The second StartupTour kicks off in June. Last year, French startup Ava won the Tour and this year competition spreads across the ocean as both French and US startups join in. Who will make take the prize this time?
The startup tour is a competition to elect the best startup in four categories. It is backed by FrenchFounders and BNP Paribas.
This year, the president of the Grand Final Jury is none other than Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, former French Minister and Vice President Cloud & Cyber Security North America at CapGemini. The Grand Final will be held next September in New York City.
Events in the USA and France
Seven events run from June through September; mostly in June and July. The finale, as well as the first event, are held in New York. This year, the competition is open to French startups wanting to expand in un US but also to US startups wanting to settle in France. That’s a dramatic change of heart compared to last year, when only French startups could enter. At each event, one startup only makes it through to the final. There, four grand prizes will await them.
Big Prizes
Those prizes are a definite push in the right direction for blooming startups:
First Prize (total amount $100,000)
- $20,000
- FrenchFounder membership
- acceleration program with BNP Paribas in the US
- Mentoring by FrenchFounders members
- Desks for a year in co-working space in New York
- Support by NUMA and Impact USA
- Various vouchers and more
American Prize
- FrenchFounder membership
- Support by Business France, PRIME, Paris&Co
- Acceleration in France
- Mentoring
- various vouchers and more
AAGEF Prize (total amount $6,000)
- $5,000
- FrenchFounder membership
- Mentoring and more
People’s Choice Prize (total amount $3,500)
- $2,500
- FrenchFounder membership
- Mentoring and more
Making it into the competition is already a victory
Out of the hundreds of applications, only three dozens made it out to compete at the different venues. New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Montréal and Paris. Teams will be pitching in front of 500 guests and investors.
Sure, there will only be 4 prizes in the end but any startup making it into the competition will gain tremendous coverage and business opportunities.
Among the lucky applicants, we find iAdvize (conversational marketing platform), Arkup (luxury livable foating houses), Aircall (Saas Call center), Emojam (musical emoji), Carfit (predictive vehicle maintenance) or Smarthalo (turns any bike into a smart bike).
Last year’s winner, Ava, is doing great and we can only keep an eye out for the next grand winner. Any guesses?