On February 4 2015, 36 startups from emerging markets around the world will converge at the Grand Final of Seedstars World to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, a global startup competition that showcases new opportunities beyond Silicon Valley.

As a fast-growing startup scene, Africa would be represented by eight innovative startups from Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa to compete with other global startups for a chance to win a $500,000 equity prize.

These startups cater to local problems, such as Poeyek’s specifically designed tablet for informal economies, Green Energy’s car and generator ready petrol derived from plastic waste and Lumkani’s smoke detector for slums or densely populated areas.

More than 1’500 startups from Eastern and Central Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America applied to participate in Seedstars World, but only 36 finalists will have the chance to compete in Switzerland and only one global winner will be selected by a distinguished jury panel.

Apart from the prize money, the Seedstars World Final Event also provides an excellent opportunity for these startups to gain recognition in Europe’s tech scene.

Without any further ado, let’s meet the startups.

myVLE (Morocco)

A SaaS e-Learning platform designed to supplement the traditional classroom teaching.

Problem

Most educational institutions are aware of the value e-Learning can bring to the quality and efficiency of education, however many remain intimidated by the adoption of e-Learning, especially in developing countries: High Cost of leading solutions – Technical know-how and infrastructure to deploy open-source solutions – important learning curve – resistance to change.

Solution

SaaS platform ready to try and deploy in minutes with affordable and transparent per-user pricing. It requires virtually no learning curve and no particular technical skills. myVLE is a flexible platform that adapts to the needs and teaching methodology of each instructor with a simple and intuitive design that appeals to the younger crowd, without intimidating older generations.

Somtou (Senegal)

Enterprise startup, Poeyek built Somtou, an integrated tablet-like business management device for informal and very small businesses.

Problem

The informal sector generates 60% of the GDP in Subsaharan Africa. But those informal businesses lose a lot of money due to lack of productivity. Also, without being able to show their history of sales and profits, those informal businesses cannot access credit. In Senegal, 80% of goods market is done in “small” shops in the neighborhoods. Bringing technology to those small shops can be a real game-changer.

Solution

The Somtou puts together a solar-powered central console with a tactile screen, a barcode reader and a connected mechanical scale, making it able to record all the different types of transactions that happens in those small shops. The Somtou thus acts both as a point of sale, an inventory management system and a customer management device and its solar-powered feature makes it ideal for regions with hectic power supply. Using the Somtou, (1) shops gain productivity and increase revenues, (2) access more credits, as they are able to produce clear data.

Beam (Ghana)

Beam uses Bitcoin technology to allow Africans to remit money, cheaply and instantly.

Problems

Remittances are expensive and inconvenient. The average cost of remittances to Africa is 12%. Hidden exchange rate fees take more away from senders than they realise and high fixed fees forces senders to save up for long periods of time before making transactions. Additionally, the remittance industry has been slow to adopt to local payout solutions and services. Most companies offer only cash remittance solutions that are cumbersome and outdated.

Solution

Beam is a Bitcoin Remittance company that allows Africans in the diaspora to send money home for just 3%. All remittances go directly into mobile money accounts, eliminating the need for cumbersome cash pick-ups. There are no fixed fees involved so senders can send amounts as small as $1 at the same 3% cost. This way, they do not have to save up for weeks before making a transaction. In addition, along with standard money remittances, Beam allows transfer of ‘value’ by allowing senders to pay utility bills, phone bills and buy gift cards for their loved ones back home.

Green Energy (Nigeria)

A startup that converts municipal solid waste and other organic environmental impedes to liquid petroleum products and electrical energy to provide cheaper energy.

Problem

Development and technological advancement around the globe goes in hand with the problem of pollution in the form of carbon dioxide buildup, which causes global warming, and also the generation of non-biodegradable plastic/rubber municipal solid wastes. Another key problem of today’s technological advancement is the ever increasing demand for energy, which is inadequate.

Solution

Green energy, the zero pollution waste to energy company provides cost effective premium quality motor grade green gasoline from plastic/rubber waste, biomass and also gaseous carbon dioxide. Green energy takes advantage of the very high concentration of municipal solid, liquid and gaseous wastes to provide a cheap and sustainable source of renewable energy for transport, domestic and industrial heating.

TorQue (Rwanda)

This is an online distribution channel management software created for the needs of wholesale distributors in Rwanda and Africa.

Problem

In Rwanda and Africa in general, wholesale distributors face unique management problems. They do not have the right software and computer infrastructure to record their sales transactions from their remote warehouses, making it hard to generate accurate and timely financial and management reports needed to make informed decisions and to be efficient and consistent in their business.

Solution

TorQue Workspace is a cloud based software solution tailor made to the needs of wholesale distributors in Rwanda and Africa. It is designed to run the entire wholesale business and it helps to record remote store sales transactions and to instantly generate daily sales and stock level reports and to push them to the management email inboxes as notifications on a daily basis.

Remit (Uganda)

A platform that enables people from all over the world to transfer money to mobile wallets in Africa.

Problem

With the current money transfer organizations, senders pay on average 11.89% to remit money to Africa. Recipients in rural Africa also have to make long bus trips to access cash out services at money transfer agents who are mostly based in urban centers. This becomes extremely expensive and inconvenient, and has limited financial inclusion for rural communities.

Solution

This platform allows the sender to send money from anywhere in the world as long as they have Internet access at a cheaper rate. We also intend to bring the cost down to less than 7%. We are leveraging the popularity of Africa’s mobile money revolution to deliver funds directly to the recipient’s bank of choice — their mobile phone.

OkHi (Kenya)

This startup’s mission is to accelerate middle class growth by giving every smartphone user a physical address.

Problem

There are 4 billion people in the world who do not have a physical address. This means no house number or name, often no street name and definitely no national zip code system. This means eCommerce growth is throttled (to the door delivery is very inefficient), emergency services are ineffective (an ambulance will arrive too late) and financial institutions have to limit their products (no address increases the risk on bank loans).

Solution

The OkHi smartphone app is a simple way to tell people where you live or work. Your OkHi address is a GPS point, a photo of your gate and a bit of magic that will help people get to you. Share your OkHi address to friends coming round for dinner or use it to speed through an eCommerce checkout in seconds.

Lumkani (South Africa)

A low cost fire detection device designed for slum environments, all connected through transmission mechanisms allowing for proactive, early-warning, community-wide fire response and alert.

Problem

People are at high risk of the spread of fire due to their lighting, cooking and heating methods coupled with the density of their living conditions and the flammable materials used to build their homes. The loss of life and property caused by urban slum fires worldwide entrenches cycles of poverty for those already living at the margin. Globally, 1 billion people live in slums and are at risk – this is set to grow as urbanisation rates increase.

Solution

Lumkani has developed a low-cost, off-the-shelf fire detection device designed specifically for this environment. The device will ring in the affected home waking the family to respond to the fire immediately, failing which, the device triggers neighbouring devices up to 100 metres away allowing for proactive response to mitigate the loss of life and property associated with the spread of fire.