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Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes brought its GCC round to a successful close during Seedstars GCC. The event took place Saturday, September 24 at CH9 where 15 selected startups from 5 GCC countries were invited to present their ideas in front of an international jury panel.

The event attracted interest from 220 attendees, and brought together entrepreneurs from the GCC and beyond.

Democrance from the UAE, is one of the first place winners. It is a FinTech platform that makes insurance affordable and accessible to the lower-income population through a mobile application.More than 350 million people in MENA do not have access to insurance so it is set out to build a FinTech platform that makes insurance affordable while adding value to insurers and distributors.

Meddy from Qatar, is another of the first place winners. It is a platform to connect doctors and patients in Qatar. Doctors struggle to build patient base and brand awareness so it developed an online platform to help patients find reviews on doctors while enabling doctors to do targeted advertising to reach their patients.

Both startups were selected as the best startups in GCC for its unique approach to translation, technology, and social impact.

They will be participating at Seedstars Summit, taking place in Switzerland in April 2017, a weeklong training program with the opportunity to meet the other 65 global winners, as well as investors and mentors from around the world.

Traditionally, the final day of the Summit will be dedicated to pitching in front of an audience of 1000 attendees, with the possibility of winning over 500K USD in prizes and equity investment.

Meddy and Democrance will both have the opportunity to participate in the Seedstars MENA Regional Summit in December 2016 in Bahrain.

TechB3 Inc., a platform providing tech info like CNET in the Arabic language, came in second place.

The 3^rd place runner-up, eshraq, devised a platform for hiring part-time workers in KSA and GCC at large to bring more nationals into the workforce.

The other pitching startups included: 

• JobSmart (UAE), a platform enabling job search from mobile devices.
• Tamarran Sports Online Service (Bahrain), an online platform for booking sport venues and activities.
• MaktApp (Qatar), a cloud-based software for office and team management.
• Gulf CX (KSA), a cloud-based customer experience.
• CMS (KSA), an online platform for construction materials.
• Decor Manzi (Oman), a marketplace in MENA region for design experts, renovation professionals, and service providers.
• Geeks Valley (KSA), an online learning platform in Arabic, e-shop, and workshops provider. 
• Biker.AE, a United Arab Emirates social network and gathering platform for motorcycle riders.
• Kasper Cab (KSA), an application for ride sharing for daily commuting students and working females.
• IESoft Technologies FZC, PriceJugaad (Bahrain) is an AI and Big Data based platform for price comparison, product discovery, deals, and sentiment analysis.
• SpotCube (KSA), a platform that activates social networks and e-commerce processes.

Geeks Valley got 500BD cash prize from Ahlia University as an extra prize, whereas Décor Manzil and Tamarran Sports Online Service got 300BD and 200BD respectively.

Continuing on its world tour of startup scenes in emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, Seedstars World’s next stop is Moscow, to select the best startup in the Russia.

See related articles:

Seedstars World is Coming to Amman!

Mind Rockets Named Jordan’s Best Startup at Seedstars Amman

Seedstars World is Coming to the CH9 Hub in Bahrain