“Seedstars is recognised worldwide as a quality label”

Mr Masson, The Seedstars Summit, held in April in Lausanne, announced a USD 100 million fund for start-ups from sub-Saharan Africa. How far has development of this fund progressed?

Pierre-Alain Masson: The fundraising has started and we have the first commitments. We are aiming for a first closing at the end of the year.

Does the new fund mean a profound change for Seedstars?

No, it’s just the next step in our development. We will continue to organise the competition, offer training programmes and run co-working spaces. We are already active as an investor: we have invested in 40 seed-phase companies through a holding company and we want to intensify this activity this year – the goal is to make 50 to 80 additional seed investments. Basically, we’re building a global accelerator programme. The new fund is intended, among other things, to provide follow-on financing for start-ups that we have already financed in the seed phase.

Is the fund also intended to make a profit?

Naturally, we always strive for an impact with our work; we want to strengthen entrepreneurship in the emerging markets. However, the fund should also generate a market return.

Seedstars has been active for seven years. How has the situation in the emerging countries changed in that time?

That varies considerably. In south-east Asia, the start-up scene has developed rapidly. Take the Uber competitor Grab as an example. Founded in 2012, the company is the market leader in many countries in the region and is valued at more than USD 10 billion. The success story is all the more remarkable as there was no start-up scene in this part of the world six years ago. In contrast, many other regions lag behind and have little to offer in terms of infrastructure. Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, a city of more than four million people, has only four or five co-working spaces. This is practically nothing compared with similarly sized European cities.

Can a European company such as Seedstars, coming from outside, make a difference?

Absolutely. To achieve this, we have built a comprehensive portfolio of programmes. In addition to the investment programmes, these include knowledge transfer – for example, our Seedstars Academy, which we offer in Cairo, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. It provides training in the field of entrepreneurship based on the model of Swiss vocational education, and thus consists of 20% theory and 80% practical experience. The training runs over six months during which time participants receive a salary. Graduates can then start their own business, join another start-up, or work as an intrapreneur or start-up supporter.

Does the Seedstars Competition, which includes regional qualifying rounds in more than 80 cities worldwide, also have a similar knowledge transfer?

We have introduced this for the new round of the competition, which has just started. For the first time, we are offering training sessions in addition to pitching events.

Does the competition itself affect the local ecosystem? Can a company that distinguishes itself in the finals here in Switzerland benefit from this in its home country?

Very strongly. Seedstars is perceived worldwide as a quality label. In the Congo, for example, an edtech start-up’s products were introduced into schools nationwide after the company won the Seedstars final.

How many Seedstars employees work in the emerging markets?

Most of them. We currently have 140 employees and of these only about 30 are stationed in Europe.

What is Seedstars’ most important source of income?

Today we are a B2B company that finances itself primarily through services for corporates. There are also contributions from governmental authorities and foundations. Services for businesses include advice and the search for suitable start-ups.

Are these mainly European companies?

They come from all over the world. In total, we work for about 300 companies.

This must provide a highly useful network for start-ups.

Exactly – and this too benefits the local ecosystem. We not only connect start-ups with potential partners from industrialised countries, but we now also have well-developed networks in the regions. And not only corporates – mentors, experts and investors are part of our network as well.

Let’s change perspective. To what extent does Switzerland benefit from Seedstars’ activities?

Switzerland needs to diversify its economic patterns. The focus should be more on the emerging markets and that’s why today we are working with organisations such as Présence Suisse. Another specific example of our work in this direction are delegations to emerging markets, which we organise together with canton Vaud.

If a Swiss start-up CEO thinks they have a product that is suitable for emerging markets, and they already have a specific country in mind as an export market, can they turn to Seedstars for assistance?

Certainly. We are happy to help.