Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, is returning to Dubai for the third time on May 28th, 2016 at In5 Innovation Center to choose the best startups qualified for the international competition.

11 startups in Dubai will be invited to pitch for the opportunity to compete at the final event.

Continuing on its goal to put the spotlight on entrepreneurs from emerging countries, Seedstars World expanded its competition to more than 60 countries for 2016 up from the 36 countries of the 2014 edition. Its past participants have raised $20 million together, providing employment to over 360 employees all around the world.

The regional winners of the local events from each country will be invited back to Switzerland to pitch at the final event in March 2017 in Switzerland for a prized 500,000 USD equity investment. 

The summit will also feature industry-specific tracks in parallel to the general Seedstars World competition, such as the 500,000 USD travel-specific prize awarded at last year’s summit. The Jacobs Foundation is also offering a grant of 50,000 CHF for product customization for the Francophone African market (such as translation or low-resource adaptability) or a pilot project in Cote d’Ivoire.

Who are the competing startups?

The competing startups cover a wide range of sectors from education, medtech, and HR to Virtural Reality, advertising, and telecommunications. The startups include:

-BEEM: a beauty booking app
-BuzzMyBrand: a platform for social media contests
-OTTAA Project: a communication platform for the speech-impaired which uses images and environmental data
-Pushdot: a platform to update and communicate with your network
-Mytriphoto: a device for selfie panoramic photos geared towards the hospitality industry
-Mosaikx: a wearable device to reconstruct human memory
-360 MEA: a platform for on demand 360 virtual reality content
-Asafeer Education Technologies: an Arabic digital library that simultaneously provides analytics
-Project JUST: a fashion platform which encourages consumers to make better educated and more environmentally friendly purchases
-Swiffix Limited: an on-demand home and car service application
-YallaParking: an online marketplace connecting vacant parking spots with drivers in need

Speakers will include Aby Sam Thomas, managing editor at Entrepreneur and Patrick Thiriet, chief strategy officer at Choueiri Group, among others.

The basic criteria for applicants stipulates that the seed-stage startups have less than $500,000 raised, that it has been less than two years since the startup was founded, and that a MVP exists.

Seedstars World is also looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and/or develop profitable products for the global market.

Register your startup here.