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The 38th annual DigiWorld Summit, in partnership with Business France and French Tech, IDATE will be hosting the second annual DigiWorld Awards, recognising excellence in digital start-ups created by French entrepreneurs outside of France.

And the nominees for 2016 are…

The Jury made an initial selection of 12 start-ups from among the applications received. Four winners will be chosen for the three main geographical regions: Africa – the Middle East, the Americas and Asia – Pacific

The nominated start-ups all satisfied the following criteria:

  • A company created outside of France by at least one French national;
  • Have a digital tech industry business as its main activity: equipment and devices, networks and telecoms, Internet services and applications (BtoC, BtoB…), M2M, IoT…
  • Demonstrate their growth potential in their chosen field and internationally.
DigiWorld Awards Nominees
APrivacy Gatecoin Locolo Smart Alpha
Boosst Group HelperChoice Pzartech Virtuafit
Chalkboard Education JITbase Rilos YOO Sourcing

A Special Jury Prize will be awarded to an overseas start-up born of the Région Occitanie development ecosystem.

Special Jury Prize Nominees
CopSonic Emersya Intuilab

Tales of French entrepreneurial spirit from the four corners of the globe.

“Launched in 2015, these awards aim to set themselves apart from the many others that recognise our start-ups at various stages of their development,” explains IDATE DigiWorld’s Deputy CEO, Jean-Dominique Séval. “By focusing on these French entrepreneurs who chose to create their start-up in another country, we want not only to train the spotlight on them but also to send the message that these talents represent a tremendous resource for our country’s digital future.”

More than anything, it is a perfect illustration of “French Tech” talent: a government initiative that was picked up and developed by industry stakeholders, including founding member Business France. Since 2015, French Tech Hubs have been created in more than 15 major cities around the globe, which represent key growth centres for French Tech start-ups. The goal is to work in concert to bring the various public actors (Business France, consulates, chambers of commerce, local authorities…) together under a single umbrella with a network of entrepreneurs that have a solid footing in overseas markets (start-ups, conglomerates, investors, engineers, designers and developers), which can serve as mentors for young start-ups wanting to develop their business in that market, and as ambassadors for French Tech with local decision-makers.

The DigiWorld Awards thus provide a unique opportunity to recognise the many entrepreneurs who have created a start-up abroad, and to reward those who have been successful overseas… perhaps before coming to France!

Prizes and rewards

The winners in each category will receive their trophy during a special ceremony that will be held at 7 pm on 16 November 2016, at the Corum in Montpellier, with special guest and Jury Chair, Pierre Chappaz, President of Teads.

Each of the prizes will be awarded by the event’s sponsors – Accenture, Capgemini, Ericsson and Orange – which will each provide the winning start-ups with access to their international Innovation resources. And of course Région Occitanie, sponsor of the Special Jury Prize.

With the support of our partner, Air France, the winning start-ups will be invited to the DigiWorld Summit to attend the awards ceremony held during a plenary session of the conference.

The winners will be added to Wproject (www.wproject.fr), the key listing and promotional platform for French entrepreneurs working abroad.

For complete details

Download the press release

  A competition hosted by IDATE DigiWorld

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