VivaTech, in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as co-host, (VivaTech and IFC being together referred to herein as the “Co-hosts”) organizes the second edition of the AfricaTech Awards. This initiative aims to recognize and support innovative Africa-focused companies with new solutions in the climate tech, health tech, and fintech sectors.

The final ceremony, in which the winners of the AfricaTech Awards will be awarded, will take place during Viva Technology 2023 (the "Event"), which will be held from June 14 to June 17, 2023 in Paris.

Applications for the AfricaTech Awards will be reviewed and assessed by a panel of experts based on qualitative criteria as set out in the present document.

 

2. ORGANIZER AND OBJECT

MSL France, a joint-stock company with capital of 182,400 Euros, having its registered office at 30-34 rue du Chemin Vert, 75011 Paris registered in Paris Trade and Companies Register with number 347 895 096 RCS Paris, acting as manager of the partnership formed between MSL France and Les Echos Solutions, a company having its registered office at 10, boulevard de Grenelle 75015 PARIS registered in Paris Trade and companies Register with number 408 165 157, (“Viva Technology”), is organizing a Challenge taking place between 27/02/23 and 17/06/23 entitled “AfricaTech Awards” (“Challenge”).

This Challenge is co-hosted by IFC, the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets.

Participation in the Challenge implies the express and unreserved acceptance of these Challenge rules.

To launch this second edition of the AfricaTech Awards, VivaTech will rely on Deloitte, one of the world's largest audit and consulting firms, as a knowledge partner.

 

3. PARTICIPANTS

The AfricaTech Awards is open to all startups operating in Africa, with a majority of the team based in Africa and/or serving African markets and focused on one of the following categories: Climate Tech, Health Tech, or FinTech.

An application to the AfricaTech Awards must be written in English according to the process described in article 4. Any African startup meeting the above criteria (the “Candidate”), can participate in the Challenge as long as it provides all of the necessary information so that the jury may correctly evaluate the application (see selection criteria and participation form).

By participating in the Challenge, the CEO or a representative of the startup's management committee will be expected to attend the AfricaTech Labs during the Event, the AfricaTech Dinner, the Pitch contest and the Awards ceremony (which will take place during the Event at VivaTech, Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, 1 Place de la Porte de Versailles, F-75015 Paris, France, exact dates will be communicated later) if selected amongst the 3 finalists per Category (total of 9 startups selected). VivaTech will provide an official invitation letter for the Event to finalists. If a Candidate is unable to attend one of the meetings for unforeseen reasons or any other type of reason, they must inform VivaTech as soon as possible, and before May 16 at the very latest, the Candidate will then be disqualified from the Final and the next Candidate in the ranking will be selected for the Final.

By registering and taking part in the Challenge, the Candidate accepts the terms and conditions of its participation listed above and is agreeing to respect them. VivaTech reserves the right to declare incomplete, false, or non-compliant entries invalid.

Registration and participation in the Challenge is completely free, and without obligation to purchase. However, the cost of the internet connection required to register for the Challenge remains the responsibility of the Candidates.

 

4. PARTICIPATION IN THE CHALLENGE

The legal representative or the Candidate of the startup shall:

• Connect to the platform Agorize (https://challenges.vivatechnology.com/en/challenges/africatech-awards?lang=en ) between February 27, 2023 at 9:30 Hour CET and March 12, 2023 at 23:55 Hour CET.
• Register the Startup by following the instructions;
• Fill in the required information;
• Upload any other relevant document to enhance the application.

The key dates of the Challenge:

• February 27, 2023 (9:30 a.m. CET): Opening of the Challenge
• March 12, 2023 (11:55 p.m. CET): Closing of the Challenge*
• April 26, 2023: Official Announcement of the Top 45 (15 per category)
• June 1, 2023: Announcement of the 9 finalists (3 per category)
• June 14-17, 2023: VivaTech Event
  

*We will allow a delay of one week after this date for startups that have not completed their applications.

To participate in the Challenge, a complete registration has to be created on the Agorize platform before March 12, 2023 at 11:55 p.m. CET.

Candidates who have not provided proof of their full contact details and identities or who have provided them inaccurately or misleadingly will be disqualified, as will persons refusing the processing of personal data concerning them strictly necessary for the management of the Challenge. The information provided by the Candidate as part of his registration for the Challenge is his responsibility and any error, anomaly, inconsistency, intentional or not, relating to the information communicated by the Candidate may result in his disqualification.

Viva Technology reserves the right to carry out all the necessary verifications concerning the identity, the postal and / or electronic address and the activities in Africa.

The deletion of a Candidate's user account on the Challenge Site will be considered as an abandonment of the latter's participation in the Challenge. In this case, the Candidate, even if he is able to provide proof that this deletion is not his fault, will not be able to rejoin the Challenge, nor will he be able to obtain any compensation from Viva Technology.

The 9 selected startups are asked to come and exhibit their startup during 4 days, from June 14 to June 17, 2023, at the AfricaTech Lab at Viva Technology in Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, 75015 Paris. They will also have to present their project during the Viva Technology's final ceremony. The exact date and time will be communicated to the selected startups at a later date.

There will be one winner per Category.

All the finalists will be invited to pitch their startup on the AfricaTech Lab stage. All detailed information regarding the format, time and dedicated space will be sent by VivaTech to the 9 finalists.

 

5. DETERMINATION OF THE WINNERS

5.1 Jury Members

The jury will be composed of 10 to 20 people, including representatives from IFC, VivaTech, sponsors and ecosystem key players, ambassadors, partners, etc.

The composition of the jury will be displayed on the Challenge page once finalized.

5.2 Winners

1) Top 45 Selection:

Once the Challenge is closed, the knowledge partner will be in charge of screening all the applications and select 15 startups per Category (45 startups in total) following the selection criteria below:

 

Eligibility of the startup:

• Operating in Africa: majority of the team based in Africa and/or serving African markets
• Having a solution or product addressing the African market
• Must have raised between US$200K to US$20M in capital
• Must address one of the following themes: Climate Tech, Health Tech or FinTech

 

Selection criteria of the startup:

• Impact: Innovative product/solution addressing an important global challenge with a high social, economic environment and gender impact
• Innovation: Relevance and innovation level of the tech solution compared to existing alternatives (problem-solve, technology used, protection of the innovation, etc.)
• Scalability: Market sizing and scalability potential of the startup, track record of scaling (target addressable market, geographic ambition on the continent, clients targeted, etc.)
• Team Profile: Quality and size of the team (expertise, entrepreneurship background, academic background, number of employees, etc.)
• Business model: Proven ability to monetize business model and achieve sustainable operations with demonstrated traction and product-market fit (maturity of the startup, commercial traction, number of clients, annual global turnover growth, etc.)

 2) Top 9 Selection:

Once the 15 startups per Category are selected, a jury composed of representatives from VivaTech, IFC, sponsors, ambassadors and other key ecosystem players, will be in charge of selecting the Top 3 startups per Category (9 startups in total).

The selection criteria will be the same as the Top 45 selection criteria, with a higher level of expectation.

 

3) Top 3 Selection:

The jury composed of VivaTech, IFC representatives, sponsors representatives, ambassadors representatives, and other key ecosystem players will be in charge of nominating the winning startup of each Category. The winner of each Category will be announced during the Awards Ceremony at Viva Technology.

The selection criteria will be the same as the Top 45 selection criteria, with a higher level of expectation.

Notice to Participants. At each selection stage, the Candidate will be notified by email, telephone, or by any other means, at the sole discretion of Viva Technology, of the results of the selection. Viva Tech will be free to modify the dates on which the results are communicated in the event that the number of startups to be examined makes this change necessary. The ranking decided by the jury will be announced on the day of the Final and will designate the Big Winner.

 

6. PRIZES

For the 9 finalists:

1) Take part in VivaTech

• 1 Invitation to the Event (including flight, booth and passes*)
• Pitch on stage on the AfricaTech Lab
• Take part in the official AfricaTech Awards ceremony

*A finalist startup wins 1 plane ticket from its country of origin to Paris with a maximum reimbursement of 1500€, hotel accommodation for the duration of the Event for 1 person, 2 passes for the 4 days at Viva Technology Event and a booth at the AfricaTech Lab. Only the hotel reservation will be made through the Viva Technology organization.

In order to receive the reimbursement of the plane ticket, the startup must provide to Viva Technology a Certificate of registration (or a Kbis), a bank account number or a bank certificate, an invoice in addressed to Viva Technology and a proof of purchase of the ticket. The amount refunded must not exceed 1500€.

2) Meet key players to scale your business

• Network with top corporate partners
• Pitch your startup to top VC funds
• Refine your ideas with fellow entrepreneurs

3) Benefit from a strong visibility

• Get highlighted in the VivaTech program
• Be included in the VivaTech communication plan

Each of the three category winners will benefit from increased visibility and access to the networks provided by Viva Tech and IFC, including select one-on-one meetings with leaders and top executives in the tech industry.

Not included in the prizes are:

• Personal expenses of the startup
• Insurance
• And more generally, any service not specifically described above.

The Pitch Session is planned to take place in person; in case any Pre-Selected Startup decides in its sole discretion and under its own responsibility to physically participate in the Pitch Session in Paris, the Candidates are responsible for taking care of all administrative and health procedures required for a stay in France in view of their personal status, in particular of customs formalities.

The Prizes will be awarded to the winner(s) at the end of the Challenge during the Official Awards Ceremony, on one of the three stages of Viva Tech.

The presence of the winning team of the startup is mandatory when each prize is delivered, except in the case of force majeure. In case of absence of the winner for said prize, the runner-up Candidate will be declared a winner and the original winner shall be disqualified from the Challenge.

Viva Tech reserves the right to replace the prizes with prizes of similar content and equivalent or higher value if circumstances so require.

Finalists participating in Viva Technology accept the terms and conditions of the event mentioned on the Viva Technology website. 

 

7. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CO-HOSTS

The Co-hosts cannot be held responsible for a problem of communication, network connection, computers or faulty connection. The Co-hosts cannot be held responsible for the malfunction of the site for a given browser.

The Co-hosts are not responsible for any malfunction of the platform Agorize or any late, lost, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, illegible, undeliverable, or destroyed applications due to system errors, failed, incomplete or garbled computer or other telecommunication transmission malfunctions, hardware or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections or technical malfunction(s), which may limit a Candidate's ability to participate.

The Co-hosts do not warrant that the platform Agorize will operate without interruption or that it does not contain any computer errors, or that any defects found shall be corrected. The Co-hosts do not warrant that the platform Agorize, the servers giving access to it and/or the third-party sites with which it has links do not contain viruses or other components which may cause damage to property. Links to third party sites is only for the convenience of users of the platform Agorize and does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the Co-hosts of the content of those sites or any product or service that may be offered by them.

In no event will the Co-hosts be held responsible for a loss of data or a deterioration of this data. The Co-hosts cannot be held responsible if the data relating to the registration of a Candidate for a project did not reach it for any reason or it could be illegible or impossible to process (for example, if the participant has computer hardware or an inadequate software environment for registration or an Internet connection problem).

The Co-hosts shall not be held responsible if, for any reason (including computer fraud, virus, fire, flood, strike, force majeure, pandemic such as COVID-19 or any other reason) this Challenge has to be shortened, modified, postponed or cancelled. In fact, the Co-hosts reserve the right to shorten, modify or cancel the Challenge if the circumstances so require, without any obligation to reimburse a participant for any damage, loss, cost or expense it may incur. Any amendment to these rules may be the subject of information to the participants.

Any false statement or data in an application or other document automatically results in the disqualification of the startup. The proven fraud or attempted cheating of a Candidate may be sanctioned by the Co-hosts without notice.

8. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

By participating in the Challenge, a Startup grants a license the Co-hosts to:

• Use its name, logo, brand and other distinctive features of the startup for the duration of the Event (i.e., Viva Technology) and for any promotional campaign organized by the Co-hosts (before the Event) and for three (3) years from the end of the Event. In particular, it allows and licenses the Co-hosts to reproduce and represent the logo, brand and other distinctive features of its project on all promotional and other advertising for the Challenge, whatever the media (notably print, internet, audio-visual), used to promote the Event.
• Reproduce and represent its image and other elements of its person (name, voice) and/or words recorded on one or more photographs and/or multimedia or video storage media, within the framework of the Co-hosts and intended to be used for, during the Event and after in order to present and promote the Event. This license entitles the Co-hosts to apply such additions, deletions, modifications or dubbing to the original recording of images and/or words as the Co-hosts deem useful, provided that they are in keeping with the spirit of the camerawork.
• Use the above mentioned image or abovementioned audio-video recordings, on a non- exclusive basis, in whole or in part, on any present or future storage media (paper, graphic, video, photographic, digital, electronic, etc.) for purposes of promoting Viva Technology or IFC particularly for publication via any mode of transmission whatsoever in the press or audiovisual media (all channels combined, including terrestrial, satellite, cable, etc.), on television, in press kits, in publishing, in educational or commercial documents (catalogs, brochures, posters, point-of-sale advertising) disseminated at the initiative of the Co-hosts, on the Internet and particularly on the websites published by Viva Technology or IFC, on the Co-hosts social networks and/or on ECHOS SOLUTIONS and PUBLICIS GROUPE social networks and on any interactive websites particularly in trade fairs, conferences and exhibitions.

 

9. PERSONAL DATA COLLECTION

9.1 Principle

Participation in the challenge requires the submission of personal data relating, in particular, to the identity of the Candidates (including names, mailing and correspondence addresses, phone numbers, photos, CVs, etc.). Personal data will be processed in compliance with the French Act on Data Protection n°78-12, as modified.

The Candidate retains the right, at all times:

• to object to the collection of personal data by Viva Technology;
• to access, review or rectify any personal data collected by Viva Technology in connection with the Challenge by accessing its personal space on agorize.com ;
• to receive his personal data from Viva Technology in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to another controller, and
• to delete any personal data collected by Viva Technology in connection with the Challenge by sending a request to startups@vivatechnology.com

Unless marked as optional, if the Candidate disagrees to provide or asks for the deletion of the personal data, this may result in the non-registration at the Challenge.

Data relating to unsuccessful Candidates will be deleted by Viva Technology two years after the 2023 Event. Data relating to the Selected Candidates will be retained by Viva Technology during 5 (five) years after the 2023 Event.

9.2 Purpose and recipients

The Candidates are informed that their data will be transferred by Viva Technology to the Jury, the co-host, the knowledge partner and the sponsors per Category.

The collection and processing of such personal data will be transferred by Viva Technology to its strategic sponsor and to its knowledge partner, and used for the purposes of the management and selection of the Candidates including:

• to verify that the Candidate is eligible to be selected to participate in the Challenge he/she applied for and complies with the Challenge Rules; and
• to communicate with the Candidate for the purpose of its participation in the Challenge.

The recipients of the data are specifically designated employees of MSL France, Agorize being a subcontractor of MSL France for the purpose of the collection of such data in the context of the Selection.

Selected candidates’ personal data will also be transferred to jury members in order to select the Top 45, the 9 finalists, and the 3 winners.

10. APPLICABLE LAWS, SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES AND ILLEGALITY

10.1 Governing law

These Challenge rules shall be governed and interpreted in accordance with French law.

10.2 Settlement of disputes

In the Event of a dispute arising out of or in connection with these User Rules (a "Dispute"), the parties shall first seek amicable settlement of that Dispute. Either party may commence amicable settlement by sending to the other party a written request, setting forth the subject of the Dispute and the relief requested (the "Notice").

If within 14 days following the date of the Notice the parties fail to agree on a neutral third person to act as a mediator (the "Mediator") or a Mediator has not been appointed for any other reason, the Mediator shall be appointed by the ICC International Center for ADR in accordance with the Rules for the Appointment of Experts and Neutrals of the International Chamber of Commerce. The place of mediation shall be Paris, France. The language of the mediation shall be English.

If the Dispute has not been amicably settled within 60 days following the date of the Notice or within such other period as the parties may agree in writing, either party may initiate proceedings before the French courts which shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear the Dispute.

Any Notice or correspondence in relation to a Dispute should be addressed to: startups@vivatechnology.com .

10.3 Contact details

Any correspondence with Agorize with respect to the functioning of the platform and data collection should be addressed to startups@vivatechnology.com.