VentureOut Semifinalists

Congratulations to the VentureOut Challenge Semifinalists!

infoDev at the World Bank and CRDF Global announce VentureOut, a new initiative to propel expansionready mobile entrepreneurs into enticing international markets. The VentureOut Challenge mobile application internationalization contest has inspired 113 submissions from 19 countries. Today their submissions have been judged by business and mobile app experts and the top 24 semifinalists are announced. The 24 semifinalists below represent some of the most promising mobile app ventures who stand ready to enter new markets. The 24 semifinalists will receive personalized mentorship, organized by each of the eight local technology community partners. Using feedback from the VentureOut judges and their mentors they will upgrade their applications by September 24 for round two of judging. The top 12 finalists will be announced on October 2, and subsequently paired with internationally-based mentors with whom theyll meet during the month of October, leading up to the finalists event. The finalists will be preparing for the Dragons Den, a pitching exposition to compete for $10,000 in seed funding that will be held in Moldova this October 30-November 1, 2013. Thanks to a great partnership with TechCrunch, one selected VentureOut entrepreneur will also be attending TechCrunchs Disrupt Europe event in Berlin this October 28 and 29, 2013. Blackberry is also contributing to the prizes available for the top 12. So whats next for the VentureOut Community? The entire mobile community is invited to attend Going Global Venture Out, an intense skills building training on the basics of internationalization with Augie Rakow, a corporate adviser to startups and mobile companies that have launched their presence in the US. Augie will take questions live from the 24 semifinalists, followed by questions from the entire audience.

VentureOut Challenge 24 Semifinalists (by region and alphabetical by app name) AFRICA
BrainShare enables students to easily access ebooks, notes and pastpapers to help them study and prepare for exams. GoMetro is a transit app for emerging markets that combines trains, buses, rapid transit and taxis into one app using multiple data sources. Joois is a social gaming network for mobile phones. Ma3Route is a mobile/web/SMS platform that crowdsources transport data and provides users with updates on traffic, directions and driving reports. Marodi.tv is a replay TV platform for mobile and web playing TV programs from channels in Senegal and Charles Muhindo Uganda brainshare.ug

Alicia Ernstzen Waliaula Makokha Laban Okune

South Africa Kenya Kenya

gometroapp.com

jooist.com ma3route.com

Jimmy KUMAKO

Senegal

marodi.tv

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VentureOut Semifinalists
Cameroon. Nearest Locator helps you easily find nearest places like: ATMs, banks, eateries, hospitals, pharmacies and more. Prowork empowers businesses by bringing project management and collaboration together on one platform. RubiQube recommends locally developed mobile apps to their target market through a location-based app recommendation system. Waabeh is Africa's audio market place helping with discovery and distribution of audio content from the continent. XCommodity is an online commodities market and auction house to enhance the movement of commodities across continents. ayoola ajebeku Nigeria getnearest.com

Francis Onwumere

Nigeria

prowork.me

Mahmood Oyewo

Nigeria

therubiqube.com

King'ori Maina

Kenya

waabeh.com

Sefik Bagdadioglu

Tanzania xcommodity.com

CARIBBEAN
Engraft allows individuals to connect via the mobile app to pull organize pick-up sports games. Grikly is a business networking application that allows you to easily share your contact details easily with anyone you meet. M.A.D.E. [in the Caribbean] is a disaster and emergency focused native mobile app providing users with information about what to do before, during, and after natural disasters and national emergencies, as they occur in the Caribbean. SweetSOA facilitates generic access to web services. T&T Expedition is a location-based tourism app that allows users to explore places of interest. Zaboca is a mobile eco-system of Caribbean professionals and professionals of the Caribbean Diaspora. Delton Phillips Jamaica

Dwayne Samuels

Jamaica

grik.ly

Ade Inniss-King

Trinidad & Tobago

Jerome Campbell Dylan Basdeo

Jamaica Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad & Tobago

sweetandsoa.com bit.ly/16z4bqx

Cara Singh

facebook.com/ zabocaapp

EASTERN EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA

Idram Mobile Wallet empowers users to make payments and transfer money using only their phone. Narek Vardanyan Armenia mobile.idram.am

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VentureOut Semifinalists
Manifesto instantly records video, audio or both with one tap and makes it public in a click. The Perseverance Medal is an animated story for children that teaches values of perseverance and positive thinking. Scratch with Friends is a cross platform multiplayer game. Share Drive reunites global travelers, making their trips around the world easier, faster, cheaper and more exciting. Teddy the Guardian is a teddy that uses state-ofthe-art medical sensors to capture, report on and share a child's vital signs like heart rate, body temperature and oxygen saturation. Tuning Fork is karaoke with real-time pitch verification. X-Rift is a location-based augmented reality game for mobile devices. Dorian Postevca Valeriu Benedicth Giurgiulescu Dejan Veljanoski Stojan Stamkov Moldova seemanifesto.com

Romania

soft4kids.ro

Macedonia

scratchwithfriends.com

Macedonia

facebook.com/ sharedrivemk

Ana Burica Dilara RustamZadeh Daniel Tonkopiy

Croatia

teddytheguardian.com

Azerbaijan

tuningfork.az

Ukraine

x-rift.com

About VentureOut
infoDev at the World Bank and CRDF Global announces VentureOut, a new initiative to propel expansion-ready mobile entrepreneurs into enticing international markets. The program runs from August to November 2013 and helps hundreds of entrepreneurs through hands-on training, virtual learning opportunities, mentorship, international exposure, and seed funding. Entrepreneurs come from 19 countries from the entrepreneurial ecosystems developed by eight local technology community partners located in eight countries: Armenia, Jamaica, Kenya, Macedonia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Trinidad & Tobago. This program also identifies advanced entrepreneurs during the VentureOut Challenge mobile app competition - applications accepted between August 9 and September 2, 2013. The top 12 entrepreneurs from the competition will meet in Moldova this October 30- November 1, 2013 for the Dragons Den, a pitching exposition to compete for one of three $10,000 seed funding awards. Thanks to a great partnership with TechCrunch, one selected VentureOut entrepreneur will also be attending TechCrunchs Disrupt Europe event in Berlin this October 28-29, 2013. Inquiries to Amanda Gant agant@crdfglobal.org

www.ventureoutchallenge.org