Rwanda
Amman-Jordan
Yerevan-Armenia
Jakarta-Indonesia
MexicoCity-Mexico
Gaborone-Botswana
Belgrade-Serbia
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
ENVIRONMENT
Environment is evaluated by institutions,
ease of doing business, infrastructure
and technological readiness. This is
our only pillar where the United States
is not positioned first. All 5 countries
which are ahead of the United States
share some common similarities like
the small population, a high GDP per
capita (expect Australia), lower debt
ratio and a remarkably strong legal and
administrative environment.
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SaoPaulo-Brazil
Manila-Philippines
Bogota-Colombia
Lima-Peru
Hanoi-Vietnam
Kiev-Ukraine
Moscow-Russia
Accra-Ghana
Nairobi-Kenya
Tehran-Iran
Cairo-Egypt
Bangalore-India
Dakar-Senegal
Beirut-Lebanon
SantaCruz-Bolivia
Algiers-Algeria
Karachi-Pakistan
AddisAbaba-Ethiopia
Maputo-Mozambique
Kampala-Uganda
Dhaka-Bangladesh
Lagos-Nigeria
Yangon-Myanmar
Luanda-Angola
CaseStudyEnvironment-Montevideo,Uruguay
Although it is a small market of 4
million people, Uruguay has a very
solid startup ecosystem which started
off in the early 2000s. The increase in
entrepreneurial activities is linked to
the arrival of Endeavor, which helped to
foster high quality entrepreneurs who,
in turn, help mentor the entrepreneurs
in the country today. Another defining
player of the ecosystem was the ORT,
which funded the first incubator in the
country back in 2001: Ingenio. Since then,
theUruguayangovernmenthascreatedthe
ANII, the National Agency for Innovation
and Research, with the backing of the IDB,
the Inter-American Development Bank. It
has also supported several initiatives, such
as Softlandings, a program that provides
capital to foreign startups if they set up
business in the country. But what really
differentiatesUruguayfromitsneighborsis
it’s incredibly stable economy and political
situation, as well as its notable middle
class. It is ranked first by Transparency
Internationalastheleastcorruptcountryin
the region, and coming ahead of countries
such as Austria and France. Uruguay has
created an environment welcoming to
foreign investment: the legal framework
is stable and dependable and in terms of
policy,itsinfrastructureishighlydeveloped
and acknowledged to be one of the top
countries for software. Uruguay is also
well known to be progressive in several
fields, such as gay rights and marijuana
consumption,whichhashelpedUruguayan
entrepreneurs create products adapted to
emergingmarketsanddevelopedmarkets!
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Moscow-Russia
Kiev-Ukraine
Bangalore-India
SaoPaulo-Brazil
Singapore-Singapore
Cairo-Egypt
Seoul-SouthKorea
MexicoCity-Mexico
Istanbul-Turkey
Tehran-Iran
Sydney-Australia
Lagos-Nigeria
Bangkok-Thailand
Jakarta-Indonesia
Santiago-Chile
HongKong-China
Manila-Philippines
Shanghai-China
Belgrade-Serbia
Yerevan-Armenia
Nairobi-Kenya
Kampala-Uganda
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
CULTURE
Culture is the most complicated pillar to
measure with several qualitative factors such
as mindset, networks, events and media.
The playing field in this dimension is leveled
as progress can be made by grassroots
initiatives with little investment and no
political intervention. However, it is also the
factor where the overall average across all
the countries is the lowest at just 47. It is
also the area in which the Unites States has
the biggest advantage, a 31 point lead of the
runner-up, South Africa. The sheer energy,
cultural acceptance, celebration of failure and
household name tech billionaires in the United
States has not come close to being replicated
anywhere else in the world.
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Panama-Panama
Bogota-Colombia
Sofia-Bulgaria
SSWHome-Switzerland
Taipei-Taiwan
Beirut-Lebanon
Hanoi-Vietnam
Kigali-Rwanda
SanJose-CostaRica
Accra-Ghana
Montevideo-Uruguay
Dakar-Senegal
Lima-Peru
Baku-Azerbaijan
Karachi-Pakistan
Dhaka-Bangladesh
SantaCruz-Bolivia
Maputo-Mozambique
AddisAbaba-Ethiopia
Casablanca-Morocco
Amman-Jordan
Luanda-Angola
Gaborone-Botswana
Algiers-Algeria
Yangon-Myanmar
Case Study Culture - Kiev, Ukraine
Kiev makes in into the top 5 in our index
for Culture. Apart from coming in top
3 countries in the world to provide IT
outsourcing services, it has also built a full
chain of startup ecosystem. Being inspired
by Ukrainian success stories like Jan Koum,
the founder of WhatsApp and Max Levchin,
theco-founderofPayPal,youngUkrainians
are getting more involved in building their
own products. And after having a couple
of successful exits (Looksery bought by
SnapChat for $150 mn, Viewdle acquired
by Google for $30+ mn etc.), Ukrainians
start to consider an ICT entrepreneurship
as a valuable career choice. Because of the
unstablesituationintheEasternpartofthe
country and the consequent devaluation
of the local currency, IT becomes regarded
as a favourably stable job opportunity. The
largest cities of the country host several
startupeventsperweekandthetrendsand
news of the Ukrainian startup ecosystem
are easily accessible on the local online
media sources.
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“IF SOMETHING IS IMPORTANT ENOUGH,
YOU SHOULD TRY. EVEN IF
THE PROBABLE OUTCOME IS FAILURE.”
Bringing this back into context of the
SSI ranking, the single focus of young
ecosystems should be on creating
success stories that become the catalyst
of the ecosystem and drive it forward.
Successes from the diaspora can also be
worked back into the ecosystem if local
success stories are not currently on the
horizon. The catalyst effect of a success
is evident in each pillar. With the Culture,
a success story can inspire others and
give the community a new role model. If
the successful entrepreneur can become
a mainstream figure, they’ll impact the
mindset and cultural acceptance too. The
Environment is harder for a successful
entrepreneur to impact in the short term
but they are more likely to get facetime
with politicians and be able to influence
theprioritiesandoutcomesforthebenefit
of the rest of the startup community.
The Opportunity axis is influenced when
the successful entrepreneur becomes a
mentor, launches new ventures, begins
angel investing and trains more and more
employees to a higher standard deepening
thetalentpool.Asfarasweknow,noother
factor has yet been demonstrated to have
more positive impact on an ecosystem
than success, and Seedstars World is here
to discover future success stories and help
them get there faster.
Overall,theSSWindexisbuilttomeasure
the quality, maturity and potential of an
entrepreneurial ecosystem. It provides an
insight into our experience and learnings
we gathered throughout this year’s tour.
We hope that is serves as a wake up call
for some and an eye opener for others.
Our ultimate aim, after all, is to shift
ecosystems up the ladder and give all the
great talent we discover the best possible
chances.
What was all this for again?
- Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors & SpaceX
A startup ecosystem is defined
by success stories and the
entrepreneurs who write them.
In Making Entrepreneurship
Contagious, the two Wharton
School authors demonstrate
that successful startup
entrepreneurs have a massive
impact on the ecosystem by
mentoring new entrepreneurs,
investing capital, offering a
helping hand and starting new
companies themselves. In fact,
they managed to link 80% of all
startups in Buenos Aires back to
three big hits - MercadoLibre,
Patagon and Officenet.
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ECOSYSTEMS
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“Success is not
final, failure
is not fatal:
it is the courage
to continue
that counts.”- Winston Churchill
THE RISING
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ECOSYSTEMS
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And for us here at Seedstars
World, 2015 was also a big year
for space.
As we hopped from country to country
on our tour, we were in for a ride with
some very special guests: AP-Swiss, the
joint initiative of the European Space
Agency and the Swiss Space Office to
promote new satellite applications,
and Inmarsat Global, a global leader in
mobile satellite communications. We
talked with Jose Achache, the Managing
Director of APSwiss, about the potential
of space technologies and how they
can be applied to the startups we
discovered around the world.
SSW: What was your main objective of
collaborating with Seedstars World this
year?
JA: At Inmarsat and AP-Swiss, our main
missionistosupporttechnologiesleveraging
space and powered by satellites. The cost
of satellite technology is constantly
decreasing.Spaceisnolongertheexclusive
playground of governments and major
corporations. Now you can use satellites
to build technologies that will usher in a
new era of exploration and discovery. And
thankstoourcollaborationwithSeedstars
World, we were able to identify promising
technology startups from around the
world,startingfromChile,passingthrough
Serbia, Ukraine and South Africa, all the
way to South Korea and Indonesia.
SSW: Which market is of primary
interest to you?
JA: After discussions with Inmarsat, we
decidedtoinitiallyfocusonMENA.Ourmain
aim was to evaluate the potential benefits
of this joint undertaking, and MENA stood
outasanaturalcandidate.Mainreasonwould
Looking for solutions
in the outer space
2015
What a year
for space!
From NASA’s
discovery of
water on Mars,
to the first
flyby of Pluto,
all the way
to the first
successful
landing back
on Earth of
SpaceX’s
Falcon 9,
it’s been a
leap year for
humanity in
space.
THE RISING
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ECOSYSTEMS
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be the geographical proximity to Europe,
thanks to which it is easier for European
countriestoaccessthesemarkets.Partnerships
withtheAfricanregionarealsotheprimary
targetforESAandInmarsat,withwhomwe
work very closely, so it was a clear fit.
SSW: What were the main learnings
from the tour?
JA: It was very refreshing to see all the
very lively startup ecosystems around the
world, which I didn’t necessarily expect.
Not surprisingly, we discovered that the
use of satellites is not widespread and is
still in the making. Most of the events that
we attended had only a few projects that
were targeting space or using space.
Nevertheless,thankstotheeventwewere
able to connect with people who had
activities related to satellite technologies,
even though they were not directly part
of the competition.
SSW: Were there some common trends
that you observed?
JA: All of the applications we discovered
neededtheInternetconnectiontobefully
functional, but they sometimes operated
in areas where GSM connectivity is not
necessarilyavailable.WhetheritisMaptasker
that needs to locate workers even in areas
outsideoftheGSMcoverage,orMerchandiser
that needs to connect supermarkets with
the retailers, it is always the same context.
There will eventually come a point, when
they need to use satellites for improved
connectivity, and that is where Inmarsat
is providing value.
SSW: In our previous interview you
mentioned that satellites might be
especially useful when dealing with
FMCGs. Did you find a project that was
working in this industry?
JA:Ihaveencounteredtwo,actually.One
ofthemwasacompanyinIndonesia,which
was responsible for tracking FMCGs (fast
movingconsumergoods).Asyoucanimagine,
aslongasyouareoperatinginthebigcities,
you can get reasonably good connection.
However,whenyoustartgoingtothemore
distant islands, such as Kalimantan or New
Guinea, the Internet connection there is
virtually nonexistent. To reach their users,
thecompanywouldneedtogoviasatellite,
and that is what space can provide.
SSW: Why aren’t the startups already
leveraging these technologies?
JA: Because they are not aware about
them, and there is a lot of education that
still needs to be done. In that sense, the
whole idea of a space prize was extremely
successful, because it demonstrated how
badly this is needed. We need to continue
doingourhomeworkanddomorepromotion
of space and its capabilities.
SSW: Bearing that in mind, what are
going to be the next steps for Inmarsat
and AP-Swiss?
JA: Of course, the next challenge would
be how much and how far the startups
are capable of actually integrating the
technology in their devices. Those who
are developing software or smartphone
apps, may not have the technical skills
needed to integrate these technologies,
and we will work with them more closely
in the future. With that aim, we are setting
up an incubator in Switzerland to foster
these developments. We will see which
of the companies we have identified will
benefitfromtheincubationandworkwith
them more closely to incorporate the
satellite technologies in their products
and help them scale to new, previously
inaccessible, regions.
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ECOSYSTEMS
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“In a world
of scarce
resources,
globalization
without new
technology
is unsustainable.”
- Peter Thiel, author of Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

SO WHO IS THE TEAM
BUILDING COMPANIES
AT SEEDSTARS?
We are entrepreneurs ourselves.
Based on all our interactions and
experience, we know now better than
ever how to process and systemize
venture building, i.e. bringing an idea
to a company, solving a real pain with
profitable unit economics (from zero
to one) and growth or acceleration, i.e.
accompanying driven entrepreneurs
like our Seedstars World competition
winnerstofindtherecipeforrepeatable
growth (from one to n).
Morethanaglobalbrand,Seedstars
provides methods and expertise to
build solutions that solve local pains.
Because we are all about “pain killers,”
rather than “vitamins”.
THE RISING
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SEEDSTARS IS NOT THE ONLY ONE
BUILDING. DISCOVER SOME OF THE
OTHER “BUILDERS” WE’VE MET AROUND
THE WORLD AND HOW THEY ARE
SOLVING LOCAL PAINS.
ALEXANDRE
WEBER
RUBEN
ALMEIDA
PATRICIO
FERNANDES
FERNANDO
FERREIRA
LUIS
RODRIGUES
BENJAMIN
BENAIM
HUGO
RODRIQUES
PIERRE-ALAIN
MASSON
MICHAEL
WEBER
PEDRO
GOMES
THE RISING
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THE SOLUTIONTHE PAIN
With 94.1 million inhabitants,
Ethiopia is the second largest African
population, as well as one of the
youngest ones, with an average age
of 18.9-years-old. Since 80% of the
population lives in rural areas, parents
are often unable to meet the high
costs of educational facilities. This
makes it even tougher for girls living
in rural areas to make it. Ethiopian
families value girls for their ability
to work. There is a great disparity
between both genders in literacy, and
parents often choose boys over girls
to attend school.
Giving access
to education
Samrawit 15 years old,
not going to school.
Samrawit is 15 and lives in Axum, a
56,000 inhabitant rural town in the
northern part of Ethiopia. It is known for
its stelae, churches, monasteries, tombs
and its palace ruins. It was declared a
UNESCO World Heritage site in 1980.
Samrawit lives there with her parents
and her four other siblings.
She spends her days helping her
mother with house work, cooking, and
collecting water.
Fidel by AhadooTech is a mobile
learning platform available both
as a native Android app and a web
app. It enables Samrawit to access
social, personalized and gamified
learning. She can now access her
studies in an affordable and user
friendly manner. She has access to
high quality educational content
andcankeeplearning,whilehelping
her mother with house chores.
Because she is a girl, Samrawit has a
lower chance to be taken to school
by her parents. She is more likely
to be doing house work until she
reachesageatwhichshewillmarry.
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When solar
power meets
farming
75% of Kenyans (with an estimated
population of 45 million) make a
living by farming, although only
20% of Kenyan land is suitable for
farming. The majority of farmers end
up suffering from draughts. Without
sufficient rainfall to provide water for
crop growth, communities are faced
with food shortages and famine.
George 44 years old,
farmer
Illuminum Greenhouses provides
George with an automated drip
irrigation kit equipped with solar
powered soil sensors that optimize
wateruseandconservation.George
can now optimize his farm’s water
consumption,andleavemorewater
for his wife and children. He is able
to monitor his irrigation system
remotely and in real time by SMS.
Real time monitoring combined
with solar powered electricity
enableshimtoleveragetechnology
to grow his business.
George’s farm regularly suffers
fromdroughts,andSharonisunable
to bring enough water to meet the
needs of the whole family. Both
parents do not have access to bank
services. They are not connected
to the city and the lack of water
and electricity prevents them from
growing and modernizing their
farm.
George Mugo is a 44-years-old
farmer born and raised in Gikambura, a
small village in the Central Province of
Kenya located in the Rift Valley, known
for its maize agriculture. Gikambuka
is an isolated city where there is no
electricity access. George lives in
Gikambura with his wife Sharon and
their four children.
He takes care of the maize fields on a
daily basis. Sharon must walk 3 hours
every day with her daughter to collect
water.
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When
thepoorestare
enabledtoclimb
thepyramid
In Nigeria, the wealth is distributed
very unequally. 20% of the population
earns almost 60% of the total income.
Out of 170 million people, over 135
million are unemployed. The gap
between the rich and poor is too large,
which makes the BoP population
unable to climb the social ladder. One
of the main assets that allows people
to generate revenue is a car, which is
still unaffordable to the BoP for two
reasons: they cannot finance it and
they have no access to loans: 70% of
the population is unbanked.
Victor is a 37-years-old father living in
Gwarimpa, one of the poorest districts
of Abuja. It is located next to Asokoro, a
multibillion real estate area where the
wealthy people reside.
The disparity between rich and poor
is strikingly obvious. Victor lives in a
slum with his wife and five children.
Victor is struggling to provide his
family with a sustainable future. He
makes a living with trash recycling,
but the income is not enough to
pay for his children’s education. He
cannot access bank loans, so when
he needs a higher amount of money
in case of emergency, he relies on
his brother Emmanuel.
Victor 37 years old,
hopeful father
Bashi has identified a solution for
Victortoclimbthesocialladder.The
Nigerian startup will buy a car for
Victor, who will drive it as an Uber
Driver, and generate revenues for
Bashi. Victor gets a monthly salary,
and can simultaneously reimburse
the cost of the car through Uber
revenues. In two years, Victor will
eventually own the car and dispose
of a decent source of revenues,
together with a sustainable
investment on the car. He will be
able to provide his family with a
better living.
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Optimizing the
merchandising
process
in MENA
Nassim 28 years old,
Head of Sales
The process of merchandising in
emerging countries like Lebanon is
not optimized. Fast Moving Consumer
Goods companies still monitor the
process of merchandising on paper,
which makes the process very
inefficient.
CodefishhaslaunchedMerchandiser,
a web & mobile solution that
automates the merchandising
process. Merchandiser aims to be
a link between FMCG companies
and retailers, which enables Nassim
to visualize his shelves, monitor his
sales,aswellascompetitors’prices,
and automatically analyse data in
real time.
Nassim’s approach to managing
and monitoring his sales is not very
practical. He uses a paperbased
process, which prevents him from
knowing when exactly products
b e co m e u n ava il a b l e o r a re
improperly displayed in real time.
Data is not only delivered late, but
also its processing and analysing is
time consuming and costly. Nassim
is missing key data affecting his
sales efficiency.
Nassim is a Head of Sales at a
beverage company in Lebanon. He is
aiming to increase his sales, and make
sure to maintain competitive prices.
The consumer spending in Lebanon has
increased from in 2010 to in 2014.
Nassim wants to leverage the
increasing consumer purchasing power
and sustain business growth.
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We talked with Emile Harb, the
co-founder of Merchandiser a
software solution empowering
management with analytics to
reduce significant loss in sales by
automating the merchandising
process.
SSW: Can you briefly describe the
problem that inspired you to build
Merchandiser?
EH:Whenyouaremanagingsupermarkets,
manufacturers and distributors, you face
many challenges. You need to track which
products are on the shelves, when they
are empty, how often are they getting
refilled, or if the promotions are done
properly. Usually, each of these companies
have a sizeable team of merchandisers,
who are working on the ground to check
the process and see that the shelves are
constantly being refilled. However, it was
very surprising for us to discover that a lot
of large scale companies still use pen and
paper to conduct the whole supervision.
Just imagine! You spend millions of dollars
on promotions, and the final moment of
truth depends on the five seconds the
consumer spends on the shelf. Therefore,
it is crucial to optimise the shelves as best
as possible to reduce any potential losses
and maximise sales. Our product came out
of a clear need. That is why I love it.
SSW: Apart from digitalising the whole
process for merchandisers, what kind of
analytics are you providing?
EH: An example would be efficiency
“Ourproductcame
outofaclearneed.
ThatiswhyIloveit”
How often do
you walk into
a store and
realise that the
product you
wanted to buy
is missing? Time
and again, it must
have happened
to all of us.
Have you ever
thought about
who actually
monitors this
data and how are
supermarkets
ensuring that you
have everything
you want at
hand?
THE RISING
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ECOSYSTEMS
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The Rising Startup Ecosystems | Seedstars World

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