Seedstars Podcasts

Lupe is from one of the most remote places in the world: the Pacific island of Samoa. Coming from such a beautiful and distant place comes with its own qualities and challenges. When she wanted to buy goods online for her coffee shop she realized that her bank didn’t integrate with any online payment gate. It is impossible to use services such as Stripe or PayPal with a Samoan bank account. So, she decided to take matters into her own hands and started SmartPei to solve the issue not only for herself, but also for other Samoan shops in the Samoan diaspora with the need to send money or buy goods. Lupe is just at the beginning, but she has big dreams of making the lives of Samoan business owners easier and leaving a legacy for her children.

In this episode, we meet Ann, founder and CEO of DataCue, who not only launched her own company but did it with her husband as her co-founder whilst travelling across Central and South America for their honeymoon! I hear you... is she crazy ; )

Successfully securing investment from Startup Chile, despite being foreign nationals (learn how they did it as you listen) Ann and her husband Sharam, a former data scientist at Trip Advisor set about creating a solution that would give small and medium-sized businesses access to big data solutions normally available only to the Amazons of the world.

Discover how they managed to work together 24-hours a day with a young baby along for the ride too, how they overcame some big assumptions they made about doing business in the LATAM region and how they overcame a potentially disastrous situation.

With many more valuable insights about startup life across 3 continents - DataCue now has a presence in Chile and the LATAM region, Europe and Asia. 

Lucrezia wanted to be an actress and started her entrepreneurial journey when she was 8 years old, selling items to give to those most in need. This multi-award winning Italian entrepreneur, and Forbes 30 under 30, is now living in Kenya for her company Kukua, which has created an African child heroine called Sema who empowers girls and children with literacy and numeracy skills, and gives them the confidence to change the world! Lucrezia's parents and relatives approach to the failure taught her to face difficult situations like almost going bankrupt before pivoting and raising funds from prestigious Venture Capital investors. From the cover of international magazines to the small Kenyan villages, this talented entrepreneur has the ambition to impact millions of lives and create one of the most successful edtech companies on the African continent.

Kenza was born in Morocco but has quite a rich international experience: from France and Singapore, all the way to the USA. At some point, she found her calling and decided to go back to her home country. Kenza launched a regional fund to support entrepreneurs in Africa. She had some hesitations, but inspired by other entrepreneur stories, she managed to convince investors to contribute to her fund.

Now, she is driven by  the growth of entrepreneurship in Africa, investing in impactul startups from seed to pre-series A, that are aligned with the values that she and her team in Outlierz share. In this podcast, we discover those values and take a look into Kenza's eye-opening journey, the motivations and challenges behind it.

Kenza recommends reading Malcolm Gladwell: Outliers: The Story of Success

After watching the US TV show "The Six Million Dollar Man" at the age of 5 in Colombia, Alvaro Rio, founder of Human Assistive Technologies, knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life. It was his passion to explore how technology could support and enhance the human experience through the use of bionics. This wasn't a surprising choice of career given the path trodden by his lifelong hero, his father who dedicated his life to providing healthcare and housing to people in his home country of Colombia. 

Considered a thought leader and visionary in the healthcare industry, Alvaro clearly understands all the challenges physically impaired individuals, families and medical professionals in emerging countries around the world are facing. He and his team share a passion for creating solutions capable of transforming real-life healthcare problems for people with injuries. This is truly a journey of the heart.   

Sebastian comes from a middle-income family in Germany and originally pursued a career as an investment banker. However, something made him change his path and move to Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he is working to provide energy to the poorest communities through a decentralized micro-grid system. It allows villagers not only to access electricity but also to generate revenues using his  system. 

His startup SOLshare Ltd has received multiple awards for this initiative/project, including the best energy startup in the world and prizes from prestigious organisations like the UN, Ashoka, UBS or Unilever. His entrepreneurial journey is paved with ups and downs, from almost going bankrupt before being saved by Microsoft, to raising funds to survive through the COVID-19 crisis. Sebastien is a pure impact entrepreneur trying to balance profit and purpose, academic knowledge with entrepreneurial "get things done attitude", and European roots with local experiences.

It is difficult to present Marc Berrebi in just a few sentences. An entrepreneur since he can remember, but an artist at heart, this multi-exit founder has, what one could say, lived it all. Born in Tunisia he was raised in an entrepreneurial family, which he claims set the foundation for his entrepreneurial journey as "you learn very early on that failures, the hard ones, are really part of the journey, so at least when I started I was not at all disillusioned by it, on the contrary, I took it as a game". 

Since he has exited from his third venture, the healthtech company e-Device (which he sold for 100 million dollars to a Chinese company), he is re-thinking his purpose as a citizen of this planet. Convinced that those who have achieved real empowerment are those who have ascended the Maslow Pyramid, Marc shares with us his new life guidelines and how he sees the next years to come as a philanthropist, impact investor and supporter of those that create value on this planet. 

"My true heroes are the hidden ones, the ones that never get recognised financially or by the press. The ones that have detached themselves from their ego and their pursuit of success and have dedicated their lives in building sustainability and support in our communities. Those are my heroes.", highlights Marc in the talk.

Ever since she can remember, Jessica has been walking the streets of Venezuela protesting with her family against various injustices Venezuelan people suffer. At 14, she had what we can call an "aha moment". One day, when she was walking over a bridge during one  manifestation, she realised that there are people who are experiencing  even worse injustices than her. She vowed from that day on that she would support those in need, and has since been working for different non-profit initiatives around the world: from children with disabilities in Tibet, children with HIV in the Gambia, sexual workers in Curacao, to at-risk adolescents in Venezuela. A couple of years later, tired of constantly fundraising in the non-profit space, she decided to launch her own social business. After pivoting several times, Programa Valentina was born with a powerful business model that trains unemployed talent with basic skills and matches them with the needs of corporates. From failing to understand the problem, to being robbed at gunpoint, this mother of two is a true hero with an inspiring journey for all.

Programa Valentina is also the winner of the Transforming Education Prize by TRECC and School of Management Fribourg. Listen to her story to learn more about why she won. You can also see more highlights from Jessica as part of our Entrepreneurial Education episode from the Online Seedstars Summit.

Hugo's entrepreneurial journey started at a very young age when he was at primary school and selling dinosaur drawings during breaks. Unfortunately, it was a short-lived business. When the faculty of the school realised he was selling his drawings for money the "shop had to close". Since then, he has become famous for his startup Talov. Talov provides two solutions: one to support people with hearing impairment and another to support people with visual disabilities in accessing the simplest of services and support in their day to day lives. 

Present in over 60 countries and with 35 languages proposed on its apps, Talov is a powerful tool that  gives a sense of community to those that feel like they are being left behind. One of the company’s latest solutions is a service that allows visually impaired people to detect the number on a currency bill, which in reality all feel and weigh the same. It gives a voice to a community of over 700 million people worldwide living the same challenges. 

From his offices of Quito, Ecuador, Hugo is able to connect with all of them, helping him continuously iterate and build new solutions. 

Talov was also selected as one of two winners of the ICT Accessibility Prize by MADA. Watch more on Hugo during the Digital Access for All Episode from the Online Seedstars Summit.

Hugo  recommends reading Eric Ries: The Lean Startup

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Being a developer, Ahmed created a website to connect therapists to their clients for Arab people all over the world. He came up with the idea after dealing with depression himself and not being able to find professional help online in the MENA region. Ahmed calls himself a risk taker as he resigned from his secure job to start the business. Now, his mental health startup Shezlong has 40 team members and lists more than 200 therapists from 20 countries who speak 7 different languages. In total, they have raised $666,000 USD. Ahmed and his team plan to turn the therapy platform into a hub of wellness in the Arabic world.

Shezlong is one of the ten winners selected for the Entrepreneur Migration Prize by HSD. This podcast along with the Migration Episode from the Online Seedstars Summit will give you a glimpse into how this company is changing mental health access in MENA.

Ahmed recommends reading Alexander Osterwalder: Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers

Rene was working in a medical institution in Chile with neurologists, physicians and people with various disabilities. At some point, he was asked to develop a mobile app for the blind and he jumped into the work quickly with a passion for this challenging idea. It was not a startup back then, it was his thesis work. After a year, Rene couldn’t stop thinking about this idea so he decided to establish a startup dedicated to increasing the autonomy of people with disabilities. With a government grant of $15,000 dollars, Rene continued developing Lazarillo with his co-founders who he met during university life. 

Lazarillo is an accessible guide app and platform that helps public and private institutions make their places and services more accessible for everyone, especially for people with disabilities. The platform maps contain indoor or outdoor navigation that connects to the LazarilloApp, allowing the users to safely navigate spaces on their own, improving the accessibility of the venue. Up to this point, the startup has 65 locations with an indoor and outdoor system, 2 university campuses, 5 public venues, 6 hospitals and 52 bank branches. 

Lazarillo was also selected as one of two winners of the ICT Accessibility Prize by MADA. Watch more on Rene during the Digital Access for All Episode from the Online Seedstars Summit.

Rene recommends reading Gino Wickman: Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business

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"You’re really good at making terrible career decisions right when things are going well", one of his professors told Nat. 

Yet, he has managed to implement over the years a pretty successful "No Regrets" policy. Years ago, when his 9-month mission with Accenture in Nairobi ended, Nat was at a crossroads. He decided  to “go for it” and stay in Kenya to start his own business. Like many times after that, "figure out the rest along the way" became his motto. Whether you're talking about camel riding, raising 22M USD, selling inclusive financial solutions to remote smallholder farmers, or going back to school, Nat's "No Regrets" policy got him a long way. 

Having a hard time "integrating back" into his native homeland in the USA, he feels that he definitely belongs in East Africa, and his mind will not stop solving social problems. With his fintech experience, he’s now building Leaf Global to help refugees find a safe place for their money, and contribute to their peace of mind. What will he do next?

Leaf Global is one of the ten winners selected for the Entrepreneur Migration Prize by HSD. This podcast along with the Migration Episode from the Online Seedstars Summit will give you a glimpse into how this company is changing the tide for the better.

Nat recommends reading Ben Horowitz: Hard Thing About Hard Things, Robert Iger: The Ride of a Lifetime, Nat Robinson: Creating a Cash Cow in Kenya.

Looking for a more impactful role in the world, Jens joined Life Shelter as a Managing Director. The company provides sustainable home solutions for displaced people around the world, supported by different international organisations and foundations. Jens has played a key role in building and keeping great partnerships, something that he attributes as one of the best pieces of advice for any social entrepreneur.

"Takes two people and two days to build a shelter", says Jens referencing the time and people needed to build one of their homes. Currently focusing their solution in places like Uganda and the Middle East, Jens also believes that it is crucial when recruiting, that people believe that it's the company’s obligation to create a better world for children. "We are looking for that kind of person that would work for the poorest people in the world", says Jens. 

Life Shelter continues growing and scaling, with a solid technical background, sustainable model and rewarding feedback from the people living in their homes. In this podcast, Jens also shares some of his tips when managing a social business and the importance of understanding how to navigate different challenging scenarios.

Life Shelter is one of the ten winners selected for the Entrepreneur Migration Prize by HSD. This podcast along with the Migration Episode from the Online Seedstars Summit will give you a glimpse into how this company is changing the tide for the better.

Jens recommends reading Yvon Chouinard: Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman (https://www.amazon.com/Let-People-Surfing-Education-Businessman/dp/0143037838)

Fabio Segura has been awarded "outstanding young persons of the world" by TOYP (Japan, 2008). He was born in a small village in Colombia, surrounded by violence from guerilla fighters, which inspired him to work on peace building and later, transform education globally. His goal is to begin with early childhood development to ensure the success of young kids using  technology and impact investment. Fabio runs the powerful Jacobs Foundation, backed by a family and founder with the same name. 

Fabio recommends reading Essentialism by Greg McKeown

"One thing I have realised from the whole pandemic crisis is that the world is currently living so that governments can take extreme measures when needed, so why are they so slow in reacting to the climate change crisis?",  Bethlehem highlights in our talk. 

More than ever, environmentalists like Bethlehem are convinced that the government can, and must, take more drastic measures when it comes to sustaining our only planet. Since her freshman year, she has been working on a solution that would not only solve the issue of agro-waste but also save trees. After years of working from her home and getting rejections on all fronts, Bethlehem finally managed to launch Zafree Papers, which manufactures a 100% tree-free pulp, paper and paper products using agro-waste from small farm holders. She shares with us her challenges in building such a business, especially making sure that she can stick to her principle of being eco-friendly at all points in her supply chain. Nothing will stop this women leader, who is also known by her friends and colleagues as the "Iron Lady", to deliver on her mission to transform the paper manufacturing industry into a 100% tree-free industry. 

The startup became the winner of the Land Restoration Prize by DOEN, aimed at finding and awarding the best tech(-enabled) solutions in the land restoration and land degradation space.

Bethlehem recommends reading Napoleon Hill: Think and Grow Rich.

Talking about life as a migrant and as a social entrepreneur, Berat shared his story with us in this exclusive podcast. 

Before starting Migport, a knowledge sharing platform that serves as a meeting point between locals and refugees with the aim of ensuring social integration with solutions, Berat himself was no stranger to the plights of migrants, even as a child. It is his background that has enabled him to gain awareness of the problems as well as develop a  solution to make the lives of migrant minorities better. 

This ultimately fuelled his passion for social entrepreneurship. He talks about his experience as a social entrepreneur in this interview, highlighting his firm belief that impact and profitability can go hand in hand. Berat shares that entrepreneurs who want to make a difference need to believe not only in the solution that they are creating, but also in their own abilities to make that impact.

Migport is one of the ten winners selected for the Entrepreneur Migration Prize by HSD. This podcast along with the Migration Episode from the Online Seedstars Summit will give you a glimpse into how this company is changing the tide for the better.

According to the UN, approximately 1/3 of all food is lost or wasted. How many times have we left the table with food on our plates? How much money does it represent? Anastasia, a Swiss entrepreneur wondered the same. Anastasia went to the hospitality school in Lausanne, where she met her business partner, Noemi, and in 2017, they decided to launch Kitro, a startup that focuses on food waste management. 

She finished her studies in 2016 and then started thinking about this project, and just one year later, they launched their startup. She focused all her time and energy on the company. After graduating from university, she didn't have any responsibilities, no family to feed, and with only some rent to pay, she started couch-surfing. With all the liberty in the world and free time, she had the bandwidth to work on her dream project. She is an inspiring example of what it means to be a visionary. There are now 9 people working with her, plus a team in Africa, and they have around 237 machines operating in different places across the country. 

Anastasia recommends reading Markus Imhoof: More Than Honey

Who said your business partner cannot be your wife or husband? Ozan and Tuba wanted to access more freedom, more independence and work on a topic that they love. So, the couple dedicated their time to developing a last-mile logistics solution that optimizes routes for better fleet selection, order allocation, and sequencing. That is how their story started. It is one that gives us the perfect  example of what can come to fruition when the unexpected happens. 

One day, Ozan and Tuba found themselves pitching their startup Optiyol in the Seedstars World competition in Turkey, and the next thing they know, they are announced the winners! Next step, they travel all the way to Morocco to compete against all of the other winners from the MENA Seedstars local competition, and they win again! They prove that hard work and resilience can bring you really far.

Ozan recommends watching Formula 1: Drive to Survive. 

With a passion for learning, growth and continuous development, Dasha turned the knowledge she used herself to secure scholarships with some of the most prestigious schools and universities in the world, to an education solution for students around the world. Her startup StudyFree is a platform created to help young professionals around the world, in particular from emerging countries, study abroad for free with scholarships and grants.  

By taking on every role within the business herself, Dasha has grown her company from $300 initial revenue to a monthly turnover of $60,000 USD and serving 400,000 students from 108 countries in just 18 months. Listen in to learn more about StudyFree and how Dasha has grown her company.

Emir is the definition of a global citizen - born in Turkmenistan but sent to boarding school at the age of 11 in Turkey to access better opportunities, he then moved to Singapore thanks to a global physics competition where he won a scholarship. Unable to follow the advice of his parents who wanted him to have a stable and secure career, he left his corporate job to launch his own company through the Entrepreneur First program where he met his co-founder.  

Together, they started Resync, an intelligent machine learning and data analytics driven energy efficiency solutions provider for smart buildings and IoT devices. It has now sparked interest across South East Asia, and his next step is to continue to scale across Central Asia and Europe. Coming from a country rich for oil and gas, such a shift to the green economy makes complete sense to Emir and his recent investors that injected 1 million dollars into his company. Emir will share with us the highs and lows of launching a business and how he keeps a positive attitude in the face of all of the criticisms and challenges that come his way. Finally, Emir will share his view on the Turkmenistan startup ecosystem and what hopes he has for its future.  

Emir recommends reading Blake Masters: Zero to One.